Old Beccles

[AdnamsGirl]

I uploaded a couple of "new" old photos of Beccles today which I thought some might be interested in.

 

This first image dates to around 1910 and shows and old boatshed, cottages and the River Waveney beyond. I'm looking at possible candidates for some new "Then & Now's" and think this must have been off Northgate. I certainly recognise the boatshed from old photos of the riverside taken from the rail bridge at Beccles but whether I'll be able to track down the exact location, and whether it will be accessible to take a modern comparison shot is another matter. A lovely, idyllic Broadland scene though.

 

Riverside boatshed, Beccles c1910 by AdnamsGirl, on Flickr

 

 

Another image from the same c1910 series. This is Stepping Hill which links Puddingmoor to Ballygate. I think that these old cottages have gone, replaced by modern housing, but will check them out when I next get to Beccles.

 

Stepping Hill, Beccles c1910 by AdnamsGirl, on Flickr

 

This is one which I uploaded a while ago and it's a rare image of the original three arched, stone bridge c1870s.  It was demolished in 1880 and the new, cast iron road bridge erected in 1881. You can see the old rail bridge in the background too.

 

The original Beccles Bridge c1870s by AdnamsGirl, on Flickr

 

 

 

Want some more?

 

 

Carol

[VetChugger]

Of course we do Carol. Keep them coming. Have you any of the old "Loaves and Fishes" ? Tragic that an imbibing establishment so convenient to the moorings disappears!

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Carol,

 

Thank you again for sharing these pictures with us and please keep them coming.

 

If you have any of the before and now pictures it would be apreciated.

 

Regards

Alan

[NorfolkNog]

Fascinatng stuff as always Carol, please keep 'em coming!

Do you have any more of the old railway? I assume that it carried on over the bridge which you can still see at Geldeston?

[AdnamsGirl]

Hi Trevor - Strangely, no! I'm not sure I have ever come across a photo of the Loaves & Fishes. Pub photos are often a bit thin on the ground - I guess people are too eager to get to the bar for a beer!

 

Hi Alan - I have uploaded some of the Then & Now's I've done, including a few Beccles ones, to this thread:

I will link to a few more on there and will hopefully have some new ones to add soon!

 

 

Hi Howard - I don't really have much in the way of images of the railway other than more of the bridge crossing the Waveney there. Yes, it was part of the Beccles to Tivetshall line which did cross that bridge at Geldeston.

 

There is an interesting Flickr group/set which has some old images of the railway and "now" pics of the line and associated buildings too:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjwYAwYF

 

 

Carol

[ranworthbreeze]

Thanks Carol.

 

Regards

Alan

[NorfolkNog]

Hi Carol

 

Many thanks for the Flickr link - some fascinating photos there.

 

Trevor - this is a photo of yours truly outside the Loaves and Fishes - probably in the late 70's. It was something of an oasis as not many pubs on the Broads sold real ale back then.

[AdnamsGirl]

If anyone would have a photo of a particular pub then I knew it would be Howard!

 

 

This is an interesting photo which dates from around 1907 and was taken from the church tower in Beccles. It shows the view across the town and looking downstream on the River Waveney. That's the rail bridge you can see with the old road bridge in the background.

 

Aerial view of Beccles c1907 by AdnamsGirl, on Flickr

 

 

And this is the view from the old bridge looking upstream towards the rail bridge. It all looks a little different now.

 

The River Waveney at Beccles c1910 by AdnamsGirl, on Flickr

 

 

Trading wherries on the River Waveney at Fisher Row near Beccles c1910

 

Trading wherries, Fisher Row, Beccles c1910 by AdnamsGirl, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Carol

[LizG]

I found another book this afternoon...........Country Railway Routes ~ Tivetshall to Beccles by Richard Adderson and Graham Kenworthy. The credit is on the picture.

 

What is doesn't mention is that there appears to be a seriously sunk boat on the right side of the image

 

Liz

[LizG]

Should also add that I do remember seeing a train on the line going through the gap in the houses at Beccles and then as we chugged up to Geldeston - it could be seen going across the marshes. For a long time I thought it was actually a dream but then my brother produced some photos.

[JennyMorgan]

Carol, great stuff, thanks.

By the way, Fisher Row is actually just outside Oulton Broad, Oulton Dyke and accessible by footpath along the Queens Highway from Camps Heath, not exactly that near Beccles! Between Oulton Broad and the Dutch Tea Gardens.

[JennyMorgan]

Carol, this link might help:

http://awalkaroundoulton.weebly.com/walk-3.html

[AdnamsGirl]

Thanks Peter. I wonder where the hell I got it as being near Beccles from then!

 

Great to see some photos of the Dutch Tea Gardens in that link.

 

 

 

Carol

[Paul]

keep them coming Carol excellent stuff. The bottom of Stepping Hill is very different now. The cottages were demolished around 1988 I think in place of a brick and flint house. The only buildings that remain from that photo are the row in the very background which are the houses opposite the top of the steps on Ballygate.

[LizG]

Have a look on Google Streetview for the Stepping Hill vista! You can just see the houses at the top of the hill are the same as in the original photo

[AdnamsGirl]

Thanks Paul & Liz

 

 

Seems shocking that they were demolishing cottages like that as late as the 1980s. I have checked it out in Street View and will hopefully be over there with my camera in a couple of weeks to get some "now" shots. Street View is a brilliant tool when trying to find locations in old postcards! It saves me wandering backwards and forwards aimlessly when I go to try and do my Then & Now's.

 

The first postcard of the boatsehd, I now think may be The Score which runs down to the river from the southern end of Northgate, just off the Old Marketplace. I will find out in a couple of weeks!

 

 

Carol

[Hockham Admiral]

Hi Carol

 

Many thanks for the Flickr link - some fascinating photos there.

 

Trevor - this is a photo of yours truly outside the Loaves and Fishes - probably in the late 70's. It was something of an oasis as not many pubs on the Broads sold real ale back then.

 

I didn't recognise you, Howard!  

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Some really stunning pictures folks, and i did`nt realise the old railway bridge in Beccles was demolished as late as 66. I thought it was earlier. I also did`nt realise it was that close to the old road bridge, as there seems precious little to remind you there was ever a railway and bridge there. When we`re on Lightning next month, if we venture up through Beccles, i`l have a careful look to see what`s there.

[JennyMorgan]

Speed Triple, the base on which the bridge swung is still there.

[JennyMorgan]

Speed Triple, the base on which the bridge swung is still there.

Here's one:

T'other is opposite the above.

[VetChugger]

Thanks for that one Howard, Yes, it was a very pleasant watering hole although not to everyones taste!

[BroadScot]

Hi Carol

 

Many thanks for the Flickr link - some fascinating photos there.

 

Trevor - this is a photo of yours truly outside the Loaves and Fishes - probably in the late 70's. It was something of an oasis as not many pubs on the Broads sold real ale back then.

NN there were a few Jazz Jam sessions in that pub in the early 80's... First place I sampled Abbott Ale......oh my head!

 

 

Iain

[deebee29]

These are great

I really love to see how places I know used to look in days gone by

Thanks

David

[JennyMorgan]

This one, apart from showing a wherry, has in it a boat that I feel certain that I knew as the Oliviere. A very sea-worthy hull, apparently off a well known liner of the time, a beach boat rather than a lifeboat perhaps? Anyway, I have a later post card of Beccles showing Oliviere under sail and with a lid on, a sailing houseboat. She eventually came onto Oulton Broad and was moored up in the North Bay for many years where she was a live-aboard houseboat belonging to a Mr & Mrs Dunbar. I don't that she sunk but she was eventually hauled up onto the bank following the 1953 floods and cut up, her bow being stood up on end and becoming a shed, it can still be seen to this day, if you know where to look.

 

[JennyMorgan]

This time it's Northgate Street, 1912.