Ely to Cambridge

Another fairly long but relatively inexpensive train journey from Derby takes us out to the flat lands of Cambridgeshire for a gentle ride across the fens from Ely to the City of Cambridge.
Ely itself is indeed a lovely place, so we start by taking a look around one of our smallest cities with it's magnificent cathedral standing high above the surrounding flat landscape.

                       The cathedral is known as "The  Ship of the Fens".

This is the house of Oliver Cromwell which is open to visitors.

The River Ouse - lots of boats and several waterside pubs.

                       We start the ride from the riverside path.

                      And follow it towards the road bridge.

We are following Route 11 of the National Cycle Network and The Fen Rivers Way. Ignore the mileages quoted.  From here to Cambridge is well over 20 miles. See later.

Turn left at the road and keep on the pavement for safety.

We have to cross the busy A142 here to access the path on the right.

Watch out for high speed traffic.

The path is on top of the flood bank .............................

........................giving good views of the surrounding landscape.

                                            E'll lead the way (;-)

See what I mean about the mileages? 

22+2=24 

17+1=18

Follow the NCN 11 signs onto the country lanes heading for the village of Wicken. Turn left in the village following sign to Wicken Fen.

Here is the Visitor Centre which incorporates ..............

.... an excellent cafe where you can dine outside if the weather is suitable.

Follow the main path alongside the water.

 Several bridges carry the path over the waterways.

Pass through White Fen.

Much of this area is a large nature reserve and there are plans to extend it to cover most of the area between Ely and Cambridge.

Entering the village of Lode and ahead of us is the less attractive part of the ride which is the A14 main road into Cambridge, which fortunately has provision for separate cycle paths alongside.

Here we pass through this strangely named village.

Now onto NCN 51, we have only 4 miles to go with another off-road path through the large Park and Ride car park...............

...................marked by this giant bike archway to the Jubilee Cycleway

Opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2002.

The return to Ely, assuming that you have a return ticket to Derby, is best by the frequent and inexpensive trains which run between Cambridge and Ely.