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Designed & Maintained By Carol Gingell
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The Norfolk Broads -
Here you will find some of the old pictures from within the archive set alongside contemporary photographs of the same scenes so that you can compare just how much, or how little, has changed in Broadland over the years. Further images will be added to this page as the archive grows.
Comparing these two photographs you can see that very little has changed at Coltishall other than the quay heading. The picture of the Rising Sun on the left was submitted by Iain Gray and was taken in the 1960s, the one on the right was taken in February 2006.
Coltishall
The picture of Beccles Yacht Station on the left, also submitted to the archive by Andrew Day, was taken in 1961. In the background, on the far left, you can see Darby’s Timber Yard which was later taken over by Aston Boats who are still on that site today. The brick house on the right is still there, but you can see from the picture on the right taken in May 2007 that it has been extended and is now painted white.
Beccles
A view of Beccles from the River Waveney -
More photographs will be added to this section very soon!
Ludham
Another picture courtesy of the Ludham Community Archive Group. This thatched cottage was home to “Knacky” Knights saddlers shop, as shown on the picture on the left which dates from the 1960s. “Knacky” was well known to visitors in the 1950s and 1960s for his Tall tales of Norfolk! The building now houses the Alfresco Tearooms (pictured on the right in January 2008). The building itself, although renovated, has remained unchanged.
The Locks Inn at Geldeston pictured on the left in 1961 in a photograph submitted to the archive by Ron Harrison. Thought to have been built in the 16th century as a house for the mill keeper, it later became the lock keepers cottage and was granted a public house license in the 17th century. In 1961 the landlady was Susan Ellis, a renowned Broadland character and after her death in the early 1970s it was taken over by Walter Coe. He sold the Locks Inn in the early 1980s and it was the new owners who were then granted planning permission to add the large extensions which you see today in the picture on the right taken in March 2008.
On the left is an interior picture of the Locks Inn taken in 1957 by Ron Harrison showing Susan Ellis with her notepad in hand, taking down the drinks orders. There was, and still is, no mains electricity at The Locks and lighting was supplied by gas wall lights and dozens of candles spread around the pub. The picture on the right, taken in March 2008, shows that much of the plaster work has been stripped back to expose the original brickwork and the fireplace has been opened up and lost it’s mantle surround. A generator has now been installed at the inn, but the tradition of lighting the place with candles in the evenings still continues today.
The view from Acle Bridge looking downstream. The picture on the left, submitted by Adrian Bell, dates from 1951 and shows The Bridge Inn public house with it’s formally laid out gardens. The picture on the right, taken in April 2008, shows that the pub now has the circular, thatched extension, the formal gardens are long gone and there is now another building between the pub and the waterline. Interestingly, it also shows that the pub now sits much further back from the river.
The view looking upstream from Acle Bridge. In contrast to the last picture, little has changed between the picture on the left of the Bridgecraft boatyard, submitted by Ray Walker and taken in 1970, and the picture on the right from April 2008.