The Stour Valley has not been very quiet for the past few days. The replacement of portage points on the River Stour has kept the valley ringing with the sound of pile driving, or 'Wiston fracking', and we've all been driven a little bit mad.

To share this momentous occasion - and what can only be the arrival of the QE2, the portage points are so big, we bring you a brief history of pile driving in the valley. Are you sitting comfortably? Then you're not in the Stour Valley...earplugs in, and I'll begin.

Sadly, not a bowler hat and cane, or non-fluorescent waistcoat to be seen today. Standards are slipping.