Counting Bridges

[Broads01]

In a stressful moment at home one day I decided I needed to "take myself away" for a few minutes so I shut my eyes and imagined myself setting off on a boat from Wroxham. I've found in the past that counting slowly helps relieve stress so I decided to imagine I was on a rapid cruise of the whole Broads and count how many bridges crossed the main navigation (so not counting marina entrances like at Herbert Woods otherwise I'd have had my eyes shut for a long time). I reached 22 - have I missed any ( no cheating by finding a published list)?

1 Wroxham

2 Ludham

3 Wayford

4 Potter Heigham old

5 Potter Heigham main road

6 Acle

7 Great Yarmouth Vauxhall 

8 Great Yarmouth the other one

9 Breydon

10 St Olaves 

11 Somerleyton

12 Beccles main road

13 Beccles old

14 New Cut

15 Reedham

16 Postwick

17 Thorpe railway downstream

18 Thorpe railway upstream

19 Norwich Trowse

20 Norwich footbridge

21 Norwich YS entrance

22 Norwich Bishops (us hirers are banned but I know it's navigable)

 

[vanessan]

Novi Sad in Norwich. (Unless that’s the one you meant by Norwich footbridge!) 

[Smoggy]

Haven

Mutford road

Mutford foot (over lock, don't really count)

Carlton rail

Lowestoft bascule

Not for hirers but on the system.

[grendel]

there are several more past bishops bridge, i have only been up there once, so i cant remember how many

[Paul]

You have only listed one for Wroxham, don't forget the railway bridge

I personally would dispute Smoggy's list as being "on the system" as being outside the area of the control of the Broads Authority would for me make these parts of the relative ports, not part of the Norfolk (and Suffolk!) Broads. 

[Paul]

What I would include is Brograve Bridge on the Waxham New Cut, Brick Kiln Bridge at the head of Tyler's Cut in Dilham, the as far as I'm aware unnamed bridge approaching Rowancraft at Geldeston as well as the Locks footbridge.

[Bluebell]

Sometimes when I  can’t get off to sleep, I imagine setting off on a boating journey, varying the start point, otherwise, I mean it could get boring...

[Turnoar]

1 hour ago, vanessan said:

Novi Sad in Norwich. (Unless that’s the one you meant by Norwich footbridge!) 

Could be that one or the newer one from King Street back of the vicinity of Dragon Hall to riverside opposite the cinema entrance/ Queen of Iceni area plaza? Also Carrow bridge.

Also I know they’re beyond the limit of navigation these days but what about Tonnage etc. carrying on up the Ant? I seem to recall someone saying that hire boats were navigating up to East Ruston as recently as in the 60s?

[Broads01]

I knew I'd miss a few and I can't believe I missed Wroxham railway bridge. I was thinking about bridges on the main Broads navigation, so I wouldn't include the Lowestoft ones. Haven Bridge doesn't count as a Broads bridge does it?

[Smoggy]

How about fye bridge, yet again not for hirers but I've moored near it before so definately navigable.

[SteveO]

1 hour ago, Bluebell said:

Sometimes when I  can’t get off to sleep, I imagine setting off on a boating journey, varying the start point, otherwise, I mean it could get boring...

If I try this, I usually get to the junction of the dyke from our moorings to the River Bure before I drift off.

[marshman]

Don't know about hire boats navigating above Tonnage Bridge on the NW&D Canal but I regularly went up their and moored on Honing Common in my Dads cruiser in the late 60's and early 70's! The girlies of the day loved it - very quiet it was too!!!

[YnysMon]

There’s the Lady Julian footbridge in Norwich, which is upriver from the Novi Sad bridge. It’s the one that spans the river from a point near the Weatherspoons Queen of the Iceni pub.

I must remember this counting bridges strategy when I next have difficulty sleeping. 

[SwanR]

7 minutes ago, YnysMon said:

I must remember this counting bridges strategy when I next have difficulty sleeping. 

My strategy of late is to imagine I'm camping out somewhere, like some of these outdoors YouTube channels we watch now.

[ChrisB]

How many bridges is Wroxham Bridge? One or three?

Ancient Arched Bridge

Road Bailey over old in 69, replaced by umbrella 92

Footbridge.

I seem to remember reading that the original arched bride has been altered and rebuilt between the 1500s and early 1900s on a number of occasions, also that the "over bridges" were not built because of weakness in the original structure but to provide two way traffic.

 

[YnysMon]

I’ve only passed under two on the way up to Coltishall.

[LizG]

Geldeston old railway bridge. Never been under just around it. Otherwise I've been under all bridges even beyond Lake Lothing in a dinghy with outboard. Saying that never been under Haven Bridge just over!  

[webntweb]

Martham swing bridge

[Broads01]

2 hours ago, YnysMon said:

There’s the Lady Julian footbridge in Norwich, which is upriver from the Novi Sad bridge. It’s the one that spans the river from a point near the Weatherspoons Queen of the Iceni pub.

I must remember this counting bridges strategy when I next have difficulty sleeping. 

That's the footbridge I was thinking of. I can't picture the Novi Sad bridge to be honest, I can't have been to Norwich enough.

 

1 hour ago, webntweb said:

Martham swing bridge

Darn it, another one I'd forgotten.

[YnysMon]

1 hour ago, webntweb said:

Martham swing bridge

Forgot about that one as you can’t go under it. We had to scandilise our sails when approaching it on one occasion though, when it closed as we were approaching. That was in the days when Hunter’s Yard boats were purely sail/quant powered.

[BroadAmbition]

Geldeston old railway bridge. Never been under just around it.

That coz there is only about 6" water depth under it !

Griff

[LizG]

7 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Geldeston old railway bridge. Never been under just around it.

That coz there is only about 6" water depth under it !

Griff

Now maybe but not before the bypass was built

Also the footbridges into and in Woods yard at Potter

 

[BroadAmbition]

I wonder why they went to the trouble of digging out the bypass rather than just dredging under the bridge?  How long ago was the bypass dug out?

Griff

[vanessan]

8 hours ago, Broads01 said:

I can't picture the Novi Sad bridge to be honest

You can’t miss it - it’s the white one! (You can moor up just downstream of it and pop to the huge Morrison’s near Carrow Road. Loads of other useful stores there too.) 

[LizG]

48 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

I wonder why they went to the trouble of digging out the bypass rather than just dredging under the bridge?  How long ago was the bypass dug out?

Griff

I assume once the line closed (early 1960s) it was easier to bypass it - the height under the bridge is pretty limited!

I found a link years ago to the 'swing bridge' in Herbert Woods yard by the sheds but can't find it now!