Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor: Response to book review in Ouse News –Winter 20/21 edition

There was a book review in the Ouse News, Winter 2020/21 issue, written by Stephen Foote on the book “Boogie up the River” by Mark Wallington. I feel moved to express my thanks to Stephen for bringing this work to my attention, as it very successfully amused me for a few evenings (I was so anxious not to finish it too quickly and thereby abbreviate my enjoyment, that I rationed myself to read only a short section at each sitting!).

On reading the review I ordered a copy be delivered by a certain supplier’s prime service (if they want to advertise in this magazine, they are going to have to pay the going rate; I am not about to give them a free “plug”) and, for convenience, I ordered the compendium edition containing “Boogie up the River” and “500 mile Walkies”. I found both books entertaining, perhaps the latter even more than the former, but it does not contain any reference to navigable rivers!

It would be very good if I were able to offer a review of my own in exchange, but I share Stephen’s opinion that the genre is rather lacking interesting new work (at least that has come to my attention). Over the long evenings in lockdowns and restricted social interaction, and with nothing worth watching on television (having watched Vicar of Dibley on catchup that exhausted my interest there as well), I took to re-reading the classics of my childhood, such as “Treasure Island”, “Gulliver’s Travels” and “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”. All good stuff but possibly not very popular reading material today. Nor, I suspect, would be my subsequent foray into the works of Charles Dickens, although I must commend his writing for its dry humour and glimpse into a style of life now gone (and good riddance too for the most part!). For anyone with a Kindle to hand I can commend Great Expectations as a toe-dipper in these murky waters. There! A recommendation! If you try it, I hope you enjoy it, but don’t blame me if you don’t!

Philip Baker

Readers of the Ouse News who are interested in the history of the River Great Ouse might like to know that a new book describes events leading up to the opening of the Eau Brink Cut in 1821. Without the Cut, lighters and barges would risk being stranded upriver of King’s Lynn.

Three Million Wheelbarrows - The story of the Eau Brink Cut has been published to coincide with the Bicentenary this summer of the opening of the Eau Brink Cut and the first bridge over the River Great Ouse at King’s Lynn. It describes events from 1775 to 1821 when Fenland landowners wanted to straighten the River Great Ouse to improve drainage and protect their crops from flood. The merchants of King’s Lynn Corporation feared this would create such violent currents that the harbour and barge transport network would be destroyed. A massive feat of negotiation by elite local characters and Britain’s legendary engineers was required to satisfy both factions. The book is an accessible read which combines a dramatization of actual events, with the River Great Ouse telling of its resistance to human control and the impacts of our activities on the environment.

Three Million Wheelbarrows -The story of the Eau Brink Cut by Kathleen Saunders is available from https://wwwmousehold-press.co.uk/book/threemillion-wheelbarrows-the-story-of-the-eau-brink-cut/ Tel: 01603 425115 or (from 25th July) www.bitternbooks.co.uk Tel: 01603 739635. Price £9.95. It is also available from the shops listed below and internet retailers:

Central Stores, Wiggenhall St. Germans. Marshland Stores, Marshland Street, Terrington St. Clement. Leverington Stores, Church End, Leverington, Wisbech. GroundWorks Gallery, Purfleet Street, King’s Lynn. True’s Yard Fishing Museum, King’s Lynn. Etcetera Community Hub, York Row, Wisbech. Holt Books, Holt. Jarrold’s, Norwich. City Books, Norwich.

Kathy Saunders