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Will you still come to Cambridge by boat


Black Ibis

  

41 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you consider visiting Cambridge by boat after April 2012?

    • Yes, I'll still come
      4
    • No. I would have done if the fee had not been imposed, but not anymore.
      33
    • No. The Fens are too flat and boring, I wouldn't have come anyway. I'll stick to the canals!
      4


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After April this year, visits to Cambridge will become quite expensive. Either 10% of the relevant EA licence for your boat length if you add it to your EA licence, or 15% of the same if you buy it separately to the EA licence (e.g if you bought an EA licence not planning to go to the Cam then subsequently changed your mind). So something like an additional £50-100.

 

This letter was published in the Cambridge News yesterday

 

"I'm taking my cash elsewhere"

Thanks to the price increase for boaters to visit Cambridge by the Conservators of the River Cam, I will not be going to your town and will take my pound to somewhere that would like visitors.

Donald Gilchrist

 

What I want to know is: do you agree? Will you come anyway? Or will you cross Cambridge off your cruising list? It would really help us to have a cross section of boaters' responses as we challenge this!

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I just might consider coming if there was plenty of good, free visitors mooring available, but on the one occasion when we ventured up to Cambridge we just had to give up and come back down the river. I'd have been really really pi$$ed off if I'd paid £100 for the privilege.

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[quote What I want to know is: do you agree? Will you come anyway? Or will you cross Cambridge off your cruising list? It would really help us to have a cross section of boaters' responses as we challenge this!

 

By an amazing coincidence our 'Big Trip' this year from our mooring at Brinklow was planned to be Northamton, Peterborough, explore Middle Levels then Stoke Ferry, Cambridge and Bedford and back home. Having read this and other threads, I can safely say we won't be going into Cambridge except by guided bus (swore I'd never use it) from a visitor mooring at St Ives. Incidentally, how do they collect the money from visitors or do they rely on an honesty box?

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By an amazing coincidence our 'Big Trip' this year from our mooring at Brinklow was planned to be Northamton, Peterborough, explore Middle Levels then Stoke Ferry, Cambridge and Bedford and back home. Having read this and other threads, I can safely say we won't be going into Cambridge except by guided bus (swore I'd never use it) from a visitor mooring at St Ives. Incidentally, how do they collect the money from visitors or do they rely on an honesty box?

 

They have not yet worked out how the fees will be collected. I expect that you'd be required to pay in advance mostly, but how they'd collect it from you if you just showed up at the lock I don't know? Cheque maybe. The lock office is only open during normal office hours though.

 

No. It is a ridiculous increase on an already silly fee fee visitors.

Have they actualy made the Gold license invalid there now?

 

Not until April, and its possible that they'll find a way to incorporate it by then, I don't know.

Edited by Black Ibis
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Unfortunately, I don't think the good burghers of Cambridge will so much as notice the absence of the boaters pound which, in the great scheme of things, probably barely constitutes a gnat's whisker. And, as other posters have pointed out, it is invariably difficult to get a mooring on the 48 hour section as it's usually clogged with overstayers - I visit Cambridge quite regularly by car and the same boats appear to be permanent fixtures along the park and in front of the pub. A couple of years back, for instance, a large Dutch barge (complete with Dutch flag) was moored on the 48-hour mooring next to the sanitary station from Easter right the way through to September.

 

It's a great shame because Cambridge really is one of the "jewels in the crown" on the network. I don't know how Fox boats at March will be affected as it is one of the top destinations for hireboats so I guess they will either have to take a hit on the fee or somehow try and pass it on to their clients which, in the current environment, may be difficult. The rowing fraternity are also up in arms about the licence increases so it's not something aimed at narrowboats.

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I now realise how lucky I was to visit Cambridge by boat in 2006, just after all the boats had been evicted from the pound below Jesus Lock - I was the only boat there, hired a bike (when in Rome.....), explored the town, visited the Scott Polar Research Institute, attended sung evensong at Kings College Chapel - all the best things Cambridge offers. And the pubs...... But, no, not again if I have to pay an extortionate amount just to venture onto the river.

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If they police it like they do the overstayers and the "keeping of a boat in presentable condition" then I feel we'll have nothing to worry about. There are some sh*t boats on the legal mooring that clearly breach the morning conditions rules.

 

I wonder what powers they have to fine you? Could they be a bit like the car park scammers that pretend to fine you without any powers to levy a fine?

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You can get a three day Wey navigation pass for £32 and that gives access to 20 miles of canal/river with 16 locks

 

The Cam visitor pass, by comparision, is just a rip off

So £100 for 9 days, to put the boot on the other foot you could go to Cambridge 365 times a year for that amount. And no I wont be paying to go to Cambridge.

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I'm glad I've already been (twice); it's the least boring bit of the Fens and we had a great time both times. We found the local boaters to be very friendly and welcoming and there are some outstanding pubs. If I were going to the Fens again I would probably thin k it was worth paying extra to go into Cambridge (after all, the ML costs nothing), but would probably not in the end, on principle.

 

It will be a great shame if this does mean people lose out on visiting a lovely destination.

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So £100 for 9 days, to put the boot on the other foot you could go to Cambridge 365 times a year for that amount. And no I wont be paying to go to Cambridge.

Not quite. Wey charges are on a sliding scale: link (link pinched from 'No Problems' blogg as the NT site is pants at the moment)

 

I used the 3 day charge as a comparison as I estimated most vistors would spend no more than 3 days visiting the 6 mile strech of the Cam.

 

As it is, most would appear to go the 6 miles there, can't find anywhere to moor and go the six miles back.

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After April this year, visits to Cambridge will become quite expensive. Either 10% of the relevant EA licence for your boat length if you add it to your EA licence, or 15% of the same if you buy it separately to the EA licence (e.g if you bought an EA licence not planning to go to the Cam then subsequently changed your mind). So something like an additional £50-100.

 

This letter was published in the Cambridge News yesterday

 

"I'm taking my cash elsewhere"

Thanks to the price increase for boaters to visit Cambridge by the Conservators of the River Cam, I will not be going to your town and will take my pound to somewhere that would like visitors.

Donald Gilchrist

 

What I want to know is: do you agree? Will you come anyway? Or will you cross Cambridge off your cruising list? It would really help us to have a cross section of boaters' responses as we challenge this!

 

I went to Cambridge in 2010 and could not find anywhere to moor.

I was going again in June 2012 but if I cannot use my gold license like before I will certainly not be going.

How far down the Cam can I go before I need to wind?

Edited by dekker
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I went to Cambridge in 2010 and could not find anywhere to moor.

I was going again in June 2012 but if I cannot use my gold license like before I will certainly not be going.

How far down the Cam can I go before I need to wind?

 

The Conservators' domain begins above Bottisham Lock.

 

The "Five Miles From Anywhere, No Hurry, Inn" at Upware is a good spot and is safely downstream in EA waters.

Edited by Graham!
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The Conservators' domain begins above Bottisham Lock.

 

The "Five Miles From Anywhere, No Hurry, Inn" at Upware is a good spot and is safely downstream in EA waters.

and last time I was there the food was so cheap I couldn't believe they could serve such quality.

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