There is very good fishing to be had in the cut, and the banks are sound and dry, which is a rare thing on these rivers. There is a lift-bridge at Haddiscoe railway station, near the end of the cut, which takes some time to get opened; this is a great inconvenience, and even a serious matter when you are sailing fast, as there is not room to come about. They also sometimes fail to open the bridge wide enough, and some time since a large yacht had her mainsail torn as she passed through, by its catching on the corner of the uplifted bridge. A toll of 1s. for each yacht is taken, and a man holds out a bag on the end of a pole to receive it. The toll for wherries depends in amount upon whether they have the bridge opened for them or go through with mast lowered, and at night a chain used to be put across to prevent them stealing through unobserved, but the chain was frequently “charged” at full speed, and broken.
In a quarter of a mile we emerged into the Waveney, and, looking back, we could see St. Olave’s bridge, a rather handsome structure. There are a few houses grouped rather prettily, and a good inn, the “Bell,” close by the Bridge, a quarter of a mile from Haddiscoe station, and about a mile from Fritton Decoy, a favourite lake for fishing, which we shall afterwards mention.
We then passed through a railway swing bridge, where the East Suffolk Railway passes over, and sailed without further incident some two miles further to another swing bridge at Somerleyton, where the Lowestoft line passes over. This bridge is the worst on the rivers to pass when wind and tide are against you, as they so frequently are, and I am always glad to be well clear of its piles and projections, through which the tide swirls so swiftly.
The reach below the bridge used to be the best in the whole river for pike, but the greater run of tide in recent years and the salter water has spoiled the pike fishing, for which one has now to go higher up the river.
There is a very good inn at the top of the bank to the west of the line, called the “Duke’s Head,” and a very beautiful belt of woods skirts the marshes on the east side of the river, where some delicious “bits” may be obtained, and birds, butterflies, and flowers abound.
