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The report also put forward plans to create a “new cut” to link the Northern and Southern rivers to provide a more circular route for visitors. The proposed route would run from Tunstall on the River Bure over a route of about 5 miles to join up with the River Yare near Reedham, dug out to a depth of 6 feet and approximately 60 feet wide at the top and 30 feet at the bottom. The estimated costs for this were £552,000 including excavation, piling, four small road bridges, two railway bridges and one major road bridge. The costs of purchasing the land were not included in this estimate.

The re-instatement of these sections of the waterways and the new cut did not happen but have been discussed many times since.  The proposals to regulate the number of hire craft were also ignored and the numbers continued to increase over the next decade as the demand for boating holidays grew. New 5 and 7mph speed limits were, however, introduced at this time.

The Broadland pubs had long been chain owned by the breweries and in the 1960s groups such as Anglia Taverns and Watney Mann had several premises in their chain. The Norfolk Broads today is renowned by lovers of real ale who regularly enjoy the delights of Woodfordes and Adnams brews in the village pubs. In the mid 1960s the beer of the day was Watneys Red Barrel, today regarded with distain by ale drinkers but back then it was promoted as a premium product. Red Barrel was actually the first ever keg beer to be produced in the UK and dates back to the 1930s although the breweries did not start heavily promoting keg beer until the late 1950s. In the mid 1960s large advertisements could be seen in the guide books of the day showing a map of Norfolk and Suffolk with the title “This Is Red Barrel Country” along with the claim that “Wherever you are on the Broads you’re never far from a cool refreshing glass of Watneys Red Barrel”. Those who took their holidays with groups of friends and family on the Broads in the 60s and 70s will also remember the other famous Watneys products of the time, the large Party Four and Party Seven take-home tins of beer. The appearance of one Broadland pub changed dramatically in 1965 when The Ferry Inn at Horning was destroyed by a fire. The pub had already been rebuilt once, in 1956 following damage sustained in a bombing raid during World War 2, but after the fire in 1965 it was re-constructed with a tiled roof instead of the traditional thatch.  

As the 1960s progressed the two main hire agencies, Blakes and Hoseasons, continued to compete for the custom of the holiday maker. Whilst Blakes fleet remained the largest it still ran many older boats and Hoseasons were still claiming to have the most modern hire fleet on the Broads. In their 1966 brochure Hoseasons told us that 6 out of 10 craft had been built in the last 5 years with 90% being less than 11 years old. Special public screenings of “The Magic Of Broadland On Film” were advertised at London and Manchester in January and special “Discovery Cruises” taken between 16th April and the 14th May offered almost half price boating holidays.  The “Rain Free Guarantee” had been withdrawn in the previous year.

The numbers of fibreglass boats appearing was gradually increasing. Most closely followed the classic Broads cruiser styling, but one brand new boat for this season looked unlike anything which had come before and was to revolutionise the hire boat industry not only on the Broads, but throughout the UK and Europe. F.B.Wilds “Caribbean” was advertised as being “the very latest Broads safety motor cruiser of outstanding ultra-modern design”. This 6 berth, fibreglass cruiser was 39 feet in length and was the first to have a beam of 12 feet, had a single floor level throughout and “blown air” central heating. The cost of hire was £37 10s in low season rising to £76 at peak times. The design proved very popular and, to meet the demand, a new large mooring basin was dug out at Horning to provide a base for the growing fleet and another yard was established at Loddon to build the craft. Wilds also sold many of these boats to other yards, the design was later copied by others and is still very much evident in the styling of today’s boats.

Other new boats featured in the 1966 Hoseason brochure included “Kingsway” from Poolcraft in Beccles which was a 38 foot, 6 berth wooden cruiser, the 7/8 berth, fibreglass “Morning Tide” from Tidecraft of Brundall and Aston Boats of Loddon introduced the 6 berth “Aston Nelson” based on a Bourne 35 hull. Aston also offered the 4 berth Seamaster 28 “Aston Daffodil” at a cost of between £29 and £56 10s per week whilst W.K.Barnes at Wroxham had the little 2 berth, aft cockpit “Princess Clare” at £17 to £31 10s for a weeks hire. There were just 3 pages of yachts available this year which included the 2/3 berth, Bermuda rigged “Cresta” from Laura Craft of Martham which could be hired from £22 10s rising to £33 10s, and the 3 berth sloop rigged “Zephyr” at a cost of £20 to £28 10s from Stalham Yacht Station.  

Amongst the many houseboats and bungalows for hire in Broadland were the 24’, 4 berth “Suzy Wong” at Wroxham which cost between £12 10s and £25 10s per week, and the Flat-Afloats’ “Wind In The Willows” at Womack and “La Mascotte” at Brudall at £11 to £27 per week. At Thurne village you could holiday in one of the new “Plantation Bungalows” which cost from £9 to £25 per week, at Oulton you could hire one of the “Broadland Chalets” and elsewhere the “Clippesby Residences” were available from £8 per week whilst Burgh Hall offered accommodation in their “Parkland Holiday Residences”.

Although Blakes brochure contained many older boats they too had some newer additions including the 4 berth “Blue Beaver” from the Beaver Fleet at St. Olaves, a fibreglass Elysian 27 which could be hired for £30 to £49 8s per week. Brooms of Brundall introduced an Elysian 34 to their fleet with “Commodore” which had 6 berths, two WC’s and a shower and cost from £46 to £80 per week. There were 11 pages of yachts and auxiliary yachts in the 1966 brochure. Some of those included “Buttercup” from Ernest Collins, “Sabrina” from George Smith and Sons, “Hornet” from Southgates, “Woodlark” from Wayford Marina and “Wanderbird” from Powles. Interestingly, the wherry “White Moth” made reappearance as a houseboat moored at Neatishead for 1966 and 1967.

Hunters Fleet at Womack were still operating through the Blakes agency although sadly, Percy had died in 1964 after which his sons, Cyril and Stanley, had struggled to run the yard without their father. In 1966 the yard was put up for sale and was eventually bought by Norfolk County Council who were keen to set up a sailing base which could be used by school children in the area. The council’s chief education officer, Dr Lincoln Ralphs, believed that challenging, extra curricular activities such as sailing encouraged the development of life skills. A sailing base had been established on Filby Broad in the early 1960s but the council wanted to have access to the main Broads system.

At the same time that Hunters yard came onto the market, How Hill on the river ant, the former home of the Boardman family, was about to be sold by public auction. It was felt that if these two could be purchased together then this would fulfil the council’s needs. How Hill was successfully purchased and in 1967 the field study centre was established there. The council took over Hunters on January 1st 1968 and renamed it “The Norfolk County Sailing Base”. Stanley Hunter retired but Cyril stayed on to act as a consultant and part time boat builder.  Although school parties were to take priority, it was recognised that there would be times when the schools would not be able to use the fleet. It was decided to continue hiring the boats out to existing customers where vacancies arose but the fleet was now withdrawn from the Blakes agency.

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The 1960s - An Historical Overview

The problem of severely congested waterways in the summer was a slightly more difficult one to overcome. It had also been noted that speeding was becoming more prevalent and the damage caused to banks by the wash also needed addressing. It was suggested that a “Code Of Behaviour” be drawn up for visitors to educate them on the problems caused by speeding, wash, litter and noise and that universal speed limits be brought in all over the system. To overcome the problem of overcrowding at popular moorings it was proposed that specific, off river basins and cuts be created and that the existing parish staithes in Broadland, which had run into disrepair through neglect, be modernised and made available for holiday visitors.

1965 was also a year that saw a series of dramatic takeovers of several high profile boatyards by the Caister Group Ltd under the chairmanship of Tom Watson.  The Caister Group already owned a fleet of 100 boats on the Broads along with several holiday camps on the Norfolk coast, a couple of hotels and a string of garages. They began 1965 by acquiring the yard and fleet of Herbert Freeman in Beccles (18 craft), followed by the larger combined fleets of Herbert Woods at Potter Heigham (117 craft) and Southgates at Horning (31 craft). Shortly afterwards Norfolk Holiday Boats became part of the fleet with a further 43 craft and the last acquisition was Easticks of Acle with their 23 craft. This brought the total amount of boats in the fleet to 332 which was the largest number of boats under single control in Broadland or anywhere else in the country. All the yards were to remain in operation under their existing names except for the Easticks fleet which were moved to Potter Heigham under the Herbert Woods banner.

There was a recommendation that the numbers of craft on the Broads should be regulated unless enough new stretches of open water were created to meet with the increasing demand. It was also reported that freight traffic on the yare at that time was some 500 vessels per annum, these craft had been getting larger and larger over the years and were a noticeable hazard to recreational craft. Although signs were placed along the River Yare warning against mooring on bends, some holidaymakers chose to ignore these and several accidents were reported over the years. The possibilities of re-opening certain stretches of the rivers and Broads had been discussed many times before, but the report went a little further and actually put forward estimated costs for the work. Proposals included the re-opening of the Waveney between Geldeston and Bungay which was estimated to cost around £43,000 including dredging, tree clearance and repair of the three locks on that stretch of the river and the re-opening of the North Walsham and Dilham Canal at a cost of £60,000. It also called for the re-instatement of existing Broads which had been closed off to the public and the possible creation of new Broads on re-claimed grazing marshland.