Stow Bridge Hump

[Martin@75]

 

Can anybody tell me when the Stow Bridge Hump on the Great Ouse was first identified and if it was before 1965?

Edited August 18, 2018 by Martin@75

[erivers]

In 1725 Thomas Badeslade (referring primarily to the effect of Denver Sluice) wrote that in some places "the bottom of the Ouse had become as high as the soil of the Fens".  He said that "the River Ouse grew up, and the sands increased more between Salters Lode and Stow Bridge than in any other part of the river, occasioned chiefly by Downham Eau (or St John's Eau) through which part of the waters that should have helped to scour away the sand were turned out of the Ouse for that length of way; partly by turning many of the waters of Nene through Tong's Drain and partly by keeping the sluice doors shut most part of the summer, so that no fresh water at all was suffered to come that way to help scour out the river beneath the sluice."

 

In more recent times, of course, and since the completion of the Relief Channel in the early 60s, the problem has been exacerbated by further lack of flow through Denver Sluice (and indeed, for some misguided years a deliberate EA policy not to use Denver at all except in extreme flood conditions) and the diversion of fresh water to the Essex reservoirs.

[Martin@75]

Thanks that is my feeling. It seems somewhat incredulous that the EA would take such action with all the previous documentation on the effects of flow on the river.  

Then compound it with the water transfer programme.
Do you know of any documentation related to the correlation between the Relief Channel & the formation of the Hump?

[Scholar Gypsy]

Slightly off topic, but there are similar issues on the Nene. When I did the tidal bit in 2015 the lock keeper at Dog-in-a-Doublet said there was almost no fresh water coming down the river in summer, with abstraction to Rutland Water for drinking and via Stanground for irrigation. He said only narrowboats were able to use the tidal  stretch. It was interesting journey, we ran out of water about half a mile from the lock, even though we had arrived right at the top of the tide. The lockkeeper opened the sluice and let down a few tons of water, and we were able to get over the bar! Rather alarming, although I wasn't too concerned as the three boats that had done the same trip the day before were nowhere to be seen ...