Dissapearing Shops

[woodwose]

I forgot to add that there is a "then and now" version of this photograph on the Ludham Archive website at http://www.ludhamarchive.org.uk/then.htm

Nigel

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

What a brilliant set of photo`s, from a really informative archive. Are you a "Ludhamite" Nigel, or is it just out of interest?. Regards ............. Neil.

[quo vadis]

Wheres Woolworths gone?

[woodwose]

Neil

I'm not quite sure what a "Ludhamite" is. I live in Ludham so I suppose that counts.

I keep adding stuff to the website, but the volume of new material flowing into the Ludham Archive always exceeds my ability to research and add it. I have got loads of "Then and Now" pictures but some are more interesting than others. Currently I am working on a page on the Church clock and I have been promised some new photographs of the P38 crash in the High Street.

If there are any aspects of Ludham that people would like added to the website, then just let me know.

The thing we do the most is help people researching their family trees. Two enquiries a week is not unusual.

Glad you liked the site. Hopefully, there will be more information about the shop soon.

Nigel

Ludham Community Archive Group

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Nigel, Ludham and the waterways leading up to it are one of my favourite Broadland locations. I went there back in the beginning of the 80s and got chatting to a chap in his garden about the old airfield. We got quite chatty, and he and his wife asked me inside to join them in a cuppa, which absolutely astounded me, especially as where i came from, if you invited a stranger into your house, you may come back from work to find it empty the next day. I don`t think i`ve ever experienced hospitality like it. I love the tea rooms just around the corner from the pub, but every time we`ve been there of late, it`s always been shut. This year, we`ll definately give it a try and hopefully be successful. I`l bee keeping an eye on the archives web site from now on, especially the "now and then" photo`s, as i love to look at Broadland history. Keep up the good work, and maybe we`ll have the pleasure of bumping into you in Ludham someday. Regards .................. Neil.

[AdnamsGirl]

Here are a few more old shops.

This was the riverside store at Brundall which was operated by Tide Craft cruisers - the advert dates from 1958.

Also from 1958, another riverside store which was located 75yds south of Potter Heigham Bridge and was run by W.H.Morris who ran the top shop (now the post office) up near the Falgate.

And finally - Waller's store and restaurant at Oulton Broad.

Carol

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Carol, the Oulton Broad shop is still there is`nt it?. The last time we went to Oulton i`m sure it was, but i remember back in the 90s, the top had been converted into an Indian restaurant, but i`ve no ideas if this survies. Regards .............. Neil.

[AdnamsGirl]

Hi Neil

The building now houses a wine bar, a kebab shop and an Indian restaurant I can't embed a Google street view map here but if you follow the link below you can see what it looks like now:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.473888,1.709959&spn=0.000503,0.001695&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=52.474018,1.71003&panoid=Rcb6MnLel_RmqWVRdc-_qA&cbp=12,81.01,,0,6.42

Carol

[woodwose]

I now have further information about the closure of Parkinson's shop at Ludham Bridge. It still looks correct that the shop was removed in the early 1950s and before 1952.

However, the shop actually closed during the war. The Government were concerned that the bridge would be a target for bombs as it was a strategic crossing point. So they requisitioned the shop and closed it down. The Parkinsons were moved to the bungalow with the verandah a little bit further upstream from the bridge. Their daughter recalls playing in the derelict shop after the war.

The bridge itself was defended during the war and the positions for the spigot mortars can still be seen. The mill upstream of the bridge was used as a sort of 2 story pill box. The shop would have been virtually in the line of fire.

The Parkinsons never reopened the shop. Mrs Parkinson taught at the village school and Mr Parkinson used to drive daily to a job in Dereham.

Maybe more information will come in but that's all I have for now.

Nigel

Ludham Community Archive Group

[woodwose]

Neil

Sorry, I should have commented earlier on your post about Ludham.

As you have seen, Ludham has somehow managed to retain that strong sense of community which has been lost in so many places. Having lived for many years in London, Ludham seems like simply another world.

I was walking into the village the other morning and I met my next door neighbour returning from Throwers with a newspaper. We stopped to chat and he said that he had met so many people wanting to mardle that it had already taken him one and a half hours just to get the paper.

The Ludham Archive Group is a manifestation of this sense of community. Local people take an interest in the history of the village and actively help people enquiring about family trees and long lost relatives. Just this week I sent a family tree to a person in Australia taking him back to the 17th century. We have also traced a lost harmonium this week (also for a person in Australia), but that's another story.

Nigel

Ludham

[MY littleboat]

HAve to totally agree with Senator on this one - apart from the little shop 'up the hill' at Reedham, I know of no other shops that stay open past about 5! Bloomin nightmare, and sadly, if the attitude s 'closing early is a tradition' it goes some way to explain why many of them are now closed permanently!!

[quo vadis]

Where on earth is MFI

[diesel falcon]

Where on earth is MFI

holding hands with land of leather!

[Guest]

Never mind the shops, what about the pubs - who else remembers using the staithe at Cain Meadow to moor and walk up Castle Street to the Castle PH? I have a special place for property developers.

jojo

What if the hokey cokey really is what it's all about?

[Guest]

Last week I was asked if Wroxham was the centre of the Broads?

"Oh no", says I, "It is certainly the centre of the universe!"

jojo

The reason people blame things on the previous generation is that there is only one other alternative.

[quo vadis]

Ay up lad wheres Focus DIY gone

[Guest]

Lowestoft near Morrisons

[Guest]

Just been reading about dissapearing shops etc in LUDHAM.Can anybody shed any light on the following. When walking from Womack Staithe up the road to Ludham Village, on the right just before the (PUMPING STATION)?,is a house that used to have an old propellor leaning against the front wall.I believe it was from a Stirling MK1.The last two visits that I made to Womack, revealed that said propellor has gone. Has it been stolen?. I believe the house is owned by a Carpet Fitter/supplier. Any info would be great. Thanks.

[woodwose]

There used to be a little museum there which covered WWII. The museum is long gone. The propeller was one of the exhibits.

I think the contents went to another museum after it closed.

Nigel

Ludham