The Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk

by G. Christopher Davies

“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.