River Nene, Peterborough

The River Nene flows in a north-easterly direction through Northamptonshire in the Midlands, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and bordering Norfolk.

In Northamptonshire the river meanders through farmland and the industry of Northampton, Wellingborough and Irthlingborough.The Nene also links the Grand Union Canal to the River Great Ouse, via the Middle Level System and rises at sources near Badby, Naseby and Yelvertoft, and then becomes navigable at Northampton where these tributaries combine.

The Environment Agency navigation starts at the junction with the Northampton arm of the Grand Union Canal near Cotton End Lock and extends for 147 km (91 miles), ending at Bevis Hall just upstream of Wisbech.

The river becomes tidal below the Dog-in-a-Doublet Lock, when it flows through Lincolnshire to the once busy port of Wisbech. It then flows on to the port at Sutton Bridge before entering the North Sea at the Wash between two towers known as 'the lighthouses'.

Although boat traffic is gradually increasing on this waterway, it is still quiet compared with the major regional navigation, the River Great Ouse, and the country's canals. (Source: Environment Agency)

The word 'Nene' appears to have a couple of different pronunciations depending where you are from. In Peterborough, it tends to be pronounced 'neen' whereas I have heard people from Northamptonshire pronounce it as 'nen'. Who's right/wrong?

The above photograph, taken sometime in the 1920s by Harold Thompson, would have been taken from the town bridge looking towards the railway. The railway bridge in the photograph still exists today in that form. 'The World's Best Ladders' is what the sign on the building to the right says, the sign underneath reads 'The Patent Safety Ladder Company' (Thanks to Marcus Thompson & Marion Brown for pointing that one out).

Video clip of the building of Peterborough Town Bridge, 1934.