Good afternoon all. Just joined NBN and I'm fascinated by Speaker's Corner - it is an accurate reflection of comments being made elsewhere.
I feel very strongly that a huge chunk of Broads Heritage has nothing to do with what's ashore - it's about the ,000's of vessels which have been so vital for the area's economy for well over 2,000 years.
I have been working on a report, which articulates some people's concerns about the current 'National Park' execrcise.
I've drafted the following to set the scene for this and would welcome comments on its accuracy and / or whether it entertains. The final version will have some pictures with it.
Why is Navigation so important for the Broads? A potted history
Public Rights of Navigation
There is a great deal of evidence of Public Rights of Navigation (PRN) in Britain throughout our recorded history. It was the Romans who first recorded laws granting them. This continued through Saxon charters and the Magna Carta, to the work of the Commissioners for Sewers who were charged with the removal of obstructions to navigation, mostly fish weirs.
Subsequent to Magna Carta in 1215, there were 20 further statutes to define and reinforce those PRN’s, ncluding, in 1708, “An Act for rendering more effectual the Laws concerning Commissions of Sewers”. Of course, legislation has continued evolving ever since.
The statutory right of navigation on all rivers capable of navigation was completely unquestioned for 1800 years. Over the last 200 years a different view has been formed by some lawyers, landowners and other bodies, based on riparian rights (rights associated with property bordering rivers). But it is an accepted principle of English law that such private rights are subservient to public rights.
Origins of the Broads
There is a very good video explaining the rather unusual history which created the waterways we now call the Broads here: https://www.visitnorfolk.co.uk/explore/Broads-history-of-the-Broads.aspx
In Roman times, the area was a saltwater estuary with ship navigation stretching to Whitlingham up the Yare, Bungay (the Waveney) and Wroxham (the Bure). The Thurne was open to the sea at Horsey, creating Flegg Island (a Viking name) and Great Yarmouth was nothing more than a sand spit at the mouth of the estuary.
As water levels dropped, rivers were formed, and between the 12th and 14th centuries peat digging became a popular and prosperous industry. It is estimated that more than 900 million cubic feet of peat were extracted, and the work was very labour-intensive. During this period, the area of east Norfolk was officially recorded as the most densely populated in England.
Digging took place until the 14th century, when the massive holes that had been created gradually began to fill with water as the sea levels rose again, creating the ‘Broads’, and the rivers were gradually managed to connect them, to create the waterways we know today.
Commerce in the middle ages
Throughout the 16th century. Norwich was the second largest city in England after London and its tradeable goods of wool, weaving, reed (for thatching), sedge (for horse bedding) and agricultural produce were exported throughout Britain, and indeed the world, from the port of Great Yarmouth. The waterways were also used to transport coal, bricks, timber and tiles.
By this time, ships were no longer able to navigate much of the waterways and the much smaller ‘Keels’, direct descendants of Viking long ships and unique to the Broads, were developed for the purpose
These were later replaced by the more efficient ‘Wherry’, a derivative of a Keel, some of which are still sailing today and are icons of Broads navigation.
Leisure
In the 19th century, the arrival of the railways brought about a catastrophic decline in the demand for Wherries to transport goods. However, they also brought holidaymakers and some of the more astute wherry operators seized the opportunity to fit their vessels out with cabins and other accommodation to entertain them. Thus, the Broads boating holiday was born.
From the middle of that century, yacht racing became so popular on the Broads that regattas became like horse racing is today, with crowds of spectators, many yachts and large prize money, funded by betting (a single race prize could be equivalent to £7,000 in today’s money). This in turn funded rapid developments in design, in pursuit of not only the prize money, but the glory of winning races. In a very short space of time, boats morphed from cumbersome, commercial craft to achingly beautiful yachts with long ‘spoon’ bows, counter sterns, enormous bowsprits and massive ‘pot hunter’ rigs, sailed by professional crews. Some of these are still racing today. The legacy of that period is the largest fleet of traditional yachts in Europe and a regatta calendar crammed full for the whole season, encompassing 50 clubs, classes and associations with around 10,000 individual members
Those improvements in design quickly found their way into the holiday industry, and by the end of the century, more adventurous holidaymakers had the privilege of skippering their own (somewhat smaller) vessel. Of course, the arrival of the internal combustion engine made this holiday even more accessible and spawned the hire fleets we see today, although sailing craft, directly descended from those Victorian racers, are still available for hire.
As our affluence grew in the second half of the 20th century, and GRP construction became commonplace, private ownership of both sailing and motor craft grew rapidly, and in 2019, around 10,500 paid tolls to the BA. Add in the hire craft and over 12,000 vessels provided roughly half its annual budget. These numbers exclude canoes which are exempt from tolls.
Commerce now
The volume of goods carried by river today is negligible. However, equally valuable ‘goods’ have replaced them, in the form of holidaymakers and private owners. Despite the BA’s small budget and Executive Area, the region has a huge effect on local communities and commerce. A separate paper “Perceived and Actual” reports the following statistics for water-related tourism and the entirety (private + hire + land-basd) of Broads industry and commerce.
· Visitors per year: 7.6 million
· Contribution to local economy: £648M
· Employment: 13,000 +
· People directly affected by BA decisions (excluding visitors): ~100,000
· Toll-paying craft: ~12,000
· Stakeholder MP’s: 7
· Parishes wholly or partly within the BE Executive Area: 93
Therefore, any event which puts navigation at risk could have a devastating effect on a very large number of people, jobs, businesses and communities, and potentially destroy a marine heritage dating back over 2 millennia.
This is why so many people are so very concerned about the continued propagation, of the ‘Broads National Park” myth, so relentlessly promoted by the Broads Authority. Not in its own right, but because of the potential for conservation to eventually hold the whip hand in the management of the Broads, putting navigation at risk.