Ferry 'Cross The Meadow

For the third time in about as many weeks, I found myself spending a weekend down at Nene Park, and more specifically, Ferry Meadows. My previous visits have been to the Nene Valley Railway that runs through the park, and ironically, it was the railway that indirectly brought me here today. Shortly after I uploaded Grumpy Git Productions’ epic movie (tongue firmly in cheek, I hasten to add) Murder on the Ferry Meadows Express, I received an e-mail from Bob Currell at Poshboatz asking if I’d be interested in creating a promotional video for his cruises on Overton Lake and the River Nene. The trips are operated by a unique luxury Bennington Pontoon Boat, similar to the type of craft seen in the Florida Everglades, or starring in Miami Vice.

I spent a day mulling the idea over as I drove around at work. Being a truck driver makes you a bit of a philosopher; it’s an ideal job to do if you need some quality thinking time every so often. As I zipped up and down the A1 – sorry, I was in the Iveco that week; make it ‘lurched’ up and down the A1 – I ran various scenarios through my mind, regarding the possibilities of filming. Bob had told me that various elements could be incorporated into the film as he offered regular trips around the lake, some trips up and down sections of the River Nene and charter trips for private hire that also included a high-speed sprint up and down the lake. All of this opened up plenty of interesting possibilities for filming, and I was keen to try a completely new project.

A date was agreed, and then it was fingers crossed and pray for a nice day in this barbeque summer we’re sort of not having. By now I had various ideas about filming and had done my research – I watched Titanic. There would be at least two, and maybe three films in all. One would focus on the lake trips that Bob runs most weekends during the season. The longer charters and river excursions deserved a video of their own, and as both of these films would be destined for Bob’s website, they would need some royalty free music overlaid on them to avoid making anyone cross. I also wanted to do a film for myself to put in this blog; I have something of an overblown sense of drama (you don’t say) and have a vision of what I wanted to achieve running through my head, along with a grandiose soundtrack to accompany it, of course! I rather object to legal niceties getting in the way of my creativity, I have to say. I am more than happy to pay to download some tracks, as I do believe that whoever has composed and performed some music should receive a reward. Once paid for, however, I also wish to add that track to a video and stick it on YouTube – as long as I’m not making money out of it, then all I’m doing is bringing that music to a wider audience – the whole point of music in the first place, I think. M’lud.

Anyway, with the vision sorted, all that remained was to put it into practise. The forecast was promising, so I decided to start at dawn to film some scene-setting sequences. Daybreak is my favourite time of day, particularly on water, so it was too good a chance to miss. It also offered the benefit of getting a parking place. I got to Nene Park at around 05:30 just as the sun was gearing up for the day in a thankfully cloudless sky – somebody up there clearly likes Bob. Big style. I retrieved my transport for the day out of the car – my trusty bike was having another outing! This would be ideal for commuting around the lake and alongside the river, as Ferry Meadows is well served by cycle paths. I spent some time getting film and photos as the new day woke up; the reflections in the glass-calm of the lake and river were outstanding. The park that thrums with visitors during the day was serene and quiet, with only birds and rabbits up and about, and wondering why some nutter was also up so early on a Saturday.

With dawn sorted out photographically, I met Bob at the landing stage and we went through the day’s schedule over a mug of coffee. The morning would be taken up with filming from the boat as we cruised around the lake before a couple of high speed runs, and then venture up and downstream for more footage. Returning to shore, I would disembark so that all the previous runs could be re-run, but with passengers aboard, and I’d be filming from the lake and riverside. During the afternoon, Bob would run his normal lake cruises and that would give me plenty of opportunity for further filming and photos. It was a good schedule to work with, and made life so much easier.

The boat itself is an amazing piece of kit. I’ve never seen anything like it in the UK, and indeed this one had been specially imported from America. The Bennington 2575 RFS has 12 luxury leather seats (with cupholders – I like that) and is known as a ‘Pontoon Boat’ as it essentially has two narrow hulls connected by a single deck across the top. This particular boat is top of the range, and the moment you step aboard, you feel like James Bond. It would be a wonderful way to spend an evening; cruising the river with a glass of Zinfandel or vodka martini; a bevy of bikini-clad beauties sunning themselves at the stern, with perhaps a string quartet playing Debussy while you nibbled on a sausage-on-a-stick (look, this is Peterborough, all right?)


Filming was a great experience, and the local bird life played to the camera on several occasions. For some of those occasions, I even had the camera switched on and pointing in the right direction. Boy, is filming wildlife tricky! I have more respect than ever for David Attenborough and his camera crews.


The high-speed runs were exhilarating, as the bow of the boat lifts up and planes at speed. Out on the Nene, we headed upstream first, through the beautiful woods in Nene Park as far the lovely stone arched bridge at Milton Ferry.



Downstream, we cruised through the extensive Peterborough Yacht Club moorings as far as Orton Lock, just in time to see a launch entering to negotiate the section of river that runs through Peterborough city centre.


After that, we returned past the golf club (yes, I got an action shot!) and back into the lake. Bob then took on real passengers, while I basically commuted from place to place for photos and filming. We kept in touch by two-way radio, so I felt more like than Spielberg than ever. I haven’t got round to calling everyone ‘luvvie’ yet, but that day cannot be far away. Let’s just hope I’m not at work when it does come, I say …

As always in filming, I got some magnificent shots that worked better than I could ever have hoped for, and others that just didn’t work – my voiceovers on these shots tend to be clear and succinct; you don’t notice you’re doing it until you play the clips back at home and hear a veritable feast of Gordon Ramsey expletives coming out of the computer! It's frustrating to be halfway through a fantastic panning shot and then knock the tripod over, though. “Oh dear, what a silly-billy I am,” is the correct phrase to use in this context. And that’s what I’ll say next time …..

By mid afternoon I had plenty of footage and filled two SD cards, so it was time to head for home and the long job of uploading everything. Editing will follow, and in due course I hope to have a film ready for release. It really was a great day out; thanks must go to Bob at Poshboatz for coming up with idea and being great to work with on the day, and I’m even grateful to whoever was doing the weather today, as it was rather nice.

I need a nice one-liner to bring this piece to a close, so I’ll let Ratty do the honours, “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."