Welney

Welney is a village and civil parish in the Fens of England, and the county of Norfolk. The village is situated immediately to the west of the Old Bedford River, River Delph and New Bedford River, which are all parallel channels and are here crossed by the A1101 road. The village is some 15 km (9 mi) south-west of the town of Downham Market, 30 km (19 mi) south of the town of King's Lynn and 70 km (43 mi) west of the city of Norwich. The county boundary with Cambridgeshire is adjacent, and the city of Cambridge lies 40 km (25 mi) to the south.

Contents

• Map of Welney UK
• Listen to Welney
• The Church
• The Cricket Club
• References

Map of Welney, UK

The parish covers an area of 20.73 square kilometres (8.00 sq mi) and had a population of 528 in 217 households at the 2001 census; the population increased to 542 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

In 2016, the first village election took place for the superficial position of village mayor. This resulted in Chris Harvey-Hawes being elected as mayor for the village in a vote cast in the summer (08/08/2016). He ran on a platform of engaging with the youth of the village and ensuring activities were unaffected by recent building activity. The mayoral election will be ran annually in the future. To contact the mayor for events within the village contact [email protected].

In the 14th century, Welney was called Wellenhe, meaning "a river called Welle" (the old name of the Old Croft River). In the second half of the 19th century, Welney became famous for its skaters.

Welney is situated on the Ouse Washes, an internationally important area of wildlife conservation. WWT Welney, near the village, is a nature reserve in the care of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. Nearby, there are also the RSPB Ouse Washes, a reserve managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.