Cycling The River

   One of my favourite cycle trips is a nice summer day ride along the river bank from Denver Sluice through Ten Mile Bank and on to Littleport, not a huge ride but one that is always interesting. The river seems always to be busy with not just the outstanding wildlife to admire but also the many different river vessels that travel the River Great Ouse, there is something very relaxing about this part of the fens.

   When beginning in the village of Denver you will find a small village store, handy to buy any supplies you may need, also the nice tea rooms located at Denver Mill, very popular with a lot of cyclists. From Denver village, you travel about a mile to the famous Denver Sluice complex, a very interesting place in its own right with its great iron chains and steel dam walls that hold back any high tides saving hundreds of acres of fenland from being flooded. Here you will find a very pleasant riverside public house called the "Jenyns Arms", the perfect lunch stop for any walkers or cyclists with its beer gardens looking over the small marina.

   From the sluice and its boats and rowing club you then follow the river bank road for around three miles into the small village of Ten Mile Bank. A quiet little village sitting beside the River Great Ouse with its own small primary school and simple parish church.
   From Ten Mile Bank, you continue along the river passing both the old and new pumping stations on towards the small town of Littleport. Its just under seven miles from Ten Mile Bank to Littleport which is not far but has some nice views of the river on the way. You will also pass through the tiny hamlet of Black Horse Drove before reaching the final part of the river bank road and crossing the A10 into Littleport.

   Now because I live in Upwell which is about an hour cycle from either Denver or Littleport I have a few options in the way I travel home. I can go through Littleport and straight to Welney or I can leave Littleport and travel through Little Downham and Pymoor before heading off through Welney, a more scenic route but one that adds maybe ten more miles onto the journey. Or as I find myself doing on many occasions, I can turn back and travel back along the river to Denver, then head through the market town of Downham Market and proceed on my way home from there passing through a few small villages.
   If your new to cycling there is always the option of driving to Denver Sluice where you'll find a nice large carpark in which to leave your car, this way you can enjoy cycle along the river in the knowledge of not having another hours trip to return home, cheating a bit I guess but good for those who can't yet do the longer trips. I highly recommend you give it a go I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as me.