AdnamsGirl

Hi Spotted this on YouTube last week .... looks as though it is probably late 1960s? Some great shots of woody boats and Herbert Woods yard. I'd advise turning the sound off when viewing as the film maker has added some awful sound effects!! Carol

As I mentioned earlier, I also haven't managed to do as much of this as I had hoped this year but David Holmes book has really inspired me to get out and get going again. I have a huge batch of Edwardian era postcards of the Broads which I am still working my way through to add to BM but there is a wealth of fantastic subject matter within for the Then & Now project. I really must get a batch printed out to take on my travels! I have to say that it is those earlier images that I am keen to try and recreate (late 1800s-1940s) as they really do show the most dramatic changes to the area. The more I look into it and think about it, the more I realise just what a difficult task it is as there are so many unknown variables involved. There have been so many film and camera formats over the years ..... there were at least three different glass plate formats that I know of before you start getting onto film! I don't really know much about the history of cameras and film but I'm sure some internet searching would provide more information. A standard 35mm lens will produce a different sense of perspective and fore-shortening of scenes on different cameras and formats ...... you get the angle just a couple of feet out and everything looks different, not to mention the height at which the original image was taken. With the old plate cameras, the photographer was often bending over to take the photograph so, at 5' 10" tall, I could be taking my comparison photo from 2 feet further up than the original! It all makes a subtle difference. Postcards often tend to make the best subjects to recreate but, as they were generally a standard size it means the original photograph was probably cropped to fit it so you have no idea in what format it was taken even if you could guess the focal length etc. David Holmes has done some superb comparison photographs but has had similar problems in capturing the exact scene - he does actually mention the problem with not physically being able to stand in the same position as the original photographer in some instances because the once quiet streets are now extremely full of traffic most of the time! I don't have a digital SLR and wouldn't class myself as a photographer by any means. I just tend to take multiple images on a point & shoot from several different positions at varying focal lengths and hope that one of them will turn out vaguely right!! I always photograph a larger area than the original scene so that I can then crop in to the same size as the original. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't .... sometimes I just have to say it's near enough and will do until I can try again! Carol

For anyone interested in seeing more "Then & Now" pics of the Broads I can thoroughly recommend the new David Holmes book .... The Broads Through Time. Over 180 old and new comparison photographs with fascinating notes about each. His previous books of old photos and postcards of Broadland are sadly out of print but do crop up on Ebay every now and then and are also highly recommended. The current book retails at £12.99 but can be bought on Amazon for £8.44 at the moment ... although they are only showing 1 left in stock! I recieved a copy as a late Christmas pressie yesterday and it's already been well thumbed!! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Broads-Through-Time-David-Holmes/dp/1848686420/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IJE05HAJ4B37P&colid=2U2MNK4VGLZ3B Carol

Hi I stumbled across this website earlier whilst searching for something else and though it might be of interest to some. It's dedicated to the passenger steamer The Waterfly which operated in the Broads between 1894 and 1914. I've seen postcards and other photographs of it before, but didn't really know much about it's history..... until today! http://waterfly.greatyarmouthphotographic.co.uk/index.html Carol

I was going to suggest that it might have been down to the plague (black death) when many settlements around churches were abandoned and moved because villagers didn't want to be in the vicinity of the graveyards where the bodies were buried .... this happened in our village. However, having just read the history of Salhouse on the village website, it seems that this isn't thought to be the case! Re: Salhouse Hall - it seems that there are/were plans to redevelop it into housing. The Cator & Co website lists it amongst their projects: http://www.catorandco.com/cc/projects.htm Link to PDF of Broadland District Council notes on a planning meeting which took place in November 2007 which outlined the proposals: http://www.broadland.gov.uk/images/Salhouse_Hall_minutes_of_meeting.pdf You may have already found this, but the Norfolk Heritage Explorer has more information about the building itself: http://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MNF8498 Carol

Hi I haven't been able to do as many of this as I had hoped to this year, but recently added a few more to BM. I thought that you might be interested in this one though as it shows one of the more dramatic changes around Broadland. This is Lower Street in Horning pictured in the 1920s , looking up towards The Swan. The shop in the background on the right of the 1920s photo was (I believe) the Horning branch of Roys. It stood where the Bure River Cottage Restaurant now is. You can also see that the row of cottages in the foreground on the right have gone, replaced by modern shops and housing. On the left, the large building in the foreground (Maltings??) has gone ... although I do wonder whether the low wall we see today was actually part of that building, or at least built using reclaimed materials from it? Click on the picture to see a larger version. Carol

Hi I managed to finish putting together the history of Dragon and uploaded it to Broadland Memories this afternoon .... you can find it here: http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/page213.html There may be a little more information to add about her time under Mr Eves ownership in the late 1930s/40s - I will update the article as and when! Carol

Hi Jill I now have a pretty complete history for Dragon .... mainly from Mike Barnes at NBYCo, but with the missing pieces filled in over recent weeks. I've been away this week, but will start trying to get it all together next week and put it onto Broadland Memories as soon as possible! Carol

Hi Jill Yes, the original course of the Yare is that which runs alongside the green at Thorpe. The new cut was dug (and Thorpe Island created) when the railway was built (1840s) to allow easy passage for river traffic, avoiding the need to navigate under the two new low rail bridges. Carol

Hi Simon Yes, the course of the river Bure was changed and a new cut dug to bypass the loop which (as you say) can still be seen on Google maps as leading down to South Walsham. You can also see where it looped back round and emerged just below the entrance to the Ant. It was thought to have been done in the 16th century. If you can lay your hands on a copy of Robert Maltsters "The Norfolk & Suffolk Broads" book, he explains how many of the rivers have been altered over the years - both through natural procecesses but also by the hand of man! The course of the River Ant was changed by the Monks of St Benets - it used to run from east to West below Ludham Bridge and connected to the Thurne about a mile above Thurne Mouth. If you look again at the Google map below you can see it's old course (The Hundred Dyke) running across from a short distance below the Bridge, straight across to the Thurne (running parallel with Hall Common Road and emerging just above the large farm building on the Thurne at the end of Cold Harbour Road). http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=52.692486,1.531348&spn=0.02034,0.055661&z=15 If you now go back down to the abbey and zoom in on the gatehouse, you can clearly see the old causeway which used to run between the abbey and Horning ... you can follow it where it crosses the bottom of the Ant and then continues up into the village. Obviously, when the Ant was diverted, this causeway was cut off and it is believed that a bridge was built there to cross ( remains of timbers were supposedly still visible in the 19th century). Whilst the cut on the Bure was probably just a means to speed up navigation along that section, it is thought that the diversion of The Ant was done to reduce the amount of water flowing into the Thurne in an effort to prevent the flooding of Abbey property in the Potter Heigham and Martham area. The old Bure loop was still navagable by rowing boat in the late 19th century - one of the guide books from that time makes mention of the author making the trip around the loop and back out onto the Bure. It is obviously now not connected to the Bure by the entrance to the Ant, but it is somewhere that I would like to take a canoe to see just how far you can actually get around the old course of the river. The picture you were sent of the reconstruction is by Sue White and comes from the Norfolk Archeological Trusts guide book to St. Benets by Tim Pestel. It's still available to buy in Broadland shops and is another fascinating read. Carol

Hi Jack You may have already found this on a Google search - The Greater Manchester County Record Office have a collection of photos which were taken by someone on holiday on the Broads in the 1920s and amongst them is a photograph taken at Jack Robinsons yard. Scroll down the page on the link below to item no: 1670/71. If you contact them then they may allow you to have a copy. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=124-1670&cid=72#72 Also - have you tried contacting the Suffolk County Record Office as they are quite likely to have records and photographs relating to the Robinson yards. http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/LeisureAndCulture/LocalHistoryandHeritage/SuffolkRecordOffice/ Carol

Hi Jack What fabulous photos, both on here and on your Flikr pages .... thank you for sharing them! It's good to see someone taking the time to scan and preserve these wonderful, historic images. As regards the history of the Robinson yards - I have not had the chance to delve too deeply into the individual history of the Broadland boatyards yet .... too much general history to try and piece together and not enough spare time to be able to do it all in! I do have a few suggestions of contacts you can try which I will PM to you. Carol

Hi Terry Lady Cruisers were based at Stokesby and ran a hire fleet there until c1973 - the company then moved down to Oulton Broad/Lowestoft and concentrated on private builds and comission building for other hire yards until the 1980s. Map showing their position at Stokesby here: http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/documents/maps_info/maps74_swalsh_acle_stok.pdf Carol

I think that this is one of the films put together by the East Anglian Film Archive: http://www.archivefilmshop.co.uk/shop/product.php?pid=54 If it is, then it is a lovely film with some great old footage of Broadland .... must look wonderful on the big screen!

Hi Simon It's good to see you posting again and even better to hear that you are (hopefully) being signed off and allowed back to the UK! I just can't comprehend the trauma that you and your family have been through but I am sure that it will be a relief to everyone to have you back home again. Hope that you have a safe and comfortable trip tomorrow. Wishing you all the best Carol & Kev

It would be great ... but I don't think it is ever likely to happen! The idea of restoring the canal to open it up to river traffic has been mooted several times over the last 40 years or so ... along with the navigation to Bungay from Geldeston. It's just not economically viable to do though. The canal trust are doing great works to try and clear debris, trees and general undergrowth etc. and it would be great if it was at least accessible to those in canoes or rowing boats (if they can get the permission of land owners to allow quiet recreational use that is!). The canal has been de-watered for a section above Bacton Wood though. I created a Google map last year which traces the canal from Wayford Bridge right up to Antingham ..... if you view it in sattelite and then zoom in to follow the course, you can see the outline of the original channel and it is amazing just how wide it used to be!! You can also see the section which has no water in it .... I left a gap there. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=106169224726842169133.000450550db8bc8a9a4db&ll=52.802554,1.442986&spn=0.15484,0.285988&z=12 Carol

For anyone interested in the history of the North Walsham & Dilham Canal, there are a few pages relating to it's history, the current Canal Trust and the working parties who are helping to clear and maintain what remains of the canal, on the East Anglian Waterways Association website. The link below takes you to the NW&D Canal "Then & Now" page which has some fabulous old photos on it along with the history of that stretch of waterway. http://www.eawa.co.uk/walsham-2.html Carol

Hi Another website to add to the list! This is for the Brundall Local History Group and there are some wonderful old pictures within the galleries on their site. I have just bought a copy of the book for a friend and it looks fascinating. http://www.brundallarchive.co.uk/index.html Carol

Best wishes from us too ..... that sounds awful! Hope that you get home soon! Carol & Kev

Barry you are quite right ... the lady is Mrs Joan Findlay and the article made mention of the fact that, even after retirement, she was hoping to keep her hand in by helping out her son at the Fishermans Return .... well spotted! Howard, I think that is the last of the pub pictures I have ... but I will check!

Hi I wonder if the anyone on here might be able to identify the following two cruisers as I haven't been able too .... well at least the yards that built them anyway! They were both owned by the family that my grandparents used to go boating with and the pictures date from c1950. Apologies for the poor quality but they were still taken from my grandfathers cine film. I don't know whether they were ever used in the hire fleets or not. The first has the reg number B 547 (taken at St. Olaves) and the second was B 758. Carol

I had it marked as 1985/86 ... according to the Norfolk Pubs website, however, it became the Riverside Inn in 1985 .... but I'll give it to you! Norfolk Pubs entry for The Hermitage: http://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolka/acle/aclehe.htm Carol

You're going the wrong way Howard .....

Hi Jonny Like Howard, you are close .... but it's not 1983 ....

Your stab is not far off .... but it's not right ... sorry!