balance that the difference between fertility and flooding has been measured in centimetres.
Here, generation after generation has seen its livelihood engulfed by the wild waters
of disaster. Only in the last three decades has the area finally been made secure
by modern engineering and the application of millions of pounds of investment.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the Fenland was not an hospitable area. Upland river
and gale-driven tide alternated their push and pull across large areas, some
of which were dry enough for summer pasture but submerged in winter, whilst
others were flooded all the year round.
Thus the scanty population, who called themselves the Breedlings, developed a special, if harsh, way of life.
They were a people apart, among whom other Englishmen rarely ventured.
Militantly protective of their way of life, the Breedlings reacted violently
to plans to drain the fen area. Indeed, for many decades armed guards were needed
to protect the sluice gates and other mechanisms that were installed according to the new designs.
