IWA Great Ouse Branch Magazine, Ouse News, Spring 2013

The Inland Waterways Association

Ouse News - Spring 2013 The Great Ouse Branch Newsletter covering the Great Ouse and tributaries

Contents: Branch Committee

p3

Chairman’s Corner

p4

News Release

p6

Eastern Region AGM p7 Branch AGM

p8

Sea Scouts

p9

Denver Complex

p10

Boating in Euroland p12

The River Cam Photo: Peter Webb

Campaigning for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of the Inland Waterways.

Branch News

p18

Meeting Reports

p19

Return of the Otter

p21

Cambridge Moorings p24

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or of the Great Ouse Branch. They are, however, published as being of interest to our members and readers.

Ouse News Page 2

Ouse News Page 3

Branch Committee Chairman: Keith Alderton Holly Cottage, 57 Globe Street Methwold Thetford, IP26 4PQ Tel. 01366 727236 e-mail:keithalderton@sky.com Secretary: John Hodgson 9 Beaufort Way, Brickhill Bedford, MK41 7XQ Tel 01234 344884 e-mail: jhodgson@rivouse.fsnet.co.uk Treasurer: Enid Hodgson 9 Beaufort Way, Brickhill Bedford, MK41 7XQ Tel 01234 344884 e-mail: jhodgson@rivouse.fsnet.co.uk Ouse News Editor: Carole Alderton Holly Cottage, 57 Globe Street Methwold Thetford, IP26 4PQ Tel. 01366 727236 e-mail: carolealderton@sky.com Sales Officer: David Anderson 21 Cambridge Street St Neots PE19 1JL Tel 01480 477227 e-mail:david.anderson@uwclub.net

Membership Officer: Peter Webb 35 Norfolk Road Ely, CB6 3EJ Tel 01353 658581 e-mail: peter.c.webb@tesco.net Member: Stephen Foote 14 High Street, Chrishall Royston, SG8 8RP Tel 01763 838936 e-mail: g4foh@tambourine.org.uk Member: Derek Bradley 24 Witchford Road Ely, CB6 3DP Tel 01353 661601 e-mail: bradleyd@waitrose.com

Ouse News Page 4 Chairman’s Corner A Happy New Year to one and all! Well, we’ve started the New Year as we left the old, with both the Upper Ouse and the Nene closed to navigation due to flooding. Surely we deserve some better weather this time around! At least we were able to enjoy two first class meetings warm and dry during the latter part of the year, with informative talks by Ivan Cane on the North Walsham & Dilham Canal and by Ian West on the IWA National Festivals being well attended.

There has been some encouraging progress regarding the level of per capita grant provided by HQ to facilitate the publication of branch magazines, as it has now been agreed that the proposed 10% per annum reduction will be reviewed after the first two years. In addition, Head Office has made arrangements for branch magazines to be printed and posted centrally at very attractive rates. Regrettably, this will therefore be the last issue of Ouse News printed by our friends at Burwell Press. You can help the branch to maximise the grant by opting for ‘full’ rather than ‘electronic’ membership when you receive your renewal notice and asking for your copy of Ouse News to be sent via email. Taking these actions should go a long way to ensuring that we can continue to publish a top rate newsletter and also have sufficient funds to run other branch activities.

Another vexed issue currently being discussed is the proposal by the Canal & River Trust to spend a total of £100,000 (£40,000 of which is to be provided by the Arts Council) sponsoring poems to be carved into the balance beams of lock gates. Those of us who travel the canal system know only too well that every available penny is desperately needed to repair and maintain the waterways infrastructure. The very thought of spending such vast sums defacing our national heritage seems to be sheer madness to many waterways supporters. Your committee has, therefore, added its voice to a long list of other branches who oppose such vandalism. At least this incident has highlighted how we must continue to differentiate ourselves from the CRT if we are to be effective in our traditional role as ‘custodian of the waterways’.

Ouse News Page 5 The IWA’s strength comes from its members, many of whom we never see at local events. However, your continued silent support is still very much appreciated and we thank you for it.

As always, we look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at our next meeting on 28th February and also at the AGM on 28th March, which will be followed as usual by our annual update of navigation matters from the Environment Agency. This year, in order to save money, the officers’ reports will only be sent on request by email, although hard copies will be available at the meeting. Our spring programme will then continue with a talk and tour at the Denver Sluice complex on the 13th April and our annual cruise to Reach Fair over the early Spring Bank Holiday weekend in May. Hope to see you out and about in the coming months.

Keith Alderton

Traditional English Pub Sunday Roasts, Homecooked Food, Real Ales, Quiz Night Tuesday, Large Beer Garden with Play Area, Pool Table

Axe & Compass High Street, Hemingford Abbots, Huntingdon, PE28 9AH 01480 463605 Facebook: The Axe & Compass, Hemingford Abbots Twitter: @axeandcompass Only a short walk from the moorings at Hemingford Grey or Houghton

Ouse News Page 6

Boaters pay the price for their unregistered craft Three boaters have been prosecuted for keeping their craft on Environment Agency navigations without valid registration certificates.

The boaters received fines ranging from £150 to £1000 as well as court costs and orders to pay compensation. Two of the boat owners appeared at King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court on 11 October 2012 after being caught on the River Great Ouse in Norfolk without a valid registration certificate.

Another one, caught on the River Nene in Northamptonshire had his case heard at Corby Magistrates’ Court on 17 October.

All boats kept, let for hire or used on Environment Agency waterways, including the main river, private moorings, marinas or backwaters, must be registered. Registration discs and numbers must be displayed on craft so they are clearly visible to the organisation’s enforcement staff.

It is the owner’s responsibility to inform the Environment Agency in writing of a change in ownership of the boat – until this is done, they remain the legal owner and responsible for registering it.

All powered boats must also have valid third party insurance as well as a valid Boat Safety Scheme Certificate (BSSC) to be able to register.

Irven Forbes, Waterways Manager, said: “Failing to register a boat just does not pay – not only do people risk being prosecuted and fined up to £1,000, but they still have to pay their registration charge and will end up with a criminal record.”

For more advice on how to register a boat, contact the Environment Agency’s Boat Registration Team on 03708 506 506.

Ouse News Page 7 EASTERN REGION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Eastern Region of the Inland Waterways Association will be held on Wednesday, 20th March 2013 at the Peterborough and District Indoor Bowls Centre, Burton Street, Peterborough, PE1 5HA at 7.30 pm.

AGENDA 1. Apologies 2. Approval of the Minutes of the AGM held on 14th March 2012 3. Matters Arising from those Minutes 4. Chairman’s Report 5. Election of Committee Members (see notes below): a) The Chairman of the Region is elected in a separate ballot and the Chairmen of each of the branches within the Region are members of the Region committee ex officio. This is an election for the remaining members of the Region committee. b) Under the 3 year rule the period of office of those elected at the 2010 AGM comes to an end at the forthcoming AGM. Those elected in 2010 were: John Hodgson, David King, Nigel Long and Peter Webb. All of those individuals are eligible to stand again for election [although Nigel Long has indicated that he will not be standing].There is no limit to the number of members of the committee and therefore no limit to the number of those who may stand for election. c) It is no longer necessary for those who wish to stand for election to be nominated and seconded but all who wish to stand must agree to do so. Consents from members of the Region who wish to stand for election at the AGM 2013 must be deposited with the Region Secretary [Nigel Long, 7 Georgian Court, Peterborough PE3 6AF or by email at nhlong@supanet.com] before the start of the Annual General Meeting.

CONSENT FORM I agree to stand for election to the Eastern Region committee at the 2013 Annual General Meeting. I am a member of Eastern Region.

(Sign) ........................................Print Name ..........................................

Date .............................

Ouse News Page 8 Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Great Ouse Branch of the Inland Waterways Association will be held on Thursday, 28th March 2013 at the Community Centre, Milton, Cambridge, CB24 6BL at 8.00 p.m.

AGENDA 1. Chairman’s welcome and apologies for absence 2. Approval of the Minutes of the AGM held on 22nd March 2012 which will be available at the meeting 3. Matters Arising from those Minutes, not included on this agenda 4. Chairman’s Report – which will be available at the meeting 5. Secretary’s Report – which will be available at the meeting 6. Treasurer’s Report and presentation of accounts – which will be available at the meeting 7. Election of Branch Committee 8. Close of Meeting Notes: (following the amendment of Byelaws dated 14/3/09) 1. Accounts are audited by IWA Head Office. There is no need to adopt the accounts or appoint an auditor.

2. There is no longer any limit to Committee numbers. Members serve for 3 years after which they retire but may seek re-election. This year there are 3 committee members due to retire by rotation who are: Derek Bradley, Stephen Foote and Peter Webb.

3. New Committee Members are most welcome. Those who would like to stand must sign the consent form below and send to the Branch Secretary, John Hodgson (address on page 3) before the AGM.

 INLAND WATERS ASSOCIATION CONSENT FORM I agree to stand for election at the Annual Meeting of the Great Ouse Branch. I am a member of the Great Ouse Branch.

(Sign) .................................................. Print Name ............................

Date ...............................

Ouse News Page 9 Sea Scouts You may ask ‘why write about this subject in a magazine about inland waterways’? However, there are many Sea Scout groups based inland; some of which are far from the sea. In fact, the county with the greatest number of Sea Scout groups is the inland county of Wiltshire and the Sea Scout Magazine is published in Birmingham. The scout movement as a whole celebrated its centenary in 2007 with a jamboree at Highlands Park in Essex and the Sea Scouts celebrated their own centenary with a jamboree at Nottingham in 2008.

There used to be a group in Cambridge, although unfortunately it is no longer functioning. The senior patrol was named Scott after the polar explorer.

There was (and may still be) a group in Luton which is not even near a navigable waterway.

I was in the 6th King’s Lynn St. Nicholas Sea Scouts which although not based far from the sea, carried out all of its boating on the inland waterways.

Our senior patrol was called Drake Patrol. We camped beside and sailed on the Norfolk Broads and also joined the Snettisham Sailing Club at Snettisham Pits. We attended the Norfolk Jamboree at Sennowe Park where we sailed on the lake in a Canadian Dory belonging to the father of one of the boys. I have since seen more such boats in Nova Scotia.

We had our boat called the Ethel which was an old ship’s lifeboat from the coaster Ethel Everard. We were also allowed to use the dock’s dinghies in the dock basin on summer evenings after the docks had stopped working. I believe that members also sometimes sailed on the river at King’s Lynn, although I did not do so myself. We did get to go on board some naval ships.

I am now a member of the Deep Sea Scouts which is part of the organisation Scout Active Support, formerly known as the Scout Fellowship.

Robin Adams

Ouse News Page 10

Denver Complex Visit

The Great Ouse Branch has booked a tour of the Environment Agency’s Denver Complex for Saturday 13th April 2013. It was many years ago that the branch last visited the site and everyone found it very interesting.

The tour starts at 11.00 am and will last 60-90 minutes. The Agency does not charge for the tours at the moment, but welcomes donations to Water Aid. The Denver Complex has 5 sluices which have the dual purpose of performing the Fens flood defence role and also the Ouse to Essex water transfer supply.

By a quirk of history one of the Environment Agency’s adjacent riverside buildings is the Jenyns Arms pub which has a reputation for good substantial meals. Also nearby is Denver Mill which has a good tea room and sells tasty bread and gifts.

To give us some idea of numbers please could you contact Peter Webb peter.c.webb@tesco.net (preferred) or telephone 01353 658581 (answerphone) to register your interest. Final numbers are required by end of March. We will confirm nearer the time.

Silt ‘island’ removed again The Environment Agency removed around 2240 tonnes of silt from the tidal approach to Denver lock last summer. This removed much of the island of silt that had formed there for the second time last year. The silt is deposited by incoming tides and, when the tides were low, boats were at risk of becoming grounded on the island. This meant craft could only be locked through on a very high tide.

A suction pump machine and dredger were used to pump water and silt out of the river before it was separated. The water was then pumped back into the river and the silt deposited into a lagoon at the top of the river bank. The dried silt will be used to maintain flood banks in the area. All the work was carried out at low tide. The lock remained open on high tides to minimise disruption to boaters.

Work is underway to find a sustainable solution to the issue and catch silt as it comes in on the tide to prevent the island forming in future.

Nathan Arnold

Ouse News Page 11

Denver Pre-dredging

Denver Post-dredging

Priory Centre, St Neots

Water point up and running The Environment Agency has been thanked by GOBA and many other river users for helping to resolve the issue with the water point at the Priory Centre, St Neots. As a ‘one-off’ gesture we installed a water meter and repaired the tap so that it can be re-opened to the public. Andy Hubble, Waterways River Inspector worked closely with all parties concerned to ensure this important facility was once again available for boats to take on fresh water.

Nathan Arnold

Ouse News Page 12 BOATING IN EUROLAND In late 1999 I bought a second-hand narrow boat, put most of my belongings into store and arranged with a local agent to rent out my house in Huntingdon, so that, un-encumbered by possessions, I was free to go boating, full time, in Euroland. My boat, Rosy, and I were trucked across the channel, and dropped into European waters at a boatyard in Ternuzen, Holland. I spent several months in this very friendly and helpful yard, first of all merely revelling in doing what I had long dreamed of doing (boating in Euroland), and then working to tweak Rosy so that she better fitted my requirements - this mainly consisted of building some shelves to house my books, and altering one of the ‘sleeping’ cabins into an office.

When all was ready I quit Ternuzen, heading inland and crossing the border into Belgium. The extensive old quay, where boats crossing the border had been subject to Customs inspection, was deserted as a consequence of the establishment of the EU. My first lock was massive - full of proper ships.

Rosy was both last in and last out, and got a cheery wave from the lockkeeper. I moored a couple of kilometres further on, off the main line of the canal, on some moorings belonging to a friendly boat club. We were a few kilometres southish of Ghent, which I visited regularly (for both shopping and culture) and which had some good visitor moorings - indeed I eventually overwintered there. Before that I cruised a big circle that took in both French and Belgian waterways.

Ouse News Page 13 I found it a positive advantage to be in a narrow boat, if only because nonUK boaters had never seen anything like it before, and wanted to know why it was such a strange shape. UK citizens, were, of course, attracted to someone who could understand English!

I spent time cruising the French waterways - usually travelling for no more than 2 or 3 days a week, and leaving plenty of time for sightseeing, shopping and socialising.

My BIG ambition was to get into Poland, and to take Rosy up and down the famous boat lifts just south of the coastal town of Elblag. I eventually met up with Mike and June Brockway on the narrow boat Temujin (the given name of Genghis Khan) who had attempted this cruise, but had failed due to duff information. Having acquired the right information, they wanted to try again. We agreed to join forces.

Hence we cruised together through Holland and all the way along the German Mittleland Canal, and overwintering in a very friendly ‘yacht’ club in Eisenhuttenstadt, in the far east of Germany by the Oder-Spree Canal. (‘Boat clubs’ in Euroland tend to favour the term ‘Yacht Club’).

In the spring we headed East(ish) to the river Vistula and whizzed down it.

We briefly cruised through Gdansk and back, before making our way to Elblag, and thence to the boat lifts.

Ouse News Page 14 There is a string of 5 inclined planes, with a short section of canal between each one. The total lift is said to be 99.9 metres. Each lift consists of a grassy inclined plane, with two sets of railway lines on it. With luck, when you arrive at the bottom of the planes, a skeletal railway truck, open at each end, will be waiting for you. You merely steer your boat into the truck and tie onto it. The truck then moves forward up the plane, being dragged by a cable. Half way up the plane an identical truck will pass you going down. Of course, the plane must rise above the level of water in the next canal section (otherwise the canal water would flow down the plane), so your boat goes over the rise, and down into the canal where it stops.

You then untie from the truck, and cruise along the canal to the next plane.

At the top of the last plane you can visit the ‘engine’ house and marvel at what you see - the ‘engine’ is driven by a water wheel. (An incline plane was built in the USA on the Morris canal, but it is no longer in use).

Once at the top of the planes, there is a canal that leads to a series of fabulous lakes that are well worth spending a few days exploring. When you have finished, there is the pleasure of the trip down the planes.

If you are in Elblag and haven’t got a boat with you, the Tourist Office can guide you to a coach that can take you on a trip that includes the Engine House, though you may prefer the trip boat that will take you up and down the planes.

Ouse News Page 15 Returning to France, we cruised down the Rhone, turning west near the bottom, and onto the Canal Lateral de la Garronne, a delightful canal that in many places is within a few minutes walk to the sea. At Agde we passed through a ‘round’ lock, which is on a junction and has 3 sets of gates. We then cruised along the Canal du Midi to Valence d’Agen where we overwintered. The following year I left France to return to England to set about exploring our own canal system.

I have been back in the UK for some 4 years now, still living on Rosy and cruising the canals. When I retire from being a live-aboard, I plan to return to the vicinity of Cambridge, where I will be able to participate - once more - in the Great Ouse Branch of the IWA. If anyone is contemplating an expedition to the European canals, please feel free to get in touch with me at billybubbles@me.com. My internet postings to friends etc whilst I was in Euroland can be found on my blog www.billybubbles.demon.co.uk .

Bill Davies

(Qualified to examine private boats and residential boats with gas if fitted with a bubble tester) Additional contact no: Ely Boat Chandlers - 01353 663095

Ouse News Page 16

Ouse News Page 17

Ouse News Page 18

Branch News Winter Meetings

are at 8 pm on Thursday evenings at the Cole’s Road Community Centre, Milton (North Cambridge) CB24 6BL.

Members & Visitors welcome.

T HURSDAY 28TH F EBRUARY 2013

An illustrated talk by Mike Petty, C a m b r i d g e s h i r e R e s e a r c h e r, Lecturer & Historian on ‘The Great Flood of 1947’.

T HURSDAY 28 TH M ARCH 2013

We welcome the following new members to the branch.

We hope you will introduce yourselves to us when coming to an event or meeting: D King, Bedford Edward Brooker, Littlebury Green, Saffron Walden

Our March meeting will be our AGM and update from the river managers of the Environment Agency.

Miss Bryony Cotterill, Saffron Walden

S ATURDAY 13TH APRIL 2013

Alison Clarke, Cambridge

Visit to Denver Sluice see page 10 for details:

M AY D AY B ANK H OLIDAY Saturday, 4th May - Gathering

of boats at Reach, followed by an evening meal at the Dykes End. (Book your place with Stephen Foote) S u n d a y, 5 t h M a y - L a d i e s ’ morning walk, lunchtime barbecue and quiz. Evening participation in village quiz.

Monday, 6th May - IWA stand at Reach Fair.

John Bailey, Wyboston, Bedford

Vikrant Gupta, Cambridge Polly Martin , Saffron Walden David Wakeling , Barrow, Suffolk Members who have moved to Branch Russell James, Little Fransham, Dereham Ronald & Jan Spencer, Long Melford, Suffolk

Ouse News Page 19

Ouse News Advertising

‘The Great Flood of 1947’

• Do you want to contact boating enthusiasts?

• Circulation 350 within 30 miles of Cambridge • Adverts cost £30 (+ VAT) per half page for a year • Three editions a year • Contact The Editor (carolealderton @sky.com)

Why not come along and hear about the time the Great Ouse burst its banks and flooded thousands of acres of Fenland. The Army was mobilised to deal with the emergency and Dutch engineers called in to assist …

Thursday, 28th February see previous page...

November 2012 Meeting At our last meeting of 2012 in November our speaker was Ian West, Chairman of IWA Festivals. On a day that the weathermen had forecast to be a very wet, windy day Ian drove all the way from Solihull to be with us.

He gave a very relaxed, informal talk illustrated with a powerpoint presentation on the history and aims of the IWA National Festival. Ian has been on the committee for ten years most of them as chairman. He gave us a good insight into the work that is involved in producing a large festival. The IWA is the largest volunteer festival in the UK costing over £250,000 to put on.

Everyone involved from the IWA is unpaid and even have to pay for the privilege of mooring or camping there!

Whilst most of us had a relatively short journey home Ian then had his long drive back to Solihull hopefully not delayed by an accident that had previously occurred on the A14.

Peter Webb

Ouse News Page 20 Branch meeting – the North Walsham and Dilham Canal On 25th October 2012 the branch meeting was well entertained by Ivan Cane, one of the stalwarts of the North Walsham and Dilham Canal restoration project.

He gave a talk on the history of the canal and the progress of the project to date. The canal ran from Antingham to a point just above Wayford Bridge at a junction on the Smallburgh River and was the canalisation of part of the River Ant in Norfolk.

The work commenced on1st April 1825 and the canal was finally opened at the end of August 1826. It mainly carried offal to bone mills in Antingham but also carried manure, flour, grain, coal, wood and farm produce. It suffered from siltation after a relatively short period of operation but, like so many other canals, could not compete with the coming of the railway in 1874 and was sold in 1876. The solicitor handling the sale absconded with the money!

There was a flood in 1936 that washed away many of the staithes and this was mainly responsible for the canal’s eventual closure.

The canal was never nationalised and incorporated into, what was then, British Waterways and now the Canal and River Trust and still belongs to the North Walsham Canal Company in private ownership. The right of navigation still exists by virtue of the original Act of Parliament. IWA (former Norwich branch) and the East Anglian Waterways Association (EAWA) have both been heavily involved in the cleaning-up process; the latter commissioning detailed engineering and environmental surveys. Much of the length can be made navigable to small craft with the restoration of Honing, Briggate and Ebridge locks.

EAWA work parties, with help from the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Trust (NW&DCT) have concentrated on this and the stretch between Honing and Spa Common.

This work has been going on for over ten years and has often been hard going.

More recently help has been available from mechanical plant which takes at least some of the back breaking work out, but there is still plenty left! It’s difficult to estimate when this navigation will return to its former glory but with the enthusiasm of all those involved it’s likely to be sooner rather than later.

John Hodgson

Ouse News Page 21 Return of the Otter ...

Your autumn issue of this magazine highlighted the return of the otter, but unfortunately there is another side to this animal’s success.

As your item says, otters have been successfully re-established across most parts of the UK now, following significant releases from captive breeding programmes which have added to the natural breeding stocks of otters.

The releases are most likely still continuing too, given the numbers of semitame animals that are appearing in many parts of the country, (although the authorities deny this is happening). And their main diet of course is fish, which are in short supply.

Now, those of you who don’t go fishing will wonder how otters can cause such concern, so let me try to explain what is happening.

As a prelude, my first impressions of otters cemented the views many of you would hold when, over 40 years ago on a remote Canadian lake, I watched a delightful family of four otters playing in the water and over some sunken logs. A magic moment! The poor photos I managed also highlighted the need for a 400mm telephoto lens, which was to take me into a life-long love of outdoor photography.

Back now in the UK, that summed up my knowledge of otters until 1998 when, thanks to my heavy involvement in angling politics, I took a phone call that asked “what were we doing about otters”. I had no idea whatsoever they could pose any kind of issues to us, but it turned out that this angler’s life’s work of building up a lovely fishery had been destroyed by otter predation, and he knew of a number of other fisheries that had been similarly hit. The fishery was ruined, and stayed that way, and a similar picture slowly emerged throughout the country.

Our Fisheries Group met the great and the good of Government in 1999, but although all there agreed the protection of large valuable fish was a key objective, this was never honoured.

Ouse News Page 22 Subsequent high level approaches to Government for fisheries protection funding for still-waters was rejected. For rivers, all along we have had to acknowledge there was nothing we could do, fish stocks would decline.

To add to the problem our fish stocks are already heavily depleted by a burgeoning inland cormorant population of 70,000+ (when 20 years ago there were virtually none) and goosanders, both also protected species.

Poor water quality and abstractions are serious issues too. So fish stocks vanish. Otters then not unnaturally raid still-waters, and commonly take carp over 30lb, like the one pictured. They won’t return to the kill either, the rest is left for the scavengers. In winter in particular otters can stay on a water and make kill after kill, large tench, carp, pike, everything, all get taken one by one until they are virtually cleared out.

The Environment Agency (EA) did eventually fund research into the fencing necessary to protect fisheries, and now reluctantly give back a tiny percentage of the licence money they levy on anglers to pay for a very, very small amount of fisheries fencing. Rivers though cannot be protected. I first heard how badly they would be affected in private in 2009, when I was shocked to hear a senior EA Head Office Fisheries Official admitting that specimen fish in rivers would largely become a thing of the past, because otters would have eaten most of them. To quote, “they will have to be content with a 5lb barbel as a target, most larger fish will have been eaten by otters”. Then in late 2010 the EA stated publicly “On rivers, it is likely that specimen fish will become more the exception than the norm”. So to state the obvious, the EA has been aware for a very long time that otters would decimate stocks in large swathes of our rivers and lakes.

So on still-waters we can erect an otter-proof fence but that comes at an enormous cost of £9 a metre, so a ten acre water costs about £10,000 in materials alone. A 30 acre gravel pit I fish cost us £25,000 on materials to fence. Just reflect on that, £25,000 from a small club budget, and that has to be repeated for the tens of thousands of waters that might seek protection from predation. On top of the cost, fencing now has to surround some lovely natural areas that really shouldn’t have to suffer this visual disfigurement, plus the environmental impact on other wildlife.

Ouse News Page 23 Even the RSPB has had to resort to installing fencing at a number of their sites now, one suspects to keep predators from the ground-nesting birds, the fencing conforms to the full otter-proof specifications so it is not just foxes they seek to exclude. It isn’t just angling that is feeling the effects of otter predation.

Thousands of fisheries have been badly affected, local clubs have been forced to close or give up waters as only a lucky few can afford to spend the money on fencing. So many waters close. Rivers suffer sometimes drastic predation about which we can do nothing.

So perhaps that will give some idea why we have mixed feelings about the reintroduction of otters.

Otters come at a heavy price!

A large carp and a barbel killed by otters

Chris Burt

Our newsletter is printed by:

Phone 01638-613102 www.burwellprint.co.uk Registered Charity No. 1053026

Ouse News Page 24 Cambridge Moorings During our travels this year we met several boaters who had made the most of this year’s Gold Licence to use the River Cam and visit Cambridge.

Nearly all of them were very disappointed with the journey. The main complaint was that when they finally got to Jesus Lock there was no mooring for them. Most of the mooring appeared to be taken up with residential boats.

Imagine our surprise when in late August we had drinks with boating friends who told us that when they went to Cambridge it was lovely with plenty of mooring. It seems that Cambridge City Council have put up new signs and are enforcing the visitor moorings.

As the photos show, not only is there mooring at Jesus Green but also on the bank outside the Midsummer House Restaurant/ Fort St George pub.

It will be a shame if these new moorings are not used due to excessive navigation charges by the Cam Conservators.

Peter & Jean Webb The Inland Waterways Association is a non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee. Registered in England no 612245 Registered as a charity no 212342 Registered Office: Island House, Moor Rd, Chesham, HP5 1WA. Phone 01494 783453