Sunday 25 September 2005

The Fens

Hello,everyone,Ive been talking,about the area I live in and thought it might help if I was to clarify things abit,so with the help of my brother inlaw Pete,(Jeans husband)here is a brief history of the Fens, The Fens were formed over many thousands of years and have continualy changed in there shape and size to become the fens we know today. They were before mans intervention made up of vast areas of salt water marshes and rich vegetation. That would be washed down by the three main rivers that enter the fens these being the rivers Nene Welland and Ouse. These rivers would carry vast quantities of rich soil down from the Midlands and deposit them in the low lying areas . It was decided that with a lot of hard work and money that the Fens were right for a drainage scheme   that was to be undertaken by the richest men in the land . These brave men some calling them foolish, were to be rewarded for their efforts by the crown ,the more money they put into the scheme the more of the new land they would receive,these men were  known as adventurers. Although there had been many small scale attempts to drain different parts of this vast area over the last two thousand years. The adventurers started their work in the sixteen thirties and took about two hundred and twenty years before real success was achieved. The man that made the biggest and most successful impression was a Dutch man by the name of Cornelius Vermuden, he came over to design and supervise the net work of drains that were dug for many miles across the fens. I hope you find this of some interest,and it explains some things for you,A history/geography lesson and on a Sunday too !!   Have a happy and blessed Sunday      Jan xx                                                      

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I certainly found it interesting.  Always time for a geography lesson!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting history lesson. Helen

Anonymous said...

Hey matey, great picture of you!! So nice to see who you are reading/emailing etc.  Well done you, have a gold star!  Now there will be no stopping you.

Anonymous said...

Thankyou teacher for the lesson!! It was very interesting. Strange but looking at the photo of you reminded me of my geography teacher, you're her double so the geography lesson was appropiate, you just missed out the 'Class dismissed' at the end!!!!!!! Have a good sunday. Jeannette.

Anonymous said...

Lovely to see your pic in your 'all about me' section m'dear, you look lovely :o) :o)  And very interesting to hear about the fens.  I didn't know any of this!  Fancy spending all those years trying to drain the area!!!
Sara   x

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the history of the Fens, interesting to know how a place first came about.  Also nice to see who is writing entries re the photo :)

Jo xxx

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan ,Lovely to see you in picture form!YOU ARE CLEVER!! you will have to show  me how to scan.Did Maurice catch any fish ?  Love Jeanxx

Anonymous said...

That WAS interesting Jan because I had wondered why the fens were there.  Now I know....thank you for sharing it with us!  Ah, now I know what you look like too! :-)

Sandra xxxx

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed that!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the lesson :)

Anonymous said...

That is interesting - I love history!!  I've heard of the river ouse before.........