Broads School B, Class 4: The Wherryman's Way

This walk with ten children and four adults left school at around nine in the morning. We started out along the river past the swing bridge where some of the children’s fathers’ and grandfathers would jump off to swim in the river. As recounted: ‘When like Grandad was little they used to um, they used to go up the steps and they used to wait for swing bridge to swing and then they used to jump in the river. Because then it wasn't so dangerous.’

The Ship (called the ‘Ship at the Bottom of the Hill’) is the first landmark by the swing bridge. It is an important part of village life as it is where the children go to eat with their parents, and is also a place where a number of the children’s family members are employed; as we discovered by being next to it. We stopped there for a meditation moment. This group of children found this exercise very easy to do, going quiet and appreciating the sounds and smells and temperature of the environment. They also pointed out houses that had been recently thatched, noting that this was with ‘local reed’. We walked past the ducks which generated a sense of excitement amongst some of the children, who told us about going there to feed the ducks with their parents. Pointing towards the river, one child also told us ‘on that bit of wood normally a baby seal comes onto it in the summer’.

Flooding also came up on this walk. The children were aware that the flood defences that were up along the side of the river were just that, flood defences. They talked about the water being up over the road too: ‘it’s come all along here’. In discussions later with the mother of one child present the flooding did seem to present quite a worry for this particular group of children.

We walked further along past the boatyard where a number of children told me about their friends or family members who had worked there when they were younger. There's a statue of a wherry maker here; one boy remarks that it's been damaged. At the prompting of the teacher some of the children comment on it and are drawn out on what it represents. We ask about their experience of boats and boating in general but among this group the children only have very occasional experiences of boating when compared to the children at Horning. We were joined by the aforementioned mother here who clearly loves the village and knows its history and wanted to come along on the walk.

We continued on our walk and the closed down Nelson pub was commented on, one boy mentioned that his dad had told it would soon re-open. None of the children had been in it. The children also pointed out some new buildings which were identified as holiday lets.

From here we walked up along the road to the entrance to the Wherryman’s Way. A number of the children (maybe 4 out of the 10) had not done this walk before and were quite excited about the prospect. The way that they handled the muddy bank made it clear, however, that they were familiar with this kind of expedition and terrain.

We did another meditation stop at the start of the Way. This was a bitingly cold experience but again they handled it very well. They talked about the feeling of the wind. One boy reported, ‘I heard a digger moving’. We asked, what is the digger doing? ‘Making the river deeper’. We talked about the things we could see in the distance which included the sugar factory and the drainage mills. They had absolutely no clue what the mills were used for. One boy comments on the smell of the beet factory; ‘It stinks’ - this prompts some disagreement among the other children who like the smell, and the Teaching Assistant on the walk remarks on it being ‘a lovely winter smell’. The children are quite knowledgeable about the sugar beet factory and comment on how it also generates electricity.

The discussion about 100 years into the future was revealing, particularly from the child whose mother was with us. She was keen for her daughter to talk about the possibility of inundation and so forth but her daughter was reticent on the subject. They also talk about the likelihood that there will be more roads and houses. A girl tells me about a run that they do along the Way and when I ask her where she has heard about this she says: ‘I get my information from my grandma. She has lived here for a long time, and over the river, now we go to see that place on the ferry.’

I mention that they should look out for wildlife and a boy tells me that you ‘get a lot of moles down here, and foxes too.’ As we walked along one of the boys told us the story of the explosion on the river to decrease flood risk. He says: ‘When we get further down there is this kind mound in the river where they had to kind of blow it up almost, but you can still see a tree.’ His friend adds: ‘Once the ... the ferry the water was that high that they couldn't get on the ferry.’

I ask about the reeds on the side of the walk. The boy says: ‘You can see why it is called Broads VillageB... Reed, reed, reed. It is like, almost like a trench.’ And the girl adds, ‘Yeah you get snakes in there too.’ When I ask if you can walk on it they say: ‘No, no no.’ and ‘you can but if you want to die.’ Another boy adds, ‘You get sucked in.’ and the girl says: ‘Yeah, it is like a bog in there.’ I ask: ‘You get sucked in?’ Yeah, it takes time’ comes the reply but ‘Once your foot has got in you are done. Yeah once you get in you start going down because it is like mushy almost.’ It is clear from this interchange that they are aware of the dangers posed by this environment and that this knowledge plays with their imagination. In the summer the water level goes down and for this reason one boy comments that you can paddle across it, but one girl thinks that's a really bad idea; she remembers that her dad's dog went into the water here – ‘it's all mud underneath like a swamp so they were worried it would get stuck’. She points out the fences to keep the sheep out of the water.

Walking along the bank, the children comment on the bulrushes (identified as ‘hot dog plants’) and the molehills, and one girl turning her head back to the village remarks ‘This is a really nice view of Reedham’.

We walked on from there and went at quite a good pace. The sheep occasioned quite a bit of comment, more than might have been expected. This exchange takes place: ‘In, um, in Scotland there are sheep everywhere. Sometimes they are even on the doorstep.’ They mention the owner of a large ‘cow farm’ that you could see in the distance. The farmer’s son was known to the children as he had attended the local school in earlier years. ‘Once there was a cow near the ship and it fell in the river, and my friends had to rescue it,’ a girl tells.

We also discussed the number of swans and ducks on the walk. They do get particularly excited by these ducks and mention them every time they see them and comment on the fact when they go out of sight.

At the Red Mill now, a drainage mill that has been converted into a living space, it is clear that the place is an important part of the children’s awareness of place and their identity as part of the village; despite the fact that none of them had been in it. They seemed to be proud of it (‘it’s awesome,’ and ‘it’s really cool, you can like, hire it for a day and just stay there’) and told me that it could be rented for a day or a week. One girl had climbed the tree in the garden. ‘That is a great tree to climb,’ she says.

We pass the mill and we can see the ferry in the distance. This is a chain ferry that takes a couple of cars across the river at a time. It is quite often incapacitated when the waters rise too high. It generates an interesting discussion about flooding including the need to drive the long way around if it is closed when the water is too high. ‘It is really awesome. I think we just missed the cars going over. Someone is on the ferry already!’

One boy points out that there's ‘a weird maggot vending machine’ here. A couple of the children say that they've been here with their family fishing off the side.

As we continue we pass a small plateau by the side of the water that occasions further comment: ‘This bit is really good for the summer. You can just play about. Yeah it is really cool. Sometimes the water comes over and it is just like a pool.’ Another child responds, commenting on the fact that it is pretty inundated now: ‘Yeah look at that, that is just from last night.’

We keep walking and they see the ferry with cars on it about to depart. They start to run: ‘Hurry up boys, hurry up! Come on! Good, just about. [To me] Dr Elsa, we are just in time, there is another car. You can actually go onto the ferry with a bike. When I went to go and see my uncle. When you are inside of the ferry it looks really different, see that is one you can paddle and stuff. This place is really good for picnics.’

A boy replies, It is really nice in the summer but at this time of year it is horrible.’ They then go on to discuss the merits of the pub which has a new chef and ‘the food is delicious!’.

A boy suggests going to record the ferry sound and a girl responds: ‘Just don’t get your hand caught in the damn chains.’ She then tells us of how she got her foot trapped nearby and how her mum had to pull her out.

We talk a little about summer and how things are different then and then we head off again along Ferry Road. We were delighted to see some birds, a Marsh Harrier, some geese and lots of gulls. Their teacher was very well informed about the birds and this made for an interesting conversation. We also discussed once again the sugar factory which you could see in the distance, looming large. It is important both in terms of its very presence in the landscape and as a source of employment. One girl tells of her grandmother working there and others also mention they know people who work there. This rather large and imposing structure did not seem ugly to them, although there was disagreement about whether the smell was pleasant.

One girl comments on her memories of the road, which she travels along with her father: ‘If you're here in the summer where we were at the gate and saw the marsh harrier, there's usually cattle there’; ‘this is where I saw the family of swans, it was summertime. My dad pulled his van over. It was really cute’. There are also deer: ‘there's lots around here, I saw two yesterday’. She comments on how much she likes the view; I ask if she would prefer the view without the beet factory: ‘no, I like it’.

On the way back we passed a little ditch where a few of us catch sight of a kingfisher swishing along the ditch with a flash of blue-black and then was gone!