On 8 Jul 2015 at 3:46pm Jane S wrote:
Can we have something like this (see link) by the Ouse, please?
Check it out here »
On 8 Jul 2015 at 7:33pm Mme B wrote:
Love the picture, but would it work on our muddy Ouse?
On 8 Jul 2015 at 9:21pm sceptic wrote:
Lewes is lucky to have a river running through it. What an amazing sight it would be to see more boats using it. If the banks could shored up to stop erosion as far up as the railway bridge and then dredged it would make a great tourist attraction. Am I right in reading somewhere that it used to be a canal with lock gates further up, if so could that not be done again.
On 8 Jul 2015 at 9:23pm Far Canal wrote:
There was a canal but it was a long way up stream
On 8 Jul 2015 at 10:41pm Spartacus wrote:
Once apon a time there were 18 locks above Lewes stretching all the way to Ardingly, with the first one at Hamsey. There's more details on the Sussex Ouse Restoration Trust site.
It would be great to see more boats on the river but apparently it's a pretty dangerous river for small boats.
Check it out here »
On 9 Jul 2015 at 12:08pm stevied wrote:
Removing the decking and tables/chairs from the public slipway next to Cliffe Bridge would help!
On 9 Jul 2015 at 12:57pm Night paddler wrote:
It is a real shame that Lewes does not make more of the river. Any other town would have riverside bars and cafes, paddle boats and all sorts lovely things. That Lewes has none of these is a bit odd... maybe it's because the river floods? If so, have the recent flood defences changed anything?
Saying that, I was put off the river a long time ago when I learnt that 60% of the water flowing through Barcombe Mills in summer came directly from the outlets of Sewage Treatment Works. You'd certainly not catch me paddling in it!
On 9 Jul 2015 at 1:20pm Oldbutintouch wrote:
When, eventually, the new Waitrose store is built along the riverside opposite Harvey's, or the Santon North Street scheme, Lewes MIGHT, once again, be given public access to the river. We must live in hope!
On 9 Jul 2015 at 2:41pm Farmer Palmer wrote:
Paint it on the side of Harveys Brewery? 
On 9 Jul 2015 at 4:56pm sailor wrote:
The tides and currents are pretty fierce. The river is largely impossible to navigate in anything without a fairly powerful engine except at around high tide. This is only a short time per day. Also the water is pretty, er, 'murky'. Set off in a punt or rowing boat at the wrong time and you will be getting the train back from Newhaven.
On 9 Jul 2015 at 5:06pm Belladonna wrote:
I agree about underuse of the river and riverside. What's the legal situation with the public slipway ? Could you require the cafe to remove their tables and chairs to get access to and from the water ?
On 9 Jul 2015 at 6:17pm canoeman wrote:
Quite a few do canoe on the river but you do have to be aware of the tides and know where the shallows are at low tide. We do lack a proper launch place. Even the official launch by cliffe bridge is tricky and my understanding is that you have every right to use it but would be advised to find somewhere better. The santon plan includes a place to launch. To have a river that you could have a reflected mural would require a weir down river so that there was a constant level at Lewes. This would make it more usable but mean that you could not use the tide to go up and downstream as you can at present. There has never been a weir downstream of Lewes but there are many upstream. The first is at the bottom of the hamsey cut.
On 9 Jul 2015 at 7:11pm Sussex Jim wrote:
Lewes is not any more "lucky" than most other towns in having a river. Towns originally grew next to rivers in order to have a water supply.
On 9 Jul 2015 at 7:18pm Well Digger wrote:
Well well I never knew that SJ. Did you know that there is now't colder than a welldiggers a*se
On 11 Jul 2015 at 7:56pm Zebedee wrote:
Good post Jim. Really crucial
Did you know that Brighton had a river once? It ran down where the Old Steine is. It's a sewer now. As is the River Fleet (re: Fleet Street). The Ouse is pretty much a sewer now.
On 13 Jul 2015 at 4:47pm Nancy Boyes wrote:
Many moons ago my dad suggested that there could be a lock built somewhere near to Southerham Bridge. It could have incorporated a fish ladder for the sea trout and eels that habitually run up and down following their respective breeding patterns and also hold back the water to something approaching the depth of a "permanent high tide" but at the same time being able to be opened at the drop of a hat if flooding was iminent. Silt from upstream would "drop out" to leave it really clear and it could have been made more accessible to casual boating by say, incorporating some landing stages alongside the "towpath" by Tesco for example. (He had invisaged the permanant high tide level to be roughly level to the existing "towpath". His idea may have been bad news for the mullet and flounders that still get up as far as Hamsey (and sometimes Barcombe Mills) and may have caused a few problems with river levels below Cliffe Bridge, the Rowing Club and the bottom end of South Street but he was talking 30 years ago. He modelled his ideas on the the fish pass at the Anchor at Barcombe and I would have thought that the way modern technology has moved on, his ideas couldn't be re-visited and perhaps make a thoroughly well used resource out of our river.
On 13 Jul 2015 at 5:04pm Sceptic wrote:
Nancy, your Dad had the right idea. I am afraid the council is stuck in the past and any brilliant ideas like your Dads would just be swept under the carpet. Perhaps one day a member of the council would realise what an asset the river is and maybe do something about it. Sussex Jim is on the ball isn't he Ha Ha.
On 13 Jul 2015 at 5:14pm Nancy Boyes wrote:
I ought to add a p.s. When I said the towpath at Tesco I meant the lower bank. I don't think the residents of lower lying areas of the Cliffe or the developments at the bottom of Thomas Street et al would be very pleased if the water lapped playfully alongside the present footpath. Their cellars and downstairs would be full of water again.
On 13 Jul 2015 at 10:19pm Zzz.. wrote:
None of this is ever going to happen. The EA is so underfunded they can't even afford to maintain the Anchor Sluice.