Bottisham Lode
Bottisham Lode is one of the Cambridgeshire lodes, a fenland canal. It is about 2½ miles long and served to link the village of Bottisham to the River Cam. The lode does not reach Bottisham itself but the village of Lode, which once served as Bottisham's little port. The lode braches from the Cam just below Bottisham Lock.
The lode is almost straight, running between embankments, and included a staunch (a primitive lock with a single gate), of which the chamber survives. Its water supply comes from Quy Water, which flows through a mill just above the village before entering the lode near to the location of a basin and wharf.[1] In the Middle Ages, navigation along Quy Water was also possible, as there is evidence of moorings in the village of Quy.[2] The Swaffham and Bottisham Drainage Commissioners were responsible for the lode from 1767, and were empowered to build staunches and collect tolls. The lode was never wide enough to take fen lighters, but smaller boats used it for most of the 19th century.[1]
In 1875, the Drainage Commissioners spent £294 on a flash lock, which had a flagstone floor, a chamber constructed of white bricks, a timber guillotine gate, and a mechanism for raising the gate made from cast-iron, supported by a timber frame. The chamber was 11¾ feet wide, and the mechanism included a winding drum with winding wheel, and cogwheels with ratchets. The timber frame was demolished in 1968 but the chamber still survives, some 1,010 yards upstream of the entrance gates.
Navigation on the lode ceased around 1900, and it is not currently navigable.[1] The mill at Lode has been restored to working order by its owners, the National Trust.[2] There is a pumping station and a set of mitred flood doors at the entrance to the lode, which were replaced in 2001,[3] but the adventurous boatman is warned from trying his skills too far as the gates currently carry a "No unauthorised vessels" notice.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Boyes & Russell 1977, p. 172
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Blair 2006, p. 100
- ↑ Tuesday Night Club, 2001 cruising log, Page 21, accessed 29 May 2009
