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Designed & Maintained By Carol Gingell

The film maker, Stanley Youngs, captured footage of a bygone era of classic yachts and beautiful wooden motor cruisers. Re-mastered onto DVD, this 20 minute long silent film includes his original captions and truly captures the feel of this golden age of boating on the Norfolk Broads.

Born and bred in South Norfolk and a baker by trade, my grandfather Stanley was also a keen amateur cine photographer with a passion for creating films of rural Norfolk life which he delighted in showing to people in a makeshift cinema in the bakehouse.

PLEASE NOTE - this DVD is in the UK Pal format and is for sale to addresses within the UK only!

The footage he shot of Broadland was filmed over the course of several day trips taken with family and friends between 1949 and 1951. Although the towns and villages have since grown,  much of the area remains largely unchanged  60 years on.

The first DVD release from the Broadland Memories archive is a fascinating collection of historic cine films c1950 which take you back to the heyday of the post war boating boom on the Norfolk Broads. The film includes footage of the rivers Bure, Waveney and Yare and features scenes of Oulton Broad, Cantley, Great Yarmouth, Wroxham, Salhouse Broad and a stunning colour section of Horning.

The family’s day to day life on board, the buying of provisions and the topping up with water from the village hand-pumps were all filmed and provide a wonderful record of how a boating holiday was conducted in the 1930s. The footage is presented in it’s entirety, with a soundtrack of typical music from the era,  and includes a short introduction. Whilst the boats and the scenery may have changed, the film shows that the essence of a boating holiday on the Broads remains the same today as it was 80 years ago!

The film includes some wonderful scenes of the Broads Haven yard at Potter Heigham along with footage of Horning, Wroxham, Coltishall, the River Ant, Horsey and the Upper Thurne, Acle, Great Yarmouth, Breydon Water, Oulton Broad, Beccles, Geldeston, Haddiscoe, Reedham and Cantley.

PLEASE NOTE - this DVD is in the UK Pal format and is for sale to addresses within the UK only!

Shot on 16mm cine film in the early 1930s, this amateur footage follows one family’s holidays afloat on the Norfolk Broads and captures a typical family boating holiday of the era. Whilst providing a fascinating glimpse into the past, the film also documents some of the buildings, bridges and working drainage mills of Broadland which are now long gone.

Beginning their holidays from Herbert Woods boatyard at Potter Heigham, the family hired the motor cruisers “Spark of Light” in 1932 and “Countess of Light” in 1933, both of which feature prominently in the footage. From arrival at the yard to their return at the end of the week, the film follows the family as they cover much the northern and southern rivers of The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads.