Although my plan was to cycle into Burwell and then back along Newnham Drove to rejoin Lodes Way I decided to pop up to the "old" Lodes Way Bridge over Burwell Lode. You have to lift your bike up the bridge if you cycle this way, although in this case I didn't bother as I was taking a long-cut via Burwell. This is the view up towards Upware, surprisingly there do not seem to be any cables highly visible.
The view from the Burwell lode Bridge towards the new Reach Lode Bridge is almost nothing but cables. The bridge is actually not that obtrusive, meaning I had to squint through the viewfinder of my camera to find it. I like the bridge both for the utility and the design.
As a cyclist I tend to focus on the tracks and roads, but we shouldn't forget that the Lodes themselves are a valuable transportation and leisure link for boats and canoes. Whilst taking the other pictures this small boat came up the Lode from Burwell.
I tend not to take many pictures cycling through Burwell - I am too busy minding the cars and vans, that are quite happy to barge you off your side of the road when their side is blocked by parked cars. To be fair not all of them do that, some actually seem to be paying attention and let me through.
Once out of the busy metropolis of Burwell I can relax again and head out towards Lodes Way on Newnham Drove. Which is what you see pictured here. Now the road is pretty much dry it is much more pleasant and safe to cycle along. If you look closely, well actually I used Picasa to enlarge the picture, you can see the gates at the point that Newnham Drove meets Lodes Way and also see the blue cycle route signs.
The Fens tend to dry pretty quickly, I suppose it must be the winds, a few days without rain (or snow) and the tracks have turned to solid mud again. Newnham Dove crosses Lodes Way and reaches Burwell Fen Farm (pdf). Although now it is more a loose collection of farm sheds, built using aircraft-hangar construction techniques.
One of the more surprising things you will meet on the Lodes Way is a Jedi, well that's what I thought he looked like. My apologies if you are the person in question. This view is taken looking towards Wicken Fen from the Newnham Drove/Lodes Way cross-drove. He was walking his dog - no points for spotting it.
The view looking to the Reach Lode way. It is a shame that the path has to be fenced in, I suppose there are good reasons. (Thinking about it one of the reasons might be to ensure the safety of horse riders using the Lodes Way. You can see yet more electrickery cables in the background and their associated pylons.
When I reached Reach Lode Bridge I did take some conventional pictures of the Lode, but also took some picture of these chaps out for a bit of shooting along with their dog and the Landrover Discovery. I presume they were shooting rabbits? (And yes more cables and telegraph poles in shot.)
This is a conventional picture looking downstream - towards Reach. The path is well-used, this is a popular walking spot. Did you notice the pylons ...
Where Lodes Way reaches the road, Split Drive, the road quality has suffered a lot just recently. It has taken a beating over the Winter. I stopped where Split Drove meets Headlake Drove to take this picture of Commissioners' Drain. One of the several cars parked in the fields (presumably part of the shooting party) stopped and the occupants got out to change their footwear. I should really have asked them what they were shooting.
Although I took my lunch with me, a bottle of water and a packet of Jelly Babies, it was such a pleasant ride that it wasn't until I got home that I started feeling peckish, and delicious they were too.
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