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Designed & Maintained By Carol Gingell

More of John Payne Jennings photographs

This view of Horning shows the original Swan Inn and the flour mill which once stood on the corner.

The Ferry Inn at Horning. Suffling told us; “This hostelry divides with ‘The Wherry’ Inn, at Oulton, the honour of being the most popular in the Broads. Thousands of yachts pass Horning every season and many of them moor and refresh their crews here. It is a well-known fishing resort and is a stopping place for the little pleasure steamers which run between Wroxham and Yarmouth and vice versa during the season. A glance at its visitors’ book will show that many notable persons have used this inn as their rendezvous, the Marquis of Lorne, Lord Suffield and Mark Twain among others.” George Christopher Davies described the Ferry Inn as being; a very comfortable one, with a nice sitting room and garden in front, and is a capital place to make one’s base.”

Of Ranworth, Suffling said; “Is a pretty, rustic village, with nothing whatever of the modern about it, either in architecture, aspect or manners. All are rural, quaint, quiet and decorous.”

Express Wherry leaving Acle Bridge. Suffling’s accompanying notes stated that; “With a fair wind she is about to traverse the 12 miles of river which lie between Acle Bridge and Yarmouth. For flat marshland, with its hundreds of cows, it would be difficult to match this dozen miles of water-way in all England; for its companion picture one must cross the North Sea to Holland, where its counterpart may be seen in very many places.” The Bridge Inn on the right was known as The Angel at this time and was a popular stopping point for both wherryman and holidaymakers alike. The licensee in the 1880s was Edward Rose who was also listed on the 1881 census as being a coal merchant. In his Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk, George Christopher Davies said that the Angel was “kept by Mr Rose, who well understands and can supply the needs of yachting men and anglers. There is staying accommodation at the inn, a wagonnette to meet the trains, fishing boats to let, and every attention from the host.”

Two trading wherries approach one another on the River Ant. Suffling told us; “The Ant is a tortuous stream having its source at the Antingham Ponds, and after a course of some 18 miles, empties its waters into the River Bure, near St. Benet’s Abbey. It is in places so narrow that when two wherries meet there is nothing to spare, so that care has to be taken to prevent any mishap to sails or gear.”

Loading rushes at Barton Turf staithe. Suffling gave us this insight into Broadland life; “The Broads have a harvest of their own, just as the adjacent fields have, but in place of wheat, barley, oats, etc., reed, rushes, gladden, boulders, flags and marsh-grass are gathered in, affording the marshmen plenty of work during the late winter and early spring. In the season these men are also engaged in hay-harvest, known as ‘Haysel,’ and later, in the corn harvest; so that, as a rule, their earnings total up more than that of an ordinary farm labourer or ‘teamerman.”

Gay’s Staithe at Neatishead. The 1881 census listed the occupier of the staithe cottage as John Gay who was born in 1828 and was listed as being a wherryman. I’m not sure how far back the name Gay’s Staithe goes, but it was presumably named after John or one of his ancestors.

Irstead Staithe. Suffling’s text which accompanied this image stated;“The small church of Irstead, dedicated to St. Michael, is in the Decorated style and is noticeable from the fact that William of Wykham was rector here in 1347. From Irstead he went to Winchester of which city he was Bishop from 1366 till his death in 1404. He founded Winchester College in 1378 and New College, Oxford, in 1380.”

Wroxham Regatta pictured in the late 1880s.

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