AdnamsGirl

It was suggested that you bring along a portable wireless or gramaphone for your holiday. You could also hire these from various boatyards and stores ... Leo Robinson advertised gramaphones and records for hire at 10 shillings per week, or a portable wireless at 22 shillings and sixpence for a week. If you bought your own "McMichael" radio it would set you back 17 Guineas which was actually more than the cost of a weeks boat hire! I mentioned the valor stoves which were on board Herbert Woods cruisers at the time .... this is what you might have found yourself cooking on in 1933 ....

On a slightly different tack .... one of the joys I find of looking through old brochures and period publications is the little insights you get into some of the other aspects of holidaying on the Broads during the various eras. From advice given by the brochure/guide writers to the adverts featured, some of which do make me chuckle! I thought I'd post some examples on here which date from the early 1930s. Firstly ..... Blakes featured an article in their 1933 brochure on how to enjoy a Broads Holiday using a title picture which shows activity which would be quite frowned upon today from a hire cruiser!! Suggestions were also made as to the sort of clothing and sundries you ahould take on your Broads boating holiday .... Most of the shops in the area would make up hampers of provisions which you could order in advance and would then be delivered to the boatyard for the start of your holiday. Lists of suggested food items to order were issued in the brochures of the time .... many items on the list were actually goods which had paid for advertisments elsewhere in the brochure! And for those wondering what Diploma Crustless chesse was .. Or "Messrs. Brands A1 delicacies" ... There was always the standby of Chivers tinned vegetable, fruit and jams or a "Denmor" Roast Chicken in a tin! And the finishing touch to breakfast, luncheon, dinner or supper was apparently ..... er ... curry powder!

Many thanks ... glad that so many of you are finding it interesting! As promised for Clive, here are another couple of launch stills from Oulton Broad. The first is the same one I posted before. I think the registration number is W381 or possibly W387. This is the other launch featured which has the reg number W63

The Picture Norfolk site is a great way to lose a few hours by doing as Terry has suggested ... type in village and town names and you come up with some wonderful old photos! I'm sure I did post a link to it on here before ... I have certainly had one on my links pages for a couple of years! As for where the coasters turned at Norwich ... the link to Google maps below shows you where the turning basin was in the wide section of the river. I was told that they pushed their bows into the pointy corner you can see on the left and then turned on that. http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.626173,1.304616&spn=0.002491,0.006968&t=h&z=18 Carol

Type Norwich Port into the Picture Norfolk search box and you'll come up with quite a few! http://norlink.norfolk.gov.uk/02_Catalogue/02_001_Search.aspx?searchType=97

Great Pics Jill! The top one of Thorpe St Andrew looks as though it dates from the early to mid 1960s and features Ron Ashby's (Hearts Cruisers) home .. the MGB "Morning Flight" .... Clive should be able to fill in a bit more information about that one! The second one was taken by George Christpher Davies and probably dates from the early 1880s - William Thompson (born in 1817) was listed on the 1881 census as being both boatbuilder and publican (of the Steam Packet which later became the Ferry Boat). William Aldous became licensee of the pub in 1887 and was also hiring out boats from the premises. Can't help with dating the third one at the moment.

Hi Neil I hope that people won't find the pictures boring (although I guess some won't be interested) ... it's just my tendancy to start rabbling on about some of the history behind the images which I think might send some people reaching for the "Close thread" button! I was also not in the slightest bit interested in history at school ... well, that's not quite true ... I did find some of the medieval history quite interesting, but when we got to O level and it was modern history (Russian revolution through to the second world war) and I just had absolutely no interest at all. I find it all very fascinating now and that started to develop in my early 30s. There is so much fascinating history surrounding the Broads though, and most people find a way in through one era or aspect even if they are not interested in everything. I've only just scratched the surface and am learning more all the time ... Kev jokes that I don't read anything nowadays unless it's related to the Broads!! I seem to be stuck in the 1930s at the moment ... I am awaiting the arrival of a couple of photo albums of holidays in the early 1930s which I purchased. Obviously they are eventually intended for the website but I will stick a few sneak previews on this thread when I get them! Clive ... I meant to say, please do get scanning! I would love to see your photos as would a good few others on here!! I have taken a few more stills of the launches and I think there are only two ... they just have different passengers in them! The one I posted certainly looks as though it has the name "Miss" something on the back although I can't get a good enough still to be able to make the full name out but I think I have the reg number. I will sort out a few more pics and post over the weekend for you. In the meantime ... can anybody tell me what these two chaps are doing? They seem to be pushing these things along the field ... I wondered if they were seed drills of some sort but there doesn't appear to be any seed hopper attached. Whatever they are doing it must have taken them days to do an entire field!!

I should add ... the father of the family, who did most of the filming, was obviously obsessed by the bridges too as he filmed so many of them (usually approaching and passing underneath), which was really interesting for me having delved so much into their history. I was quite surprised at just how rickety the old Haddiscoe road lifting bridge looked .... it was no wonder that they replaced it!! Here is another long gone bridge which he filmed ... the old rail bridge at Potter Heigham. And this postcard from 1910 shows you where the fixed rail bridge at Beccles was - the photograph was taken from the old road bridge.

Oooh, don't get me started .... I could bore you for hours on the subject of Broadland Bridges!! I've been rather obsessed with them over the last year in trying to piece together some of the history surrounding them. I have done two articles for the website on the bridges of the rivers Yare and Wensum (just look in the Further Historical Reading section of BM if you are interested) and the Waveney and Northern rivers will follow when time allows. The Breydon rail viaduct was built by the Midland and Great Northern railway company. Construction began in 1899 and it was opened in 1903, connecting the Great Eastern Lines South Town station at Gorleston with the Beach Station at Great Yarmouth. It was around 800 feet in length with five spans, one of which swung centrally on a pier to allow passage for river craft. It ran along the same course across Breydon that the current road bridge does. It was closed in 1953 because they thought it would need major restoration works, the cost of which was not going to be economically viable. It remained in situ for around another ten yers before it was finally demolished and sold off for scrap. I have often seen the Aldeby swing bridge referred to as Beccles swing bridge, but the one in my photo is actually the fixed railway line which crossed the Waveney in Beccles itself. It was part of the Waveney Valley line which connected Beccles to the main London to Norwich line at Tivetshall. Apparently it was originally going to be a Beccles to Diss line, but they moved it further North to Tiveshall in the end. It opened in 1863 and became part of the Great Eastern Railway. The notes I have so far say that passenger services ceased in 1953 although freight continued to use the line until 1965. I'm not sure when the bridge was demolished but you can still see the remains of it on either side of the river in Beccles a little upstream of the old road bridge. The Aldeby swing bridge was was part of the East Suffolk line, along with the lost Haddiscoe High Level swing bridge which you can see in the background of the Haddiscoe bridge photo I posted. This line opened in 1859 and was a more direct route for trains travelling from London to Yarmouth an Lowestoft. Trains branched off at Beccles to either Lowestoft or Yarmouth .... the Yarmouth trains crossed Waveney at Aldeby and then back over at Haddisoce with it's terminus at South Town Station. I believe that this line closed in 1959 although I think the bridges remained in situ until the mid to late 1960s? Still researching that one! The piers that you see in the river at Haddiscoe and Aldeby are the remains of that line .... you can actually almost follow the line of that route and the Waveney Valley line on Google Earth as the scars of much of the old track remain in the landscape. Right .... think that will have probably bored you enough for today!! Carol

Passenger cruisers looked rather different ... You might have encountered some very large boats on Breydon as they headed to and from the Port of Norwich! But some things haven't chamged .. A holiday wouldn't have been complete without a trip to Oulton Broad And maybe a walk along the seafront at Lowestoft ...

Hi Barry .... of course, please do post any 30s pics you have on here. Clive ... that's very interesting to know that it may be one of your dads old launches. There is quite a long sequence in the film of various launches bombing around Oulton Broad (they certainly weren't low wash!! ) so I will see if I can grab some more stills of them. It would be good to finally know who all those chaps in the Porter & Haylett pic are ..... I think I look a bit different to how I did in 1983 too! Back to the 1930s ..... You would have seen some very familiar looking bridges ... with unfamiliar surroundings .... Another familiar bridge .... And some bridges which no longer exist! And Breydon had a magnificent rail viaduct crossing it with a swinging section to allow river traffic to pass...

In the 1930s .... Boating fashions were a little different ... Afternoon tea was a formal affair ... There were still quite a few working mills with sails that turned! You might have encountered one of these .... Or hired one of these to bomb around Oulton Broad with .... I'll post some more tomorrow if I get the chance! Carol

For Dan and Jonny a few more pics of Broads Haven ...

In 1933 the six berth "Spark Of Light" cost between £12 and £17 for a weeks hire, and the eight berth "Countess Of Light" cost between £14 and £21 per week.

Dan Horner!! The Herbert Woods "Light" cruisers were the height of modernity in the late 20s and early 1930s. Low wash hulls, the Morris marine engine, fresh water taps in the galley and WC, sprung "somnus" matresses on the roomy berths ... the galley was fitted with n enamel sink and the latest Valor double burner parrafin stove ... hand pump toilet drawing river water in the heads. Mrs Woods made sure that the interiors were luxurious , selecting all the materials and apparently even making the curtains herself. The cruisers were all equipped with the blue and white willow patterened "Yuan" ware and good quality cutlery and there was plenty of wardrobe and storage space on board. Aaahhh ... what more could you want? Oh for a time machine !! The rivers would have been pretty busy in the early 1930s although the season was a little shorter. There was a massive boom in Broads boating holidays during the 20s and early 30s for those that could afford it ..... it all came to a halt with the outbreak of WW2. Boatyards were still building yachts, but had also begun to build numerous motor cruisers ... Herbert Woods had quite a large fleet by 1933 and was almost churning them out on a production line! Blakes catalogue from 1933 lists over 275 cabin yachts and over 250 motor cruisers for hire ... plus 14 wherries, wherry yachts and motor wherries. There were many other yards and businesses who were hiring out a variety of boats independantly too. Braods Haven was in it's infancy in 1932 .... work had begun digging out the huge basins by hand in 1929 ... the large sheds and workshops were erected and there was even a garage for customers cars. The full story of Herbert Woods can be found in the book written by his daughter Jennifer Woods - "Herbert Woods - A Famous Broadland Pioneer". These images are actually stills taken from cine film. Sadly, I don't know anything about the family featured but they took two Broadland holidays with Herbert Woods - the first in 1932 aboard Spark Of Light and the following year they hired Countess Of Light. They must have been fairly well off as the Morris Major car would have been practically brand new in 1932. The only clue I have is that the registration number of the car was UG 199 .... the UG prefix was apparently issued in the Leeds area. Carol

In the 1930s .... You may have travelled to the Broads in one of these ... The boatyard might have looked like this ... You could have hired one of these ... Or one of these .. You might have popped to Mr Simpsons store at Stokesby for provisions ... Or maybe even the branch of Roys in Horning ... And then topped up with fresh water at the pump on Horning Green ... I'll post some more of these later if anyone is interested? Carol

Excellent news indeed!!

I've had the old postcard below on my computer for a while and always thought "I bet that doesn't look the same anymore!". It dates from the 1930s/40s and is of Church Road in Potter Heigham. Firstly ... I wasn't quite sure where the church was, but presumed it must be over the other side of the A149 in the main village. I had a check on Google maps last night and sure enough, I found it! Google maps is quite a useful tool for this project as it does help to pinpoint loations and I had a good look to see if I could work out where it might have been taken from given the obvious bend in the road. I was quite surprised to see that there was a pond along that road, but it is impossible to tell from Google whether it was in the right place to be the same pond. We drove down there today and were shocked to discover that it is indeed the same pond! (Some stunningly beautiful old houses down there by the way). Just behind where the new photo was taken, on the left is what was obviously once an old brick barn which has now been converted into a home. It was impossible to get the exact postition that the original was taken from as it would have meant standing on their drive. The original was also, by the looks of it, taken from higher up than mine .... maybe from a haystack or window of the barn? The big conifer hedge seen in the modern would also have obscured the view had we been able to get the position right anyway. The first house that you can see in the old postcrd is still there, but a few new houses have sprung up between it and the church in the intervening years. I presume that the low wall along the edge of the pond is the remains of that which you can see in the original photo. It was obviously a farm in it's day and it's interesting to see that the entrance to the field on the opposite side of the road looks to be still there in some form.

It's a bit early to be getting started on these properly, but as we were going up to Ludham today I decided to print off a few new subjects I wished to do for the Then & Now's and stopped off at Potter Heigham en-route. This isn't a great effort for the time being as the sun happened to be in exactly the wrong place, but I will go back and re do it in a couple of months time when the evenings are lighter and it at least gave me the chance to do a test run! This is taken at the corner of Station road, opposite the Falgate, looking up towards the riverside area of the village. The shop on the corner is now a PO/ Stores .... the postcard dates from 1906 when the shop was owned by James Watts who sold groceries, provisions, drapery, haberdashery, boots, shoes and medicines. Covering all bases then ! The building has increased in size and now has an extension to the left. The house you can see on the opposite side of the road in the 1906 image still exists, but has lost it's chimneys. The building further back on the same side appears to have gone and has been replaced by modern housing. I think it will make quite an interesting subject when I can get a better photo! Carol

A few new ones to add to the list! The BBC have a section of their website called "WW2 People's War" which gathers together people's recollections of the second world war in Britain. It has contributions from all over the UK but below is the link to the Norfolk section. In amongst them are some fascinating memories related to Broadland if you search through the pages. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/categories/c1143/ "Postcards Of The Norfolk Broads" gathers together one man's collection of old postcards together with some interesting notes on the boats and history featured in those images: http://site.postcardsfromthenorfolkbroads.net/Home_Page.php The "Barton Turf History Project" aims to gather together old photos and history of the Barton Turf area as well as providing external links to other online info about Barton Turf: http://www.barton-turf.co.uk/ I did post the link to the British Pathe website elsewhere on the forum but feel it's worth including on this thread too. Thousands of old newsreels featuring various counties, towns, subjects, sporting events, motor shows and famous people etc. etc. .... hours of endless fun can be spent using the search facility! The link below should take you to those related to the Norfolk Broads: http://www.britishpathe.com/results.php?search=norfolk+broads Carol

Hi There are several links which I posted in the past which no longer work .... either the URL's have changed, or the websites no longer appear to exist. As I can't go back in and edit those posts I'll update those changes in this post. On page 1 of this thread - I'm not quite sure what is happening with the Francis Frith website at the moment as it doesn't seem to be functioning properly. I suspect it's an issue at their end and hopfully it will get sorted! "Whiteswan" the Stalham website seems to have sadly disappeared. I have tried to find the site on and off over the last six months but it seems to have gone for good. The "Old Norfolk" website also seems to have vanished! On page 2 - The Eastern Daily Press revamped their website last year .... in the process they took down all of the "Hidden Norfolk" series of articles which haven't been replaced. It's a real shame as there were some fascinating bits of Broadland history amongst them. They did keep the "Place In History" section however, but the website address for all the pages I listed have changed. You can find the main dirsctory for that series of articles here: http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/norfolk-life/place-in-history/ .... just scroll down the column on the right of the page to find the relevant articles! I think that is all of the corrections! Carol

Glad that you have all found the films of interest ... there really are some fabulous film clips on the Pathe site and not just of the Broads. Type your home town, or any subject into the search bar and you may come up with more fascinating stuff! I have wasted an entire Sunday afternoon watching some great newsreels of the swinging 60s/ carnaby street etc ! And Kev was chuffed to find a film of the Burns guitar factory at Romford from the 60s. There were also some interesting films of Jim Clarke and Graham Hill racing at Snetterton. Terry .... what can I say about the Windmill girls film .... very much of it's time wasn't it? I also had a search for other Norfolk related films this afternoon and came across some interesting footage from 1914. I have had a copy of an old postcard of a captured WW1 German U-Boat at Great Yarmouth, but there is actually some footage of the U-Boats arriving at GY ..... it's not the greatest quality but interesting none the less: http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=76995 Below is the postcard that I have. Carol

I meant to add .... just like You Tube you can click on the little square button on the right underneath the video screen to view in full size on your monitor. Carol

Hi all The British Pathe newsreels were a familiar fixture in cinemas during the early 20th century ... in fact they continued producing newsreels until 1970 apparently. Anyway, for those who may not know they have an online archive of historic clips and news articles which are available to view online. Amongst them are some wondeful films of the Broads from the 1930s - 1960s. Clips on sailing, motor boat racing at Oulton, news items from the 60s on Windboats and the Flat-a-Floats.... etc etc. The link below should take you to the search on "Norfolk Broads" - if it doesn't work then just type Norfolk Broads into the search box at the top of the Pathe website page. Some films are silent but many have Mr Chumley Warner style commentaries ..... all great stuff! http://www.britishpathe.com/results.php?search=norfolk+broads&o=0&sort=year In theory I should be able to embed videos on here in the same way that you can do with You Tube .... but can't fathom out how to do so on here ..... help ?? In the meantime as an example of what they have- this is motor racing with sound at Oulton Broad in 1930: http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=77323 I think this should be retitled "Mind Your Wash" .... from 1933 http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=19289 One for Clive and Terry .... bear with this film from 1970 as it eventually gets in to Salhouse and Wroxham and there are a good few ricko's boats including at least one Broadsventure. It is supposed to have sound but is largely silent except towards the end where it seems to have been given a random interview with what sounds like Ian Paisley! http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=74307 And this is just a charming little time piece.... the Flat-A-Floats from 1960: http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=1057 Do check through what else they have as there is some fascinating stuff. And if anyone can tell me how to embed the video thumbnails on here I would be grateful! Carol

Apologies if this one has been posted before ... lads being lads in 1977 ...... note the river police launch towards the end of the film! Carol