Intrepid Explorer

That’s me, by the way! In the past few weeks I have travelled the length of Norfolk’s most serious attempt at a canal. Built in 1826 the North Walsham and Dilham canal was 10 miles long and had 6 sets of locks.

The idea of the builders was to allow factories in and around North Walsham to send their products by water to the river Ant, and from there to Great Yarmouth. It also enabled coal to travel in the opposite direction.

Sadly the canal never really achieved its potential – it was too small, too narrow and the feeder streams never really produced sufficient water. The local guide books say it has been allowed to be derelict since the beginning of the second world war.

Partly true – but my journey through the northern bits allowed me to see much industry (Notice the use of the small i) and a lot of people are trying to create a new beginning for the waterway. Certainly the northern part is very pretty in some areas and there is a jolly boat for the tourists – with a jolly boatman

. New locks are being created and the area north of Ebridge Mill is a popular bathing spot for wild swimmers.

The middle region appears to cut through land owned by different landowners.

Here the remains of the canal can be quite hard to trace.

There are some footpaths close by, but they do not always coincide with the route taken by the waterway. It is all very overgrown, quite beautiful but in some places inaccessible.

Then accompanied by several members of the Norwich and District Photographic Society,

I took to the water again. Graham Pressman, a retired boatbuilder constructed a wherry at home, in his garden during the lockdown caused by the Covid epidemic.

The completed boat was then lifted to the water by the local landowner and Graham now runs trips from near Tonnage Bridge down through the southern leg to the river Ant. For a wherry, the boat seemed to me to be quite small but it was modelled on the smaller vessels (only up to 12 tons) who plied these waters.

So there we are – you have a happy blog master – a sort of archetypal explorer. That goes in my record book. Never mind the Nile, the Yangtze or the Amazon, I have made an unsupported journey through the length of the Dilham Canal. I think there ought to be a medal somewhere.