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flooded when sea levels rose.
Man-made features
The River Yare is no longer a commercial waterway, it was used by Coasters along the whole of its length from Norwich to the sea at Gt. Yarmouth. In fact the first sugar beet factory to be
built in this country is situated on the banks of the Yare at cantley 13 miles upstream of Gt. Yarmouth. Until quite recently oil was still brought to the factory by Coaster, but road
transport is to be used in future.
A canal like section dug in 1833 and still called the New Cut, was constructed to encourage commercial traffic to use the docks at Lowestoft rather than Gt. Yarmouth. Its purpose being to
reduce the distance from the Yare downstream of Reedham to the Waveney above St Olaves so reducing the distance to the Port of Lowestoft by seven miles.
There are other man made features on the broads the most noticeable being the Windmills, or to be more accurate Wind pumps, for they are used to drain the water from the surrounding land, into
the high level system of the broads and tidal rivers. The wind pumps at Horsey Mere and Berney Arms on the Yare are well worth a visit, the latter only being accessible by river or railway.
Windmills, can be found on the broads, the one at Sutton was used to grind corn, but now its the home of Sutton Pottery
The bridges are also interesting features both old and new alike. One of the more recent being Breydon Bridge (photo) which carries the Gt. Yarmouth bypass across Breydon Water. There should be no problem with headroom here, as the opening span has over 11 ft headroom and the two adjacent spans, 13 ft at average high water. One of the most difficult bridges to navigate is the semicircular old road bridge at Potter Heigham(photo),
this has a centre height of only 6 ft 9 ins the sides dropping sharply to the water. Hire craft capable of passing through the bridge are required to use the free services of a pilot, crowds usually gather on warm summer afternoons to watch the skills of the pilots as they take cruisers as long as 42 ft safely under the bridge.
The Wherries
The Norfolk Wherry was once a important trading vessel over the centuries it slowly developed into the craft we may be lucky enough to see today. The Wherries were shallow draft boats
specially built for the Broads, with strong hulls usually clinker-built of oak, their masts well forward to allow maximum space in the hold, their masts were counterbalanced to make raising
and lowering quick and easy, enabling the Wherries to quickly pass beneath the low Broads bridges. Many were used by the Colman Mustard empire until rail and road transport took over. The up
and coming interest in holidays on the broads revived the Wherry, some were converted and some specially built as pleasure Wherries.
The Albion (photo), probably the most famous Wherry was built by B. Brighton in 1898 at Oulton Broad, she is 58' long and 15' wide and just under 23 tons in
weight. She has the traditional black sail, but unlike other clinker-built Wherries, she was built with planks joined flush at the seams- carvel-built. Like other Wherries she was used by
Colman's of Norwich as a lighter. Her working days are long gone and now she is maintained by the Norfolk Wherry Trust and when not sailing the Broads, she can be seen at her base in Womack
Dyke.
Another interesting Wherry is the Pleasure Wherry Hathor (photo), she was built in 1905 by Halls of Reedham for Ethel and Helen Colman, of mustard fame,
daughters of Jeremiah J Colman. Her interior has an Egyptian influence with inlaid Lotus flowers and hieroglyphics. She is now operated by the Wherry Yacht Charter.
Both of these Wherries
are available for hire, the links are listed at my Waterways Links page.
Flora and Fauna
The Broads are a haven for all types of wildlife from the Cream bordered Green Pea moth to the Swan. Some are more difficult to spot than others, but, if you have a keen eye birds like the
Bittern and Sedge Warbler may be seen and even if you can't see them, perhaps you might hear the distinctive call of the Water Rail as it grunts and squeals.
One of the first Nature Reserves on the Broads is now part of Martham Broad Nature Reserve, this along with Hickling Broad and Heigham Sound Nature Reserves, just north east of Potter Heigham,
form a large area in one of the quieter parts of Broadland where birds may be seen. The broads here are very shallow and you must navigate between the marked channels, and at certain times of
the year cruising may be restricted. A Water Trail which operates from Hickling Staithe takes a small number of visitors to these shallow areas and also to specially constructed hides where
birds can be viewed undisturbed. This area is also an anglers paradise where, out of the main navigable channel good fishing for Bream, Perch, Roach and Rudd can be found. Look out too for
the many butterflies, among them the Swallow Tail (photo), at over 7 cm across the largest in Britain.
What you can not miss though, are the reed banks that grow alongside many stretches of river and broad, its not wise to moor against them as they are easily damaged and provide protection
against bank erosion. You may be surprised to know that reed beds have to be managed (not all are) otherwise they would turn into a waste land of alder thicket. Norfolk reed is reputably the
finest in the world and so are the Thatchers that work with it, but if you are from the West Country you may disagree!
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