66-741: The Little Ouse Headwaters Project (LOHP) was set up in 2002 by local residents to promote conservation and enjoyment of the fenland habitats bordering the upper reaches of the River Little Ouse , which lies on the Norfolk - Suffolk border. The site lies between Blo' Norton in Norfolk and Thelnetham in Suffolk. It includes a number of areas including Hinderclay Fen, Blo' Norton Fen, Betty's Fen, The Frith, Blo' Norton Lowes, Blo' Norton Little Fen and Parker's Piece. The area also include parts of
132-533: A central cutwater. The central bridge has a single semi-circular arch, and was built of brick in the early 19th century. The northernmost crosses the River Thet , dates from the late 18th century, and has two elliptical arches, with splayed parapets and stone coping slabs. For many years there was an open-air swimming pool on the widened river just above Nuns Bridges, but this closed in the late 1950s amid growing concerns over pollution, and an indoor swimming pool
198-477: A ford, near which is Thelnetham windmill, a grade II* listed tower mill dating from 1819 and restored in the 1980s. The course turns briefly to the north-west, and is crossed by the B1111 road to the south of Garboldisham. To the north of the bridge is Garboldisham windmill, a post mill dating from 1780. This is also a grade II* listed structure, although its sails and tiller beam are missing. Continuing westwards,
264-576: A grand plan to build a canal from the Little Ouse at Thetford to the River Stort at Bishops Stortford . With a spur to Cambridge , this would have enabled goods to reach London by canal from much of East Anglia. Although the capital cost could not be justified, it was not until the 1850s and the advent of the railways that the scheme was finally abandoned. Tolls reached a record £1,728 in 1845, when over 15,000 tonnes of coal were carried, but
330-585: A large area of gorse -covered sandy heath that spans the border between Norfolk and Suffolk. The downstream end of the Little Ouse has changed much over the centuries. In the Fens and Norfolk Marshland, it was quite possible for the course of a river to change as the result of a flooding episode so it is not surprising to find that the Great Ouse used to enter The Wash by way of the Old Croft River,
396-669: A replacement was considered in the 1950s, the Commissioners of the Burnt Fen were faced with the problem that the White House Drain which supplied it had become bigger and more unstable as the ground surface had shrunk, and the engine sat at the top of a hill, rather than at the lowest point on the northern Fen. Consequently, a new electric pumping station was constructed at Whitehall on the River Great Ouse ,
462-524: A short distance from Brandon bridge. The lock is 13 feet (4.0 m) wide but only 39 feet (12 m) long, and so is not suitable for many narrowboats, although boats up to 79 feet (24 m) long can be turned just below the lock, which is less than 1 ⁄ 2 mile (0.8 km) from Brandon village. There is a campaign to re-open the river for navigation to Thetford, and the Environment Agency commissioned consultants in 2003 to look at
528-491: A sluice to allow the gate to be opened. They are all labelled "Stanch" on the 1905 Ordnance Survey map. A further Act was obtained in 1789, which regularised the collection of tolls on the whole river by Thetford Corporation. They rebuilt the seven staunches between 1827 and 1835, and the £955 of income received from the navigation in 1833 accounted for over 90 per cent of the total income of the Corporation. The 1770s saw
594-496: A target for improving the water quality on this section from bad to poor by 2021. Like most rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS), neither of which had previously been included in the assessment. Download coordinates as: Chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous , sedimentary carbonate rock . It
660-517: A year of legal wrangling, and ultimately the money was repaid in 1860. The state of the navigation declined steadily, although there was still commercial traffic, and a 25-foot (7.6 m) paddle steamer ran trips to Cambridge and around the local waterways in the 1880s. Repairs were again necessary in the 1890s, but with no funds available, the navigation committee asked Fisons, who ran a 50-foot (15 m) screw tug called Speedwell to tow lighters to King's Lynn, for an advance on their tolls to fund
726-642: Is mined from chalk deposits both above ground and underground . Chalk mining boomed during the Industrial Revolution , due to the need for chalk products such as quicklime and bricks . Most people first encounter chalk in school where it refers to blackboard chalk , which was originally made of mineral chalk, since it readily crumbles and leaves particles that stick loosely to rough surfaces, allowing it to make writing that can be readily erased. Blackboard chalk manufacturers now may use mineral chalk, other mineral sources of calcium carbonate, or
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#1732779728677792-527: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . River Little Ouse The River Little Ouse , also known as the Brandon River, is a river in the east of England, a tributary of the River Great Ouse . For much of its length it defines the boundary between Norfolk and Suffolk . It rises east of Thelnetham , close to the source of the River Waveney , which flows eastwards while
858-579: Is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor . Chalk is common throughout Western Europe , where deposits underlie parts of France, and steep cliffs are often seen where they meet the sea in places such as the Dover cliffs on the Kent coast of the English Channel . Chalk
924-550: Is a pumping station on the north bank, and the course passes between the hamlets of Brandon Bank on the north bank and Little Ouse on the south. Nearby is the lowest trig point in Britain, marking a spot which is 3 feet (0.91 m) below sea level. Its junction with the Great Ouse is immediately after it passes under the A10 road. The Environment Agency has designated the section from Thetford to Brandon, where it flows through
990-508: Is also the only form of limestone that commonly shows signs of compaction. Flint (a type of chert ) is very common as bands parallel to the bedding or as nodules in seams , or linings to fractures , embedded in chalk. It is probably derived from sponge spicules or other siliceous organisms as water is expelled upwards during compaction. Flint is often deposited around larger fossils such as Echinoidea which may be silicified (i.e. replaced molecule by molecule by flint). Chalk
1056-428: Is applied to the hands and feet to remove perspiration and reduce slipping. Chalk may also be used as a house construction material instead of brick or wattle and daub : quarried chalk was cut into blocks and used as ashlar , or loose chalk was rammed into blocks and laid in mortar. There are still houses standing which have been constructed using chalk as the main building material. Most are pre- Victorian though
1122-399: Is broad, cutting through boulder clay to the north and to the south, but is crossed by a flat sandy feature at Lopham Ford, between South Lopham , Norfolk and Redgrave, Suffolk . Here the two rivers rise, barely 160 yards (150 m) apart, at an altitude of around 85 feet (26 m). The B1113 road crosses the valley on the sandy bank, known as The Frith, and which is the only crossing of
1188-518: Is commonly used as a drying agent to obtain better grip by gymnasts and rock climbers. Glazing putty mainly contains chalk as a filler in linseed oil . Chalk and other forms of limestone may be used for their properties as a base . Chalk is a source of quicklime by thermal decomposition , or slaked lime following quenching of quicklime with water. In agriculture , chalk is used for raising pH in soils with high acidity . Small doses of chalk can also be used as an antacid . Additionally,
1254-494: Is composed mostly of tiny fragments of the calcite shells or skeletons of plankton , such as foraminifera or coccolithophores . These fragments mostly take the form of calcite plates ranging from 0.5 to 4 microns in size, though about 10% to 25% of a typical chalk is composed of fragments that are 10 to 100 microns in size. The larger fragments include intact plankton skeletons and skeletal fragments of larger organisms, such as molluscs , echinoderms , or bryozoans . Chalk
1320-464: Is mined for use in industry, such as for quicklime , bricks and builder's putty , and in agriculture , for raising pH in soils with high acidity . It is also used for " blackboard chalk " for writing and drawing on various types of surfaces, although these can also be manufactured from other carbonate-based minerals, or gypsum . Chalk is a fine-textured, earthy type of limestone distinguished by its light colour, softness, and high porosity. It
1386-582: Is now usually made of talc (magnesium silicate). Chalk beds form important petroleum reservoirs in the North Sea and along the Gulf Coast of North America. In southeast England, deneholes are a notable example of ancient chalk pits. Such bell pits may also mark the sites of ancient flint mines, where the prime object was to remove flint nodules for stone tool manufacture. The surface remains at Cissbury are one such example, but perhaps
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#17327797286771452-554: Is so common in Cretaceous marine beds that the Cretaceous Period was named for these deposits. The name Cretaceous was derived from Latin creta , meaning chalk . Some deposits of chalk were formed after the Cretaceous. The Chalk Group is a European stratigraphic unit deposited during the late Cretaceous Period. It forms the famous White Cliffs of Dover in Kent , England, as well as their counterparts of
1518-401: Is typically almost pure calcite, CaCO 3 , with just 2% to 4% of other minerals. These are usually quartz and clay minerals , though collophane (cryptocrystalline apatite , a phosphate mineral) is also sometimes present, as nodules or as small pellets interpreted as fecal pellets. In some chalk beds, the calcite has been converted to dolomite , CaMg(CO 3 ) 2 , and in a few cases
1584-611: The Blo' Norton and Thelnetham Fen Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The project is a registered charity and holds monthly work parties to manage the habitat of the various fens. The Little Ouse Headwaters Project won the CIWEM/RSPB Living Wetlands Award in 2006. Both the River Waveney and the River Little Ouse have their sources at Redgrave Fen . The Waveney runs eastwards - forming
1650-752: The Cap Blanc Nez on the other side of the Dover Strait . The Champagne region of France is mostly underlain by chalk deposits, which contain artificial caves used for wine storage . Some of the highest chalk cliffs in the world occur at Jasmund National Park in Germany and at Møns Klint in Denmark . Chalk deposits are also found in Cretaceous beds on other continents, such as the Austin Chalk , Selma Group , and Niobrara Formations of
1716-709: The First World War . Responsibility for the river passed to the Great Ouse Catchment Board with the passing of the Land Drainage Act 1930 , and they removed the staunches, replacing those at Thetford and at Brandon with sluices. Responsibility changed again with the formation of the Environment Agency in 1995. The navigable river is mainly on the same level, with a single lock, which was opened in 1995, at Brandon just
1782-589: The afforested Breckland , as a Flood Warning Area . The lower part of the river crosses over the Cut-off Channel in a concrete aqueduct. The Channel is a 28-mile (45 km) drain which runs from Barton Mills to Denver along the south-eastern edge of the Fens, and was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. During times of flood it carries the head waters of the River Lark , the River Wissey and
1848-442: The 1970s when gravel and sand were extracted, and the site is now a haven for wildlife. The BTO have their main offices at the northern end of the site, near to Nuns Bridge Road, where there are three listed bridges, built on the line of Icknield Way , an ancient track thought to have been first used around 3000 BCE. The southernmost bridge, crossing the Little Ouse, dates from the late 18th century, and has two elliptical arches with
1914-577: The A1088 into Thetford , beyond which is a weir. The Black Bourn river joins from the south, and the combined flow turns to the north to reach Thetford. The border between Norfolk and Suffolk has followed the river for most of its course, but skirts to the west of Thetford. As it approaches Thetford, the river passes through Nunnery Lakes Reserve, a nature reserve managed by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). A series of deep pools were created in
1980-534: The A11 Thetford Bypass, it is bordered by Thetford Forest . This is the largest manmade lowland forest in Britain, covering 72.3 square miles (187 km ). There is a weir beyond the bridge, and the county border rejoins the river as it turns back towards the west. This section is easier to follow, as the St Edmund Way footpath runs along the north bank from the centre of Thetford, but leaves
2046-516: The Little Ouse flows west. The village of Blo' Norton owes its name to the river: it was earlier known as Norton Bell-'eau , from being situated near this "fair stream". In this area the river creates a number of important wetland areas such as at Blo' Norton and Thelnetham Fens , and areas managed by the Little Ouse Headwaters Project . The course continues through Rushford , Thetford , Brandon , and Hockwold before
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2112-482: The Little Ouse to Denver Sluice. On its east side are two sluices, so that flood water from the upper river can be diverted into the Cut-off Channel and the section between there and the Great Ouse isolated. The flood banks on this lower section are up to half a mile (0.8 km) apart, so that the meandering river can form a large lake. Nearer the mouth of the river, the Brandon Engine was the main outlet for
2178-422: The Norfolk border which is on dry land. To the east are the wetlands of Redgrave and Lopham Fens , while to the west is Hinderclay Fen. The whole area overlays a thick bed of chalk . The geological features of a large through valley, but no large river, are unusual, and were first recorded by Rev. Osmond Fisher in 1868, a keen geologist who thought the features were related to glaciation, but failed to convince
2244-732: The North American interior. Chalk is also found in western Egypt (Khoman Formation) and western Australia ( Miria Formation ). Chalk of Oligocene to Neogene age has been found in drill cores of rock under the Pacific Ocean at Stewart Arch in the Solomon Islands . There are layers of chalk, containing Globorotalia , in the Nicosia Formation of Cyprus , which formed during the Pliocene . Chalk
2310-544: The River Great Ouse. An Act of Parliament authorised the Corporation of Thetford to make improvements to the river in 1670, but they were unable to carry out the work, and so the Rt Hon Henry, Earl of Arlington made the improvements, and was assigned the tolls as a result. A series of staunches were built, to hold back the water and raise the levels, but they were too far apart to be effective. The rights of
2376-469: The Roman period. Prior to its construction, the river continued due west, and joined the Great Ouse near Old Bank Farm. Its dry raised bed, known locally as a rodham , can easily be traced in the landscape, as its light-coloured bands of silt contrast with the dark, low-lying peat soils. It is also clearly shown on the modern Ordnance Survey map, delineated by the 0 ft contour. On the river channel, there
2442-614: The Wellstream and Wisbech (the Ouse beach). The modern lower Great Ouse was then the lower part of the Little Ouse. On this occasion, the change was artificial. The 17th century drainers under Cornelius Vermuyden dug the Old Bedford River between the Great Ouse at Earith and what had hitherto been the Little Ouse at Denver . A link was made for the Great Ouse between Littleport and the Little Ouse at Brandon Creek, and both
2508-566: The arrival of the railways, in the form of a line from Norwich to Brandon, and an extension of the Eastern Counties Railway from Newport to Brandon, both opened on the same day in 1845, started the rapid decline of the navigation. Tolls had fallen to £439 by 1849. The tolls were leased to private individuals from 1850, but an attempt to transfer £320 to the Council finance committee from the navigation in 1859 resulted in nearly
2574-489: The border between Norfolk and Suffolk - while the Little Ouse flows westwards and eventually joins the River Great Ouse at Denver Sluice . The LOHP has won awards for its work as a conservation organisation. These include the prestigious Living Wetlands award, and Suffolk's 'greenest county' award for community action. After the Second World War the course of the River Little Ouse was over-deepened which led to
2640-468: The bridge the river is only accessible to canoes and dingies, due to the presence of rocks on the river bed. The Environment Agency measure the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at
2706-548: The chalk came mostly form low-magnesium calcite skeletons, so the sediments were already in the form of highly stable low-magnesium calcite when deposited. This is in contrast with most other limestones, which formed from high-magnesium calcite or aragonite that rapidly converted to the more stable low-magnesium calcite after deposition, resulting in the early cementation of such limestones. In chalk, absence of this calcium carbonate conversion process prevented early cementation, which partially accounts for chalk's high porosity. Chalk
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2772-622: The channel on flood banks. To the south of the river are a series of washes, meres and wooded stretches. Parts of this area were formerly arable farmland, but were converted into the Lakenheath Fen wetland by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The reedbeds and grazing marshes have attracted significant populations of reed warblers, sedge warblers, bearded tits, marsh harriers, and increasingly, bitterns. At
2838-494: The dolomitized chalk has been dedolomitized back to calcite. Chalk is highly porous, with typical values of porosity ranging from 35 to 47 per cent. While it is similar in appearance to both gypsum and diatomite , chalk is identifiable by its hardness, fossil content, and its reaction to acid (it produces effervescence on contact). In Western Europe, chalk was formed in the Late Cretaceous Epoch and
2904-482: The drainage and the navigation were directed towards King's Lynn rather than Wisbech. Rising near the B1113 from South Lopham to Redgrave, the fledgeling Little Ouse flows west, and is joined by a stream flowing northwards from the hamlets of Rickinghall and Botesdale , before passing through Hinderclay Fen. This was once a flourishing valley fen, and was a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), but
2970-453: The drainage of the northern half of Burnt Fen from 1830 until 1958. The original steam engine was replaced in 1892, by a new engine that could pump 75 tons per minute. That engine was replaced by a 250 horse power oil engine in late 1925, supplied by Blackstone and Company, which drove a 42-inch (110 cm) Gwynne rotary pump. The pump could discharge 150 tons per minute against a head of 18 feet (5.5 m), and lasted for 30 years. When
3036-501: The drying-out of the surrounding fen and the conversion of much of the land to arable use. The ending of traditional management practices and the lowering of the water table also led to increased dehydration which caused a decline in the bio-diversity of the area. The work carried out by the Little Ouse Headwaters Project has helped to reverse these effects. This article about an organisation in England
3102-437: The early Palaeocene Epoch (between 100 and 61 million years ago). It was deposited on extensive continental shelves at depths between 100 and 600 metres (330 and 1,970 ft), during a time of nonseasonal (likely arid) climate that reduced the amount of erosion from nearby exposed rock. The lack of nearby erosion explains the high purity of chalk. The coccolithophores, foraminifera, and other microscopic organisms from which
3168-512: The feasibility of such a project. The report suggested that four locks would be required on this section. The head of navigation was effectively extended in 2008 when the 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (4 km) section from Brandon Bridge to Santon Downham was made more accessible to boaters by the construction of moorings just below Santon Downham bridge, which are now managed by the Great Ouse Boating Association. Beyond
3234-498: The fen dried out as a result of changes to the river, made to improve drainage from surrounding agricultural land. Rare species died out, and the designation was removed in 1983, but recent action by the Little Ouse Headwaters Project has resulted in areas of wet fen being extended and species being reintroduced. They have been assisted in this by funding from the European Union. The river crosses Thelnetham Road, Blo' Norton as
3300-410: The flow in the drain reversed, and the pumping station decommissioned. The river is currently navigable for 16.6 miles (26.7 km) from its junction with the River Great Ouse to Santon Downham bridge. There are references to its use by boats carrying goods to Brandon as early as the 13th century, and barges are known to have reached Thetford , some 6 miles (9.7 km) beyond Santon Downham when
3366-541: The geologists of the 1870s. More recently, Prof Richard West carried out a detailed field study of the area between 2002 and 2007, and his work was published by the Suffolk Naturalists' Society in 2009. He concluded that the valley was caused by the runoff from a large glacial lake, which eventually melted, leaving the valley as it is today, with the sands of the lake bed becoming the sands of the Breckland ,
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#17327797286773432-528: The mineral gypsum ( calcium sulfate ). While gypsum-based blackboard chalk is the lowest cost to produce, and thus widely used in the developing world , use of carbonate-based chalk produces larger particles and thus less dust, and it is marketed as "dustless chalk". Coloured chalks, pastel chalks, and sidewalk chalk (shaped into larger sticks and often coloured), used to draw on sidewalks , streets, and driveways , are primarily made of gypsum rather than calcium carbonate chalk. Magnesium carbonate chalk
3498-508: The most famous is the extensive complex at Grimes Graves in Norfolk . Chalk was traditionally used in recreation. In field sports, such as tennis played on grass, powdered chalk was used to mark the boundary lines of the playing field or court. If a ball hits the line, a cloud of chalk or pigment dust will be visible. In recent years, powdered chalk has been replaced with titanium dioxide . In gymnastics, rock-climbing, weightlifting and tug of war , chalk — now usually magnesium carbonate —
3564-481: The navigation were given to Thetford Corporation by Henry's daughter Isabella in 1696, and the Corporation had to build a new staunch near Thetford in 1742, in order to maintain water levels in the town. By 1750, disputes were arising, since all the original Commissioners were dead, and they had failed to appoint replacements. A new Act of Parliament was sought and obtained in 1751, which appointed new Commissioners. Immediately, Thetford Corporation made improvements to
3630-579: The north and a large weir to the south. The Ely to Norwich Railway line crosses from the north bank to the south, and there is a Romano-British settlement site on the north bank. It lies at one end of the Foss Ditch, a waterway dating from the Saxon period that ran for 6 miles (9.7 km) between the Little Ouse and the River Wissey, which may have been used for defence. The towpath stops following
3696-471: The quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. The water quality of the River Little Ouse system was as follows in 2019. The Environment Agency data for the upper river covers a short section of the Little Ouse, and a long section of the stream that flows northwards from Rickinghall and Botesdale. They have set
3762-524: The river joins the Great Ouse north of Littleport in Cambridgeshire . The total length is about 37 miles (60 km). The river is navigable from the Great Ouse to a point 2 miles (3.2 km) above Brandon. A distinctive feature of the headwaters of the Little Ouse and the Waveney is the valley in which they flow; the Little Ouse flows westwards while the Waveney flows eastwards. The valley
3828-498: The river passes to the south of Gasthorpe, with the ruined church of All Saints a little further to the south. It was abandoned before 1900, and now has no roof. Passing along the northern edge of Knettishall Heath Country Park, there are two weirs, after which the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path cross on a footbridge. A minor road crosses at Rushford, where the bridge is a scheduled ancient monument, and another bridge carries
3894-471: The river to the south of Hockwold cum Wilton, turning to the north. The river has been diverted from its original course, to cross the Cut-off Channel in a concrete aqueduct. Large guillotine sluices control whether the water is fed into the lower river or along the Cut-off Channel. As it rejoins its original course, it passes under Wilton Bridge, and there are footpaths on both sides, set back from
3960-400: The river was tidal. Stone from Barnack, used in the construction of Thetford Priory in the 12th century, was almost certainly moved along the river, and improvements to the channel were authorised by the Commissioners of Sewers as early as 1575. Further documentary evidence confirms that it was navigable as far as Thetford in 1664. However, water levels dropped when Denver Sluice was built on
4026-523: The river where the county boundary joins. The St Edmund Way continues to the north of the river, and the Little Ouse Path runs to the south. At Santon Downham, the Little Ouse Path continues along the north bank of the river, on the original towpath. The footpath leaves the river just before the A1065 bridge at Brandon, but rejoins it soon afterwards. Brandon Lock follows, with the lock chamber to
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#17327797286774092-410: The river, constructing staunches at Thetford, Thetford Middle, Turfpool, Croxton, Santon, Brandon and Sheepwash. An eighth staunch was built later at Crosswater, where Lakenheath Lode joins the river. Staunches consisted of a gate or gates across the river, which held back the water above it, to enable boats to float over shallow sections. Their disadvantage was that the river level had to be lowered by
4158-436: The small particles of chalk make it a substance ideal for cleaning and polishing. For example, toothpaste commonly contains small amounts of chalk, which serves as a mild abrasive . Polishing chalk is chalk prepared with a carefully controlled grain size, for very fine polishing of metals. French chalk (also known as tailor's chalk) is traditionally a hard chalk used to make temporary markings on cloth, mainly by tailors . It
4224-487: The western end of the fens is Botany Bay, where water from Lakenheath Old Lode and the Twelve Foot Drain is pumped into the river. A little further on is the confluence with another drain, called Lakenheath New Lode. The final 6 miles (10 km) of the river follow a relatively straight course which heads north-west to join the River Great Ouse at Brandon Creek. The channel is man-made, and probably dates from
4290-489: The work. This arrangement continued, and kept the navigation open for some years. When Henry de Salis visited it in 1904, he reported that most of the staunches were out of order, and that it was in poor condition. The Bedford Level Commissioners kept the weed removed from the lower section, and the South Level Commissioners maintained Crosswater Staunch, but commercial traffic had ceased by the start of
4356-497: Was eventually built to replace it. Below the pool site, the river is joined by the River Thet, where there is a network of channels, sluices and weirs, together with the remains of a water mill, dating from the early 19th century. The building is now used as a masonic lodge. As it threads its way through the town, the river is crossed by Town Bridge, a single elliptical cast iron span dating from 1829, and after it passes under
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