Wivenhoe on the River Colne Essex
Wivenhoe is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wiivnhou. It developed as a port and until the late 19th century was effectively a port for Colchester, as large ships were unable to navigate any further up the River Colne,which widens here into its estuary. Wivenhoe had two prosperous shipyards and was involved in fishing. Its period of greatest prosperity came with the arrival of the railway in 1863. In 1884 the town suffered significant damage when it lay close to the epicentre of one of the most destructive UK earthquakes of all time - the 1884 Colchester earthquake. In 1890, there was a population of about 2,000 mostly engaged in fishing for oysters and sprats and in ship and yacht building. A dry dock was built in 1889 and extended in 1904 to become one of the largest on the East Coast; it was demolished in the mid-1960s. During the UK miners' strike (1984-1985), the now defunct Wivenhoe Port imported coal and became subject to picketing by miners (many from Yorkshire), which led to a very substantial police presence, some of them drafted in from other counties, and violent skirmishes as striking miners tried to prevent vehicles entering and leaving the port.
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Photo credit: © John Worrall / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: boat, boating, boats, building, coast, colne, east, england, gig, gigs, harbour, holiday, mud, north, port, river, rowing, sailing, sea, summer, sunny, tidal, uk, vacation, wivenhoe, yacht, yachting
