River Great Oust
The river that runs through the city of Bedford is called River Great Oust. Along one side of the river is a road that is called The Embankment. We were walking along the opposite side of the river toward town looking for the bridge to cross over to where the Bedford River Festival was taking place.
River boats, also called narrow boats, are common on the rivers of England. This River Festival has been operating for forty years and was started to celebrate the completion of a navigable waterway from Bedford to the coast. There is a contest for the best decorated narrow boat.
Owning and operating one of these crafts can be a lot of work but it can be your home for the summer months.
There were some interesting trees along the trail. Look at the trunk of this tree.
One tree, the inner one, is being choked off by the other vine like trees growing around its trunk. The vines have been cut so that they will not kill the larger tree within so that it does not break down like the tree trunk below.
As we near the bridge there is a plaque about the baptism of John Bunyan in the river in 1650.
As we crossed the bridge, we could see the course set out for the river kayaking competition. Just around the corner, out of reach of the camera, Newfoundland rescue dogs were swimming in the river demonstrating their water rescue skills.
There is a Grand Parade of Narrow boats and a separate Grand Parade of Cabin Cruisers.
Thank you for the interesting tour. It would be fun to visit the place where John Bunyon was baptized. I enjoyed seeing the river and those trees and even the vines that would kill off the trees if they hadn’t gotten cut.