Established in 2003, the Word Garden aims to share heritage and bring it to life by historical and social research, as well as through creative arts activities such as new writing, drama and the visual arts; thereby enhancing and preserving community knowledge of the past.

The Adventurers

We have worked in partnership with the Word Garden as part of their ‘The Adventurers‘ project to design a walk at the southern end of the Ouse Washes at Earith. To accompany the Walk Guide, the Word Garden have produced a downloadable audio podcast that you can listed to while you walk. The walk tells the story of the creation of the 100 Foot River, also known as the New Bedford, in the 17th century and explains how this major drain, the parallel Old Bedford drain and the Ouse Washes between them provide, even now, the major flood prevention scheme in the Cambridgeshire Fens.

The project is funded by The Heritage Fund.

To accompany this walk, a sound recording can be downloaded onto your phone so that you can listen to it as you walk. This provides many more details of the history of the drainage works of the 17th century. Because the mobile signal is poor on parts of the walk, we suggest you download the sound file before you start. First, go to the Internet Archive website. Scroll down to Download options list to select the WAVE file (a type of audio file) and download it. Find the downloaded file on your phone (e.g. under Downloads or Files) then select the EarithHistoryWalk.wav file to play. Most phones play these WAVE files but, if not, download an app to do so). Earphones are useful as it can be difficult to hear your phone outside (especially if there is any wind). If the signal is good enough, alternatively, to stream live, go to www.SoundCloud.com and select ‘Earith History Walk’.

The audio dramas, referred to on the walk, can be found on the Internet Archive website or on www.SoundCloud.com.