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Designed & Maintained By Carol Gingell

1900 to 1950 - An Historic Overview

At the turn of the 20th century Broadland was beginning to capitalise on the increasing numbers of holidaymakers who were flocking to the area. The coastal resorts were developing at a rapid pace but Broadland too was experiencing many changes. The numbers of boat builders and owners who had begun hiring had been steadily increasing and the first hire boat agencies had started. The villages were also growing to accommodate and service the visitors and boatyards were competing to build craft that would accommodate the needs and comforts of their clients. It was still the rural tranquillity which attracted visitors to the Broads and, for some gentlemen, the challenge that sailing offered. In 1903 William A. Dutt described Coltishall as “one of the most picturesque waterside villages in the district”. Its amenities included an hotel, five public houses, a cottage hospital and a railway station along with an array of shops. In 1904 Roys opened their now world famous Hoveton branch of the store and by 1908 had opened a further two branches in Horning and Potter Heigham.  Other riverside stores were making morning deliveries of fresh milk, water and other groceries directly to the boats moored nearby.

Yacht racing had, by this time, become a very popular and highly competitive business attracting large prize money and heavy wagering amongst the owners. By 1902 the Waveney Sailing Club, which was established at Oulton Broad in 1895, had over 200 members and regattas were being held at all the major Broadland villages. Wealthy owners strived to have the sleekest and fastest yachts built, employing professional crews to race the boats for them. The lateener and cutter yachts were still in evidence but many fine, large racing yachts were built during the Edwardian period. Smaller, open racing dinghies were also now starting to be developed, some of which continue to be raced at regattas today. Broads One Designs, known as “brown boats”, made their debut at Oulton Broad on Whit Monday in 1901. In 1908 Ernest Woods built the first of his Yare and Bure One Designs at Cantley for the Yare and Bure Sailing Club. He went on to build over 60 of these “white boats” before his retirement in 1963. His brother Walter was the official builder of the Yarmouth One Design class of lug-sailed half deckers made for the Great Yarmouth Yacht Club.

As pleasure wherries and yachts continued to be built in ever increasing numbers, the amount of steam launches and passenger cruisers on the waterways was also growing, with day trips on the larger vessels costing just a few shillings. The cost of hiring a yacht or wherry was, however, still prohibitively expensive for most holidaymakers although smaller half deckers equipped with camping awnings and mattresses were a slightly cheaper option for some. The summer holiday season was somewhat shorter than that of today covering just a six to eight week period, but one man was determined to try and extend this.

Harry Blakes 1909 brochure also contained notes on how a cruising holiday was conducted at that time. Clients were told to ensure that they had plentiful supplies of tobacco, cigarettes and cigars as one may not find fresh supplies of their usual brands readily available in the villages. Where attendants were provided with the boat there was also a choice as to the arrangements made for their board. You would either provide food for them, prepared for the party by the steward, or pay them an extra allowance to cater for themselves.  The hiring party were recommended to take on board the vast sailing knowledge and experience of the crews as they would ensure that your cruise took you to “the most interesting and picturesque parts of the Broads”. He also made mention of the holiday bungalows that were now beginning to appear along the riverside and recommended Messrs. Boulton and Paul Ltd to clients who wished to rent a piece of land and have a similar bungalow built.

Harry Blake discovered the Norfolk Broads in 1906 when, along with friends from his South London hometown, he took a holiday on the wherry yacht “Olive”. He approached the owner, Ernest Collins, at the end of the trip and offered to act as an agent for him, promising to increase the number of weeks over which his boats were let. He duly began booking out the boats in 1907 and in 1908 produced his first “Yachting List”. At this stage he was acting as an agent for just this one yard but by the following year his list covered thirteen boatyards and offered 43 cabin sailing yachts for hire. The holiday season had indeed been extended and now ran from May to September.

Amongst his 1909 list of pleasure wherries and yachts available was the auxiliary wherry yacht “Rambler” owned by W.S. Porter of Oulton Broad. For the 1909 season she had been newly fitted with a 14 hp 3 cylinder motor made by J.W. Brooke of Lowestoft, one of the first hire boats on the broads to be equipped with an engine. There were many experiments for the internal combustion engine being done on boats around this time. Some of the earliest examples were made with large, converted lifeboats such as “The John Birch” which had seen service at Great Yarmouth and became the motor cruiser “Crescent”.  These early marine engines were, however, very unreliable and difficult to use. To start the engine you had to pour a small amount of spirit into brass cups placed directly above each cylinder head, small taps beneath were then opened to allow the spirit to run directly onto the pistons, closed off again, then the large starting handle had to be turned vigorously the get the motor to run. Injuries, such as a broken wrist or arm, were often sustained if the starting handle was not being held correctly.

Blakes introduction to the yachting list also gave an insight into what delights the Norfolk Broads had to offer visitors.  “All lovers of nature will be greatly impressed the moment they find themselves on this wonderful lakeland, for one feels the glamour of it stealing over you”. Although Norwich and Great Yarmouth provided opportunities for amusement and entertainment, little else was available in the villages at this time but some attractions were now beginning to appear. In 1910 visitors were urged to take a trip on the Waveney to visit Frank Rice’s Zoological Gardens at Burgh St. Peter to see the latest addition of “a sacred white camel”.  In his 1912 list, Blake told potential holidaymakers that “a visit to the local inn, where refreshments of every description are served, must not be missed, for many a good yarn may be heard spun by veteran wherry and yacht skippers, who know little of other life besides that of cruising up and down the Broads district, summer and winter”. One would imagine that the locals were more than happy to spin “yarns” for the tourists in return for a few beers!

By 1912 the number of yards that Blake was representing had increased to 20 and the letting season had extended into April. The average cost per head for a two week holiday including boat hire and expenditure on food and sundries, based on a party of six, was estimated to be £5 10s 6d per person for the whole fortnight. The wherry yacht “Olive” which slept up to ten persons could be hired for a week, along with two attendants, for £11 early or late in the season and £14 4s during August. The 38ft “Blue Diamond” which could be hired from Wroxham and came with one attendant, would cost between £7-£8, and the 28ft 4 berth yacht “Frolic” was advertised as having “one sail only, to enable gentlemen to manage themselves” and cost between £3 and £4 10s for a weeks hire depending on the season. Half deckers with camping awnings were available from just 25 shillings a week.

There were also seven pages of motor cruisers and launches listed at the back of the 1912 list. “Christina” was a 27’6” 4 berth cruiser which cost £7 7s per week to hire during August. The day launches “Sunflower” and “Amy” could be hired for picnic parties, complete with a skipper and inclusive of fuel, for between £1 10s and £2 2s per day. Evidence that motors were really beginning to make their presence felt in the pleasure boating world was to be found in the adverts for Boulton and Paul marine engines and also “Motorboat and Marine Oil and Gas Engine” magazine which was published weekly at a cost of 1d.

The Broadland landscape was ever changing, the first Breydon swing bridge, part of the rail network, had opened in 1903 and in 1912 one of the most contentious Broadland landmarks arrived at Cantley. The sugar beet factory was built by the Anglo-Netherlands Sugar Corporation who were, at that time, one of the largest landowners in the area.  Production was shortlived as the factory was closed down after the outbreak of the First World War, however, the machinery was maintained throughout its closure and production finally resumed in 1920. 1912 also saw two other major events worth mentioning. The railways had taken a good deal of the transportation of goods and supplies away from the waterways but trade was still continuing. The old trading boats were being superseded by steam tugs and the last Norfolk wherry “Ella” was built in this year.

In 1913, with the threat of war looming, the admiralty proposed to take over Hickling broad as a reserve base for flying boats. Contractors built a concrete slipway which is still in evidence today but the planned base did not happen. The broad was taken over under the defence of the realm act in 1918 but even then was only used for a couple of emergency landings and, once the armistice came, Hickling returned to normal. The outbreak of war did little to affect the boat hire industry on the Broads. Many young men from Norfolk and Suffolk were of course called up to fight in the trenches but holidaymakers still visited Broadland throughout the period. Harry Blake continued to produce his annual lists of boats available for hire and, in 1916, formed the Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Owners Association which was to represent the many boatbuilders for whom he was acting as an agent.

In August Broadland was dramatically transformed when eight inches of rain fell over the region in under 24 hours causing the most devastating floods to be witnessed since 1878. Although the occasional flooding of rivers was to be expected, the amount of rainfall and the accompanying gales caused massive destruction all over the system. When the lock at Buxton collapsed it caused a surge of water which also destroyed the road bridge at Coltishall. Norwich and Oulton Broad also suffered major damage in the Great Flood of 1912.

Whilst the war did little to diminish the boat hire industry, yacht racing came to a virtual standstill in 1914 when most of the paid crew that the owners relied upon were called up. It was slow to recover after this period but the first Wroxham regatta to be held after the war took place in 1919. The large, fast racing yachts that had dominated the racing scene in the Victorian and Edwardian era were now felt to be too expensive to build and maintain, smaller dinghies and sailing cruisers were increasingly becoming the more popular choice. Yacht racing had now become a strictly amateur affair and, over the next decade, small sailing boat ownership was to increase amongst people from all walks of life, reaching its peak in the 1930’s.

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