Cambridgeshire - Reach Lode - Reach to Wicken Fen (& return)

How to get there - Reach is a village on a turning north off the A1102 Cambridge - Burwell road (map)

Suggested Launch Site - Minor road (cul-de-sac) at north end of Reach village. Roadside parking. Launch from side of road.

General Description - A very placid drainage channel worth canoeing for the novelty of being ABOVE the fields on either side - the fields have sunk as the fenland peat dried out. After a couple of miles you get to the Pike and Eel at Upware for a break. Close to the Pike and Eel Wicken Lode comes in on the right and you can canoe beside and visit Wicken Fen (see below). Ignore Burwell Lode, which is closer to Reach - too weedy! Total round trip about 9 miles.

Reach was a major medieval port and merchants from across the North Sea sailed up Reach Lode to get to the trade fairs there. Reach is also at the end of the Devil's Dyke, the largest of the Anglo-Saxon earthworks built to defend East Anglia.

Wicken Fen is a nature reserve (National Trust), the largest piece of preserved fenland. Entrance is at the far eastern end of Wicken Lode. (route)

Sorry, no photos of my own but please see websites.

Comments:

11 Aug 2006		Keith		If you need a drink afterwards, you can't do better than a pint at The Dyke's End. Read the story. Pubs like this deserve to be supported!
14 Mar 2007		Paul P		Burwell and Reach lodes can be almost impassable because of water weed growth between late May and late July each year. The EA cut the weeds in late July and then navigation is ok until the following May.

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