Boughton Fen
Boughton Fen is a 15.7-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Downham Market in Norfolk. It is common land registered to Boughton Parish Council; this valley in a tributary of the River Wissey is covered by tall fen over most of the site, together with areas of scrub which provide a habitat for breeding birds. There are many uncommon species including the rare Perizoma sagittaria. There is access to the site from Oxborough Road
Bure Broads and Marshes
Bure Broads and Marshes is a 741.1-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Norwich in Norfolk. Most of it is Grade I and National Nature Reserve. Two areas are nature reserves managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Cockshoot Broad and Ranworth Broad, it is part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area and The Broads Special Area of Conservation,This is described by Natural England as a "nationally and internationally important wetland complex", situated on fenland peats in the floodplain of the River Bure. A notable feature is an extensive area of swamp alder carr on unstable peats and mud. There are a number of rare bird and butterfly species
Essex and Suffolk Water
Essex and Suffolk Water is a water supply company in the United Kingdom. It operates in two geographically distinct areas, one serving parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, the other serving parts of Essex and Greater London; the total population served is 1.8 million. Essex and Suffolk is a'water only' supplier, with sewerage services provided by Anglian Water and Thames Water within its areas of supply, it is part of the Northumbrian Water Group. The South Essex Waterworks Company and the Southend Waterworks Company merged to form the Essex Water Company in 1970. In 1994 the Essex Water Company merged with Suffolk Water Company to form Suffolk Water. Since 2000 it has been part of Northumbrian Water, but continues to trade under the Essex and Suffolk Water name in the area; the Southend Waterworks Company had its origins in Southend-on-Sea in 1865 when a private undertaking constructed a well in Milton Road. A pumping station pumped the water to a reservoir on Cambridge Road. In 1871, the Southend Waterworks Company Limited was formed, bought the works.
The company became a statutory undertaker in 1879, which restricted the amount of money they could borrow, the profits they could retain and the dividend payable to shareholders, but gave them powers to lay pipes beneath public streets and on private land. By 1924, the company were supplying an area of 160 square miles bounded on the south by the River Thames, on the north by the River Crouch, stretching westwards to the outskirts of Shenfield; as the volume of water required increased, additional wells were sunk, until there were 36 wells or boreholes in operation. They penetrated a layer of London clay near the surface, continued into the sands of the Lower London tertiary deposits below that, but the yields obtained were poor and diminished over time. In 1921 the company started to look at extracting water from rivers, but failed to obtain parliamentary approval for a joint scheme with the South Essex Waterworks Company to obtain water from the River Stour on the border between Essex and Suffolk.
They therefore developed a scheme to extract water from the River Blackwater, the River Chelmer and its tributary, the River Ter. An Act of Parliament was obtained in August 1924, to enable construction of Langford Works, to the west of Maldon; the project involved the construction of intakes on the Chelmer and Ter, so that water from either or both could be fed into a concrete pipeline, 33 inches in diameter and 2.5 miles long. The water flowed by gravity along the pipeline to two sedimentation reservoirs each covering 10.1 acres and capable of holding 30 million imperial gallons. Water from the Blackwater intake at Langford Mill is pumped to the sedimentation reservoirs. From there the water flows by gravity to the Langford pumping station. In order to maintain the quality of the water, effluent discharged from the Chelmsford sewage treatment works on the Chelmer and the Witham sewage treatment works on the Blackwater was piped to new outfalls below the intakes; when built, the Langford pumping station contained two triple-expansion steam engines, with room for a third, fitted in 1931.
There were used in pairs, each drove a low lift pump to transfer water to the treatment works, a high lift pump to take treated water and pump it along a 28-inch cast iron pipe to Southend. The pipe crossed below the River Crouch at Hullbridge, where shafts were built on either side of the river, a tunnel was constructed between them; the water main is formed of twin steel tubes within the tunnel. The engines were worked in pairs, a pair could deliver 8 million imperial gallons per day. In August 1927, water from the Chelmer started to be used, between and 1945, 96 per cent of the water supplied by Southend Waterworks came from Langford; the wells and boreholes were maintained. In 1960, work began on replacing the steam engines at Langford pumping station with semi-automatic electric pumps; the project cost £260,000, was formally inaugurated on 31 October 1963, when Sir George Chaplin, the Chairman of Essex County Council switched on the new pumps. In the late 1960s, construction of a new treatment works next to the storage.
The works cost £1.5 million, were opened on 30 June 1970. They can produce 12 million imperial gallons of treated water per day. Earlier that year, the Essex Water Order was passed by Parliament, on 1 April Southend Waterworks Company amalgamated with South Essex Waterworks Company to become the Essex Water Company. Negotiations between Maldon District Council and Suffolk Water and other interested parties in 1996 resulted in the Langford pumping station and its one remaining engine, dating from 1931, becoming the fledgling Museum of Power; the South Essex Waterworks Company was formed in 1861, supplied drinking water to an area of 103 square miles stretching from Grays to East Ham and from Brentwood to the River Thames. Water was obtained from boreholes sunk into the chalk aquifer underlying the area, but by the time of the First World War, these supplies were not sufficient to meet the demand for water, so the company looked further afield. Following the failure of the joint scheme with Southend Waterworks Company, they obtained an Act of Parliament in 1928 for a revised scheme which included a water treatment works at Langham with an intake from the River Stour.
Treated water was pumped from the works to Tiptree works, was pumped from there to a reservoir at Danbury. It flowed by gravity to another storage reservoir at Herongate and into the distribution network. One condition of the Act was that the company had to supply water to other local authorities which were outsi
Ant Broads and Marshes
Ant Broads and Marshes is a 745.3-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Norwich in Norfolk. Most of the it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1, it is part of the Broadland Ramsar and Special Protection Area, The Broads Special Area of Conservation. Part of it is the Barton Broad nature reserve, managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, two areas are National Nature Reserves; this site in the valley of the River Ant is described by Natural England as "finest example of unpolluted valley fen in Western Europe". It has a network of dykes which support a diverse variety of aquatic plants, its fenland invertebrate fauna is of national importance
Bryant's Heath, Felmingham
Bryant's Heath, Felmingham is a 17.7-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of North Walsham in Norfolk. Most of this site is dry acidic heath on glacial sands, but there are areas of wet heath and carr woodland. Several unusual mosses and lichens have been recorded in wetter areas. A public footpath between Felmingham and North Walsham goes through the heath
Breydon Water
Breydon Water is a 514.4-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Great Yarmouth Norfolk. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area, it is part of the Berney Marshes and Breydon Water nature reserve, managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is a large stretch of sheltered estuary, it is at the gateway to The Broads river system on the eastern edge of Halvergate Marshes. It is the UK's largest protected wetland, it is more than 1.5 km wide in places. Breydon Water is overlooked at the southern end by the remains of the Roman Saxon Shore fort at Burgh Castle. Centuries ago, Breydon Water would have been one large estuary facing the sea. At the western end the water may be considered to start at the confluence of the River Yare and River Waveney. Safe passage for boats is indicated by green marker posts. Unlike most of the navigable waterways in the Norfolk Broads, Breydon Water is not subject to a speed limit. At the east end of Breydon Water the river returns to a narrow channel, passing under Breydon Bridge after which it is joined by the River Bure under Haven Bridge from where it is 4.4 km through the harbour into the North Sea.
At low tide there are vast areas of saltings, all teeming with birds. Since the mid-80s, Breydon Water has been a nature reserve in the care of the RSPB, it has been a popular shooting area for centuries, the shooting continues, but on a much reduced scale. In the winter, large numbers of wading birds and wildfowl use it to overwinter, including 12,000 golden plovers, 12,000 wigeons, 32,000 lapwings and tens of thousands of Bewick's swans. Other species that have been noted there include dunlin, whimbrel, several flamingos, avocets and on one occasion a glossy ibis. There is a bird observation hide at the east end of Breydon Water, on the north shore, looking out towards a breeding platform used by common terns. Other breeding species include shelduck, shovelers and yellow wagtails; the naturalist Arthur Henry Patterson A. L. S. who published under the pseudonym'John Knowlittle', extensively documented the wildlife of Breydon and the disappearing lifestyles of those boatmen and fishermen who made a living from the estuary.
Extracts from his numerous works are available in'Scribblings of a Yarmouth Naturalist' by Beryl Tooley, his great-granddaughter Short sections of the Wherryman's Way and Weavers' Way long distance paths follow the northern bank of the estuary from Yarmouth to Berney Arms, a distance of about 5 miles. Breydon Water is the site of events in Coot Club. Norfolk Broads Breydon Water Literary Links RSPB Berney Marshes and Breydon Water Wherryman's Way long distance walk
Breckland Forest
Breckland Forest is an 18,126 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in many separate areas between Swaffham in Norfolk and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. It is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, it contains two Geological Conservation Review sites, Beeches Pit and High Lodge. Barton Mills Valley is a Local Nature Reserve in the south-west corner of the site. Woodlarks and nightjars breed on this site in internationally important numbers. There are several nationally rare vascular plants and invertebrates on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Geological sites provide evidence of the environmental and human history of East Anglia during the Middle Pleistocene
