![]() ![]() ![]() In the Low Countries, for obvious reasons, new techniques were developed and skill built up in the early modern period, and some of that was imported into England. There were ambitious dredging operations in the ancient world, so in principle a range of more and less ambitious technologies were available. I’m guessing that some kinds of dredging must long have played a part in the improvement and maintenance of local watercourses – not least of man-made ditches, which need to be kept clear to perform their work (though not so clear as to carry off too much soil and nutrient). A photograph by Henry Taunt of dredging on the river at Oxford in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century shows men on punts with, attached to the punt in the foreground, what looks like a large wooden rake, which would be dragged along by the boat as the boatmen poled it. Or with the aid of very simple equipment. It’s essentially a raking operation which, in some circumstances, can be done by hand. It may involve no more than removing recently accumulated silt from watercourses, though if the aim is to deepen them to unaccustomed depths, it may entail removing gravel or more compacted soil. It isn’t intrinsically a high-tech operation. ![]() There are also concerns about the environmental impact of dredging (though equally, not dredging has its own environmental impact). People on the ground often argue that dredging ought to help: it’s common sense rivers, and canals, get silted up why not clear them out, let the water flow? Authorities further from the action, or more able to take a general view, argue that dredging provides at best a temporary fix, and that it costs more than its limited benefits justify. Philip Pullman’s children’s story, La Belle Sauvage(whose hero, Malcolm, works at the Trout in an alternative present) includes a discussion between a farmer and his friends at the inn about high water levels and whether dredging is the answer (the area is then swept by the flood of all floods). There have been exchanges about this in many places, eg the Somerset Levels, but also around Oxford. Flooding in recent years has generated controversy - among other things, about whether to dredge or not to dredge. ![]()
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