River Lugg, Herefordshire

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JD6920s

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Mixed Farmer
Location
Shropshire
An experienced operator will be able to feel the clay bottom of a lined river and modern day excavator GPS control would make it even easier.The clay liner will be very firm after 300+ years, it would have been puddled when constructed and the weight of the water would continue to compact it.
The excavator driver obviously didn’t have a clue as he should have known full well he was pulling the clay out!
And any good operator would surely explain to the idiots at the EA what would happen as a result.
It’s criminal to see damage like this that was built by experts so long ago that had the knowledge and expertise but managed with very primitive machinery and tools compared with todays equipment available.
It reminds me of today’s weather forecasters, they’re getting worse, but I guess that’s progress for you.🙈
 

Hjcarter

Member
Anyone got a picture of the lugg as it is now, nearly 1 year on??

Would be interesting to see the amount of recovery and regeneration.
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
I think you will find it should be 100 feet across the bed and 110 feet across the normal water level. Looks about a third of capacity. Have not been that wayfor a long time but seem to remember it was a big wide river then

Is it the Old Bedford Rive which is the original channel to the North of the Washes that runs alongside Welney. Looks more the appropriate width. The New Bedford (or Hundred Foot) is if I recall my journeys over suspension Bridge and much wider channel with higher raised embankments on the south side of the Washes. Don't think it is the Counter Drain. But those local will know and tell me off if I am wrong.

Oh and the channel looks to be non tidal. The Hundred Foot is tidal if I recall thus to an extent self cleaning.
 
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Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
Few pics of what the EA have been doing, when it was built in 1651 the river had an average depth of 6ft, it was lined with clay by Scottish prisoners, the river now sits about 15ft above tens of thousands of acres of the best land in the country.
Apparently the contractor wasn’t supervised and had no spec to work to, going by the length of the jib it would appear that he is digging down about 10ft and digging the clay bed out going through to the peat below.
The EA have now walked away blaming farmers for halting the work, leaving a he spoil where it is

View attachment 992999View attachment 993000View attachment 993001
They are putting the spoil on top of the cradge bank, this bank was designed to be at a critical level so that in flood situations the bank overtops allowing water into the Washes and relieving pressure on the barrier bank.

View attachment 993002

The bank is already starting to collapse into the river due to being undermined.

Looks to be using a digging bucket rather than a slubbing bucket?
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
Just for clarification which of the channels is it?

1635062493554.png
 

onesiedale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Derbyshire
It’s criminal to see damage like this that was built by experts so long ago that
Imagine the uproar and potential prosecution if a 400 year old (fully functional) building had been pulled down to extend a car park. Even a tree for that matter!
There should be a serious attempt, by those whose land could be affected, to bring this case to court and highlight the damage that trusted NGO's can do to our landscape when their bureaucracy and box ticking becomes more important than the landscape itself
One for the NFU to challenge I think.
 
Imagine the uproar and potential prosecution if a 400 year old (fully functional) building had been pulled down to extend a car park. Even a tree for that matter!
There should be a serious attempt, by those whose land could be affected, to bring this case to court and highlight the damage that trusted NGO's can do to our landscape when their bureaucracy and box ticking becomes more important than the landscape itself
One for the NFU to challenge I think.
Speaking of which, what became of that national trust ancient pasture I think it was that got the ploughed up in the spring?
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
Apparently the contractor wasn’t supervised and had no spec to work to
Is that what the EA are saying?

I presume they were employing him. Whenever they do anything they seem to have to spend weeks doing risk assessments and the like.
Surely they must have done all that before setting him on??

How do they propose to sort it out?

I suggest Simon Hawkins (the EA Area Director who is supposed to be 'monitoring it') is made to live in a caravan next to their cock up.
It might just speed up the way he gets them to make good all that damage.
 

onesiedale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Derbyshire
Speaking of which, what became of that national trust ancient pasture I think it was that got the ploughed up in the spring?
Exactly!
And there will be much more done by these NGO's in a drive to get trees planted to save the planet.
The individuals, I'm sure, are well meaning. It's the system that needs challenging. Only when the system is shown to be failing will the people within it see the error of their ways.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Imagine the uproar and potential prosecution if a 400 year old (fully functional) building had been pulled down to extend a car park. Even a tree for that matter!
There should be a serious attempt, by those whose land could be affected, to bring this case to court and highlight the damage that trusted NGO's can do to our landscape when their bureaucracy and box ticking becomes more important than the landscape itself
One for the NFU to challenge I think.

We’ve all seen the uproar that @ajcc has faced…on a pretty minor issue.
 

onthehoof

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cambs
Is it the Old Bedford Rive which is the original channel to the North of the Washes that runs alongside Welney. Looks more the appropriate width. The New Bedford (or Hundred Foot) is if I recall my journeys over suspension Bridge and much wider channel with higher raised embankments on the south side of the Washes. Don't think it is the Counter Drain. But those local will know and tell me off if I am wrong.

Oh and the channel looks to be non tidal. The Hundred Foot is tidal if I recall thus to an extent self cleaning.
No its the Hundred Foot, it used to be 100ft wide but now its only 45ft due to lack of dredging
Screenshot_20211024-092608~2.png
 

Two Tone

Member
Mixed Farmer
Just for clarification which of the channels is it?

View attachment 993184
Thank you for posting this map. Unfortunately, I can’t answer your question but I’m sure somebody more local can.

Not only was the Gt. Ouse short cut by the 100 Foot drain from Earith to Denver, but the River itself was substantially altered around Ely and the Village of Queen Adelaide. Adelaide is where this year’s Oxford-Cambridge boat race was held, as it was in 1944 thanks to Churchill’s insistence!

If you look at the Satellite image of Ely and Queen Adelaide on Google Maps/Earth, you can see where the river used to run. My mother and her twin sister were born and brought up in Adelaide. My Grandfather farmed land between it, Prickwillow an Stuntney.

The original river got silted up very badly and coal barges would ground themselves. They had to throw off some coal to re-float themselves. My mother and aunt would collect this coal from where the original river bank was situated which is now in the middle of a field.

My Grandfather skated all the way from Ely to Cambridge on the frozen rivers Ouse and Cam. Apparently he easily got there faster than it could be done by car!

Whether or not the River was repositioned about the time when Ely Sugar-beet factory was built, I don’t know. And why the hell it is called The Ely Old River or Old West River, when it is in fact quite young, I have no idea.
 
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