Christchurch to March

We woke to another sunny morning but we had some snow flurries while we were walking. As yesterday, we felt distinctly chilly for parts of the walk - we spent quite a lot of time close to a wind farm and there are reasons why they put so many wind turbines on the fens! However, when the sun came out and we were more sheltered it was like a different day. We parked one car at the large free car park in the centre of March (TL 415965) and the other back where we parked yesterday, at the recreation ground in Christchurch (TL 494969).

We set off on our walk around 9.15am, following Crown Lane out of Christchurch to the B1098 ('Sixteen Foot Bank') and Sixteen Foot Drain. Sixteen Foot Drain is one of those dead straight artificial rivers cut during the drainage of the fens (mostly in 1651 in this case). It links the Forty Foot River to Popham's Eau, an even earlier drainage project, started by Sir John Popham in 1605. I can't say I find these long straight rivers attractive and I hate driving alongside them - a car goes in every year or so and there are occasional fatalities. However I am grateful that the fens have been drained.

We crossed Sixteen Foot Drain and took the track towards Christchurch Farm and Well Fen Farm. This track briefly follows the route of the Fen Causeway, a Roman or earlier route across the fens, then meanders slightly to enable it to make use of bridges across ditches. Near Well Fen Farm we turned right onto a clear track which had been stablised by the use of bricks - functional but not very pretty. We had a muck-spreading tractor for company, though thankfully it was not spreading much muck close to us.

We were getting closer to the wind turbines which had been visible in the distance since yesterday's walk, and assumed that this track would lead to them. Wrong! The track petered out (as expected - the map shows the route of the Hereward Way but no path or right of way) and we turned left to walk around a field, then we were confronted by a ditch with no proper bridge across it. Richard used the plank that had been placed across, but I didn't trust my balance, so descended into the ditch, lept across the boggy bit at the bottom, and climbed up the other side. It was OK, but it wouldn't have been if it had been much wetter underfoot.

We reached the bank of the River Nene (old course) and discovered that the wind turbines were on the other side of the river! We turned left along the river bank. It may be the old route, but it is still a wide canalised river. Past the wind turbines, we passed the entrance to the Twenty Foot River (another drainage ditch) and the River Nene (old course) became less straight and consequently more attractive.

We passed underneath a railway line, then later crossed the river and followed Nene Parade into the centre of March. There were houseboats on the river and it was much prettier in this section - and the sun had come out! I have tutored at HMP Whitemoor to the north of March but don't know the town well, something of an oversight it appears. It has an impressive Town Hall, a fountain commemorating the coronation of King George V and, more significantly for us today, a choice of cafes. We had lunch at Mullers Cafe then returned to the car.

Following leg