Читать книгу The Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk - G. Christopher Davies - Страница 5

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“Do you mean to say,” said Wynne, “that these Broads are worth my giving up a few days to seeing them?”

“If you will give up a fortnight, I promise you that you will find it too short. You went to the Friesland Meres years ago, and enjoyed it. You will like these quite as well.”

So he promised to come for a fortnight, rather reluctantly, and when, on his arrival in Norwich, he took a preliminary canter by rail to Yarmouth, he refused to say anything about what he thought of the country, which looked ominous. We had hired a ten-ton cutter, and she was lying at Thorpe, a mile and a half below the city. The man we had engaged rowed the jolly-boat up for us, and as Wynne was enthusiastic about old buildings, we rowed him up the river to the New Mills, a very old mill, which spans the river Wensum near its entrance into the city. From thence we came back along the narrow sinuous river, overhung with buildings, many of them ancient and picturesque, under numerous bridges, wharves where wherries were loading or unloading, using the half-lowered mast as cranes, past the Boom Tower, still keeping watch and ward over the river; quaint Bishops’ Bridge; Pull’s Ferry, where there is a ruined water gate, often sketched and photographed; past the railway station, into the reach parallel with King Street, where gables, and archways, and courts delight the painter. Here, on the left bank, is another Boom Tower, built of flint, the universal building-stone of Norfolk, faced by another tower on the opposite bank, whence runs a fine piece of the old city wall up the hill to another and larger tower, in better preservation, on the summit. Then we next passed the very extensive works of Messrs. J. and J. Colman, and below them innumerable stacks of choice wood, out of which the boxes to contain the mustard, etc., are made.

“You speak of this as the Wensum,” said Wynne; “I thought it was the Yare.”

“This river is the Wensum, but this smaller stream coming in on the right is the true Yare, and from this point the united river takes the name of the Yare. This spot is called Trowse Hythe, and half a mile up it, where there is a mill, was once a famous spot for smelts, where they were caught by large casting nets, used at night by torch-light, but the town sewage has effectually spoiled the smelting. The pool below the New Mills was also a place where the smelts were caught in large numbers, but it is not so good now.”

Presently we came to Thorpe, where a bend of the river has been cut off by two railway bridges, and a straight new cut made for the navigation. We took the old river, and Wynne was charmed with the view which then unfolded itself. The long curve of the river was lined on the outer bank by picturesque houses, with gardens leading to the water’s edge, while behind them rose a well-wooded bank. In the autumn of 1879 this reach was found to be swarming with pike, and it speedily swarmed with anglers, who had generally good sport until, apparently, all the pike were caught. At intervals since, there have been similar immigrations of pike to this reach when tides unusually high or salt drive the fish up from the lower reaches. At the lower end of the reach is a favourite resort on summer evenings, a waterside inn, known as Thorpe Gardens, where we pulled up. Here there are also boat-letting stations, where cruising yachts can be hired.

Just through the bridge, [29] we joined the main river again, and noticed several yachts moored against the bank, amongst which was ours.

Wynne stepped on board, curious to inspect a Norfolk yacht, and he freely commented on her enormous counter, short keel, great open well, and tall pole-mast. In a short time we stowed all our belongings, and set sail—mainsail, jib, and topsail—the spread of canvas rather startling Wynne, who had only been used to sea yachts. There was a light north-westerly wind, and we glided swiftly away before it. But ere we had sailed a couple of hundred yards, Wynne insisted on our stopping to sketch the White House, at Whitlingham, which, with the trees on the hill, the wood-shaded reach of river, and the huge brown sails of the wherries, formed a picture we might well wish to carry away. Wynne often stopped in this way, to the intense disgust of our man, who liked to make his passages quickly, and had no sympathy with artistic amusements.

The dyke leading out of the river by the White House is a regular harbour for pike, which is continually restocked from the river. It is private property, but just at the mouth of the dyke, in the navigable river, is a good spot. At least three hundred pike were taken here last winter by Norwich artisans.

“What graceful craft these wherries, as you call them, are!” remarked Wynne, as he rapidly sketched the high-peaked sail of one which was slowly beating to windward or “turning,” as the vernacular hath it, up the narrow river.

And he was quite right. There is not a line that is not graceful about a Norfolk wherry. She has a long low hull with a rising sheer to stem and stern, which are both pointed. She has a tall and massive mast supporting a single large sail which is without a boom, but has a very long gaff launching out boldly at an angle of forty-five degrees. The curve of the brown or black sail from the lofty peak to the sheet is on all points of sailing a curve of beauty. The wherries are trading crafts carrying from twenty to fifty tons of cargo. They are manned generally by one man, who sometimes has the aid of his wife or children. They are nearly as fast as yachts, sail closer to the wind, and are wonderfully handy. The mast is weighted at the keel with one or two tons of lead, and is so well balanced that a lad can lower or raise it with the greatest ease, when it is necessary to pass under a bridge. Wherries are the most conspicuous objects in a Norfolk broad landscape, and are in sight for miles, as they follow the winding courses of the rivers, often nothing but the sail visible above the green marsh.

Very many of these wherries have been converted into sailing house boats or pleasure barges, and so constitute most admirable floating homes for those who like cruising with greater comfort than small yachts can give.

It was an hour before we got under way again, and when, after sailing down the long straight reach by Whitlingham, we came in sight of the eminence known as Postwick Grove, Wynne wished to land in order that he might see the view from the top. The man burst into open grumbling, so we asked him if the trip were undertaken for his pleasure or ours, and on his reluctantly admitting that it was for ours, we told him it was our pleasure to do as we liked, and he resigned himself to his fate. The watermen on these rivers are very civil, but they look with disfavour upon anything which interferes with actual sailing.

Well, the view from Postwick was worth seeing. The curving reaches of the river, animated with yachts, wherries, and boats, lay beneath us, and the green marshes were bounded by the woods of Thorpe, Whitlingham, and Bramerton, while the ruined church of Whitlingham stood boldly on the brow of the opposite hill.

Under way again, we presently reached Bramerton, where the “Wood’s End” public-house offers good cheer to the wherryman and boating-man.

The pleasure-steamers which run between Norwich and Yarmouth afford a quick but less pleasant way of seeing the river, and stop at Bramerton nearly every day in the week.

Now the higher ground falls away from the river on each side of us, and the belt of marshes widens, the river is higher than the surface of the land, and the water is lifted out of the many drains and dykes by means of turbine wheels, worked by the windmills which form such conspicuous objects in the landscape, and by more pretentious steam drainage mills.

Surlingham Ferry, 6 miles by river from Norwich, next came into view. The house, with its picturesque gables, lies in the shadow of a group of fine trees. A horse and cart was being ferried across on the huge raft as we approached, and the chain was only just dropped in time for us to pass.

There is a good inn at the Ferry, with limited but comfortable staying accommodation; and excellent roach fishing is often obtainable. The shore above the Ferry on the same side is suitable for mooring yachts to, as there is a fair depth of water close to the bank.

“What numbers of boats there are with people fishing?” said Wynne. “Do they all catch anything?”

“Oh, yes, any quantity, as far as number goes, of roach, and bream, and some good fish too, but the larger fish are caught in the deeper water, lower down.”

Coldham Hall is the next fishing station of importance. There is a good inn there, and plenty of boats for hire at a cheap rate. Fishing and other boats can also be obtained at Messrs. H. Flowers and Co.’s new boating station, where yachts can be moored and laid up. As the railway station (Brundall) is close to it, it is very convenient for anglers. The mooring places at Brundall and Coldham Hall are not many, as the banks are very shoal. In the reach between Brundall and Coldham Hall only the middle third of the river is navigable for yachts; and the same may be said of the long reach below Coldham Hall. We could see half-a-dozen fishing boats under the lee of the point above the station. It seems a favourite place, for I never passed it without seeing fishermen there. But as the man had to sail the yacht round the great curve of the river, we took a short cut across Surlingham Broad in the jolly.

This Broad lies within a horse-shoe bend of the river, and has a navigable channel across it. It is not deep enough, however, for yachts or laden wherries. The Broad is largely affected by the tide, which sometimes leaves its shallows exposed. The river, as I should have said, is tidal up to Norwich, and the force of the tide increases with every deepening of Yarmouth Haven. We rowed up the dyke which leads on to the Broad, a small sheet of water, overgrown with weeds and very shallow, but a capital nursery for fish and fowl. The fishing upon it is preserved. Rowing across it, we entered another dyke, and emerged into the river again, and caught up the yacht.

Snipe abound on the marshes here, and their drumming can always be heard in the early summer. The flat, far-reaching marshes glowed with a thousand tints of flower and grass, and the iris gleamed brightly in the lush margins of the river. We sailed quietly on, down the curving reaches of the widening river, watching the slow-seeming flight of the heron, the splash of fish, the bending reeds, and the occasional boat-loads of anglers, until we came to the mouth of a dyke, about a mile long, up which we again rowed in the jolly, to explore Rockland Broad, where the open water is much more extensive than at Surlingham. Here there are several eel-fishers’ floating abodes, Noah’s-ark-like structures, with nets and “liggers” dangling about them. The fishing and shooting on the Broad are, at present, open to all.

This Broad is also much affected by the tide, as, notwithstanding its distance from the river, there are numerous connecting dykes permitting easy flow and re-flow of water.

Back in the yacht again, we reached Buckenham Ferry (ten and a half miles), a favourite angling rendezvous, with a railway station of the same name close by. A long row of trees on the left bank is the cause of daily trouble to wherrymen and sailormen, as it shuts off the wind. The man who plants trees by the side of a navigable river, where the navigation depends upon the wind, is the very reverse of a benefactor to mankind, and only selfishness or thoughtlessness can permit such an act.

There is fair mooring for yachts just below the Inn, on the same side, but they must be kept well off the shore by poles, or as the tide ebbs they will strand and perhaps fall over. The Ferry Inn is noted for its comfort; and its limited staying accommodation is good. The fishing is very good both up and down the river, and there are good boats for hire for fishing purposes.

The river now becomes very wide and deep, and the shoals near the banks, which abound in the higher reaches, are not so frequent. I would call the especial attention of the river authorities to the disgraceful state of the river as far as Buckenham Ferry. Each year the shoals and weeds increase, and the channel narrows, until in some places not more than a third of the river-width is available for the navigation. The natural consequence will be that the navigation must gradually cease to be made use of, as it becomes a matter of difficulty, and the railway will take the trade, which might be kept to the river if a more energetic care of the navigable stream were taken. This is a most serious matter, and ought to be attended to.

Next is Langley Dyke, near which are the reaches of the river where the principal regattas are held, and by the river side is Cantley Red House (fourteen miles). Cantley railway station is very close to the river, and as the water is deep close to the bank, and there is some fairly firm ground, this is a favourite yachting station, with good mooring to the banks. Comfortable quarters may be had at the Red House, and the fishing is good all about. A little lower down, on the same side of the river, is another house, “Peart’s,” where one may obtain comfortable accommodation, and a “dock” where small boats may be safely left.

We delayed so long on our way that the wind was falling, as it usually does towards five o’clock on summer days: the tide had also turned, and we had it against us, so our progress was slow. We passed the mouth of the Chet on our right, navigable some four miles up to Loddon. Its mouth is marked by Hardley Cross, which forms the boundary between the Norwich and Yarmouth jurisdictions over the river. We barely made headway as a public-house on the left, called Reedham Ferry, was reached, and a little lower down we lay to against the “rond,” or bank, and made all snug for the night. A little further is Reedham village (eighteen miles), which is picturesquely situated on high ground on the north bank of the river. The railway station is close by, and is the junction between the Yarmouth, Lowestoft, and Norwich lines. There is staying accommodation to be had at Reedham. Yachts can be moored against the south bank above the bridge, but should not be left unguarded, as the tide runs strong, and wherries tacking through the bridge often jam up against the bank.

The stove was soon alight, and the kettle on, while we walked to the village for eggs and milk. As the gloaming deepened, Wynne grew poetical over the scene of wide space there was about us, filled then with an orange glow from the west, while the swallows skimmed the river, and struck red drops of spray from the surface. Then when the awning was spread over the stern sheets, and the lamp lit up the snug cabin, Wynne smoked contentedly, to the envy of the writer, who cannot smoke; and it was later than it ought to have been ere we lay down in our respective bunks, and were lulled to sleep by the ripple of the water against the planks.