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Tuesday 3 April 2018

A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers; 'C' Chater, Camel

There were two rivers in the village in which I was born - both will feature in this Challenge.

If you walked down Bull Lane in the Rutland village of Ketton, to get to Algate, the path took you across a footbridge over the River Chater. 


River Chater at Ketton from the Sinc Bridge looking north
I must confess that I never knew the bridge had that name, but as children we used to paddle in that stretch of water. I was more familiar with the river upstream beyond the bridge over Church Road.

River Chater Bridge
That footbridge was not there when I was a boy. Further upstream was another footbridge reached by a path over the road from the Railway Inn beyond the church you can see in the background. It was from that bridge and the banks of the Chater that I fished for dace and caught minnows in a jam jar baited with bread.

From age 11 my route to school took me left over the bridge and along the road as it swung up to the railway station where I took a train each day down the line to Stamford. From the station there we crossed this bridge - 

Town Bridge over the River Welland
I always thought that the river on the left was the Chater and the one from the right (just visible) is the Welland. The land in between is Stamford Meadows which used to be the place where a Roman ford crossed the river.

When we go to Cornwall to see our grandsons we always finish up having coffee at 'Down by the Ferry' in Padstow. From there a favourite walk is along the estuary of the River Camel.



Although the Camel rises on Bodmin Moor it's the Camel Trail along the estuary that we know best, from that is this bridge - 



To where it meets the sea at Padstow Bay



Buster loved it too.



And even my wife went swimming on one occasion.

The only shot I'm allowed to show
We waited all day here but the camels never showed up!


Photo attributions:
  • River Chater from the Sinc Bridge: June 1999 ex geograph.org.uk by Humphrey Bolton - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
  • River Chater Bridge: 27 April 2007 ex geograph.org.uk by Graham Horn - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
  • Bridge over River Welland: ex wikipedia Commons - CC BY-SA 3.0 licence
  • Sketch Map of River Camel & its tributaries: 25 February 2010 by Andy F - CC BY 3.0 licence

10 comments:

Billy Blue Eyes said...

Nice to know of the other Rivers in the country, Never knew of the Charter but have seen the river camel

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

Hugs to Buster.

Wendy said...

What a geography lesson. It is always amazing to see how a sliver of a river suddenly opens up into a huge bay or ocean. If you ever manage to see those camels skiing, I hope you post a photo.

Unknown said...

I loved seeing this thank you for posting such beautiful images of our countryside - I think Stamford Bridge is the only place you covered so far that I've ever seen for real and it fab to get a view that wasn't from a coach window :) cheers.

21 Wits said...

Goodness what fun, and it looks like you have been spared from winter (not us) you can even go swimming! BTW, I missed posting for Carmi's dirty post but I just posted in this week's Trees!

Anonymous said...

Lovely shots! Looks like Buster has fun in the water - lucky dog!

Donna B. McNicol said...

Beautiful photos!! I especially loved the first shot with the trees lining the river. Can I go there now...please?

Donna B. McNicol|Author and Traveler
A to Z Flash Fiction Stories|A to Z of Goldendoodles

Emily in Ecuador said...

I love reading about what you did and how you used the bridges.

The only photo you are allowed to show - LOL!!

Bummer that the camels never showed. You could have gotten some amazing photos!

Emily In Ecuador | Coconut Water on Puerto Lopez Beach

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Bob ... home from home - well the Rutland area ... lovely part of the world and the Chater River - what a delight to see ... while the Camel River is further east than I know well - but can most definitely relate to Cornwall ... cheers Hilary

Jemima Pett said...

Ah - so you're from Rutland. I guess you'll use the Welland for W then :)

Jemima, blogging from A to Z on my writing inspirations, gazing at the River Wensum