How to get there - Reach is a village on a turning north off the A1102 Cambridge - Burwell road.
For those with SatNav the postcode is CB5 0JD.
Get a map with driving directions to start (enter the postcode of your starting point at A)
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.
Comments on this trip
Keith 15 May 2009
Thanks Nick - I've made the correction.
Nick 13 May 2009
Just a small correction - the pub at Upware is not called the Pike & Eel. It is (and has been for many years) the Five Miles Inn (Five Miles From Anywhere).Burwell Lode is easily passable at most times of the year. It tends to get a little weedy at the Cock-Up bridge but you really wouldn't want to go much further down it than that anyway.
Alan 03 Jan 2009
Thank you so much for this trip. It's one of my favourite paddles - such lovely clear water, wildlife and aquatic flora. Top tip: if there's a breeze from the west, as there often is, take an umbrella and you can sail down Wicken Lode in total tranquillity!
Paul P 14 Mar 2007
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.
Keith 11 Aug 2006
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!
