Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.

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River Great Ouse

Description of River Great Ouse: The navigation runs 74 miles from Bedford to the Wash.

History of River Great Ouse: Promoted under Acts of 1670, 1751, 1795, 1796, 1805, 1810, 1816, 1818, 1819, 1827 and 1830. The locks from Brownshill to Eaton Scocon were rebuilt in the 1930s when this part of the river was restored by the newly formed Great Ouse Catchment Board. Prior to the 1950s the river below Denver was kept clear by the flow from the Great Ouse but since then the relief channel has been built to divert these waters and the bed of the river has risen by about a metre. In 1951 The Great Ouse Restoration Society formed and in 1963 legislation enabled the River Authority to licence boats and charge fees, at last providing money for navigation to a body mainly concerned with drainage. n 1978 The final lock at Castle Mills was completed and navigation to Bedford was restored.
For more details see the History page.

Subordinate Waterways of River Great Ouse

• Counter Wash Drain (Great Ouse)
• Lakenheath Lode (Great Ouse)
• Old Bedford River
• Old West River (Great Ouse)
• Great Ouse Relief Channel
• River Wissey
• River Lark (Great Ouse)
  • Lark - Orwell Canal project
• Little Ouse or Brandon River

Navigation Authority of River Great Ouse : Environment Agency Recreation and Navigation, Region: Anglia Region, Kingfisher House, Goldhay Way, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5ZR: Telephone 01733 371811 : Fax 01733 231840 :

Godmanchester Lock

Related Articles of River Great Ouse

• More than a Mooring - Hartford Marina
• Middle Level Mysteries
• The Great Ouse
• Flat Out for the Fens
• Great Ouse Cruise

Related Books of River Great Ouse

• The Great Ouse by Wilson Stephenson, 48 pages, Published by Frederick Muller, in 1985, Part of the Rivers of Britain series with illustrations by Gabriel White..
• The Great Ouse:The History of a River Navigation by Dorothy Summers, ISBN: 0 7153 5971 1, 247 pages, Published by David & Charles, in 1973, Inland Waterways History series. 16 pages of plates and 10 figures or maps.. Order now from .
• Fenland River by Rodney Tibbs, 128 pages, Published by Terrence Dalton Ltd, in 1969, The Story of the Great Ouse and its Tributaries. Maps and 75 plates.
• Holiday Cruising on the Broads & Fens by Lewis A Edwards, ISBN: 0 7153 5511 2, Published by David & Charles, in 1972, Order now from .
• The Black Fens by A K Astbury, Published by Golden Head Press, in 1958,
• The Fens by Alan Bloom, Published by Trent, in 1953,
• The Draining of the Fens by H C Darby, Published by Cambridge University Press, in 1968,
• Fenland by H Goodwin, Published by Cambridge University Press, in 1978,
• Vermuyden and the Fens by L E Harris, Published by Cleaver Hume Press, in 1953,
• The Fenland by A K Parker and D Pye, Published by David & Charles, in 1976,
• The Great Level by Dorothy Summers, ISBN: 0 7153 7041 3, Published by David & Charles, in 1976, History of the fens.. Order now from .
• Portrait of the Fen Country by E Storey, Published by Trent, in 1971,
• A History of the Fens by J Wentworth-Day, Published by George G Harrap & Co., in 1954,
• The Rivers Cam & Lower Great Ouse by Not known, Edition: Revised edition., ISBN: 0 85288 222 X, 31 pages, Published by Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson, in 1993, Large scale chart of the rivers in an A5 ring binder. Compiled together with the Great Ouse Boating Association.. Order now from .
• Along the Cam and the Great Ouse with Briscoe Snelson by Peter Snelson, 112 pages, Published by Cambridgeshire Libraries Publications, in 1996, Photographs taken between the 1930s and 50s. Softback..
• Rivers to the Fens by Robert Simper, ISBN: 0 9538506 0 9, 82 pages, Published by Creekside Publishing, in 2000, Inclides photographs and maps.. Order now from .
• River Cam & Lower Great Ouse by Not known, ISBN: 0 8528 8374 9, Published by Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson, in 1996, Covers from Cambridge to Dever Sluice.. Order now from .
• River Upper Great Ouse by Not known, ISBN: 0 8528 8364 1, Published by Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson, in 1996, Covers from Berdford to Popes corner.. Order now from .
• The Canals of Eastern England by John Boyes and Ronald Russell, ISBN: 0 7153 7415 X, 368 pages, Published by David & Charles, in 1977, Order now from .
• The Restoration and Development of the Bedford Ouse by W B Carter, ISBN: 1 904136 25 7, 85 pages, Published by John Nickalls, in 2005, An illustrated history of the restoration of the river.. Order now from .
• The River Great Ouse and the River Cam from Brackley to King's Lynn by Josephine Jeremiah, ISBN: 1-86077-417-2, Published by Phillimore & Co., in 2006, The Great Ouse from source to sea with additional material covering some of the tributaries, including the cam and Little Ouse to Thetford. 178 illustrations.. Order now from .

Related videos of River Great Ouse

• The Great Ouse & River Cam , Released in 2005, 1 hour 10 minutes Produced by VideoActive, A voyage from Denver to Bedford and up the Cam to Cambridge. Available on DVD. Order on video tape from . Order on DVD from

Related photographs of River Great Ouse

• River Great Ouse: Hartford Hartford Marina
• River Great Ouse: Hartford Hartford Marina
• River Great Ouse: Hemingford Lock No 14 Mooring at Hemingford Grey
• River Great Ouse: Bedford Bridge Lorna-Ann at moorings in Bedford at night
• River Great Ouse: Cardington Lock Lorna-Ann in lock
• River Great Ouse: Brampton Lock No 11 Narrowboat and cruisers in lock
• River Great Ouse: Godmanchester Lock No 12 Boats leaving lock
• River Great Ouse: St Ives Bridge Lorna-Ann at St Ives Bridge
• River Great Ouse - Ely Rowing coxed four on the Great Ouse
• River Great Ouse: Salter's Lode Junction Narrowboat on tidal Great Ouse
• River Great Ouse: Salter's Lode Junction Entering the lock from the Great Ouse
• River Great Ouse: Brownshill Staunch Seal
• River Great Ouse: Denver Sluice Lorna-Ann moored
• River Great Ouse: Houghton Lock No 13
• River Great Ouse: Great Barford Lock Great Barford Bridge

Related External Web Sites of River Great Ouse

• Jones Boatyard Jones Boatyard offers Boat Sales, Chandlery and Marine Services in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire.
• IWA Cambridge Branch The Branch was formed in the early 1970s and furthers the interests and aims of the Association on the river Great Ouse and its navigable tributaries.
• Ouse Valley River Club The Club is located on the easten bank of the River Great Ouse. North of St Neots town bridge in Cambridgeshire.
• The Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust Promoting the development of a Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway.
• The Fens Covers the fenland waterways from the Boston area to Cambridge.
• The Great Ouse Boating Association Providing facilities for, and representing, boaters using the Great Ouse and its tributaries.
• Hartford Marina Situated on the Great Ouse near Huntingdon.
• Westview Marine Services Located at Earith, Cambridgeshire on the river Great Ouse
• Pike & Eel Hotel and Marina Hotel, pub and marina with moorings for patrons on the Great Ouse.
• Bedford Boat Club A private club founded in 1950 with some 30 moorings located on the ‘River Great Ouse’ between Cardington lock and ‘Priory marina’. Membership is by application, interview and election.
• Visit Anglian Waterways The official guide to the Environment Agency Navigations in the Anglian Region.
• Jones Boat Chandlery Boat Chandlers Since 1946

Related Cruising Logs of River Great Ouse

• 4th October 1994
• 30th March 1997
• 1st April 1997
• 6th April 1999
• 11th April 2003
• 13th August 2007

Other Related Pages of River Great Ouse

• Cruising Times
• My Holidays on Inland Waterways - Cruise XVI

Lock Sizes and maximum craft dimensions of River Great Ouse: Individual lock sizes vary but the maximum size for navigationfrom Bedford to the Wash is Length 85 foot 4 inches, beam 10 foot 4 inches. NOTE: For more details of maximum lock and craft sizes and the basis of these figures see Craft and Lock Sizes Page

River Great Ouse: Table of distances			Miles	Locks	Navigable (N)	Grid ref	OS Map No
Bedford Bridge	A6 Road Bridge		0	0	N	TL050495	153
Duck Mill (or Town) Lock			0.3	1	N	TL055495	153
Cardington Lock			2	2	N	TL078489	153
Castle Mills Lock No 3			3.6	3	N	TL092509	153
Willington Lock No 4			5.8	4	N	TL119504	153
Old Mills Lock Site	Lock abolished		6.5	4	N	TL129510	153
Great Barford Lock	Archer Inn		7.3	5	N	TL135517	153
Roxton Lock No 7			9.6	6	N	TL159535	153
Tempsford Bridge	Anchor Inn		10.3	6	N	TL162545	153
Little Barford			12.6	6	N	TL177571	153
Eaton Socon Lock No 8	Eaton Socon		13.9	7	N	TL174586	153
St Neots			15	7	N	TL181602	153
St Neots Lock No 9			16.3	8	N	TL185618	153
Great Paxton			18	8	N	TL204634	153
Offord Lock No 10			20.1	9	N	TL214671	153
Brampton Lock No 11	Brampton and the Pepys House half a mile.		23.1	10	N	TL223705	153
Godmanchester Lock No 12			24.4	11	N	TL241704	153
Huntingdon			25.1	11	N	TL243714	153
Hartford			26.3	11	N	TL256725	153
Houghton Lock No 13			27.9	12	N	TL281719	153
Hemingford Lock No 14			29.4	13	N	TL295711	153
St Ives Bridge	Of historic and asthetic interest		30.8	13	N	TL312711	153
St Ives Staunch			31.1	14	N	TL314705	153
Holywell			33.5	14	N	TL342705	154
Brownshill Staunch	Over Staunch		36.3	15	N	TL369727	154
Earith Village	The Crown Inn		38	15	N	TL386747	142
Earith Junction	Junction with Old West River (Great Ouse) Junction with Old West River		38.5	15	N	TL392746	143
Sutton Bridge			42.1	15	N	TL428796	143
Mepal Bridge			43.4	15	N	TL439812	143
Oxlode			47.5	15	N	TL485862	143
Welney Suspension Bridge			52.8	15	N	TL534928	143
Denver Sluice Junction	Junction with Old West River (Great Ouse) Junction with Old River Ouse and the Hundred Foot River		58.8	15	N	TF587010	143
Salter's Lode Junction	Junctions with Middle Level - Well Creek and Old Bedford River Junction with the Old Bedford River and Well Creek		59.1	15	N	TF586016	143
Downham Bridge	Downham Market 1 mile east (A1122 road bridge)		60.1	15	N	TF597029	143
Stowe Bridge			62.9	15	N	TF602070	143
Magdalen Bridge			66	15	N	TF600113	143
Wiggenhall Bridge			68	15	N	TF601113	143
Eau Brink Cut (Southern end)			68.4	15	N		0
Free Bridge	Eau Brink Cut (Northern end)		71.4	15	N		0
Kings Lynn	Docks entrance		72.8	15	N		0
The Wash	Mouth of the river		74.8	15	N		0

NOTE: N and U in the Navigable column above indicates that the node is navigable or unnavigable. If a D appears here it means that navigation is difficult or restricted to smaller craft.

 

Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.