May - 2007
	Our final month - after our buyer left we locked onto a tidal section of the Great Ouse for about 2 miles and immediately the scenery changed from very boring high banks bare of anything but grass, to trees and bushes and indead some bends! Thank goodness because I was very fed up with the Great Ouse up to that point. Once we locked off on to the non tidal Ouse the scenery got even better - even pretty where there was a group of thatched cottages on the riverbank at Holywell. St Ives is also a very pretty market town with a delightful stone Chapel bridge over the river. There are only three Chapel bridges in the country and this is the only one over a river. Up to now we had had fantastic hot sunny weather but unfortunately this changed at St Neots when we moored up by the Park and our three grandsons came with their parents for the day to include a barbeque - and we had some rain and it was cooler. However we still had a great day. We then travelled up the Great Ouse going through more frequent locks as we climed up towards Bedford. Our granddaughter came on board with her parents at Great Barfield where there is another fantastic arched bridge over the river which in fact is quite difficult to negotiate. The locks are adjacent to the weirs and the power of the water is very strong at the lock moorings. We reached Bedford going beneath two very low bridges with a clearance of inches and moored on the town quay. We were awoken the next day very early to find the annual regatta in progress which lasted until 7pm and finished in a heavy downpour. This was the start of days of heavy rain and a swollen river so we did not linger in Bedford but about turned so we could get under the two low bridges. At Great Barfield we were swept into the arch of the bridge and at the lock struggled to keep the boat from being swept towards the weir instead of the lock. I was glad to be back down near Huntingdon and in calmer waters. We now had hot sun again. We had a favorite mooring at Godmanchester Lock beside the largest meadow left in the country. When we went up river we walked across it on hard dry ground with very short grass. This time it was thigh high grass and very soggy. Alan's sister came on board for our last few days and we re-visited St Ives and stopped to look around the National Trust Houghton Mill and have a cream tea. We also visited The Manor House at Hemmingford Grey which was the home of Lucy Boston and saw her collection of patchwork quilts she had designed and made. She also wrote a series of children's books. A really worthwhile visit. It was now nearly the end of our time on Jemima and we were geating sad.
					WE CRASHED INTO THE BRIDGE ARCH THE FLOW WAS SO STRONG!