Earith: The Old Bedford and 100 Foot

In partnership with The Word Garden

To accompany this walk, a sound recording can be downloaded onto your phone so that you can listen to it as you walk. 

The fourth walk published in December 2022 is a detour from the main Fen Edge Trail route: a (partly) circular walk focusing on a particular aspect of the landscape, accompanied by a podcast that describes the associated history. We have partnered with the Word Garden who have designed the route and produced the podcast as part of their ‘Adventurers’ project (run by Peter Daldorph and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund) about the drainage of the Fens in the 17th century.

From Earith, you walk out along the banks of the New (the 100 Foot) and Old Bedford Rivers to see the southern end of the extensive Ouse Washes (the land that lies between them). This is an interesting area, just to the east of the Somersham to Earith walk and to the west of the Sutton and Haddenham walks on the Isle of Ely, with a fascinating geological and cultural history. As you walk, the Guide (and the downloadable podcast) explain how the construction of these two major drains was accomplished, how they changed the landscape and how they still provide the main flood prevention scheme in the southern Fens.

Our partnership with The Word Garden

We were delighted to support the Word Garden in their ‘Origins’ project which tells the story of the involvement of Scottish prisoners in the draining of the Fens. In the 17th century, many prisoners taken by Cromwell’s army at the Battle of Dunbar ended up as forced labour to dig the 100 foot (New Bedford) River from Earith to Denver. This fascinating project brings history, science, art, drama and communities together to bring to life a little know aspect of the fenland landscape’s past, Our Fen Edge Trail walk at Earith is a follow up to our support of the Origins project which included a book (downloadable), a celebration day in 2019 (including a live performance of ‘Dunure to Denver’) and a film of the story,