The Norfolk Broads
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| Most people assume that the
Norfolk Broads are a natural phenomenon, but they are
actually the result of medieval peat diggings that
became flooded. (The name Barton Turf gives some
indication of this earlier activity.) There are a number
of different Broads - some connected to the Northern
rivers such as the Thurne, the Ant and the
Bure - while
others that belong to the River Yare - such as Rockland and
Surlingham Broad. In
addition, there is Oulton Broad which lies over the
border in Suffolk. G. Christopher Davis
The Norfolk Broads as a holiday
destination was popularised, in large part, by G. Christopher Davis in his books
The Handbook to the Rivers
and Broads of Norfolk and Suffolk. The handbook
was first published in 1882 and subsequently ran for fifty editions. Here is a beautiful
description of wherries which used to carry cargoes
through the Broads:
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'No Broad scene would be complete without the presence of
a wherry, which is perhaps the most picturesque and
graceful of all sailing goods-carrying craft, and
certainly the swiftest and handiest of all which voyage
on smooth waters. The course of the river through the
green marshes is, where the water is itself invisible,
marked by the tall high-peaked sails of these craft,
which seem to be gliding along the land itself.' |
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However, Davis was aided by the fact that new railway
lines (The Great Eastern) were opening up the county.
The line to
Norwich arrived in1844. His work also coincided with the
increase in leisure time and the beginnings of mass
tourism.
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Hugh Money-CouttsIn 1919 Money-Coutts
published an account, in verse, of a tour through the
Norfolk Broads entitled The Broads. The quality
of the poetry may not have been tip-top but the
topographical details are fascinating:
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On Breydon Water, when the tide is out,
The channel bounds no sailorman can doubt
Starboard and port, the miry banks reveal
Where safety lies beneath its cautious keel.
But when the flood has wiped the water clean,
- Hiding the muddy haunts where seagulls preen
Their wings, and shake their heads - black pillars mark
The channel's edge for each adventuring bark. |
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Arthur Ransome
Arthur Ransome visited the area in the 1930s and soon
began to use the area as inspiration for his childrens'
books Coot Club (1934) and The Big Six
(1940). Both of these stories centre upon the village of
Horning. Ransome was knowledgeable about both sailing and
the bird life of the Broads and his descriptions are
detailed and affectionate. Here is a passage from
Coot Club, which bears some resemblance to Davis'
description above:
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'And so, rejoicing in their freedom, the outlaw and his
friends sailed on their way, through a country as flat
as Holland, past huge old windmills, their sails
creaking round, pumping the water from the low-lying
meadows on which the cows were grazing actually below
the level of the river. Far away over the meadows, other
sails were moving on Ant and Thurne, white sails of
yachts and big black sails of trading wherries.' |
Interestingly, Ransome seems to have been aware that it
would be the coming of the motor-cruisers that would
spoil the pristine wilderness
of the Broads. In Coot Club - it is the noisy,
uncouth 'Hullabaloos' aboard the Margoletta who
are the villains of the story. They disregard the speed
limits, cut up the sailing boats and spend much of their
time in the riverside pubs - when not pursuing Tom, Dick
and Dorothea along the River Bure. Our heroes, in
contrast, navigate the water ways in the gentle,
wind-powered Teasel.
Soon would come the explosion of the Broads holiday trade
and the deterioration of the environment - a far cry from P. H.
Emerson's nineteenth century photographs of reed
cutters and marshmen. The escape of coypu into the
Broads also had a part to play in bank erosion - a
problem which was greatly exacerbated by the wash from
the cruisers. |
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Rockland Broad |
Rockland Broad |
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George MacBeth In 1979 the poet George MacBeth
moved to the Old Rectory at Oby. The house is situated
on a slight rise overlooking the low-lying land and
marshes of the River Bure and River Thurne. This unique
landscape inspired him to write his collection Poems
from Oby. Here is the first verse of his poem
Yuletide in Norfolk:
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The long-ships drove up the Bure, and the horned men
were
there to rape and to burn,
Seeding their names, Rollesby and Billockby, Fleggburgh,
Clippesby and Thurne,
Ashby and Oby. Our church roofs came from the rot of
each
oak-warped stern.Read complete
poem |
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One of the best views of Broadland can be obtained from
the top of the tower of St. Helen's Church at
Ranworth -
sometimes referred to as 'the cathedral of the broads'.
The tower has 89 uneven steps - followed by two ladders
and a heavy trap door which gives access to the roof.
Once outside, there is a magnificent view of both
Malthouse and Ranworth
Broad. It was on Ranworth Broad that Dick and Dorothea
in Coot Club first learn to sail. Further a field can be seen St. Benet's Abbey -
not to mention hundreds of church spires. With the
aid of binoculars, it is also possible to see
Happisburgh
lighthouse and the spire of Norwich Cathedral.
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Barton Broad |
Today the Broads Authority is eager to promote the area
as a centre for sustainable tourism and is therefore
encouraging the use of electric boats.
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Links:
Broads
Authority
Museum of
the Broads Arthur
Ransome Society
Norfolk Wherry
Trust
Wilds of
Norfolk |
Supported
by Norfolk Tourism