Loder’s Cut and John Loder, Troublesome Reach, Bloody Point and Kyson Point.

The 1845 Deben Survey shows an oxbow bend with Troublesome Reach to the south and Kingston Reach to the west. ‘Troublesome’ relates to the difficulty experienced by sailing vessels in rounding the bend at Kingston (now Kyson Point) due to the prevailing southwesterly and erratic winds from Martlesham Creek.

At the west end of Troublesome Reach looms ‘Bloody Point’¹There is another Bloody Point at Shotley Spit)., named for the difficulty in rounding it under sail. Just to the north, some vessels unloaded at Kyson Hole, opposite Kyson Point where they sometimes took on gravel for ballast on the return trip. However, most were bound for the quays at Woodbridge, so a shortcut was desirable.

This Thomas Churchyard²There is a collection of Churchyard paintings online. painting shows a view of a tiller steered Sprits’l Barge docked at Kyson Point’s quay, or jetty. The view looks across Bloody Point and down Troublesome Reach. Note that there is less tree cover on the left bank than now.

The jetty served a nineteenth-century brick kiln and was also the departure point for ‘Steamers’ to London around 1842; it has now decayed with the remains visible at low water³Jetty – See Rapid Field Survey of the Suffolk Coast and Intertidal Zone Assessment Report (historicengland.org.uk – WBG 037TM/27111/47437 “Rectangular post structure set into intertidal mud.  See Bob Simpers book on Deben for full I.D.   – Kingston Quay – passengers embarked to London by steamer in 1842.  Also brick kiln here and ballast dug for ships.”.

John Loder, a Woodbridge bookseller, was taken to Court⁴Court Report from The Ipswich Journal, and Suffolk,Norfolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire Advertiser, Saturday, August 4th, 1877 for libelling Mr Rees, a Rendlesham schoolmaster. The case seems trivial today. Rees had ordered books for the school, the account to be paid by Lord Rendlesham, benefactor of the institution. In a letter copied to Lord Rendlesham’s clerk, Loder claimed that Rees had asked him for ‘baksheesh’ in the shape of a leather bag for his wife to be hidden in the school’s bill. On reading the account, the case seems finely balanced although the jury awarded damages of £100 against Loder. Whilst the award sounds small today, in 1877 it could have meant the loss of livelihood to either man.

Edward Fitzgerald, the Woodbridge translator and yachtsman, who often kept his yacht, Scandal, nearby, instigated a subscription from the townspeople:

The residents of Woodbridge have retried the case. Their verdict will be a presentation of the costs, damages etc. His neighbours found that his character for honour and truthfulness is unimpeached, have raised a fund.

Ipswich Journal 1877

This raised over £250 which was presented to Loder. Loder generously considered that the money would be better spent to benefit the town and, in 1879, paid for the excavation of the cut. The Suez Canal, a somewhat longer channel, had been finished only a decade earlier so this name was used colloquially. There was a beacon known as ‘The Suez’ in the mid-twentieth century⁵Suez see pp87 W.G.Arnott, W G. Suffolk Estuary : The Story of the River Deben. N. Adlard, , 2D Impression, 1950. .

Loder’s Cut is navigable for sailing barges from about half tide, it has a drying height of roughly 0.6m and is marked with withies.

The 2009 eastcoastrivers.com⁶eastcoastriverscom was a handy site for local pilotage, unfortunately, it ceased to exist some years ago. chart shows a 1.5m drying height but this is incorrect. (see Notes)

Notes, Sources & Questions

From Surfzone data, the least depth in the centre part of the channel at Loder’s is -1.1m AOD, converting to CD by adding 1.8m gives a drying height of about 0.7m which is close to the observed value of about 0.6m drying.

See the article by Peter Clay in RDA’s Deben, Spring 2020

Other Bloody Points to add.

For more on Loder see: template (woodbridgevirtualmuseum.com)

Footnotes

• 1
  There is another Bloody Point at Shotley Spit).
• 2
  There is a collection of Churchyard paintings online.
• 3
  Jetty – See Rapid Field Survey of the Suffolk Coast and Intertidal Zone Assessment Report (historicengland.org.uk – WBG 037TM/27111/47437 “Rectangular post structure set into intertidal mud.  See Bob Simpers book on Deben for full I.D.   – Kingston Quay – passengers embarked to London by steamer in 1842.  Also brick kiln here and ballast dug for ships.”
• 4
  Court Report from The Ipswich Journal, and Suffolk,Norfolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire Advertiser, Saturday, August 4th, 1877
• 5
  Suez see pp87 W.G.Arnott, W G. Suffolk Estuary : The Story of the River Deben. N. Adlard, , 2D Impression, 1950.
• 6
  eastcoastriverscom was a handy site for local pilotage, unfortunately, it ceased to exist some years ago.

Image Sources and Credits

Image Credits and Sources

• Churchyard, Thomas, 1798 1865; View on the Deben: Thomas Churchyard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons | Public Domain Mark 1.0
• Jetty at Kyson Point by Eamonn O’Byrne 2023: Jetty at Kyson Point by Eamonn O'Byrne 2023 | All Rights Reserved
• John Loder II standing outside his shop: woodbridgevirtualmuseum.com

• 1
  There is another Bloody Point at Shotley Spit).
• 2
  There is a collection of Churchyard paintings online.
• 3
  Jetty – See Rapid Field Survey of the Suffolk Coast and Intertidal Zone Assessment Report (historicengland.org.uk – WBG 037TM/27111/47437 “Rectangular post structure set into intertidal mud.  See Bob Simpers book on Deben for full I.D.   – Kingston Quay – passengers embarked to London by steamer in 1842.  Also brick kiln here and ballast dug for ships.”
• 4
  Court Report from The Ipswich Journal, and Suffolk,Norfolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire Advertiser, Saturday, August 4th, 1877
• 5
  Suez see pp87 W.G.Arnott, W G. Suffolk Estuary : The Story of the River Deben. N. Adlard, , 2D Impression, 1950.
• 6
  eastcoastriverscom was a handy site for local pilotage, unfortunately, it ceased to exist some years ago.