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100th Anniversary of the Aylsham Navigation / Upper Bure Navigation Closure - August 2012 - by Stuart Wilson

Something to look forward to after the Olympics!

There is to be a meeting to discuss plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the forced closure of the Aylsham Navigation to be held at the Green Room, Aylsham Town Hall on 28/9/2010 at 19:30 hours.

The River Bure is a vital part of the Norfolk Broads today with 31.5 navigable miles between Coltishall and Great Yarmouth. The Upper Bure above Wroxham takes on a tranquillity and beauty all of its own being purely River with no Broads and little tide. Few visitors today however realise that at one time the navigation was actually 40.6 miles long with 5 locks, unheard of elsewhere on the Broads network, as it wended its way beyond the current head of navigation to the market town of Aylsham.

It was that very town which prompted the formation of a navigation in the 1770's. Agriculture was expanding and new means of getting produce to market was required. In this case construction began in 1774 and the navigation was fully open by 1779. It revolutionised trade in this part of Norfolk and from the start was a wide cut enabling trading Wherries to navigate through from Aylsham to Great Yarmouth. Mills along the way were also served and those at Buxton, Oxnead and Burgh can still be seen today. There were locks at Coltishall, Buxton, Oxnead, Burgh and Aylsham. For most of the route the River was improved and used but the last mile into Aylsham Staithe was a canal cut.

The Aylsham Navigation was initially very successful with, at its height, as many as 26 wherries serving this route. Like many waterways however the coming of the railways led to decline and falling traffic. This did not actually happen in Aylsham until 1880 but the decline thereafter was rapid although it was never complete and wherries continued to trade right through to the very end.

It was (and is) a beautiful rural route through the Bure Valley passing tranquil and little spoilt villages. Indeed Oxnead and Brampton, both lying on its banks, are so little changed that I am sure that the Wherry men of old would recognise them today. In some cases their houses remain and descendants still live locally. The Wherries were handled usually by a man and boy and would take between 4 and 5 days to do a round trip. They would be under sail mostly but where that was impossible they would be punted. Obviously it was agricultural produce out but the inward cargoes varied from coal to furniture. There are houses in the villages that still have furniture originally brought up on the Wherry.

The waterway although in decline had not died in the way others did by slow decline and lack of use. The end was dramatic, unexpected and also tinged with tragedy. On 26th August 1912 Eastern England suffered torrential rain which led to widespread flooding. In Norwich many thousands of inhabitants were forced from their homes as the water rose. On the Aylsham Navigation all of the locks between Coltishall and Aylsham were washed out. Some Wherries were trapped upstream. It was decided that it would not be economic to repair the locks and the waterway therefore fell into immediate disuse. Only one Wherry, the Zulu, escaped by being manhandles around the obstructions. The route was never used again although the formal abandonment did not come until the 1920's.

If the route had survived it would give a totally new element to Broads cruising as locks do not feature elsewhere and the beauty of the route would rival anything else on the network.

The 26th August 2012, that is after the Olympics, is the 100th anniversary of the navigations closure. Plans are afoot to mark the event along the route. An initial meeting is to be held on 28th September 2010 at 7.30pm in Aylsham Town Hall. If you would like to be involved or just kept in touch with the plans please contact: Stuart Wilson - Website

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