Winter seems to have abandoned us this year and I have to confess that I’ve been hankering for a nice cold snap, if only to get rid of whatever it is in the atmosphere that’s had me suffering with constant hayfever since October. Broadland has seen some harsh winters over the years and I’ve previously written a couple of blog posts about the “Big Freeze” of 1963. Recent finds have prompted me to revisit winters past.
In 2010 I wrote this piece about the winter of 1947, another notoriously cold winter during which Britain was blanketed by deep snow throughout February and into March. I mentioned then that I hadn’t come across any photographs of the Norfolk Broads from that winter .. until now that is! I’m relatively new to the whole Facebook thing but felt that I should probably sign up and give Broadland Memories a presence over there. I’ve also joined a few local history groups on there, including the Reedham & District Local History & Archaeology Group which is where I came across a rather incredible set of photographs taken during the winter of 1947. The owner of the collection, John Richardson, very kindly gave me permission to add them to the website, and you can find the full set on this page of the 1900-1949 Gallery but I thought I’d put a couple on here along with a few other photographs which I’ve found since my original blog post.
The first of John Richardson’s photographs shows the River Yare and the swing bridge at Reedham. This and the image below were taken by John’s grandfather, Richard James Cooper. Knowing how fast the tide runs here, it’s quite something to see it so thick with ice.
This view was taken from the top of the Berney Arms mill looking towards Breydon Water. Two coasters are moored alongside one another just upstream of the pub. It’s an astonishing image – my thanks to John for allowing me to share them.
I recently bought a rather lovely photograph showing an ice yacht on the Broads during the winter of 1947, probably taken at Hickling.
This was a Belgian press photograph, dated the 27th of February 1947, the blurb on the back reads as follows: “There is no need to go to Switzerland for winter sports. The lakes of Norfolk are covered with a thick layer of ice upon which skaters indulge in their favourite games. They even practice racing sleds with sails which is always spectacular. Here is one of the leading competitors training for an upcoming competition.” There is an ice yacht hanging on the wall at the Museum of the Broads in Stalham and it’s a curious looking contraption. I’d love to see one in action, although wouldn’t relish the severity of winter needed to freeze the Broads over.
Until I started sorting these photographs out for the blog and website, I had entirely forgotten that I’d got a couple of photographs taken in Martham during that winter too.
Somerton Road at Martham, looking towards St Mary’s Church. There are similar photos showing the snow cleared and stacked, forming icy cliffs beside the roads in Reedham amongst John Richardson’s photographs on the main website.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the sudden thaw in mid March saw widespread flooding around the region. This was also taken at Martham, although I’m not sure of the location.
As always, if you have any photographs or memories of the Norfolk & Suffolk Broads during winters past then I would love to see them. My grandfather filmed ice skating on the Mere in the South Norfolk market town of Diss during that winter and the flooding of the Waveney Valley which followed. Whilst not strictly Broadland, I thought it might be of interest to some.
Previous blog posts on winters in Broadland:
Just wanted to say thank you for the time and trouble you take to post all these. Much appreciated.
Your very welcome – it’s nice to know that people appreciate it, thank you.