May 11 - Cambridge to Ely

 May 11  - Cambridge to Ely

Only a short drive of 17 miles to Ely today giving us plenty of time for a side visit to a National Trust Nature Reserve, Wicken Fen.  The fen, a type of peat-accumulating wetland, is also a Site of Special Scientific Special Interest and is renowned for its diversity of flora and fauna with over 9,000 species recorded there.  Well set up for visitors we walked for about 5k along boardwalks stopping a number of stops to  “twitch” from the bird hides.  We also went on a boat ride along one of the many man-made watercourses, which was great, and with a very interesting commentary by the ‘skipper’.  The whole morning though could have been much nicer if all the rain that we didn’t have in April hadn’t dropped in just a few hours! ☔️ 😊

Once in Ely, booked into our accommodation and dry, we’re off to see one of the UK’s most impressive cathedrals.  We’re only here for one night, and with the cathedral being the sole purpose of our visit, we arrived at lunchtime to ensure we had plenty of time to see it. However, on arrival we’re informed that it’s closed for a private ceremony! Aaaargh!  Anyway after a bit of thought though we reckoned (hoped!) that if we went to evensong tonight, and got there early, we might just be lucky enough to get a quick wander around before proceedings start, and we were! 😀  So, for a 45 minute service of psalms, prayers, and hymns (which, to be fair, was quite nice), we got to see the inside of Ely Cathedral along with the added bonus of saving 17 quid on entry fees! Result!

From the “Stained Glass” museum 
in the cathedral