Volume 9 Issue 1
March 2025
Contents:
“Quagmire”
The newsletter of the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Trust
Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. 1180474
Contact: Secretary@nwdct.org Website: www.nwdct.org
1. 200th Anniversary
2. Chair & Trustees Report
Volume 9 Issue 1
March 2025
3. Wildlife feature: Water voles
4. Winter Work Parties
7. Four seasons on Smallburgh Pound
If you love the Canal, its wildlife and its environs, then perhaps make yourself a brew and settle down with this Spring edition for our latest news. Much is achieved, even in the winter months and lots behind the scenes too.
Our big news item is the upcoming 200th Anniversary of the canal construction. Imagine? however did 100 men build the whole canal, including 6 locks and complete it in 15 months with just their shovels, picks and barrows, fuelled by about 8 pints of weak beer a day? There was no machinery for this fantastic feat of engineering; it was their tremendous skills, strength and endurance. Each man every day dug 10 cubic yards of soil!! If wet, that’s up to 15 tons!!
9. Boating Team
11. Canal news from Elsewhere
12. Membership DONATIONs
THANK YOU and Trust contacts
The very first sod was cut on 5th April 1825. We will hold celebrations in 2025. Then, in 2026 aim to organise a fund-raising Canal Festival marking its’ completion in the summer of 1826!!
Please celebrate with us at the North Walsham Market Place postbox for 6pm Saturday 5th April, with the fabulous knitted Postbox Topper. We invite you to dress like a navvy and walk to the King’s Arms for a bite to eat?
Call the Kings Arms on 01692 403054 Bank Loke parking is free from 6pm. Menu:
https://www.thekingsarmshotel.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/menuKAJAN24.pdf
You’ll be joining other members, your friendly volunteers and trustees. We will be there from about 6.20 pm to order our meals. It’ll be great to get us all together and celebrate the start of the Bicentennial Celebrations.
Chair and Trustees report to Members
For 2025, we have changed from monthly Trustee meetings and now meet on a quarterly basis. This recognises that some of the Trustees have daily responsibilities that involve administration and liaison all year round. This involves face-to-face discussions, small team meetings, phone calls, emails etc, undertaking the many tasks involved in planning, organising and leading the Trust’s activities and procedures. Contacts with members, volunteers, Canal proprietors and the wider public, as well as a number of other organisations are many and varied, all of them important.
At the quarterly meetings the Trustees report on what they have been doing over the previous three months to support the running of the Trust and consider forward planning for our work towards restoration and maintenance along the canal. We ensure that decisions are made jointly and with full consideration for deployment of resources: people’s efforts, finances and equipment. This might be about ongoing work or proposals for new projects. There is a monitoring role on matters of safety, health and environment and also compliance with Charity Commission requirements. We consider our progress strategically and review the annual plan.
Also new for 2025 are the quarterly Operational Delivery meetings. With the appointment of Ian Hibbert, our new Work Party Coordinator in position to chair these meetings, we bring together our four Work Party Leaders: Terry, Alan, Jonathan and David to plan and discuss with three of our Trustees: Chris who heads up
Projects, Darren our Boating lead and at the start of the meeting, a visit by the Chair for organisational and consultative agenda items. Maybe some of what goes on in these meetings may interest you? Examples from January include: agreement for a boat inspection fee, report and costs for other essential equipment repair and maintenance. Smaller sub-committees are working on ways we might celebrate the 200th anniversary and writing role profiles for responsible positions in the Trust. We are actively recruiting and really need enthusiastic supporters to help us restore, maintain and organise the work for this vital part of our heritage and community. Can you spare a few hours to help with organisation and/or maintenance work along the canal? Many of us do both. Contact our Chair Sue on 07770 661784 or email Julie on secretary@nwdct.org
Wildlife feature
Water vole (Arvicola amphibius)
Water voles were made famous and popular as 'Ratty' from the book ‘The Wind in the Willows’. However, there is actually no such animal as a water rat! While they look similar to a brown rat, these water-loving creatures are in fact not a rat, but the largest of the British voles.
Water voles have dark chestnut-brown fur with a blunter, rounder nose than a rat, short ears, and a furry tail.
Over 97% of the UK’s water vole population has been lost in our country, partly due to loss of habitat and partly as they are a tasty meal for other wildlife. They are one of the UK’s most endangered species and so it is brilliant for us that they are thriving along the North Walsham and Dilham Canal, with plenty of reported sightings, in spite of their shy nature.
Family: Cricetidae
Diet: Grasses and waterside vegetation
Size: 14-22cm long with a 9.5 -14cm tail
Weight: 150-300g
Lifespan: Six months to around two years
Water voles like dense vegetation to hide them from their many predators.
They are potential prey for American mink, foxes, otters, stoats, weasels, brown rats, owls, herons, and pike. In addition to being an endangered species that need our protection for that reason, they are extremely valuable to the canal environment.
Water voles are skilled ecosystem engineers. They build their burrows of underground tunnels and nesting chambers by biting into the earth of the canal banks with their strong teeth.
Those holes you might see in the sides of the canal banks, from your canoe or paddle board could belong to a clever eco friendly vole. The burrowing helps create biodiversity for other animals and plants to thrive along the canal.
Some of the species that benefit include bees, butterflies, insects, birds of prey, and bats Surveys by organisations, including the Canal and River Trust, have shown that any waterway with higher numbers of water voles have richer vegetation and plant life.
We know this description of rich vegetation and plant life is true of the North Walsham and Dilham canal environs, which consistently demonstrate a thriving wildlife “corridor”. An extensive, fascinating and very professional survey of plant life was carried out by Suki Pryce in 2018/19 and can be found on our website at https://nwdct.org/plants/
The Trust is proud that our restoration work, in support of the canal proprietors, is also promoting and championing conservation and wildlife.
We are actively seeking a Wildlife volunteer, who might wish to write a feature article like this, once every three months, on one or more of the thousands of fascinating bird, animal, plant and other species seen along the canal.
Maybe you could keep a ‘spotting’ eye out along the canal and be ready to chat with any interested supporters about sightings and other wildlife matters. Please do make contact with us for an initial chat if interested, we would love to meet you.
Sue Kirrage
May 2024 , water vole hole photographed on the canal
WORK PARTIES
Winter 2024/25 – work party news
Outdoor pursuits are generally quieter in the Winter but the work parties have to continue. It’s a chance to catch up at a time when the vegetation does die back just a little. Some work parties are lost to the weather but usually only if the forecast is dire.
There are fewer members of the public using the canal but there are still quite a few well wrapped up citizens (excluding the wild swimmers), it’s a pleasure to speak to them when on a work party and to explain what we are trying to do (and take a rest)?
Some are concerned when they see reeds being cut, trees felled, etc but are usually happy once it is explained the checks and balances the Trust has in place, for example checking that no nesting birds or water voles will be disturbed. The work is often trying to create a diversity of habitat consistent with the over-all aim of restoring the canal.
Pound 1
The work on the Smallburgh Pound is reviewed elsewhere in this newsletter.
Pound 2
On the Honing Pound a lot of work has been undertaken at Honing Staithe and the adjacent Canal Walk. Trees that had fallen across the Staithe have been removed as have several more that were across the Canal Walk.
One particularly large tree near the footbridge has been removed and after many years this will now allow the mowers better access in the summer. Making the path a little wider will help to reduce erosion (Stout footwear is still recommended in the wetter months). A lot of reed has been removed from one side of the Staithe so its original purpose is easy to see.
Honing Staithe 2025
<- Briggate Mill Pond 2012
Pound 4
Pound 3
The work on the Briggate Pound has been limited to work at the Lock and edges of the Mill Pond.
It will be good to get the reed out of at least part of the Mill Pond so its original purpose can be seen better but part of the area will be left uncut
Routine maintenance has been undertaken on the Ebridge Pound with tidying up continuing around the Mill and Lock area. Walkers may notice the grass cutting along the canal walkways.
Pound 5
Work has been limited on the Bacton Wood Mill Pound at the request of the OCC but there has been some vegetation cut around the lock.
The Unit
The unit meeting room has been used for two important sessions. The first Operational Delivery meeting was held in January to review what had been done in the previous quarter and to look forward at future works. It’s a chance to ensure we have enough resources to do what is planned and for the Work Party Leaders to have their say.
Equally enjoyable was the session in December when volunteers got together for a bit of a Christmas do. The food brought in by everyone was enjoyed with special mention for the home made snacks.
Keeping the unit tidy and the equipment in good condition is an on-going task. Work has also been done out in the yard in support of the OCC.
Volunteers are at the heart of all of our work. The work of the “muddy ones” is highly visible along the canal at work parties. Please come and chat to our volunteers and look at what we do if you have any interest in joining our happy team.
FOUR SEASONS ON SMALLBURGH POUND
Autumn 2023 to Winter 2024
Autumn 2023 through to the New Year ‘24 was an extraordinarily wet and warm time. It was a winter with four named storms but almost without frost. The Environment Agency had asked Dilham Hall back in the 1990s to lower the east bank just above Tonnage Bridge . In the winter of 2023 the canal topped this bank and flooded South Common. This had happened previously only about 3 or 4 times It was reported by the press that the sea level was higher at Great Yarmouth and that the outgoing tide from the Yare and the Waveney took precedence over the Bure, and so water was stuck in the river catchment and the canal. Th is pound is tidal and we were able to watch the tide gently tipping in and out as we passed by upstream
We navigated ‘Sue B’ from the Canoe Field right up to Honing lock , it could be done! We discovered where the tree trunks were sunken on the canal bed, the silt and reed and rush beds location, the tree growth that would be hazardous to navigation and the small growths of the invasive weed Floating Pennywort which we carefully avoided!
In the Spring of 2024 vegetative growth everywhere was put into overdrive. The weed harvester on the bow of ‘Sue B’ is designed to cut weed growing up from the canal bed, it will not harvest plants growing above the waterline unless they have been released from both the bank and the bed and are floating free.
When we recommenced after the spring fertility frenzy there was much weed to harvest from the canal bed to clear a channel for the wild swimmers but we were failing to keep up with the growth. By midsummer 2024 with the second Canal Festival approaching the Floating Pennywort seemed to be growing like a bramble, returning day after day. The channel from the Tonnage Bridge field to Smallburgh Junction was becoming blocked.
After the Festival we had more volunteers. The Trust was contacted by Liam Smith, Nature Recovery Officer of Norfolk County Council. His brief is to eradicate the Broads and adjacent waters of invasive species. Under his supervision, and by agreement of the Trustees with Dilham Hall, the canal owners at Smallburgh Pound, we were asked to assist in removing Floating Pennywort from the East Ruston Cut to the Smallburgh Junction (Liam reported that the Environment Agency had surveyed the pound above East Ruston and had declared it Pennywort free).
Before clearance: Floating Pennywort
Liam gave us advice and instruction, pronouncing trust volunteers Ian, Richard, Bill and myself competent to remove Floating Pennywort. When Liam paid a return visit trust volunteers Lynda and Helen were added to the competence list. Liam also asked the canal owners’ permission if volunteers in canoes from the River Waveney Trust could visit via the canal to help remove Pennywort from Tyler`s Cut.
When we first approached the great beds of Pennywort the succulent plant was standing high above a floating mat of 5mm thick rhyzomes with vertical fine root hairs trailing in the water We were harvesting three loads of Pennywort onto ‘SueB’ in a working day. We quickly learnt to wait for the growth to slow, maybe even after a frost.
To store the weed securely we found a bank high enough that it would never flood to build a clamp some 15m long and 2m high. As I write the succulent clamp has collapsed to less than a metre in height.
The team were also working upstream observing the seasons and the wildlife. If you keep a good lookout d ownstream, herons and kingfishers can be seen. When it is cold many swans are seen in the shelter of Broad Fen SSSI. On a wherry trip the passengers spotted an osprey circling high above the canal.
Upstream there are a pair of buzzards who perch above the glamping pods and are often seen soaring above the common or being mobbed by crows. Marsh harriers are sometimes present too. Moorhen are seen scampering across the surface of the canal as we approach.
Upstream again we pulled seven rock-hard alders which had settled on the bed from the eastern bank. Otter slides were spotted at low water and as we rocked the alder to free them from the silt we heard the sound of barking, maybe deer or otters?
The willows collapsing from the other bank had rooted in the silt and had put up saplings, this helped us to find the mother trunk which had to be freed from the silt to liberate the roots before it could be removed.
From that freed obstacle we have a clear channel until the reed -bed in the mouth of the Dilham Mill tailrace. Beyond that we aim to restore the winding hole just before the last wood leading to Honing Lock. We estimate there are some five alders to be lifted from the western bank which would permit a navigable channel to Honing Lock.
Musings by David Batley, Work Party Leader at Smallburgh Pound
After: Floating Pennywort free
BOATING
Boating Team update by The Captain Baldie and Aquawoman
January and February have been busy months for the boating team, with significant progress made on key projects. One of our long-standing technical challenges has been the compatibility between our lithium batteries and outboard motors. The late Ralph Miles had initiated a project to standardise all connections, ensuring that any battery could be used with any outboard motor. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete his work before he sadly passed.
Determined to see his vision realised, Carol who is a key member of the boating team (known on social media as “Aquawoman”) and I took it upon ourselves to finish the task. Early one Saturday morning, we set out to complete Ralph ’s project.
We systematically stripped back the wiring, installed new terminal connections on the battery ends and fitted Anderson connectors to all three batteries, ensuring uniform compatibility with our outboard motors.
Thanks to my experience maintaining a 40-year-old Land Rover 110 an ownership that comes with an unofficial degree in 12V systems and wiring I have all the necessary tools and skills to execute the task efficiently and with safety as priority. After a few hours of cutting, crimping, melting, and testing, we successfully completed the upgrade.
NB All boating electrical work is inspected, in line with the Trust Safety, Health and Environment policy.
AQUAWOMAN ON WIRE STRIPPING AND TAPING DUTY
CPT BALDIE ON CRIMPING AND SLEEVING DUTY
Boat Inspection and Upcoming Plans for ‘Ella II’
The second week of February involved an inspection of ‘Ella II ’ to assess any necessary maintenance or repairs. Due to a plumbing emergency, I was unable to attend the meeting, but once again, Aquawoman stepped in, this time to meet with our local boat safety examiner, Alan May.
We are excited to announce that ‘Ella II ’ will be back on the water this year, transporting passengers along the Ebridge section of the canal. The Boating team is looking forward to another busy season.
Additionally, we have begun planning a comprehensive refurbishment of the vessel, starting with an electrical system review. Further updates on this project will follow as progress is made. As previously reported, this is possible thanks to the generous Buchanan grant
I am still in the process of compiling a full report and proposal for works needed.
However, the initial feedback from Alan suggests that ‘Ella II’ is in excellent condition, structurally, which is great news for us going forward.
For those interested in booking a boat trip on ‘Ella II ’ , services will run from May through September.
To schedule a trip, please contact me, The Captain Baldie on 07415 905 357. We look forward to welcoming you on board!
NEWS from elsewhere
A former Chair of North Walsham and Dilham Canal Trust, Ivan Cane, keeps us informed about meetings of the Northern Canals Association (which actually also includes information about southern canals, ever since the S. Canals Assn folded). Here is some information about the next two “Up and Coming Meetings”
The Friends of the Cromford Canal have finalised the programme for the NCA’s March meeting on SATURDAY, 22nd March 2025, at the New Horizon Church, Unit 1, Linkmel Road, Eastwood, Langley Mill, NG16 3RZ from 10 o’clock. (Right next to the Great Northern Basin at the junction of the Erewash, Cromford and Nottingham canals.) During the day we’ll hear about the history of the canal and its restoration progress. Then the detail of the Beggarlee Extension from planning permissions, raising funds to a site visit of the works themselves. Details and booking arrangements as per the NCA email contact below.
On SUNDAY 5th October 2025 , it’s over to the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust , who are hosting at Wappenshall. As well as finding out more about restoring the canals from Newport to Shrewsbury, following a request from last October’s meeting on the Monty about prevention of invasive species, Charles Hughes, the Environment Scientist and Project Manager, West Midlands Region C&RT is going
to update us on the schemes being trialled to battle pennywort and friends. Ivan included two photos in his newsletter of Trailboats, which are transported easily behind a car on a road trailer. It would be great to see an electrically powered, environmentally - friendly one at one of our events in the future?
For more information, contact Ivan Cane: northern.canals2021@btinternet.com
Words from our Membership Secretary
On behalf of the NW&DCT Trustees and all volunteers, I would like to thank all members for their annual subscriptions and supporters for extra donations. Especially we’d like to express huge gratitude to all members who contribute additional donations, adding significant amounts to their membership annual payment.
All the Trust volunteers give their time for free, we have no paid staff. Our day-to-day running costs are forever increasing. These additional donations, and those of you using our QR codes along the Canal are now vital to sustain our efforts THANK YOU so much. Julie. Membership Secretary.
TRUST CONTACTS
Boating@nwdct.org
Chair@nwdct.org
Fishing@nwdct.org
Liaison, (via Secretary @ )
Membership@nwdct.org
Projects@nwdct.org
Secretary@nwdct.org
Treasurer@nwdct.org
Walkways@nwdct.org
Workparty@nwdct.org
Darren Reeve
Sue Kirrage
Tom Webster
David Revill
Julie Kelleher
Chris Heath
Julie Kelleher
Barry Mobbs
Andrew Fryer
Ian Hibbert
Vacant roles Events - Grants - Meetings - Publicity - Quagmire Editor - Training - Wildlife
We are also seeking to grow our Board of Trustees. This responsibility can, if wished, also be combined with any of the other vacant roles
If you have an interest in volunteering with us in any of these teams, please contact us on secretary@nwdct.org for more details