The Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk

by G. Christopher Davies

“The fact is,” he said, “I thought there would be a better chance of buying things, as we went along, than there appears to be, for with the exception of butter and eggs, we might as well be on the prairies. What shall we do?”

Now, provisioning is a very perplexing thing, particularly when it is for several days, and as I knew that at Norwich made-up hampers of provisions for fishing-parties could be obtained, we telegraphed for one to be sent to us at Wroxham station, and departed in hope, with a light but fair wind. We trailed a pike-bait behind, and caught several jack, and two or three good perch. We were three hours getting to Wroxham, and while the mast was being lowered, Wynne went to the station to meet a train then coming in. He returned in glee with a hamper of good things, and our difficulty was at end. Once we spent a Sunday at Wroxham, with nothing procurable to eat but biscuits, and once, at Barton, we were obliged to fish for our meals. Meat so soon goes bad on board a boat, and one does not always care for tinned things. A good wrinkle is to have a bottle containing a strong solution of permanganate of potash on board, and then a few drops placed in a pint of water will make a most efficient deodorising liquid, with which you may safely sprinkle the meat, and wash out the lockers.

As the day advanced, the breeze got up, and by two o’clock we were at the mouth of the river Ant, ten miles from Wroxham.

As we turned up its narrow and shallow waters, our man said,

“We shan’t get very far up this river, sir, with a craft drawing so much water as this.”

“No, but we can get to Ludham Bridge, and there I have arranged for an old lateener to be waiting for us.”

The wind was fair for a large portion of the way, and we bowled along very fast. Where it was ahead, owing to a bend in the river, there was no room to tack, and one of us would jump ashore with a line, and tow. The Ant is just like a canal, except that it has no tow-path. The fishing in it is remarkably good, particularly at Irstead shoals, where there is a stretch of water about half a mile long, with an even depth of four to five feet, and a firm, level, pebbly bottom, a curiosity in this land of boggy streams. This is an excellent spot for perch and pike. It is marked by the presence of a church on the western bank, and is one of the few places on these waters where a person who cannot swim can bathe with safety or comfort. The muddy bottom, of course, prohibits wading. As you approach the entrance to Barton Broad, the bottom becomes muddy again, and the Broad itself is full of mud; there being large “hills” where the water is not more than two feet deep. The navigable channels wind between these hills, and are marked out by posts. The Broad is a mile long, and very pretty, and the entrance to it is four and a half miles from the mouth of the Ant. In our light-draught lateener, we ignored the channels, and sped about all over, often, however, finding our speed diminished, as the keel cut through the soft mud, and turned up yellow volumes of mud behind. It is a curious fact that in some Broads and portions of Broads, the mud is of a light yellow colour, and in other portions black. As all this mud is the result of decayed vegetation, this difference is singular.

There is an artificial island in the Broad, where a picnic party were then enjoying themselves. We sailed away into the long bight which leads towards Neatishead, where the bowery woods, fringing the water, spoke of welcome shade, but we were brought to a stop by the mud, and had some difficulty in getting back. On this very lovely Broad, we found we had much better stick to the channels, which were wide enough, and explore the shallows in the jolly. The fishing here is remarkably good. I do not think any objection is made to angling for coarse fish, but permission must be obtained for pike fishing. The Broad, though the water is fresh, is affected by the rise and fall of the tide. Going on one night in the dark, I missed the channel, and ran so hard on to a “hill,” that in the morning when the tide was at its height, we had to lay the yacht on her side by means of lines and tackles to the nearest channel posts ere we could float her off. The Broad is easy of access, by going to Stalham railway station, and hiring boats at Stalham, whence a row of about two miles will bring you on to the Broad.