A tough decision and three idyllic moorings.

So the Herbie Award for Best Overnight Mooring goes to . .


Hang on a minute, we have some reader votes. Amy likes Cambridge, Vally likes Ely, and Simon laments the exclusion of Brentford. all good suggestions but it just goes to show you can't please all the people all of the time.


Security in the city, clean surroundings, plenty of sitting outside space, modern but stylish architecture, welcoming helpful staff (really!) and handy for everything. Unashamedly urban AND, most unusually, they actually do get people to observe the No Continuous Mooring rules. It had to be . . . . big fanfare . . .

Paddington basin.

Now for the nominations for Best Overnight Moorings (Rural). A really tough one this. What is rural anyway? Do we mean remote from the built environment? Would a pub mooring at the edge of a small village qualify? Or even a pretty spot not far from a town?

Well here are our three nominations.

1. Wicken Fen - you can't get more rural than this. Slap bang in the middle of a beautiful nature reserve, quite a way off the main river Ouse in Cambridgeshire. Marsh Harriers overhead, an abundance of wild flowers and water plants and creatures, and really really peaceful.

2. GOBA moorings near Earith.

A quiet spot on short tidal section of the main river where we sat out late into the evening listening to the burbling of the oystercatchers and watching a barn owl patrolling the far bank. Then, just as it was getting dark, a huge swirl in the water right by the boat and a seal popped up its head to stare at us before disappearing again into the dark water. Magic. Of course

the b*%!*y camera was nowhere to hand at the time. Typical.

3. Fotheringhay on the river Nene. One of the rare places you have to pay for mooring overnight, but well worth the three quid it costs. You can moor beneath the beautiful church up stream of the bridge,

or below the bridge next to the mound that is all that remains of the castle where Mary Queen of Scots met her end.

Either way, it's lovely. Loads of space for a picnic. A couple of minutes stroll into the pretty village with a spledid pub for eating or drinking. What more could you want.

A tough decision. I'll sleep on it then announce the winner.