Voices Of The Broads Recordings

BroadsAuthority · February 24, 2020

Hi all,

I thought this may be of interest to some of you.

We have recently uploaded a set of eight voice recordings kindly donated to us by David Cleveland (ex-Director of the East Anglian Film Archive) to our YouTube channel. They include chats and ramblings from some key local people involved with the Broads over the years, including wherrymen, eel catchers, Ted Ellis and Joyce Lambert to name just a few.

The playlist can be found below if you wanted to take a look (please bear in mind that voice recording technology seems to have come a long way since these were made!)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrkwmQ8uE07Xu7FKs2ppFNbi0G_GdhQRG

Tom

Vaughan · February 24, 2020

That is marvellous. Thank you very much for posting it here.

Lovely to listen to old Jimmy Biggs who was obviously from Clifford Allen's yard in Coltishall. He talks of men walking down a plank into a wherry's hold with 16 stone of grain sacks on their back. That's over 200 lbs!

He confirms that sails were dressed with tar and fish oil in Yarmouth - down on the South Denes - but also confirms that not all of them were black sails. He also confirms that drawn plans of the Wherry Gleaner were taken after she was built. These were the only line drawings ever taken of a Norfolk wherry, as they had all been built by eye. The Gleaner was not quite the last wherry ever built but she was the last one built by Clifford Allen. He talks of Jack Gedge and I knew another of the family, Jimmy Gedge, who helped Mike Fuller steam a new cabin side into the Albion, on my yard at Womack.

I am afraid I rather glossed over what Nat Bircham had to say as I have heard him in the past.

Ted Ellis I well remember. He became good friends with my father and also of PW's father. I don't think you would ever meet a man who knew the "real" Norfolk Broads better than he did.

And the lovely stories of Arthur Waters. He talks of sailing a wherry from Ebridge, leaving at 0600. That's Ebridge mills in North Walsham, at the top of the Dilham canal! So he got down the locks into the main river and still made Yarmouth by 4 o'clock that afternoon. Imagine that!

And when he got to Yarmouth, the harbour master asks to see the skipper.

"Well, I reckon that's me".

"Int yew a bit young for that?"

"Yis, but the doctor tell me I shall git over it."

Classic Norfolk humour!

JennyMorgan · February 24, 2020

30 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

Ted Ellis I well remember. He became good friends with my father and also of PW's father.

Dad, Ted, myself and Harry Last, landlord at Coldham Hall, were sat sunning ourselves near the front door of the public bar. Harry was performing one of his party pieces, wetting a regular's whistle with a tray of best Bullard's ullage, having just tapped a few barrels after the previous night's lock-in. Dad & I had been helping him bottle up, having previously done our bit to empty the shelves. The regular, by the way, was a swan! Said swan was clearly enjoying his tipple, to which were added a gin or two. Wasn't long before the swan was lurching a bit, Ted, in his role as a responsible conservationist, commented that he didn't consider it good practice! Wasn't long before he was laughing as much as the rest of us! The swan's flippers slapping on the stone floor, its neck extended and its head low to floor, swaying side to side like a metal detector. Ted, bless him, had dropped in for his usual, quiet Sunday pre opening morning pint, only on that occasion, more than fifty years ago now, it wasn't particularly quiet! Ted was a wonderful man, good memories. Thanks for the reminder.