Railway Swing Bridges And New Cuts

[pastboating]

Please can someone tell me are the swing bridges at Reedham and Somerleyton powered by electricity or hand, How was the original Reedham bridge powered. Also does anyone know when the New Cuts at Thorpe and Reedham were opened.

Thanks

[Vaughan]

The New Cut and the "back reach" in Thorpe were all part of the scheme to "make Norwich a port" and the navigation was opened at about the time the railway was built, in 1844. The development had a lot to do with Samuel Morton Peto and went through Lowestoft as the burghers of Gt Yarmouth wanted to charge too much of a toll for vessels to pass through Yarmouth Haven.

Some swing bridges worked on a huge ring gear, with teeth, rather like a gun turret but Reedham bridge nowadays is worked by cables, running though pulleys on the piers.

[MaceSwinger]

The Haddiscoe Cut (I've always known it just as the New Cut, at Reedham) was fist used in 1833 and built to provide a shortcut for vessels heading from Lowestoft to Norwich and back, but didn't work as well as hoped, was sold off within 10 years and was almost shut altogether in the 1950s. As far as I know both swingbridges run on electricity.

 

Edit: Crikey @Vaughan, you beat me to it!

[Vaughan]

1 minute ago, MaceSwinger said:

was fist used in 1833

We are only 10 years out between us, as well!

I said "around 1844" as I have read different versions as to whether the back reach was built after the railway (and because of it) or the other way round.

[MaceSwinger]

Just now, Vaughan said:

We are only 10 years out between us, as well!

I said "around 1844" as I have read different versions as to whether the back reach was built after the railway (and because of it) or the other way round.

I suspect there's a lot of room for interpretation on 'first use' too. I find it staggering that they used to take commercial vessels down it though, it's not exactly wide!

[Bytheriver]

There is an article on the subject of the "Swing Bridges" provided by Network Rail with the latest information in the January 2021 edition of Harnser (The magazine of the Broads Society) PM for details

[pastboating]

Thank you very much for your quick replies

[JennyMorgan]

The present bridges are second generation, replacing the previous single track structures. This is from Network Rail:

HISTORIC BROADS SWING BRIDGES TO UNDERGO REPAIRS

A pair of century-old railway swing bridges on the Norfolk Broads are set for a much-needed revamp this month as Network Rail engineers carry out a £1.6m programme of repairs on the historic structures.

The bridges at Reedham and Somerleyton, which have been swinging open for fixed-mast river craft since 1905, require regular maintenance to keep them in full working order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The following photo shows the base of St Olaves bridge under construction and the ring that Vaughan has mentioned.

[Meantime]

When I first saw the title of this thread I thought it was going to be about another subject, that of funding cuts. It has been announced that due to the financial hit caused by Covid that 1 in 5 rail services could be axed to save money. The swing bridges have been seriously neglected and I believe were in line for some serious work to be completed on them in the next few years? I wonder how that fairs now with the impending funding cuts? Will the lines be axed totally as part of the 20% of services to be cut?

[Vaughan]

3 hours ago, Meantime said:

Will the lines be axed totally as part of the 20% of services to be cut?

You are not the only harbinger of doom, where our local railways are concerned!  I have predicted this sort of thing before.  The other risk is that they keep the local railway lines running, but decide to weld the bridges shut.  Would the BA be able to stop them, I wonder?

We already know that the Trowse bridge is planned to be replaced by a fixed one, to conform with Chloe Smith MP's much vaunted dream of "Norwich in 90" minutes to London, so who knows?

[Turnoar]

4 hours ago, Meantime said:

When I first saw the title of this thread I thought it was going to be about another subject, that of funding cuts. It has been announced that due to the financial hit caused by Covid that 1 in 5 rail services could be axed to save money. The swing bridges have been seriously neglected and I believe were in line for some serious work to be completed on them in the next few years? I wonder how that fairs now with the impending funding cuts? Will the lines be axed totally as part of the 20% of services to be cut?

That’s the dualling of lines between Hoveton and North Walsham potentially out of the window then; the previous MP was campaigning for it to make a half hourly ‘Norwich every 30’ service. Unless the freight use can warrant it, at present the gas condensate tanker units haul North towards Cromer after exiting the yard and at some point reverse direction and head back South toward Stowmarket destination past from whence it came. I could see the cuts being 1 in 2 on rural lines, after the hash up of the Stadler trains introduction I gave up using the train altogether, sad but missing an important meeting once, making the mistake of waiting for the next train following cancellation only to get minutes notice of the next train being cancelled... it was bye bye Abyellio and I haven’t looked back. Even after Covid what with the white collar equivalent of the industrial revolution commuters could be a rare species next year and I doubt on the previous scale.

[Vaughan]

29 minutes ago, Turnoar said:

Even after Covid what with the white collar equivalent of the industrial revolution commuters could be a rare species next year and I doubt on the previous scale.

And yet they are building all these dormitory villages on farmland around the NDR (sorry - Broads National Parkway) on the basis of their new residents commuting to work in London by rail.  After all, where else are they going to work?  Rackheath?

And according to Norwich City Council, everyone is supposed to go to work on a bicycle anyway!

[JennyMorgan]

My son in-law is perhaps your typical London based commuter, used to hop on the train at Oulton Broad every morning, blew £7,000 plus on fares & hotels a year but is now working from home with daily conference calls between London & the USA. He is now working longer hours but his day is shorter with no journeys. The company that he works for has fully equipped his work space with state of the art computer equipment. I doubt very much that either he or his company will return to an old style London based workplace. Apparently the company's  productivity is up in both the US and the UK, both countries relying on 'working from home' in order to keep going.

[Bytheriver]

1 hour ago, JennyMorgan said:

My son in-law is perhaps your typical London based commuter, used to hop on the train at Oulton Broad every morning, blew £7,000 plus on fares & hotels a year but is now working from home with daily conference calls between London & the USA. He is now working longer hours but his day is shorter with no journeys. The company that he works for has fully equipped his work space with state of the art computer equipment. I doubt very much that either he or his company will return to an old style London based workplace. Apparently the company's  productivity is up in both the US and the UK, both countries relying on 'working from home' in order to keep going.

Its certainly brought many of the improvements of fairly recent IT progress to the fore & underlines the need for last areas of poor internet access to the notice of the authorities to press (even pay for) the final push

[annv]

Where working from home has many advantages i wonder about the future how will replacement workers be trained/shown how to do the work that requires human expert es impute that only comes from following a senor college, retirement will be a problem i fear for replacement's. John

[OldBerkshireBoy]

42 minutes ago, annv said:

Where working from home has many advantages i wonder about the future how will replacement workers be trained/shown how to do the work that requires human expert es impute that only comes from following a senor college, retirement will be a problem i fear for replacement's. John

Friend of mine had to go to the office for initial training period then she was remotely monitored whilst working from home.

[JennyMorgan]

We are also showing that we are prepared to shop on line, to click and collect, no need for the local High Street now. The consequences of Covid 19 will live on.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

11 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

We are also showing that we are prepared to shop on line, to click and collect, no need for the local High Street now. The consequences of Covid 19 will live on.

There are some things where buying online doesn`t work though. However I do fear for the shops.

[MauriceMynah]

The on-line shopping business has only done to the chain stores what they themselves did to the high street shops back in the 60s. Boy are they whinging now!

[Cheesey69]

We are finding new creative ideas and quick solutions to problems just ain’t happening. 
Nor one to one relationships developing with the workforce and all decisions just take too long. 
zoom meetings and emails just takes the spontaneous moments out of the chain of work. 
im forever waiting for answers 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

9 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

The on-line shopping business has only done to the chain stores what they themselves did to the high street shops back in the 60s. Boy are they whinging now!

Are you meaning independent shops.

[MauriceMynah]

Generally speaking, yes.

[CambridgeCabby]

The move away from the high street was already happening , as is evident by the value of companies such as Amazon , what this pandemic has done is merely sped it up , albeit admittedly very rapidly.

Prior to Covid , Cambridge city centre retail space  was already 58% either bar, cafe, sandwich outlets , take always or restaurants compared to less than 2% in the early 1980’s

[JennyMorgan]

If Lowestoft is typical then independent traders are already returning to the High Street. I can only wish them well, having once been an independent trader myself.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

9 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

The move away from the high street was already happening , as is evident by the value of companies such as Amazon , what this pandemic has done is merely sped it up , albeit admittedly very rapidly.

Prior to Covid , Cambridge city centre retail space  was already 58% either bar, cafe, sandwich outlets , take always or restaurants compared to less than 2% in the early 1980’s

Wot no bookies?