Mono Monday: Water

It's difficult to believe looking at this shot that this area was once a bustling and thriving port.  Cley-next-the-sea is no longer 'next the sea'; the beach is about a kilometre away separated by a salt marsh.  But up until about 300 years ago this little stream was the Glaven estuary and ships traded across the North Sea to the Low Countries of north-western Europe.  The connection to The Netherlands can be seen in the architecture of some of the houses in the area that have the distinctive 'Dutch Gables'.

In 1637 a local landowner embarked on a land reclamation scheme.  Although the work was stopped the damage had been done and the river gradually silted up.  It is only comparatively recently that volunteers have managed to dig out and reopen the channel to the sea and the stream is now navigable by pleasure boats. There is some more of the history on the Cley Harbour website here, including some great old photos of the windmill when the river was still in place, and details of the restoration and work of the volunteers.  There is now water here again along with the boats, so that qualifies the shot for the Mono Monday theme.