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Womack Staithe
repairs and the buried wherry
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From time to time the quay heading (wooden edge) of a staithe has to be replaced. In 2006, it was time to do the job at Womack Staithe in Ludham. The work was delayed when the pile driver was unable to knock in some of the piles due to underground obstructions. Excavations had to be carried out to find out what was causing the problem. After a lot of digging the obstructions turned out to be oak beams and planks and it became clear that at some time in the past, the remains of a Norfolk Wherry had been buried on the bank.
Of course, the Archive Group were on hand with cameras to record the event.
It is not clear which wherry was buried here, or indeed why. Maybe it was just in the way or perhaps it was thought it would strengthen the bank. Here are a few pictures:
Work in progress at Womack Staithe - or is it?
The Archive Group examine the remains
Bits of wherry
More bits
The following two picture
show
Womack Staithe under repair in 1959. The area looked
very different
back then and the machinery (or lack of it) was very
much of the time.
Is this when the wherry was buried?
In 2011, the staithe was under repair again, this time
at the south end
where the parish moorings are. Here is a picture of the
work in
progress.
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 Here are 2 pictures from the 1960s. The left picture shows quay heading work in the North Dyke. |