Thorpe River Green

[Wussername]

In the news again I see.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/print-1-5766095

[Wussername]

Who owns the River Green?

What can be done?

Indeed what should be done?

Andrew

[vanessan]

Another can of worms for Thorpe perhaps?

[Minifer]

Doesn't the article say the report has been amended to show ownership?  ..."The authority said the report, which was by a professor at the University of East Anglia, had been changed to show the council owns the land and has the right to charge for moorings."

Seems a bit daft to take it any further now. 

[Vaughan]

I had better not say too much as there is still a court action pending, about access to the public staithe, about which I have made a sworn statement.

The report to which the EDP refer says that this was "definitely" a public, not parish staithe. It suggests that the land is really part of the main road and was a typical "common" transfer place from road to river transport.

But it goes back further than that! The present Yarmouth Rd through Thorpe Green is fairly recent, in historical terms. The original main road ran across the high ground behind, a little south of the Plumstead road and was once a Roman road going across Mousehold Heath. It came down and joined the rest of the Yarmouth Rd near what is now the Postwick Hub, where there was a toll house.

Before then, the high ground behind the Green contained extensive sand and gravel workings, South Avenue  and School lane being the main ones. Beech Hill was a sand quarry. All this was loaded onto wherries at two public staithes, one on the Green opposite Harts boatyard and the other on the Norwich side of Thorpe Old Hall at the eastern edge of Carey's Meadow.

Personally I would think it is historically a public staithe even though the town council now claim they own it.

But I don't care who owns it, as long as the ancient legal access from the river to the road is recognised, and maintained. At present, access has been closed off by the council and I for one, question their right to do this.

[JennyMorgan]

I own a public footpath, I would dearly love to ban dog walkers who's dog foul and spoil it for others but I can't. I suspect that owning a public staithe is pretty much the same, you can't pick and choose who uses it.

[Wussername]

Thanks for your reply Vaughan, as ever a fountain of knowledge always welcome in these modern times.

There is however your closing comment:

"At present, access has been closed off by the council and I for one, question their right to do this."

Has this not always been thus. I seem to remember your father, Commander Ashby having  to retire to the Buck to escape the unreasonable and draconian rules and regulations which were imposed upon Hearts Cruisers.

So when you say access has been closed off by the council do you mean vehicle access? Does this mean mother and a child in a pushchair, or indeed disabled parishioners in wheelchairs  or invalid vehicles. Please correct me if I am wrong but I cannot remember any provision being made with regard to those with mobility issues.

Andrew

 

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[Vaughan]

Good point Andrew.

There are gaps in the railings at intervals, for pedestrians, but I couldn't say if they offer wheelchair access.

What has been closed off (with a padlocked gate) is vehicular access to the staithe from the road, in order that goods can be loaded into boats. Instead we now have a mound of earth with a few poppies on it, which is supposed to remember the centenary of the Great War, although the Green has had a war memorial for nearly 100 years already but that is perhaps a side issue!

On another thread only a couple of days ago, I posted a photo of 1948, which showed the old wooden bungalow in which the Hart family lived ever since they moved across to the island in 1845. So at the time of my photo there had already been 100 years of occupation on that site. How else do the town council imagine the Hart family ever lived there, if they didn't have access across the Green to the road? And how do they imagine Hearts Cruisers ever continued that same occupation, without legal access to the staithe? The present occupant lives, with planning permission, on exactly the same site as the Harts' bungalow and he has exactly the same right, to the same access.

You are also right about my father and the parish council. They were never anything but obstructive, to be frank, although the view across the Green to Hearts in those days, made it one of the beauty spots of the whole area. He always referred to the Buck as his branch office and there was a large Hearts flag, mounted over the fireplace!

 

 

[ChrisB]

42 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

I own a public footpath, I would dearly love to ban dog walkers who's dog foul and spoil it for others but I can't. I suspect that owning a public staithe is pretty much the same, you can't pick and choose who uses it.

Moi aussi, exactement.