The Forgotten Fens

   One thing that sadly seems to litter the fens is the huge amount of derelict cottages and farm buildings, I always wonder who lived in those little fens homes, what farm implements rested in those old outbuildings and the reasons why they now stand empty, in many cases covered in those green overcoats that only mother nature can produce.

   I must admit when you're in the middle of a long cycle covering new ground there is nothing better than stumbling across some long lost building whether made of those beautiful old Bedford White bricks or aged timbers grey and home to lichen and rusted handmade nails with square heads.

   I know there are many reasons why such buildings are still standing, some being listed, others being the home to nesting bats, owls or other wildlife and in some cases, the landowner just finding it hard to permanently delete the memories that they may hold. But whatever the reason to the likes of me they hold so much historic value like small windows through which we can look into the past when the fen tigers went about their hard lives.

   The next time you're out travelling the fens keep your eyes peeled and I'm sure you too will uncover a few forgotten gems left decaying from the old fen world, a world when great pike swam the dykes, eels occupied the reed beds and punt guns slowly crept towards the great flocks of waterfowl.

 

Bert Still Here But Not So Heavy

   I guess some of you will think the title of this post doesn't make sense but to some, it will. When I first started cycling and people asked why it was such an effort for me to cycle just a few miles, I would always answer that with my weight it was like having another guy on my back, as everyone calls me Rob yet my name is Robert I called him Bert. My aim was to get rid of Bert through diet and exercise until I was the size of one guy, not two, Rob and not Robert I guess. Well, the update is a good one, I'm now at my lightest weight for probably 20 years having lost just under 7 stone, helped by a sensible new healthy diet and a summer of cycling, on many occasions twice a day. I know to most I'm still that fat guy who cycles by each morning and still I notice those odd people who laugh as they pass by in cars but hey, every little snigger drives me on and now I'm starting to feel my old self once more.

   With the autumn months now well and truly here and winter just around the corner, I promised myself that this winter there will be no easing off on the cycling side, whatever the weather I'm still out there every day putting in the miles and apart from the snow I'll carry on doing so. My new target is to reach or break the 20 stone mark by the new year, if I break it it will be the first time I've been under 20 stone for 30 years, a great incentive if ever there was one.
   So that's the weight update done and I hope more good news in the new year. Before I sign off I would like to thank everybody who has given me support on this journey so far, I really don't think I'd have gotten this far without it, the great comments I get on the posts, the interest you show for the villages I explore and the kind words of support about my weight loss, thank you all.

Sleeping Tigers

Sleeping Tigers

Men of the reed beds who walked the marshes and dykes, great eel fishermen who sat twisting willow while telling tales of monster catches and the men of the marshes who rode the punt gun coil and netted plover. The millers who fought the great winds and controlled the waters, the skaters who raced upon frozen marshes and the carters who took fruit to the fen capital.
The women who picked the apples from ancient orchards and soft red gold from strawberry fields, the fen wives who swept the dirt floors after winter floods and the mothers who lost their sons and husbands in foreign fields.  All sleep under October sun alongside the lost children and babies who lived such short lives and left hearts broken never to repair, sleep safe and sound fen tigers, sleep safe and sound.

 

The Pumpkin Harvest

   It's that time of year again when what can only be described as millions of pumpkins lay ready for harvesting on the dark soil of the fens. The trailers will rumble through our village just as they do every year, their load one of huge boxes full to the brim with those beautiful gems of autumn fare on their way to supermarkets and shops all over the country.

   The pumpkin harvest is one that lasts only a matter of weeks and one undertook mainly by the young Eastern European workers who now work the rich soils of East Anglia all year round. So when you're carving your Halloween pumpkins you will remember where they may have been grown and all the hard work needed to harvest them.

Hedgerow Harvest

   One of the great plusses about cycling around the fens is watching the seasons change, from the cold frost covered mornings of December and January to the warm sun-filled mornings of mid-summer and one time of year I look forward too is the hedgerow harvest. When we enter August and the thoughts of autumn are starting to wander into our heads I'm out there searching through that beautiful natural larder that mother nature hands us each year. The hedgerows are like a foragers supermarket with a huge variety of fruits, nuts and herbs. For me, it's the fruit that fills my backpack from the tiny wild plums to the lager cooking apples that seem to have self-set beside many roads and lanes.

   This year seems to be an amazing year for wild fruit, the blackberries are everywhere, I myself have stood for hours picking them for the freezer. The number of wild plum trees I'm sure is growing each year, I must pass a hundred on my travels here in the flatlands and of course, the Elderberries are everywhere, perfect for jams and wine.

   I must mention it's not just fruit that I gather this time of year, with a lot of the basic food crops grown here in the fens it's now that the potatoes and onions are lifted which means many of these left laying at the edges of fields and roadsides, so I do glean a few just as folk did when I was a kid.

Emneth Scarecrow Festival

   It's that time of year again, the week when the village of Emneth hold their Scarecrow Festival and what a year it is. I took photographs last year but this year there are far more scarecrows entered into the competition, I think I've taken pictures of nearly 70 in total, some of which you can see here below.

   I must say from the start I think holding a festival such as this is a perfect way to bring a village together, it's great seeing all the scarecrows, yes, but more importantly, it's a wonderful way for families to work together in building their creations. During my morning cycles this week I have noticed each day yet more scarecrows appearing in front gardens and the wide selection is amazing, from straw lions to Spiderman and Nelson, it's great to see what imagination people have.

   I think I have several favourites, I love "The Mole Catcher" and "The scarecrow Wedding" but I think the "Lion King" takes some beating as far as straw work goes.

   I must admit this year has been a real pleasure cycling around Emneth trying to locate scarecrows, it was a great way to help make my daily cycle more than just exercise. I met some really nice people and discovered that the village is more than the main road that we all seem to travel when passing through on our way to Wisbech, 18 years I've now lived in this area and I never realized how big the village was.
   The people of Emneth really do deserve great applause for all their hard work and should be very proud of themselves, I hope other fen villages follow their example, what a great way for a village to celebrate the summer. I'm sorry I couldn't put every scarecrow in this post but I hope I've shown the wide selection there is to see. So if you have time I strongly recommend that you go along to take a look.

A Few Questions Answered

   As I cycle more and continue reporting my travels here on the blog, I get asked more and more questions about my cycling and why I'm doing it. I thought it would be better if I answered them here in a post so that anybody new to the blog will understand what it's all about.
   So let's start with the one main reason for my cycling. The answer to this question is very simple, to lose weight and get healthier. At my heaviest, I was 28 stone and was so unfit that everyday chores were a huge effort, chores that we all take for granted in our everyday lives. So after being an active person for most of my life, I felt embarrassed as much as unhealthy and it came to the stage where I felt really down most of the time, hide behind baggy clothes and even dreaded the weekly food shop because I knew people were always looking at me. I knew I had to do something about it and like many other people in that position I had tried different diets, none of which had really worked so the idea of getting more exercise into my life was the only thing I could think of. I knew running or jogging was out as I was too heavy and after walking for a few weeks I decided to cycle giving me the chance to explore more of the local area

                            

   So the next question, what bike do I use?  I obtained a mountain bike like most people and started to cycle around my village. I remember my first ever ride took just 15 minutes and covered less than two miles. I was so unfit but very determined to continue every day and this is what I did, even travelling by car out into the wilds of the fens and cycling the quiet droves where I thought nobody could see me. strange thing to do you might ask but you have to understand how embarrassed I was knowing that people seeing this fat guy on a bike would find it hilarious.
   After six months and the first few stones of weight loss, I began to cycle further to some local villages, nothing too far away but it really started to make cycling more enjoyable knowing there were so many fen villages out there waiting to be explored. That year for my birthday my wife bought me a Road bike to use which would mean I could travel a lot further and could start to take cycling a bit more serious. But I have to admit one thing, I had that Road bike for many months before I rode it for the first time, I really was worried that being so big I would break it and that's not a joke. So now I use my Road bike for all my cycling and would hate to be without it.  must say one more thing, when I cycle it's not to go as fast as possible like those lycra clad guys and girls you see flying along the roads on a Sunday morning, r me it is purely exercise, the time I'm out is far more important than the speed I can achieve.

   The next question I get asked is how do I find time to cycle every day? Well, I'm lucky in that I work from home making my glass beads and this allows me to work different hours. Most mornings I cycle anything from 15 to 25 miles which is possible because I can work later in the evenings. And when I want to do a longer cycle I just put in a long working day the day before or after. I think most who know me will know how much I enjoy my work and my cycling is by no way an excuse to miss work.
   Finally, my aim is to visit as many fen villages as I can over the next couple of summers, each summer the villages are further away and the area to explore becomes larger helping me discover a lot more gems of the flatlands of East Anglia. Winter cycling is kept to those regular morning cycles when the roads are covered in frost and the rivers are iced over, a very different fen to that of summer but none the less still an amazing place to travel.

   Well, I hope that as answered most of the questions and explained the reasons for me cycling the beautiful villages held here in the fens, I thank you all for following my blog and I hope to bring you more villages as and when I find them.