People walk alongside it, folk paddle in it, men and boys fish in it, and some even sail down it on homemade rafts in July. But what do we know about our River Ivel?
The river begins its life as a spring on the north side of Baldock close to the railway and the A1M. As the Ivel works its way northwards to Langford it is joined by other rivers which flow out of the Chiltern escarpment. The Hiz brings water from Oughton and the Purwell and the Flit join the Ivel together with water from the Cat Ditch which winds through Bygrave, Hinxworth, Stotfold and Astwick. Eventually the Ivel joins the Great Ouse at Tempsford. After this the river reaches the North Sea via Ely, The Bedford Level, The Denver Sluice, King’s Lynn and The Wash.
As the River Ivel passes Henlow Grange its course is very windy and in the past it was quite marshy too. Here it forms the parish boundary between Henlow and Langford. When the river reaches the Henlow Road, there is a road bridge over the river near the Garden Centre. Water End was the name given to the part of Langford between this bridge and Chapel Hill due to the regular flooding that took place. The last serious flood was in 1947. Before the first Henlow Road bridge was built in the Middle Ages there was a ford at this point so travellers could pass from Henlow to Toplers Hill via Cambridge and Edworth Road. This was a minor Roman road and parts of it may have been paved for the benefit of Roman travellers
As soon as the river passes under the Henlow road bridge the boundary follows a ditch known today as Dam’s Ditch. This leaves the river which then runs quite a straight and pretty wide course from the Henlow road to the Mill at the bottom of Mill Lane and then on to Holme Mill. It is probable that Dam’s ditch was called Adam’s Ditch in medieval times. Perhaps this ditch was originally the course of the River Ivel. What we see now behind Riverside Gardens and northwards to the Mill is a much improved waterway enhanced as part of a failed plan in 1847 to construct a canal from Biggleswade to Hitchin. The straightness, width and high west bank of the river indicate the intervention of man. The new channel also improved the flow and increased the head of water for Langford Mill to operate more efficiently.
In 1823 a meeting was held in Hitchin where it was recommended that a route from Langford to Hitchin should be constructed. It was also decided that the company should extend the Shefford line west to meet the Grand Junction Canal. This would create a profitable link from the main inland waterways system to Bedford, Ely, Cambridge and King’s Lynn on the River Great Ouse network.
The current footbridge over the river at the bottom of Chapel Hill is a modern construction and before this the crossing at this point was a ford suitable only for cattle and sheep to access the common.
The power of water was employed at Langford Mill to grind corn and to power machinery to convert old rags into paper. Water levels were managed by weirs and sluices to provide enough head of water to drive the machinery. The river then continues onto Holme Mills where the process is repeated once again to provide energy at Jordan’s Mill.
Plans for a canal for the River Ivel were first announced in 1756. Locks on the River Ivel were built in 1758 at Tempsford, Blunham, South Mills and Sandy. Although tolls were initially lower than expected and the operators were in debt, trade increased rapidly and the creditors were all paid off by 1780. In the early nineteenth century the canal was extended to Shefford, with locks at Biggleswade, Holme, Stanford, Clifton and Shefford, and it was opened in 1823. The canal was abandoned in 1876.
The canal that was built from Shefford to Langford is known as the Ivel Navigation or New Cut. It passes through Stanford lock and joins the River Ivel behind Mill Meadow. The extension to the River Ivel Navigation was built by labourers or navvies from Bristol, who were paid 3.5d (not p) per cubic yard of earth removed.
The navigation proved profitable, and also had several unexpected side-effects; it helped control flooding, and great numbers of eels were captured in traps at the canal staunches. These eels graced many local table and became extremely popular as a regional dish.
Then came the railways – in 1850 the Great Northern, and in 1857 the Midland Railway were built through the region – and the navigation gradually fell into disuse. By 1870 trade on the canal ceased with the last barge in 1876.
The River Ivel Section – By John Shipman
Sourced from “The People at the Long Ford” by Michael Rutt and http://www.canalroutes.net/Ivel-River.html
Langford Bridge, between Langford and Henlow was first described, in 1817 by the County Surveyor, in a report to the Quarter Sessions after it had been badly damaged by floods. It was recorded as being “an ancient structure consisting of 2 Gothic Arches supported upon a center pier 4ft 6in. wide”. About a quarter of the bridge had fallen away reducing the width to about 9ft. The description suggests that the bridge was of medieval origin. A bridge is marked in the same location on Jeffreys’ County Map of 1765.
In 1819the bridge was replaced by an iron bridge, cast by Lees and Co. at Coalbrookdale. The pieces were transported by canal to near Newport Pagnell and then carried overland to Langford for assembly on site. The bridge was completed at a cost of £254.8s.8d. It was subsequently reinforced (by the addition of three wrought iron solid flange girders) in 1873following the collapse of the iron bridge at Broom. (As described in “A Bridge Too Far” on this website).
The bridge was taken down in 1946 and was replaced with a new structure in early 1947. German and Italian prisoners of war, who were camped locally, worked on the bridge. The river was dammed to facilitate the work, but the heavy melting of snow resulted in flooding of part of the high Street to a depth of several feet and the villages Auxiliary Fire Brigade having to pump out houses.
Langford Bridge Section by Ann Currell
Sourced from “Bridges of Bedfordshire” by Angela Simco and Peter McKeage – Bedfordshire Archaeology Occasional Monograph Series 1997 and “The People at the Long Ford” by Michael Rutt