A person in a bowler hat stands in a small boat poling across floodwaters near a dark brick building with three chimneys.

Portholme Floods, 1903 (CRO)

Portholme Meadow

History of Portholme

Samuel Pepys visited Port Holme in October 1662 and watched: the country-maids milking their cows there … and to see with what mirth they all came home together in pomp with their milk, and sometimes they have musique to go before them.

Portholme meadow was being used for horse-racing by 1773.

Liable to flood, this happened in 1903.

1910 a Bleriot monoplane pilot4d by James Radley of Bedford circled around Portholme covering a distance of 16.5 miles.

A monoplane with a pilot in the cockpit flies above a flat field, with handwritten text at the bottom of the black-and-white photograph.

J Radley flying on Portholme in 1910

In 1910 it had been proposed to build three grandstands to watch airshows but the project failed.

Black and white composite drawing of biplanes and an airship flying over a flat, rural landscape with a stream in front.

An imaginary view of Portholme published in 1910 (CRO)

King George V reviewed the Highland Mounted Brigade here during WWI.

An outdoor information board displays a map highlighting Portholme Meadow in green with text and surrounding river outlines.

Portholme Meadow (RGL2025)

An information board titled Welcome to Portholme Meadow featuring text, maps, and illustrations of local wildlife and flora.

Portholme Meadow (RGL2025)

A vast, grassy meadow filled with scattered yellow wildflowers, under a cloudy sky with a tree line in the distance.

Portholme Meadow (RGL2025)

A river flows through a grassy landscape lined with reeds, with dense trees and a cloudy sky in the background.

Portholme Meadow (RGL2025)

A river with grassy banks and reeds in the foreground flows past a meadow where several cattle graze under a cloudy sky.

Portholme Meadow (RGL2025)

A wide, flat, green grassy meadow stretches towards a distant horizontal line of trees under a bright sky with soft clouds.

Portholme Meadow (RGL2025)

A narrow boat sits inside a river lock with open metal gates in the foreground, surrounded by grassy banks and mature trees.

Lock at Portholme Meadow (RGL2025)

A calm river flows between a concrete embankment on the left and dense, leafy green trees along the banks under a cloudy sky.

Lock at Portholme Meadow (RGL2025)

Projects

Portholme

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