It was good to see the Ferry Inn at Horning reopening this summer, having spent the previous 18 months boarded up and closed – I haven’t had the chance to pop in and check the place out yet, but wish the new proprietors all the best with it. The Ferry Inn has had an eventful history, and this week a lone photo dropped into my inbox which captured the drama of one sad day in 1965. Don Brown, who emailed the photograph to me said:
Horning Ferry Inn fire 1965
“In 1965 four mathematics students from Aston University shared a cruiser on the Broads after exams. We happened upon the Ferry Inn, Horning with its thatched roof ablaze and (before Elfinsafety) we helped remove furniture from the pub until the fire service arrived. Hot thirsty work, but we had to go elsewhere for that drink!” The photograph was taken by one of the other crew members, Pete Clark – my thanks to Don and Pete for allowing me to post it on here.
The Ferry Inn had already been rebuilt in the 1950s after sustaining major damage from a Luftwaffe bombing raid during World War 2. A full account of the events of the night of the 26th April 1941 can be found in the book “A Norfolk village in wartime” which was written by Charles Carrodus c1950. Sadly now long out of print, copies do occasionally turn up on a well known internet auction site!
The bombing started at 9.45pm that evening and it is said that a total of 15 bombs were dropped by a lone German aircraft – most landed in the surrounding marshes but one struck the pontoon ferry and one hit the pub itself. There were 24 people in the bar at the time and tragically, only three survived. Amongst those killed were six personal from RAF Coltishall. The proprietor of the inn, Albert Stringer, was one of those rescued from the rubble. Another survivor, a Miss Leighton, apparently managed to scramble out and flagged down a passing motorist who was dispatched to summon help from the local ARP office.
Horning Ferry Inn bomb damage 1941
Because of the buildings remoteness, most Horning residents knew nothing of the nights tragic events until the following morning when the milk and post rounds began and the news spread. Charles Carrodus wrote: “On the Sunday, Lord Haw-Haw gloated on the wireless over this triumph for the German war machine, and gleefully announced that an establishment on the Broads for building warships had been successfully raided from the air.”
Whilst it was true that warships were being built in Horning, the Ferry Inn was the only building which sustained a direct hit that night. I have read two possible theories for why the pub was targeted – Charles Carrodus wrote that the local belief at the time was that the lights from a car arriving at the inn had illuminated the white wall of the building, thus giving the pilot something to aim for. I have also read that the surrounding marshes were possibly the site of a decoy airfield which was designed to draw enemy fire away from the nearby airbases, small fires were lit on these to simulate landing strips and it is thought that this may have actually attracted the pilot in the first place.
Finally, Charles Carrodus also made mention of the fact that, with true British pluck, Mr Stringer (the proprietor) made temporary repairs to what remained of the house and opened a makeshift bar just three weeks later.
