The Broads

The Broads is a network of rivers and lakes in Norfolk and Suffolk. Most of the 303 square kilometres lie in Norfolk, but the Suffolk side has its own broads and waterways. The broads were created by flooded medieval peat pits, not natural lakes. A special Act in 1988 gave the area protection like a national park. The Broads Authority manages navigation, conservation and public access under its own laws. The area has over 200 kilometres of navigable water among seven rivers and sixty-three broads. Thirteen broads are fully open to boats, with more having navigable channels. Some routes have seasonal restrictions, though their legal basis is sometimes questioned. The Broads Authority balances navigation with wildlife protection and local interests. Its twenty-one members include appointees from government and local councils. Visitors find a landscape of reedbeds, grazing marshes and wet woodland shaped by centuries of peat digging and flooding. Old canal locks and derelict wherry routes show the area’s transport past. Canoes and small unpowered boats can still use many waterways by portaging around locks. The waterways wind past quiet villages and historic staithe harbours. Wildlife thrives in the wetland habitats protected by the Broads Authority.