Beating down the Potter odds

[ZimbiIV]

Fares please.

[LizG]

Joke you not!

Just won't get you under Potter!

Liz

[pks1702]

Just won't get you under Potter!

Oh I don't know just open and window

[Palmtree]

Cliff Richard might hire it.....

Ian

[C.Ricko]

All this talk of floating coaches is making me wonder wether to MOT the holiday wagon or stick it on a pontoon

http://wakefieldfiles.co.uk/rrf769b.htm

[senator]

Have to say the coach makes the london duck look a bit old hat.

[davebenzine]

Would be great if other parts of the broads could be opened up for better access not just the Potter bridge. Just think if the lock was reinstated at Horstead/Coltishall maybe people would be able to eventually sail up to Aylsham as the wherrys once did?

[goodall_m1]

Would be great if other parts of the broads could be opened up for better access not just the Potter bridge. Just think if the lock was reinstated at Horstead/Coltishall maybe people would be able to eventually sail up to Aylsham as the wherrys once did?

I expect that a major amount of dredging would be required before that was possible...

Still larger restoration projects have occurred in the past, e.g. on various Canals

[MBA Marine]

I expect that a major amount of dredging would be required before that was possible...

Still larger restoration projects have occurred in the past, e.g. on various Canals

A lot of dredging, and a lot of work at Buxton mill. you could also with enough will, desire and funding re-instate though North Walsham to where I am on the Antingham/Southrepps border. Man did this once and I wish enough men cared enough to do it again, it would make our county very special (not to mention increasing the low ground levels and improved drainage)

[Guest]

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that part of the reason why the North Walsham and Dilham canal failed was lack of water to run the locks.

The water table and rainwater catchment area was insufficient, and I believe it was artificially pumped, even during it's commercial use period, one of the reasons it became no longer viable.

Given the nearness of the Horsted to Aylsham section of the Bure, water supply could well have been a limiting factor there too.

The Wherries that used to ply that section were smaller than the standard Broads design too, due to the size of the locks.

[MBA Marine]

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that part of the reason why the North Walsham and Dilham canal failed was lack of water to run the locks.

The water table and rainwater catchment area was insufficient, and I believe it was artificially pumped, even during it's commercial use period, one of the reasons it became no longer viable.

Given the nearness of the Horsted to Aylsham section of the Bure, water supply could well have been a limiting factor there too.

The Wherries that used to ply that section were smaller than the standard Broads design too, due to the size of the locks.

But surely if the land was dug low enough to sea level which for most of Norfolk is not all that far down it would always have water in it, the old N walsham canal can't be more than 4 miles from the coast at any point, including right up as far as i am its about 3 miles to Trimmngham and Overstrand, no need for locks if you lower the trench, there maybe minimal flow from natural land drainage to rivers but it it would rise and fall with the tide. Would it not? I'm no expert here so please correct me.

[Guest]

I'm no expert either, but each lock lifts the water level by approx 2 metres.

The task of lowering a canal bed by even just one lock lift ( 2 metres), would be very expensive and complex.

To undercut an existing waterfilled canal and rebuild and support the raised vertical banks as high level retaining walls would be expensive enough, but the resultant waterway would be like navigating a drain, with vertical sides extending high above any of the boats.

[davebenzine]

They did start building a canel between Burgh and Aylsham but it was never finished, but if you look on google earth you can still seen it even today. It just gets shallower until it becomes a scar in the field next to the river.

[marshman]

Sadly Strow is right (again!) and the old NW & D canal suffered badly from a lack of water - even the Aylsham navigation was never flush (!) with it, the common factor being lack of maintenance in the upper reaches to enable water to actually reach the various extensions. In times of high rainfall perhaps it was not too bad but even this spring there was virtually no water going through the old mill at Horstead.

Perhaps I am being controversial as ever (!) but I believe whilst there is some support for the restoration of these extended reaches, it would only be for unpowered craft and it is inappropriate to expect them to be opened to general traffic - it would certainly not have my support. These reaches are idyllic, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the other bits of the Broads and long may they remain so.

And as for a canal from the sea - that would be handy altering as it would the whole ecology and appeal of the Broads. What would the fisherman say?