GUIDE TO REACH LODE

NAME OF RIVER: Reach Lode.

WHERE IS IT?: 7 miles NE of Cambridge off B1102. Map.

PUT-INS/ TAKEOUTS: In Reach village; go through village and just outside at northern end. Roadside parking.

APPROX LENGTH: 6 miles out and back.

TIME NEEDED: 2 hours.

ACCESS HASSLES: Public navigation (probably Environment Agency, but a canoe on here is more a source of wonder than a source of income).

WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: Regulated.

GRADING: I you cant get more placid than this!

MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: Weedy near Reach but more open later.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Now a drainage channel, but the novelty is canoeing above the neighbouring fields which have sunk as the peat dried out.

OTHER NOTES: At the end of the Lode is the Pike Eel pub for refreshment break. The Lode was a major commercial waterway in the Middle Ages with trade fairs at Reach (noticeboard in village for details). At the Pike and Eel turn right onto Wicken Lode to visit the NT piece of preserved fenland. Can also join Great Ouse here and go on to Ely or Cmabridge, some 10 miles either way.

CONTRIBUTED BY: David Wilson.