Woodbridge Haven, Deben Bar, Felixstowe Ferry Bar ? probs

This has reminded me to look up some stuff I read a while back. Eight and a half thousand years back (when some on the Forum were just lads?):

- the Deben, Orwell and Butley river were tributaries of the Essex/Suffolk Stour
- the Crouch, Blackwater and Colne were tributaries of the Thames/Medway
- the Swale was a tributary of the Kent Stour

These rivers didn't drain onto the North Sea, but headed eastwards (across what is now sea) to converge with the Rhine, which then turned south to drain through the Straits of Dover into what is now the English Channel/Manche.

The Essex/Suffolk Stour (+Orwell, Deben, Butley) was separated from the Medway/Thames (+Crouch, Blackwater, Colne) by a promontory stretching out from the Naze (Walton) to South Shipwash.

The Medway/Thames was separated from the Kent Stour (+Swale) by a promontory stretching out from Warden Point (Sheppey) to Shingles Patch.

And the rest, as they say is history. (Though they could have added pre-history.) The sandbanks and the gloriously muddy water we so enjoy :rolleyes: are to a large extent the remains of those promontories, together with a lot of old sediment from the Rhine, and that being eroded from our shoreline.

Today, most of the ancient Stour/Orwell/Deben channel is filled with sediment. Cork Hole being one part of that former river channel that is not so filled, a result of the currents there keeping it clear of most sediment.
 
LittleSister said:
And the rest, as they say is history. (Though they could have added pre-history.) The sandbanks and the gloriously muddy water we so enjoy :rolleyes: are to a large extent the remains of those promontories, together with a lot of old sediment from the Rhine, and that being eroded from our shoreline.

Today, most of the ancient Stour/Orwell/Deben channel is filled with sediment. Cork Hole being one part of that former river channel that is not so filled, a result of the currents there keeping it clear of most sediment.
Click to expand...

Bloody global warning, innit?
 
LittleSister said:
This has reminded me to look up some stuff I read a while back. Eight and a half thousand years back (when some on the Forum were just lads?):

- the Deben, Orwell and Butley river were tributaries of the Essex/Suffolk Stour
- the Crouch, Blackwater and Colne were tributaries of the Thames/Medway
- the Swale was a tributary of the Kent Stour

These rivers didn't drain onto the North Sea, but headed eastwards (across what is now sea) to converge with the Rhine, which then turned south to drain through the Straits of Dover into what is now the English Channel/Manche.

The Essex/Suffolk Stour (+Orwell, Deben, Butley) was separated from the Medway/Thames (+Crouch, Blackwater, Colne) by a promontory stretching out from the Naze (Walton) to South Shipwash.

The Medway/Thames was separated from the Kent Stour (+Swale) by a promontory stretching out from Warden Point (Sheppey) to Shingles Patch.

And the rest, as they say is history. (Though they could have added pre-history.) The sandbanks and the gloriously muddy water we so enjoy :rolleyes: are to a large extent the remains of those promontories, together with a lot of old sediment from the Rhine, and that being eroded from our shoreline.

Today, most of the ancient Stour/Orwell/Deben channel is filled with sediment. Cork Hole being one part of that former river channel that is not so filled, a result of the currents there keeping it clear of most sediment.
Click to expand...

post 45 http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?472487-I-give-you-The-Rt-Hon-Kenneth-Clarke-MP
 
"But never again will the Deben be a trading river as it used to be until the last 40 years. Although, let us hope, the small diesel coaster will be developed to carry on our seaborne trade, it will not serve us here since there is little likelihood of extensive industries springing up along our banks. The bar will see to that....... No, we shall remain a pleasure river where we can escape from the turmoil of our daily life and find that peace and contentment which is so surely provided. How long we may keep it so none of us can tell, but one day we shall have to fight again for our freedoms and our liberties.........Perhaps as an alternative of commercialization our way is the best after all. It has certainly preserved our peace and the quiet charm of the riverside villages. Indeed, with our wonderful wooded banks, our sandy beaches and dry landing-places, our gently sloping cornfields and lush, green marches it has no other river to compare with it.

Throughout my life I have spend hours upon it, gazing at the same scenes, watching the eternal round of sowing and harvest and I never tire. Always there is something different, some new view-point or setting of the landscape one had not noticed before or some fresh play of light and shade to bring out the even contours of the skyline. It is a very lovely picture and I want no other for it satisfies me."

'Suffolk Estuary - the story of the River Deben' W.G. Arnott, 1950 Norman Adlard & Co Ltd., Ipswich.
 
tillergirl said:
"But never again will the Deben be a trading river as it used to be until the last 40 years. Although, let us hope, the small diesel coaster will be developed to carry on our seaborne trade, it will not serve us here since there is little likelihood of extensive industries springing up along our banks. The bar will see to that....... No, we shall remain a pleasure river where we can escape from the turmoil of our daily life and find that peace and contentment which is so surely provided. How long we may keep it so none of us can tell, but one day we shall have to fight again for our freedoms and our liberties.........Perhaps as an alternative of commercialization our way is the best after all. It has certainly preserved our peace and the quiet charm of the riverside villages. Indeed, with our wonderful wooded banks, our sandy beaches and dry landing-places, our gently sloping cornfields and lush, green marches it has no other river to compare with it.

Throughout my life I have spend hours upon it, gazing at the same scenes, watching the eternal round of sowing and harvest and I never tire. Always there is something different, some new view-point or setting of the landscape one had not noticed before or some fresh play of light and shade to bring out the even contours of the skyline. It is a very lovely picture and I want no other for it satisfies me."

'Suffolk Estuary - the story of the River Deben' W.G. Arnott, 1950 Norman Adlard & Co Ltd., Ipswich.
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I bought my very first inboard via Mr Arnotts Woodbridge Boat Auction in prol 1976 or 7. And another time a Percy Blanford canvas canoe i & No 1 son paddled back to Ramsholt
 
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Goseford was the port just inside the entrance to the Deben, much of it being where the Kings Fleet/Flete is now just above Felixstowe Ferry,
If you take the local OS map and draw a line along the 10m contour you will have a pretty good indication of the shape of the estuary before sea walls were built. It also shows Bawdsey, Ramsholt etc up on their little cliffs practically surrounded by water.
Most of the ancient farm
Settlements appear to be above the 10m contour too. Our medieval and earlier ancestors knew how to keep out of trouble!
 
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This sent by a CA member to me today...




Dear Member

I thought that this unofficial Notice to Mariners received via the RHYC is too important for anyone enjoying a little early season sailing to wait for the next Suffolk Newsletter.

THE DEBEN ENTRANCE
Summary of a discussion Suffolk Section member Bram van der Have had with John White, Harbour Master at Felixstowe Ferry, on 12 February 2017: “It is evident that significant change is taking place in the Deben Entrance over the winter 2016/17. Since last Autumn the entrance buoys have been re-laid twice already but again last week at a very low tide the harbour master boat hit the bottom in the middle of the channel.
Trinity House is due to carry out its usual survey with the aim that the assistant Felixstowe Ferry HM Stephen Reid can re-lay the Trinity House buoys by Easter.
In the meantime, most likely in early March, John White will do his own survey and publish his usual chartlet on the Deben Entrance web site – see www.debenestuarypilot. co.uk
The local fishermen have started to use an alternative entrance, which points more Easterly and is at the moment an easy straight passage . It is the view of John White that following a few more weeks winter weather this will become the new official entrance and will subsequently be shown on the chartlets and be buoyed.
In the meantime be careful NOT to use last years printed charts nor the electronic versions on Navionics etc. as most likely they will also be out of date.
Should you wish to consult the Felixstowe Ferry HM before leaving or entering the river, do not hesitate to contact them.”
Contact phone numbers: John White 01394-270106, mob. 07803 476621 Stephen Read mob 07860 191768


Fair Winds

David S

Suffolk Section




CA LogoThis email has been sent to you from the Cruising Association. If you have received it in error please email us at office@theca.org.uk
 
Thanks for this David, very useful to know what is likely to happen.
The re-laid buoys were getting further and further round to the south.
It will be interesting to see John's survey results and to take a look at both the Deben and Ore entrances at low water sometime soon.
Have heard, from a local kite surfer, that the lagoon at Shingle Street has disappeared over the winter.
 
Humm well the Northern channel that runs almost east west direction used to be there and used many years ago , as far as I recall was not buoyed though , so if this channel does indeed develop and provide clear clean passage suggest that it might prove a boon this season ?
 
Locals tell me that what is happening is a regular cycle, the main channel moving south for several years, then suddenly reverting to the northern end. And it certainly looks like it will happen this spring.
 
I remember about 30 yearsor so ago the channel was so far from the Felixstowe ferry shore the concrete sea wall seemed irrelevant, we were walking on 10ft high shingle banks where for the last few years the channel runs close to the rock reinforcement on the wall.
 
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