The Yare Valley Society Annual General Meeting and Talk

Go to Newsletter N119 on the Newsletter page for all the AGM papers.

The formal part of the AGM will be followed by a talk “Restoring the River Yare” by Sarah Gelpke of the Norfolk Rivers Trust. Sarah is overseeing the current works on the river designed to improve water flow patterns and provide wildlife habitat

Wednesday 21st June 2023 at 7.30 pm

Cringleford Sports Pavilion

(Entrance via Recreation Ground at end of Oakfields Road Cringleford)

All who value the green space of the Yare Valley are welcome.

Modifying river flow with a woody berme

Cringleford Meadow Path and Car park Improvements completed

The City Council improvements to Cringleford Meadow are now complete except for an Interpretation Panel that is yet to be added. The new car park has a much improved water permeable surface.

Cringleford Meadow Path Improvements

The improved path can be expected to link with other path improvements that are due to come into being as a result of a condition on the McCarthy Stone Phase 2 development on Bluebell Road, Eaton.

Path upgrade for Cringleford Meadow

The path in Cringleford Meadow has long been muddy and difficult in times of bad weather. Both the path and the carpark are having their surfaces improved by laying compacted hardcore. The new all-weather path surface should make it easier to stay on the path and avoid trampling the vegetation in attempts to bypass the mud.

Present hard path end

The Meadow will be closed from Monday 16th May for 8 weeks. On site notices give the  diversion details. YVS understands the contractor will enable evening and weekend pedestrian access to the riverside path when and where safe to do so.

The full works comprise improvements to the path surface of the existing Yare Valley Walk alongside the river between Cringleford Meadow Car Park and the footbridge just north of the A11 flyover. The car park will also receive improvements with a gravel filled plastic grid system, similar to that at Danby Wood carpark, to regularise the surface and make the car park easier to use.

One of the alternative routes uses the not so widely known path alongside the flyover that was brought into being as part of the McCarthy and Stone development.

Eco Fair Display

Our three representatives on the Yare Valley Society Eco Fair display were kept very busy throughout by interested and enquiring viewers. The display highlighted the important roles the Yare Valley green corridor has in promoting biodiversity and combatting the effects of climate change:

  • It is a wildlife highway for the migration of flora and fauna
  • Its wildflowers sustain pollinators
  • Its grazing livestock promote biodiversity
  • Its vegetation and marshes reduce flood damage and pollution
  • Its marshes and woodlands act as a carbon sink
  • Its ease of access for a large urban population reduces carbon emissions by reducing dependence on car use.

It referred also to the factors that continue to threaten the Yare Valley in performing its roles effectively.

Eco display with YVS representative  June                                  Photo: Marilyn Evans

The photo was taken prior to opening – after that it was largely hidden by people!

Detail of Panels:

Panel 1

Panel 2

Panel 3 (part)

 

Alarming view of swan landing

Swan Landing                                                                                                                                  Mike Gorski

Lovely to see on the river, but perhaps a bit too close for comfort when it is immediately behind you, and you are in a coracle. This was the experience of Mike Gorski. Mike regularly takes photos from his coracle on the River Yare upstream of Cringleford Bridge.

Elaine Tucker Plaque Restored

You may have noticed that the memorial plaque to our past Chair, Elaine Tucker, near the Mathematical bridge at UEA had become detached from its base. YVS have funded a replacement Plaque and it has now been installed. The wording on the plaque is the same as the original.

Elaine Tucker took over from John Thurman as Chair of YVS in 1993, and served as Chair until her death in 2007. Elaine was a very active campaigner for protecting the Yare Valley against undesirable development, including representing the Society at Planning Enquiries. She was fortunate to have the support of her husband Frank, who was very experienced in planning matters. The Plaque was erected and a tree planted in memory of her contribution to the Society and the wider community.

Our thanks to John Thurman for making the arrangements for restoring the Plaque. Our thanks also to the UEA who provided the stone slab, and to their staff who fixed it, having removed the old steel plinth by pulling it out with a chain attached to truck!

Wildlife Wildlife Trusts launch petition to write nature’s recovery into law

“The Environment Bill is currently making its way through Parliament and we have a once in a generation chance to put the weight of the law behind protecting nature. The Wildlife Trusts have written to the Prime Minister asking that the Environment Bill is strengthened to legally bind the Government to reverse wildlife declines by 2030.”

The Trusts ask you to sign their petition to the Prime Minister calling for a legal guarantee for nature’s recovery by 2030. Sign to show you want our wildlife to be better protected.

Donkey Detour

Closed Footpath

Hoping to take a quick walk round the University Broad? It will take longer than you think. The section of boardwalk at the south east end of the Broad has been closed. A diversion has been signed which, from the University side of the Broad takes you along the lower edge of the donkey fields as far as the recently opened Strawberry Field Meadow. The return is along by the river.

Diversion Map

To give you a better idea of the extra distance we have marked with a star the point at which you reach the Strawberry Field Meadow. Children will enjoy seeing the donkeys.

Rabbit Goddess and Sun’s Roots Sculptures proposed for Sainsbury Sculpture Park

The two sculptures, by LEIKO IKEMURA and PHILLIP KING respectively, are proposed in planning applications 20/00933/F and   20/00934/L. To get the overall picture the best document when starting any search is the “Heritage Impact Assessment”

The sculptures can be expected to add interest, fun and novelty to the Yare Valley Walk and the Yare Valley Society committee have no plans to object to the applications. If you would like to make a comment you should contact Norwich Planning Department using the references above before 1st September 2020.

New Signposting on Yare Valley Walk

More help to guide you along the main line of the Yare Valley Walk. Look out for the new signposts and way-marking posts that have appeared at key points. They carry the new symbol of a dragonfly to signify the walk.

Way Marking Post beside the river at Eaton

The signs will help people follow the main line of the walk, but you will need to refer to the various guides that are available in order to find many of access points, and circular walks that connect with the main line.

Where to turn off the road for Marston Marsh

The sign to “Cringleford Meadow” might be misleading. It gives the correct  line of the walk, but the Walk remains firmly on the Norwich Bank of the River until the end of the University Broad, only then does it offer the option of crossing to the Cringleford bank for a short distance.