The loose plan to meet up with some friends on Monday looked like coming to fruition: they lived a couple of miles from Fotheringhay where there are plentiful moorings, even if the farmer is PDQ in coming to collect a mooring fee. So, bidding farewell to the steam trains, we pottered on up river, through some lovely countryside.

Perched on a small hill, Fotheringhay church stands proud above the landscape, even if it doesn’t quite do the “Ship of the Fens” bit that Ely Cathedral does.

We moored right under the rabbit hole and badger sett riddled mound that is all that remains of Fotheringhay Castle, even though it was an important place in English and Scottish history. Having been largely demolished in 1630, it isn’t much to look at, but there are splendid views from the top, although the Captain ran out of puff halfway up.