NorfolkGreg@mlanger @PKYo @pthane @PublicWolf
There's a report with more details at:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=839140441777288&set=a.313422657682405
Bobbing Boat@gregc @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
Are you sure that figure—one boat—is correct? Maybe I'm misunderstanding, since geography is not my strength. 😅
Last summer I was to be one of four boats that crossed The Wash, Kings Lynn to Boston, together with a pilot. I had to turn back, but the others went.
That's three boats I know of, on what I think are the Norfolk Broads. Two of them came down the Nene from Northampton. I was on the far side of Northampton with one of them when I had to turn back.
@PKYo @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
"The Wash" is the square bite out of the east coast of #England that separates the East Cost of #Lincolnshire and the North coast of #Norfolk.
"The Broads" are the collection of rivers and their associated flooded medieval peat diggings that drain into the North Sea at #GreatYarmouth and #Lowestoft, the most easterly point of England.
Here's the bridge in question, over the #River #Thurne. Headroom at the top of the arch is around 6ft currently. It is downstream of #Hickling Broad, the the largest of the broads, some 1,500 acres. There's also the #Martham #Broad (approx 150 acres) and #Horsey #Mere (82 acres) above it and various other lesser stretches of water. There is some tidal effect below the bridge, sufficient after heavy rain and at high Spring tides to stop water flowing downstream through the bridge and hence keep water levels high above the bridge.
More from the article follows.
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@PKYo @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
Norfolk Live
19 September 19:00
A Broads tradition could soon disappear due to rising water levels.
Pilot services once took about 13,000 boats a year through Potter Heigham’s medieval bridge on the River Thurne.
But this year, just one vessel was guided through.
The landmark, built in the 14th century, is a notorious navigational hazard and has about 6ft of headroom to pass through.
Pilots are required to be used for hire boats to pass through and the river crossing is a frequent focus of videos showing failed attempts at passing through.
In recent years, high water levels have made it nearly impossible to fit under, except for smaller craft.
The matter came up at a recent Broads Authority navigation committee meeting, in which members discussed how it should decide its priority areas for dredging and plant cutting.
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@PKYo @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
Some members stated that maintenance of areas easily accessible by motor cruisers and hire boats should take priority, as more money is raised from toll fees from such vessels.
Sue Cadamy, who operates a hire boat firm based in Hoveton, said: “Pilots once took 13,000 boats through Potter Heigham Bridge in 1997.
“In 2023, it was three, in 2024, it was zero and in 2025, they took one.
“About 99% of boats are not getting through anymore.
“The only thing going through Potter Heigham Bridge now are day boats and sailing yachts.”
3/3 Oops! Now 4
@PKYo @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
Robin Richardson, who runs boat-building firm Phoenix Fleet with his brother Patrick, confirmed their pilot services had “fallen steadily” since 2000, blaming rising water in the Bure system.
He added: “This year, the driest on record, water remained high all year with an average height under the bridge of about six feet.”
Speculation about the cause has led some to wonder if deeper dredging of the lower Bure would help drain the amount of water in the system.
But an Environment Agency report found that dredging the section of the river between Yarmouth and Reedham, known as the Bure Hump, would not be cost-effective due to the minimal benefits it would have upstream.
During the navigation committee meeting, it was also noted that the size of hire boats may have increased, adding to the challenges of passing under the bridge.
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@gregc @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
It's hard to tell the scale on a photo, but it looks like it will clear. If I were going under that bridge I'd be paying close attention, though.
That poor bridge will have taken a beating as the water levels rose.
Don't you wish they could divert some of that water into canal reservoirs…?
@PKYo @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
The photo is of my first attempt at the #ThreeRiversRace in 2006. That's my SeaHawk a 17ft craft with only sitting headroom inside.
@PKYo @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
And here's some typical clips from YouTube
https://youtube.com/shorts/4hWU6ZXVIOE?si=7L7BNXCnfO1pG_eo
@PKYo @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
And here's when I passed under #PotterHeigham #bridge on a hired #yacht in 1966. I was a few days over 18 and was able to hire it with my younger brother and two #schoolfriends.
Read the story of the week, during which we sprang a leak in the hull and were holed above the waterline while moored on Hickling Broad.
@PKYo @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
@PKYo said
"Last summer I was to be one of four boats that crossed The Wash, Kings Lynn to Boston, together with a pilot. I had to turn back, but the others went."
Was that the party that included the family that post as "Taylors Aboard a Narrowboat" on YouTube? I watched their crossing.
@gregc @mlanger @pthane @PublicWolf
No. It was Fran and Henry aboard Way To Blue, David and his whippet Zig aboard a boat whose name I forgot, and a boater I never met aboard a boat I never saw but definitely heard about.