The Cock-Up Bridge, Burwell Lode, 1950 (MoC208/68)

Cock-Up Bridge, Burwell Lode

History of Burwell Lode

This map is assumed to be the bridge shown in the picture, described as The Cock-Up, Burwell Lode.

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25 October 1899

A murder of a most ghastly and revolting nature was committed at Burwell Lode. It is rare that a murder so determined in its criminal intent as that perpetrated in the thick fog of the early morning on the banks of the river Lode is heard of. An old woman was brutally murdered by her husband in the sight of their piteously-screaming thirteen-year-old daughter, & almost within a stone’s throw of where two grown-up sons were working. & 26th p2. Credit: Mike Petty, Burwell Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, 1899 10 25, also 26th p2.

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15 June 1942 — Adventurers Fen and Cock Up Bridge

King and Queen Tour Fens, – Their Majesties the King and Queen on Saturday paid a visit to reclaimed fen land in Cambridgeshire, and saw for themselves the magnificent work that is being carried out by the Cambs War Agricultural Executive on the vital food front. Indeed the whole five thousand acres at Swaffham Prior Fen and Adventurers Fen, Burwell is nothing more nor less than a battlefield where men and women, armed with the latest weapons of agriculture, are carrying out relentless warfare against rushes, scrub, bog oaks and flooding. Considerably more than half the 5,000 acres was derelict in 1939; the remainder produced only moderate crops . . . During their visit their Majesties travelled over miles of new concrete roads through Reach to Adventurers Fen, Burwell where they embarked on barges at Cock Up Bridge on Burwell Lode, which runs through artificial banks above the level of the fen. While the barges were sailing down the Lode demonstrations of blasting bog oaks by explosives were given, – 42 06 15, 15a-b. Credit: Mike Petty, Burwell Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, reference 42 06 15, 15a-b.

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The Cock-up bridge figures prominently in The Farm in the Fens, Alan Bloom, 1943 as the bridge lay on the southern boundary of the farm, Priory Farm.

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20 August 1973

Only three boats took part in a demonstration cruise to drawn attention to the Reach and Burwell lodes which were in danger of being closed and drained. But Great Ouse River Authority had already agreed to spend £155,000 in preserving the waterway. The lodes were constructed to drain the fens but the drainage has shrunk the peat soil so that the waterways and their banks stand above the surrounding land. Now the banks are wearing and leaking – flooding the land they were constructed to drain. Credit: Mike Petty, Burwell Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, 1973 08 20.

10 May 1974

Water seeping through the banks of the Reach, Burwell, Swaffham Bulbeck and Bottisham lodes presented the Great Ouse local land drainage committee with a cash dilemma: spending a smaller amount of money but partly closing the system to navigation or spending a lot more to allow boating to continue. The engineer said there was a straight choice. This involved demolishing all or part of the high-level lode systems so creating a new low-level system of drains, or retaining the high-level systems and controlling the seepage that occurs. “Once you close a system of waterways to navigation you will never get it open again”, he said. Credit: Mike Petty, Burwell Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, 1974 05 10.

10 May 1976

A flotilla of 14 boats sailed to Burwell in a “quiet demonstration” in support of preserving the ancient fenland waterways. The Commodore of the Cambridge Motor Boat Club, Chief Inspector Roy Hardingham of the city police said it was designed to make the point that the lodes should be protected for boating of all kinds, for fishing and because they were part of our heritage. Mr Geoffrey Woollard said Anglian Water Authority now seemed convinced that it would be foolhardy to destroy the lodes, which are reputed to date back to Roman times. Credit: Mike Petty, Burwell Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, 1976 05 10.

16 July 1979

The fate of the ancient waterways known as lodes in the Burwell area are hanging in the balance. Conservationists argue they are sanctuaries for wild life and a quiet beauty spot in the flat, arable landscape. They are important for anglers, boaters and ramblers. But water seeps through the banks and there is a danger of them collapsing completely, causing severe flooding. There was an outcry when Great Ouse River Division proposed to bulldoze them to make way for a ground drainage system. Now the Ministry of Agriculture may pay towards drainage if local councils can also fund it. But they say they have no money. Credit: Mike Petty, Burwell Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, 1979 07 16.

17 September 1979

Eight miles of lodes in the Burwell district could collapse, causing massive flooding, unless £1 million is spent to consolidate them. Not everybody agrees they should be saved. Since fen drainage the peat has shrank leaving the banks 15-20 feet high above the surrounding land. If the trendy conservationist lobby is going for strict historical accuracy then it should support a project which reduces the banks, not raise them still further. But they are a vital amenity and one of the few havens of natural beauty in the region. If enough people feel strongly enough and are prepared to back starry-eyed ideas with cash then their conservation must be assured. Credit: Mike Petty, Burwell Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, 1979 09 17.

9 July 1982

Another £264,000 is to be spent on improving the banks of Burwell and Reach Lodes as part of a 20-year scheme to prevent flooding. The work was implemented after a long protest campaign to ensure the present system of lodes was preserved. About two miles of bank are involved and a road is being extended to make full use of the clay available nearby. 82 07 09. Credit: Mike Petty, Burwell Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, reference 82 07 09.