An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

1 94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY of the Buxton miller in not opening the gates Buxton bridge was carried away, the water flooding the '' Anchor of Hope,'' and escaping behind it brought down debris which long blocked the channel by the railway bridge, and carried away many houses and the bridge at Coltishall. Drowned fowls were common and only fetched one shilling each, the natives objecting to eat them because they had not been intentionally killed! I did not share their views! I drove out to see the mischief which was very great, and 011 the Wednesday only just got over Mayton Btidge (where an old sow had floated down and been caught in the wires) and into Norwich, where we found immense damage done to my waterside houses. Magdalen Street was a river through which flat cart~ earned ransom. All post letters and papers ceased to be delivered at Lammas for some days, as the waters were running like a raging torrent and brought down great lumps of peat, etc., with it. Eventually (after many days) a temporary plank bridge was made to the Mill over the fields, but the broken road was not filled up till Mr. Sewell liberally gave the earth to do so (in the hole whence it was removed the new schoolmaster's house was built) but I doubt if it will last if another similar flood comes. The next few days I devoted to sight seeing, and had a drive on Thursday to North Walsham, having to go into fields and several places to avoid trees blown down across the road. Saturday I drove by Mayton Bridge round Buxton and Aylsham, the bridge by the "Fox" being temporarily mended, but bad to come round back by Banningbam as the King's Beck bridge was down. On the Sunday we had a weird drive mostly through water to Ludham, and on to Potter Heigham, the two old bridges standing nobly. The country by St. Benet's showed a wide lake with the Abbey as an island. The valley of the Bure showed exactly how it must have looked 800 years ago. We worked round to Horning Ferry and just reached it, and were served with tea out of the bedroom windows. Next day I heard that my St. George Bridge property bad fallen into the river. My eldest daughter, tired of the monotonous life of the country, bad gone as a governess to Constantinople, and now my second daughter decided to join her there. She left me