Britain's official guide to canals, rivers and lakes

Monday 7th July 2008

 

River Nene

The Nene is a quintessentially English river, its languid waters skirting settlements and gliding through timeless countryside.

In Northamptonshire the river meanders through farmland and the industry of Northampton, Wellingborough and Irthlingborough. From here it flows through a rural landscape of gently rolling hills interspersed with numerous traditional stone villages and quiet country churches, for which the "country of squires and spires" is famous.

This landscape then gives way to the vastness of the Fens with its huge horizons. As the link between the canal system and the Fenland waterways, the Nene is an important boating route, and has been greatly improved in recent years. With its guillotine gates, water-meadows and slow, winding course, it has a delightful atmosphere all its own.