Waterways link could transform Fens

Fenland could be transformed by a new Waterways Link which would increase navigation and allow boats to pass along connected drains and rivers all the way from Lincoln to Cambridge.

That means many more Fen drains could be opened up to boats for the first time, offering pike anglers the opportunity to access remote areas of the system.

Feasibility studies have been doing the rounds of council chambers and committees for more than five years, while the public seem less than enthusiastic about the idea.

As a 90m stretch of moorings opened on the South Forty Foot at Hubberts Bridge, Lincs, South Holland councillors were being urged to do more to promote the benefits of the plans, which would link Lincoln, Boston, King's Lynn, Ely and Cambridge.

An Environment Agency report says:

"The Boston Waterways Link will provide a navigable link for recreational craft between the River Witham and South Forty Foot Drain and is the first key component of the Fens Waterway Link.

The Fens Waterway Link is a partnership project to develop a new navigation link within the Fens, starting in Boston, Lincolnshire and ending on the Great Ouse, Cambridgeshire.

This navigation link will provide a focus for new investment in the East of England and will support leisure and tourism interests.

It will open up 240km of waterway including 80km of additional navigable waterways, creating the largest waterway enhancement scheme in Europe.

The entire strategy will deliver rural regeneration on a major scale through water-based tourism."

The 18,000-strong Inland Waterways Association has this report, which lists the drains and rivers affected:

"Following promotion of the restoration of this waterway by East Anglian Waterways Association, Fens Tourism (a consortium of local authorities) undertook a feasibility study of the route.

This report was encouraging and EA adopted the project as ‘The Fens Waterways Link’, which it launched in 2004 with support from local authorities, EAWA and IWA.

The Link envisages:

(a) connecting the Witham to the South Forty Foot Drain at Boston,

(b) restoring the South Forty Foot,

(c) linking the South Forty Foot to the river Glen at Guthram Gowt,

(d) improving the Glen downstream to the Welland at Surfleet Seas End,

(e) creating a new non-tidal navigation from Surfleet Seas End upstream to Spalding,
(f) improving the Welland from Spalding up to Crowland,

(g) creating a new waterway from Crowland across to the Nene at Padholme Pumping Station,

(h) improving the route through the Middle Level to Salters Lode on the Great Ouse,
(i) improving the alternative Middle Level route via the Forty Foot River to Welches Dam lock,

(j) creating a new navigation, using the Old Bedford and New Bedford rivers southwards from Welches Dam to the Great Ouse at Earith,

(k) creating a landmark structure at Denver, involving flights of locks and an aqueduct over the New Bedford River, to eliminate the current tidal crossing,

and (l) creating a new direct waterway link from Chatteris to Earith."

While pike anglers of the future could be taking to boats to fish the drains and rivers, the plan has already suffered a setback of sorts.

West Norfolk council has scaled back plans for a marina in King's Lynn, which would have been connected to the Ouse at Denver via the Relief Channel and River Nar, because of infrastructure costs of raising bridges, dredging the Nar and and connecting it to the Relief Channel.

A new lock built at Denver Sluice, connecting the Ouse to the Relief Channel has been little-used.

But pioneering pike and zander anglers have been taking advantage of being able to fish the 12-mile channel from boats, which is permitted between June and October.

Did someone say zander..? Connecting drains and rivers linking Norfolk and Lincolnshire could have another consequence as far as the species is concerned.

While they are present in the Welland, zander are not currently found in much of the Lincolnshire drain system. That would doubtless all change once waterways were linked.

Similar plans to link the Ouse with the Grand Union Canal and the rest of the Inland Waterways Network via the proposed Bedford and Milton Keynes Link have been on the table for some years.

Ely set for Pike of Broadland talk

Acclaimed Norfolk author Stephen Harper isn't a regular on pike fishing's speaker circuit.

But there's a rare chance to catch him talking about his latest book The Pike of Broadland, along with the recent history of pike fishing on the Broads at an Ely and Fenland PAC meeting next week.

It takes place on Wednesday, November 28, at Sutton British Legion, at Sutton, near Ely, Cambs, at 7.30pm. Open to all anglers, entry is £3 for PAC members and £4 for non members.

Also available will be copies of Steve's book and PAC30.

For further info, click here.

Lodes - more good news from the EA

Campaigners fighting to save historic Fenland pike fisheries received a fresh boost today when the Environment Agency declared: "We won't abandon the Lodes..."

Pike anglers across the UK signed an online petition after the PAC joined retired councillor Geoffrey Woolard's campaign to stop Cambridgeshire's ancient lodes being lowered, when it emerged their future was under review.

There were fears the National Trust's plans to buy up farmland to extend its Wicken Fen reserve, north of Cambridge, would have dire consequences for Reach, Burwell and Swaffham lodes, which are believed to date back to Roman times.

Many pike anglers learned their craft on these ancient waterways, like Ian Moules, pictured above with a fine lodes twenty. The lodes remain popular with a wide range of anglers , along with dog walkers, boaters and bird watchers.

The PAC set about publicising the issues as widely as possible. As the campaign was taken up by the local and regional press, the trust held a briefing for journalists at which it insisted its Wicken Vision did not require the lodes to be lowered.

Anger erupted after Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office responded to the online petition, saying the trust's plans would dictate the way the lodes were managed after all.

But the trust hit back, saying the statement from 10 Downing Street was "unhelpful at best".

Then the PAC was leaked documents confirming that the Environment Agency intended to maintain the lodes because of the outcry over the threats some of the options on the table posed to them.

Today EA Lodes project manager Jonathan Fearnley said: "'We have investigated a number of possible options for the future of the Lodes, and have taken into account the views of all interested parties including parish, district and county council, other key stakeholders and the public.

"There were eight options considered, and each was subject to a full technical, economic and environmental assessment.

"The preferred option is to maintain the lodes at their current levels, providing maintenance as and when it is required. However, if changes in land use alter the risk of embankment failure, it will be necessary to consider other options, such as carrying out advance works to the banks to reduce their risk of failure."

The lodes are artificial river channels that carry water across the low lying fens to the north of Cambridge to the River Cam. Centuries of drainage has caused the land surrounding them to sink.

As the land has sunk, the lodes have been retained at their original level by bank raising so they can continue to drain into the River Cam and be used for navigation. The water level in the lodes is now up to 3m above the surrounding ground level in places.

Mr Fearnley added: "One of the benefits of our preferred option is that it provides a cost-effective and flexible approach, which can take into account future land use changes in the area, and should not have any significant environmental effects.

"For now, reactive maintenance is the best maintenance option for the Lodes, but we will review the strategy every five years to make sure that the most appropriate management regime is being followed."

What you can do...

I you haven't already signed the petition, please add your name in support by clicking here.

A copy of the EA's final consultation document is available if you click here.

Comments can be sent to: Jonathan Fearnley, Project Manager, Environment Agency, Bromholme Lane, Brampton, Huntingdon PE28 4NA.

Ely/Fenland winter programme

Ely/Fenland Region have announced their winter programme of speakers and meetings.

Events start at 7.30pm for an 8pm start and anglers should note they will be taking place at a new venue: The British Legion at Sutton, near Ely.

Wednesday, October 24 - Return of Mega Pike co-author Eddie Turner.

Wednesday, November 28 - Stephen Harper on the Pike of Broadland.

Wednesday, December 12 - Quiz Night

Wednesday, January 16 - John Synnuck, the PAC's well-travelled treasurer.

Wednesday, February 20 - Midlands lure aces Lee Norbury and Phil Kirk

Digger live and direct at Fenland PAC

Dennis "Digger" Moules has been fishing the Fens since Black Shuck* was a puppy.

He'll be sharing some of the ups and downs of more than four decades spent fishing the drains and rivers at the Sportsman Social Club, Chatteris, next Thursday night (January 18...).

Dennis has an unrivalled knowledge of how waters have fished over the years, as compiler of the Fenland Thirties - a booklet charting the aqrea's biggest captures.

The meeting starts at 8pm, the place is slightly off the beaten track, click here for directions.

*Black Shuck