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1900 to 1950 - An Historic Overview

Despite the rise in production of motor cruisers, sailing holidays reached their peak in the 1930s with a wide selection of boats for hire priced to suit many pockets. Percy Hunter had been the manager at George Applegates yard in Potter Heigham, his sons were both boatbuilders too. By 1931 he felt that they had enough experience to set up their own boat yard and began searching for a suitable site on the Northern rivers. He was, however, short on funds and felt that the only way he could start his own business would be to buy a piece of land and build the yard from scratch. In February 1932 he purchased a piece of farm land adjoining the river at the end of Horsefen Road in Ludham overlooking Womack Water. Working to a tight schedule, the connecting dyke was dug out by hand, a temporary boatshed was erected and the first 2 sailing cruisers, “Lustre” and “Lullaby”, were built in that first year. For the building of his third boat “Woodruff”, Percy commissioned the services of Alfred Pegg at Wroxham. The first proper boatshed was constructed in 1933 and the second was built in 1935. Over the next few years, the Hunters built up their fleet of sailing cruisers and half deckers, hiring them out through Harry Blakes agency. This beautiful fleet of boats, distinctive with their varnished mahogany finish, survive today as the Norfolk Heritage Fleet still operating from their original base at Womack.

Oulton Broad was still a renowned and popular sailing centre on the Southern Broads in the mid 1930s, but another form of racing was also drawing in the spectators. The Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club was formed in 1933 although motor boat racing had actually started there as early as 1905 when the very first race was won by a Mr F. Shephard in his 19ft launch “Betty” powered by a 20hp engine made by Lowestoft firm J.W. Brooke. Offshore racing continued up until the outbreak of the First World War and did not resume until 1929. With the forming of the Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club, racing returned to the Broad itself in 1936 where it has been held ever since.

The holiday boom had now well and truly arrived as is evident from reading some of the holiday guides to Broadland from that time. The motor car was now bringing more people to the region and caravans were starting to become popular. In the late 1930s many riverside pubs, boatyards and farms had camping and caravanning sites, and it seemed that outdoor, sporting pursuits were the order of the day. Sutton Staithe hotel advertised boating, fishing, shooting, tennis, bowls and a putting green to clients and were just one of many to offer such recreational activities to holidaymakers. Businesses were diversifying in many other ways too in an effort to compete to take the tourists shilling. Dancing was another pastime which had grown at an astonishing rate. Many villages had buildings where regular dances were held during the summer season, often several times a week. The 1937 edition of “What To Do On The Norfolk Broads” contained many advertisements for these events alongside the adverts for tearooms, B&Bs and stores that were catering for visitors. At Potter Heigham, Gerrards Bridge Stores held “jolly dances” in the assembly rooms adjoining the café restaurant. They also had riverside bungalows to let from 3 – 10 guineas a week and yachts to hire At Ranworth dancing was held in the village during the summer season, visitors were asked to check the notice board on the quay for announcements of days and times, the Swan Inn at Horning also held regular dances too and provided hot baths for a shilling.

Of Horning, the guide also says that it was “growing rapidly, having become most popular as a location of summer houses” and mentions that the Ferry View Estate was currently being developed as a site for holiday bungalows. Of these the author notes that “no corrugate iron roofs will be allowed and this rule is something to be thankful for”. An article on bungalow development in the same guide clearly shows the amount of building that was going on around Broadland at this time. “The bungalow is fast becoming a rival to the cabin cruiser in popularity. With quickened means of transportation people find the Broadlands not too far away for week-ends”. Large scale construction was happening at Horning and Wroxham but the guide also lists sites at Brundall, the Upper Ant, Womack Water, Ludham, above Potter Heigham Bridge, Thurne village, St. Olaves, Oulton Broad and Beccles amongst other places.

For those visitors staying on land there were plenty of opportunities to see the Broads via the rivers. Many more passenger cruisers were now operating day and evening trips, some of these were often part of a package arranged with local bus and railway companies. Broads Tours at Wroxham ran boats seating up to 125 people as well as self drive day launches and attended launches for smaller parties. Some of the large tour boats were operated in connection with the L.N.E.R. trains and buses, bringing in parties of holidaymakers who were staying at the seaside resorts. The site at wroxham had parking spaces for up to 1000 cars and also riverside tearooms and gardens whilst fares for their river tours were between two and five shillings. The Yarmouth and Gorleston Steamboat Company were running trips on their large steamers to all parts of Broadland and even had a new diesel engined vessel, capable of carrying up to 180 passengers, which had been added to the fleet in 1937. A feature of this service was that the outward trip, upon leaving North Quay in Great Yarmouth, took passengers along the River Bure to Wroxham Broad and village where a train or bus would then take them on to Norwich, the return trip to Yarmouth being made along the Yare.  Another interesting method of seeing the area was provided by the Norwich Municipal Airport who offered pleasure flights over the Broads for 10 shillings.

In 1938, another natural disaster caused destruction in parts of Broadland as, on February 12th, severe North Westerly gales caused high waves to batter the East coast destroying over 500 yards of sand dunes along the beach at Horsey. The sea water surged through this gap flooding 7,500 acres of low lying land, many cattle were drowned and farmland was destroyed, villages such as Horsey, Somerton and Hickling were left standing like islands in its wake. The resulting salt water surge along the rivers Thurne and Bure also led to the loss of thousands of the fresh water fish. The land took four months to drain but it was a further 5 years until the land could be farmed again.

In his 1939 brochure, Harry Blake proudly claimed that 100,000 copies had been printed as the boat hire industry continued to boom. As the season progressed though, the threat of war in Europe was looming and on September 3rd the announcement was made that war had indeed been declared. Blake none the less went ahead and had the 1940 edition printed but in June of that year holidaying on The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads came to a standstill as the entire system was taken over by the military and declared a no-go area. The threat of a possible German invasion led to the whole of Britain being turned into a fortress and the Broads were felt to be a major weak point that needed defending. Private and hire boats were requisitioned to form blockades on open stretches of rivers and broads to prevent enemy sea planes landing, or were sunk to prevent access to certain areas. Many of the old trading wherries sadly met their fate in this way. The boatyards now found themselves helping the war effort, many by building military vessels. This is a fascinating part of Broadlands history and a more detailed account of The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads during the Second World War is planned which will follow at a later date.

By 1943 the threat of invasion began to fade, restrictions were lifted and people were once again allowed to visit the Broads. The hire fleets, having been left moored out on the waterways were in no position to begin operating again as much refurbishment was needed, some boats had even sunk. In 1944 a new name entered Broadland history when he began hiring boats at Oulton Broad. William Ballantyne (or Wally) Hoseason had taken up the position of harbour master at Oulton for the Lowestoft Corporation in the early 1930s. In the summer of 1944 he began to arrange boat hire on behalf of owners by letting out moored cruisers as houseboats to families who had been evacuated from London.

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