A BOAT & A BRIDGE.

Today saw some bright sunshine, loads of bird activity in amongst the many feeders but it was still around zero temperature ... so despite the bright sky it was hand bitingly cold.

Silly old Dafad here forgot the camera when I took the mad mutt out onto the flat fens.
The sky was like the inside of an oyster shell, full of pearlescent pinks, silver and blues.

But ... having taken nearly 100 photo's yesterday in three different locations I have stuff to fall back on. Yesterday just before sunset I drove down to look at our local stretch of the River Cam to see how the houseboat moored there most of the year, was coping with cold.

There was no sign of the small ship to shore boat, nor any glimmer of light in the almost silhouette  frame of the boat. My guess is that the owners had found it too cold to stay aboard in these recent sub zero temperatures. Can't say as I blame them.

The flood waters of a few weeks ago have subsided to more normal levels but much to the disappointment of some locals, the River Cam has not frozen over enough for ice skating. In "Days gone by" in living memory of many folk here, winter skating was a big thing and the more serious and competitive minded held races. Fen Runners (skaters) became famous. Skating was introduced from Holland and France in the seventeenth century but by the end of the nineteenth century. 1879 to be precise, The National Skating  Association was set up in Cambridge. They took their fen skaters to competitions in Holland where a James Smart became Britain's only recorded World Champion speed skater. Since then of course we have witnessed such wonderful ice dancers such as Robin Cousins and most famously Torville & Dean but if you are interested in early skating history, just google "Fen Skating." It's a shame for me, as I would have loved to have photo's of skaters on the fen waterways to put on the blog, but ... the freezing conditions have caused enough hassle locally as it is, with schools being closed and tragic accidents on the road network. But ... it could have been much worse as a recent BBC programme about the winter of 1963 highlighted. In the early days of television the black and white footage of the problems this country endured were  quite sobering compared to the conditions of this last week which have been relatively easily survivable. 

<<< This bridge is known as The Military Bridge but between 1914 & 1918 a military pontoon was built to cross over the River Cam connecting both sides of the watery divide, it was not until 1928 that the seemingly more modern design constructed of concrete was built but retained the name the locals gave to the river crossing. It now has to put up with the reverberations of huge modern tractors and massive transporter lorries. To be stood underneath it when these pass overhead is rather noisy an intrusive contrast to the peaceful water flowing under at and the graceful swans and ducks that cruise this lovely waterway especially during sunset time.