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©  C.Gingell 2006-2026  All photographs, personal stories and written articles on this site are copyright and should not be reproduced anywhere else without the permission of the copyright owner and Broadland Memories.

© Broadland Memories 2006-2026

Page  11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

1950s Photo Gallery

In July 1956, Philip and Mildred Marchington travelled to the Norfolk Broads with their young baby from their home in Ashton-under-Lyne, East Manchester, along with Mildred’s mother, Mary Leech. The following set of colour slides document their holiday aboard the motor cruiser “Sea Curlew”. My thanks go to Chris Marchington for allowing me to publish the photographs here.

Philip and Mildred with their three month old son, Chris, on board “Sea Curlew” which was built by, and hired from Alfred Ward’s yard at Thorpe St Andrew. The boat was one of the “Sea Heron” class, 28ft in length and sleeping three persons, with two extending single berths in the saloon and a single cabin to the fore. The description for the class in Blake’s 1956 brochure reads: “A new type of cruiser of very attractive appearance. The wheelhouse-saloon with its all round vision, complete comfort and full protection, makes this design justly popular in all seasons. Large sliding sunshine roof enables the helmsman as well as the remainder of the party to take full advantage of the sunshine.” A week’s hire in July 1956 cost £31.

Philip Marchington with son, Chris. Philip would have been 25 years old here and Chris thinks that he would probably have just graduated from Manchester Medical School where he studied dentistry. Following graduation, it is believed he then did his National Service before deciding to sign up full time to the RAF. He was commissioned as a Flying Officer in 1957.

Mildred Marchington pictured with her son. Chris believes that his parents were married in 1955.

Mildred’s mother, Mary Leech on board Sea Curlew at what appears to be the same location as the previous images. This looks like it was possibly taken on the River Bure alongside Stokesby Ferry Inn.

Norwich Yacht Station on a slightly misty day. Facilities at the yacht station at this time were listed as including “Wash-ups, lavatories, telephone and other amenities.”  One contemporary guide book described the journey by boat into the city: “Entering Norwich by boat is one of Broadland’s most fascinating adventures. Passing the great electric generating plant at Thorpe you come upon a realm of man-made wonders - an exciting contrast to the great solitudes left behind. The river is all activity. Ocean going cargo boats, up to 600 tons laden, bring goods from the continent to Norwich. These will be discharging their cargoes to the accompaniment of shouts and welcomes in many languages - there is the thrill of navigating in a real port, more and more red factory buildings, wharves, and boats, and then the glimpse of the majestic spire of the Cathedral - you are in Norwich.”

St Benet’s Abbey gatehouse with the ruins of the old mill tower within.

Another photograph taken at St Benet’s Abbey.

The final three photographs from the collection were all taken at Neatishead. This is the Staithe, looking towards the road. A contemporary guide book mentioned that the approach to the staithe from Barton Broad, Lime Kiln Dyke, had only re-opened fairly recently , having been closed for 30 years.

Looking in the opposite direction at Neatishead Staithe.

Neatishead village with the White Horse public house seen on the right. A 1958 advert for the pub listed B&B accommodation, snacks and light meals and rowing boats for hire - presumably from Lime Kiln Dyke. The village had a second pub, The Eagle, now closed and converted to private housing.

The entrance to the Yare Hotel at Brundall, owned by the Norwich based Steward and Patteson brewery, looking rather picturesque. Brundall also boasted two other pubs at this time - the White Horse and The Ram, along with various stores, a butchers, chemist, hairdresser and a Riverside Tea Gardens cafe.

This looks as though it may also have been taken at Brundall.

A slightly fuzzy photograph, but I’ve included it as it shows a passing River Police launch.

I’m not certain of the location here, but the visible section of the name boards shows that this is one of P.E. Thain’s wherries - possibly The “Lord Roberts”.

Every new mother, ever! Mildred takes a nap on board Sea Curlew with son Chris in her arms.

An interesting view of Reedham Riverside - you can just see one end of the swing bridge on the right, Ship Cottage and the Ship Hotel which provided B&B accommodation, free moorings and riverside teas at this time. The large brick and flint building was the old maltings which is also believed to have served as a store for the village brickmaker, George Maddison in the 19th and early 20th century. Sheila Hutchinson’s “Reedham Remembered” book records that it became a bottling plant for the wine merchants Back’s in the 1930s, converting to use as a mushroom factory from the late 1930s. In the late 1950s it became part of the Reedcraft boatyard. The buildings were eventually demolished and terraced housing now stands on the site.

Looking upstream towards Reedham Swing Bridge. In the early 1950s, author John May recounted a visit made to the bridge control box at Reedham whilst cruising aboard Sea Curlew’s sister ship “Sea Heron”. He described the opening procedure carried out by the bridgeman: “He spun a wheel that withdrew bolts on the track. He switched on a hydraulic pump, and an electric motor started of its own accord to charge the battery of accumulators driving the pump. ‘We have the batteries in case of power cuts,’ he explained. Out of the window I saw the end of the bridge lift slightly an inch or two. With another lever the bridgeman withdrew wedges that normally block the central pivot. The bridge settled down again, and started gently turning.”

May was then given the chance to look at the inner workings of the bridge: “We walked across to the centre of the bridge. He pulled open a metal cover, and we went down an iron ladder into the dark, damp and rusty bowels of the central pier. Here were the wedges that held all secure when a train was passing over. Here were the massive wheels and cogs on which the whole structure above us rolled when the bridge was opened.”

A stopover at Great Yarmouth Yacht Station.

Mary Leech pictured with her grandson, also taken at Great Yarmouth Yacht Station - I love the lines of terry nappies hung out to dry behind her!

Another photograph of Mary and Chris at Great Yarmouth. Behind, you can see the distinctive Elanco Craft logo of B425 “Vestella 4”, built by E.C Landamore of Wroxham.

Another photograph of the family aboard Sea Curlew at Great Yarmouth. Going back to John May’s ‘Norfolk Broads Holiday Book and Pocket Pilot”, published in 1952, he describes the handover of sister ship Sea Heron and gives a little insight to the workings of A.G. Ward’s boatyard and also the boat itself. “In Alfred Ward’s sheds at Thorpe, two sister ships of the Sea Heron were being completed. They were due to go out in a few weeks. Four men had built the ‘Sea Heron’ the previous year between November and May. She was Alfred Ward’s own conception, he being a naval architect and a boat-builder born and bred. Billy Moss was the carpenter, Bill Evans the engineer, and Harry Salmon the cabinet maker who made the doors and cupboards, and fitted the internal panelling. Her mahogany parts - re-varnished innumerable times to bring out the glowing red-brown beauty of the wood. Her decks were covered with canvas and painted a contrasting cream.” There were a total of four of the class built - Heron, Hawk, Eagle and Curlew.

Baby Chris, fast asleep in his travel cot.

Mildred Marchington in the wheelhouse/saloon. The seating either side of the table extended to provide two single berths, with a third single in a separate cabin to the fore. Between the saloon and the front cabin was a small galley area with a toilet compartment opposite. There was no onboard shower - shower’s didn’t start to appear on hire cruisers until the early 1960s. There were a number of places offering bathing facilities for boaters around the Broads, including several of the riverside inns and hotels.The galley was equipped with a multi-burner gas stove with oven and grill and “Osokool” cold storage. Ice blocks were used to keep food chilled in the Osokool box - these could be exchanged for fresh, frozen blocks at other Blake’s boatyards throughout Broadland.

I suspected that this was one of Hobrough’s wherries, pictured on the River Yare, and was contacted by Linda Pargeter from the Wherry Maud Trust who believes that this is actually a rare, colour shot of Maud under May Gurney’s ownership. James Hobrough established his civil engineering firm at the end of Griffin Lane in Thorpe St Andrew in 1854, his son (also James) taking over upon his death in 1901. Much of the dredging and piling work around the Broads was carried out by the firm. Many of the old wherries ended their days at Hobrough’s, stripped of their masts and sailing gear and converted for use as lighters to carry coal and dredged mud. The business, along with the remaining fleet of wherries, was bought by May & Gurney Ltd in 1940 when J.S. Hobrough retired. Maud was put up for sale by May Gurney in the mid 1960s, but no buyer was found. She was towed to Ranworth Broad and sunk to shore up the riverbank. In the 1970s, she was raised and moved to Malthouse Broad when the new conservation centre was built. It was from there she was rescued by Vincent and Linda Pargeter in 1981 and they spent the next 18 years painstakingly restoring her.