North Walsham and Dilham Canal revisited

North Walsham and Dilham Canal

April 2018

I guess I visit the North Walsham and Dilham Canal about once a year, paying a watery pilgrimage when I come to visit my mother who lives in North Walsham, just a mile or so from Swafield where the restored navigation will end.

Ebridge Mill with lock and spillway

A year seems to be a good gap to appreciate progress and a cracking article by Martin Ludate in the July 2017 edition of the Eastern Daily Press's magazine "Norfolk" only served to whet my appetite.

Distinctive ground paddle

I started out at Ebridge Mill with its tranquil pool and well preserved lock chamber. When I was at school this was a sea of reeds with the remains of a steam dredger stranded on the mud in the middle. Today it is a glorious spot and the development for 2017 was the restoration of the spillway by a WRG camp. At the time of my visit the canal / river was brimming full and the spillway was in use, bypassing the old lock chamber.

Bacton Wood Lock

A little to the north west you come to Bacton Wood Bridge which is now the home for a slightly primitive trip boat, or should I say raft. I have long felt that the restored length would benefit from a trip boat and I guess you have to make a start somewhere!

 Trip Boat

Distinctive castings for the North Walsham and Dilham Canal

The restored lock at Bacton Wood stands ready to carry its first boat and it was particularly interested to take a closer look at the "lock furniture" which is all original and recycled. The castings are unique to the North Walsham and Dilham Canal, even bearing the legend G Cubitt, Nth Walsham.

North of Bacton Wood the canal is kind of wet rather than watered but stroll up to the culverted Royston Bridge and you return to a canal full of the wet stuff. The relationship between the restorers and the Environment Agency has been very like the Brexit Negotiations with angst and strong words, but over time they are making progress.

Partially re watered north of Royston Bridge

The Agency were not at all happy about the watering of the section between Bacton Wood and Ebridge and applied a stop order on their work. But over time relations seem to have thawed and there seems to be a cautious acceptance that the watering of the Swafield pound will be a good thing. 

 Dredging progresses

From a flood control perspective the big canal channel has to be a better bet than the narrow ditch which represents the current bed of the River Ant. The restorers have both cleared out the reeds and dredged the section north of Royston Bridge to a depth of about 18 inches. Water marks on the banks bear testimony to a full depth trial re watering in Jan 2018 when their integrity was tested. There is evidence of extra material being added to the top of the south bank in recent weeks and hopefully this is a prelude to full and permanent re watering.

Swafield Bridge reach

I have to admit that the restoration team always seem to be blessed with some seriously good kit which is parked here and there along the canal. All in all the volunteer enthusiasm, heavy duty kit and increasingly supportive authorities should see this top couple of miles in water in the very near future.

I will keep you posted...

North Walsham and Dilham Canal update

North Walsham and Dilham Canal Update

November 2016

The diminutive and remote North Walsham and Dilham is one of the unsung hero's of the restoration world. Rarely has so much been achieved by so few and its always interesting to visit the middle pounds where the channel has been extensively dredged and Bacton Wood Lock restored to a near workable condition.

Ebridge millpond

Its a year since I last visited the Ant valley but a sunny if somewhat frosty morning encouraged a visit and the prospect of some good photos.

Boating on the North Walsham and Dilham - starts in a small way!

I started at Ebridge Mill where the mill pool was brimming full, and the shimmering water was playing host to an enthusiastic model boat club. Their remote controlled sailing boats were darting in and out of a buoyed course against a backdrop of the mill building wrapped in polythene as conversion to housing proceeds.

Bacton Wood Lock

Then it was on to Bacton Wood Lock where the channel from Whitehouse Common Bridge has been fully dredged and two huge pontoons sit, waiting for their next job. The last time I saw the lock is was stark and new, but the brickwork has now mellowed and there it sits complete with upper gates waiting to hold back the weight of a top pound in water.

The last stop was at Royston Bridge where a small convoy of diggers sit in between jobs. The main channel has seen no action over the last year and reeds have grown in its bed, but the team appear to have been working on the adjacent river bed which currently carries the waters of the River Ant. The plan appears to be to block the exit from the canal bed to the river and force the water to flow down the canal to Bacton Wood Lock and the adjoining mill, but I suspect that the Environment Agency is involved and setting up obstacles to ensure the water balance of the area is not adversely impacted.

Canal bed above Royston Bridge

And so the track stands ready and waiting to be re-watered, and when it is the team will just need some bottom gates and they will be ready to establish a trip boat which would be a major tourist attraction in what is a popular holiday area.

Keep going guys - its looking good.

Happisburgh highlights

Happisburgh Beach and Ebridge Mill
November 2014

To all you non Norfolk philes out there, its not Happysberg - its Haisbro!

Yes, we are back in North Norfolk enjoying what has to be one of the very last dog days of a glorious Indian summer which has clung on, and on, and on. Temperatures over 20c in November with shorts and tee shirts in evidence on the beach was all a bit surreal.

The trip out started with a pause at Ebridge where the restored canal glistened under a blue sky, the water cascading over the remains of the lock gates just as it did when I was at school here the better part of 40 years ago.

November at Happisburgh beach

Then it was on to Happisburgh where coastal erosion is at its most aggressive. As I wandered on the beach it was odd to think that my old school friend Jonathan Morris, had his home about 30 feet above my head! The scoured beach laid bare the cause of the problem. The top layer is soft sand but this sits on top of maybe 10ft of slimy clay, which in turn sits on yet more sand. I could hardly walk over the clay so its not hard to understand that as water percolates down through the top sand it then runs along the top of the clay and that the top layer then simply slides off into the sea when encouraged to do so by the waves.

The newly eroded bay at Happisburgh

We may be able to influence erosion but we will never control it!

Beach defences at Happisborough

Anyhow, the low sun made for some excellent photo opportunities.

A bit more North Walsham and Dilham

North  Walsham and Dilham Canal - the Eastern bit
April 2014

I continued my review of the North Walsham and Dilham by tracing its course though to Dilham, pausing at Briggate along the way.

Briggate Lock April 2014

Briggate Mill was burned down in an arson attack in the 1970's, but the brick lower level survived and has been cleared out recently which provided access to the old wheel chamber for the first time.

Briggate waterwheel pit

Further down we drove through Dilham and whilst not canal related their curious little church caught my eye. It appeared to be in an unusually good condition which was explained by the fact that it was rebuilt in the 1930's.

 Dilham Church - Norfolk

North Walsham and Dilham Canal

North Walsham and Dilham Canal update
April 2014

My regular trips to North Walsham often include a trip to the North Walsham and Dilham.

Canal at Ebridge

For decades it was a gradual decline into weed clogged obscurity but now a small band og enthusiastic restorers are bringing it back to life.  The pound above Ebridge has been full for a couple of years and is a fantastic amenity enjoyed by many who can stroll along the well tended towpath and watch the swans glide up and down against the backdrop of the empty watermill.

Further up a lock has been restored and stands complete save for bottom gates. Wood for the gates stands ready on a nearby yard - old railway sleepers and coastal sea defence groynes.

Home made lock gates

The original cast iron balance beams - reused.

Beyond the lock work is progressing in the channel with lots of big boys toys being used to build up the banks, dredge the channel and generally make ready for re watering which will see water return to the Swafield Watermill, and the lock brought fully back into service.

The next section to be watered - by the end of 2014?

All this progress is very exciting as there will soon be a couple of miles of navigable canal, a working lock and a working watermill to experience - scope for a trip boat I would say.

North Walsham and Dilham Canal update November 2013

North Walsham and Dilham Canal
November 2013

I paid my annual pilgrimage to the North Walsahm and Dilham Canal, a private restoration which is coming on in leaps and bounds since being bought by the Old Canal Company.

So far the area upstream of Ebridge mill has been restored, its previously harsh new banks have now been softened by nature and the area is clearly a popular spot with walkers and naturalists. The water is clear and deep leading up to Bacton Wood Lock and the earlier leaks into the surrounding meadows appear to have been sealed so its all looking tickety boo.

The work has now moved upstream to Swafield Road Bridge. The channel has been cleared all the way to the sewage works outfall which provides most of the flow into the River Ant. I think the idea was to reach this source but before it can be diverted into the channel the banks need to be sealed so all the dredgings are being moved around and recycled.

I cant believe it will be long before these two pounds are in water and with the new lock operational nearly two miles will be navigable - a great site for a trip boat.

A winding hole is being created above Swafield Road Bridge but this crossing was lowered back in the 1970's to carry north sea gas lorries and a proper reconstruction will be needed - one of the few significant obstacles on this pretty rural route.