Broadland Memories Blog

I received an email this week which rekindled my interest in the history and current whereabouts of the old Broads Tours passenger launches, and also reminded me that I had a couple more snippets of information to add to the blog.

It’s fantastic that little pieces of the Broads Tours story are still coming in and the latest addition is an absolute gem! Chris Bird contacted me with a photograph of the framed poster he had received as a Christmas present which advertises the Norfolk Broads tours offered by William Littleboy at Wroxham in the 1920s/1930s. The Littleboy connection to Charles Hannaford’s Broads Tours business was mentioned in two of the previous blog posts I’ve written in this ongoing series, More Broads Tours and Princess Mary, which seemed to indicate that, along with purchasing George Smith’s original Broads Tours business in the mid 1930s, Hannaford had also acquired some of William Littleboy’s fleet of passenger cruisers around the same time.

This fabulous poster includes photographs of the launches that Littleboy was running at this time, most (if not all) of which ended up in Hannaford’s Broads Tours fleet. I am still struggling to find much in the way of reference to William Littleboy although I recently came across a little snippet of information in the book “The Elanco Story – 75 Years of Landamores” written by John Yaxley. He mentions that the passenger launch Duchess was designed and built by E.C. Landamore at Wroxham in the 1920s for a cost of £579 3s 11d, and that in the early 1930s, Ted Landamore sold his fleet of day boats to “Billy” Littleboy and also built the passenger launch Empress for him. It does seem strange that I’ve found so little information about William Littleboy or his business – maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places – but if anyone can provide any further history or photographs then please do get in contact. Chris is going to try to get a better photograph of the poster for me to upload to the main Broadland Memories website but, in the meantime, my thanks to him for allowing me to use this one on here. It’s a a great early record of the launches which became part of the Broads Tours fleet and all the more interesting that many have visible registration numbers.

The photograph of Countess on the Littleboy poster reminded me that I had a newspaper cutting to add to the Broads Tours story too, by courtesy of the collection of scrapbooks belonging to Ray Walker which he kindly loaned me to scan a few years ago. It dates from 1976 and was the footnote for a report on the River Commissioners cruise of that year, with Countess being one of two Broads Tours launches used for the trip. It’s a lovely photograph of Countess, the article mentioning that she was built at Wroxham in 1899 and was originally called Osprey – 1899 seems a rather early build date for a launch of this style to me? The other launch used on the river tour, which apparently took in the delights of the Upper Thurne, was the aforementioned Duchess which, according to John Yaxley, was moved to York when she left the Broads Tours fleet

Finally, for now, I’ll leave you with a postcard which dates from the 1950s and shows the Broads Tours base at Hoveton.

Previous blog posts on Broads Tours in chronological order:

Old Broads Tours boats never die

Broads Tours Update

More Broads Tours

Broads Tours – Princess Mary

Broads Tours – The Prince

Old newspaper reports often provide a fascinating glimpse into the past and are a valuable resource for historians. The Broadland Memories website has a collection of newspaper cuttings from the 20th century which cover a variety of Norfolk Broads related subjects – some relate to serious topics of the time whilst others are just plain amusing!

It’s when you start trawling through news reports from the 18th and 19th centuries though that things can get quite interesting, not least because of the way in which news was reported back then. The coverage of deaths, accidents, criminal trials and scandals was often done in such a salacious way, with every gory detail printed and a smidgeon of local gossip thrown in, producing articles that make today’s tabloids seem rather conservative! From time to time, I come across some intriguing news reports and notices which warrant further research. Such was the notice, transcribed below in full, which appeared in the Norwich Mercury on the 13th January 1776 advertising the sale of Geldeston Staithe and its associated warehouses, granaries, maltings, offices and other ancillary buildings. The Wherry public house was also included in the estate along with a number of dwelling houses, various parcels of land, three wherries and two pleasure boats.

“Geldeston staithe etc. to be sold by private contract. All that well-known staithe and wharf with the sole  and  exclusive  right of  navigation belonging thereto,  extending to and  from the Port of Great Yarmouth,  at which  is now carried  on  a very considerable  and well  established mercantile trade  in coal,  corn,  deal,  etc. with  great advantage,  and  in  great  repute,  being  so situated that the trade is entirely free from all encumbrances of tonnage, lockage etc. to which most other inland navigations are subject; being a singular and very considerable advantage to the trade of this navigation. This situation for trade is admirably fine, being so entire within itself that no opposers will ever hurt it, lying between the towns of Beccles and Bungay and having  a fine navigable  canal  cut from the River  Waveney half  a mile  up to it, upon which stands  a small town  of warehouses,  malthouses, granaries, etc. all adjoining to the land and locked up every night: with an exceeding fine coal wharf, capable of containing 2000 chaldron of coal, which are landed with little or no expense, with a very quick sale for the same.  Likewise alone capable of containing 1000 quarters of corn, built in 1773, adjoining to which is commanded the canal, the wharf and all the buildings etc. upon it. Also  an  exceeding  good  brick  and tiled malting office, built last summer, 40  comb steep, with two exceeding good work floors, one plaster of Paris, the other brick, and a fine granary over the same, capable of containing 500 quarters of corn, with store rooms and drying chambers for laying dry malt so conveniently adjoining and built over the canal, that vessels may lay under the chambers to receive their loading without expense and the same is capable of containing 1000 quarters of malt. Adjoining is a strong-built brick cinder oven, with large yards boarded in for laying a large quantity of coals and cinders. Also new built stables for the convenience of teams coming to the staithe; also adjoining  is  a  large  spacious  quay  and  yard;  and  near there  too  stands  an  exceeding  good  and convenient messuage with very pleasant garden, orchards with great variety of fruit trees, fish pond etc, pleasantly situated  against the road leading from Bungay to Beccles, with  a barn, stables  and convenient outhouses; and a Public House, known as the sign of the Wherry, let to John Brown at the yearly rent of £5. Also  about 9 acres  of pasture or meadow land adjoining to the  navigation with  6 tenements, four  of which  are  new built, brick and tiled, with large yards and  gardens to each,  very convenient for watermen etc. employed in the said navigation. The whole is freehold, and upwards of £2000 have been laid out upon the premises within five years, which has rendered it one of the most compact situations for a merchant, that is in the county of Norfolk or Suffolk, and which opens itself into a fine extensive country for trade, which is a large and well established and carried on with great advantage and is in great esteem. The reason for all the premises being to be disposed of, arises from the present proprietor’s intention of going to reside in London, in a capital mercantile business.

Likewise are to be sold three wherries or lighters with their masts, sails, ropes, rigging and furniture now  in employ,  and  belonging  to  the  said  navigation,  in  conveying  merchandise  to  and  from Yarmouth. Also a sixteenth part of a ship called “The Shrimp” of Yarmouth (burthen 100 tons, John Moore, Master)  an  eighth part of  a ship  called the “Good  Intent”  of  Yarmouth (burthen  100 tons, Simon Smith, Master) and two pleasure boats with sails and rigging. Also  an  estate  in  Geldeston  aforesaid  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  Old  Staithe,  with  a messuage, outhouse and about two acres of land, let to Elias Clear, tenant at will at the yearly rent of £7, together with a Marsh called the Staithe Marsh and the Staithe Dam, and Staithe Fleet belonging, adjoining to the River Waveney, aforesaid, containing about four acres more or less in occupation of the owner. Also a piece of arable land called Gravel Pit Close, containing by estimation one and a half acres and another  piece of  arable  land  called  the  Hall  Meadow,  containing  three  acres;  and  an  adjoining meadow  of  about  one acre,  now  let  to  John  Morse  at  the  yearly  rent  of  five  guineas.  These last mentioned premises are copyhold. The whole of the buildings and the croft etc. are in good repair and condition, and will all be disposed of in one lot and may be entered upon next Michaelmas or sooner if desired. For further particulars enquire of the Proprietor, Mr Samuel Robinson, merchant on the premises, or of John Kerrick, Esq. at Harleston, John Gay, Esq.  at Norwich: Mr Christopher  Eaton, merchant at Yarmouth or Mr Joseph Shrimpton and Co. merchant in Mark Lane, London.“

Geldeston village staithe

The navigation and staithe mentioned were, of course, the cut which leads up to Geldeston village. The cut was created in the early 1700s to enable trading wherries to reach the village, the navigation on the River Waveney having been improved between Beccles and Bungay after an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1670, opening up an important (and valuable) trade route. It is believed that Geldeston actually exists in the form it does today because of the maltings, granaries and coal wharves which were established at the end of this new cut, the original medieval village having been situated further away from the river around the church of St. Michael which is thought to have 12th century origins. The notice of sale in the Norwich Mercury indicates that a sizable business empire had been created in the intervening years, with some heavy investment and redevelopment having been undertaken in the preceding decade.

Whilst trying to discover more information about the staithe and its large complex of buildings one family name kept cropping up, that of Dowson. Indeed, Bryants 1826 map of Norfolk shows it as being called “Dowsons Staithe”. The Norfolk Chronicle of October 26th 1793 reported the death of one Benjamin Utting Dowson of Geldeston Staithe and it was presumably he who bought the estate. Reports elsewhere, however, seem to indicate that the Dowson family did not move to the village until 1788, some twelve years after the original notice of sale above. Whenever that purchase was made, it is evident that the Dowson family continued to expand the business, which was subsequently passed down through several generations. The Dowsons became prominent figures within the village  and, it seems, were also generous benefactors to local good causes..

Limited time for research and a current inability to access the appropriate resources to discover more  means that, at present, I have just scant fragments of the story. I think a visit to the Norfolk Records Office might be in order at some point! What I have found through a quick search of census records, trade directories, newspaper reports and other online resources has given me a tantalizing glimpse into the lives of a family who apparently played a prominent role in the history of Geldeston. Having first moved to the Old House in the village, the rather grand Greenbank was later built as the family home. It’s very difficult to piece together family relationships and history without delving further into the census returns, but the White’s Directory for Norfolk of 1854 lists three separate business being run by the Dowsons in the village. Henry Gibson Dowson was listed as a Maltster, Brewer and spirit merchant – Geldeston Brewery operated between 1828 and c1858 and at one time owned around 30 pubs in the area. A second maltings complex was situated behind the Wherry public house which is where, I presume, Henry conducted his business from. Benjamin Utting Dowson and Sons were listed as maltsters, corn and coal merchants and were presumably working from the granary and matings complex down by the staithe. Edward Utting Dowson and Septimus Dowson were also listed as merchants, whilst a Miss Emily Dowson was recorded as being a school teacher – the Dowson family had funded the building of a schoolhouse in the village in 1825.

It seems that little survives of the of the large buildings which once dominated the staithe and village centre. The Wherry Inn and the Old Post Office are thought to be the only surviving buildings from the large maltings complex which stood on that site. The Rowancraft boatyard is now situated where the other large maltings and granary complex once stood – I believe a few of the smaller ancillary buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries survive there.

As I said, this really needs further investigation if time allows in the future, so I may revisit the Dowson family story at a later date. Whilst searching through newspaper reports, I came across a rather sad article from the Beccles and Bungay Weekly News of January 11th 1859 regarding the inquest into the accidental poisoning of of Alfred Dowson – one of Henry Gibson Dowson’s sons. It’s a tragic tale, but does illustrate my earlier comments on the way news was reported at the time:

“A painful sensation has been created in Norwich by the announcement, on Saturday, the 1st January, that Mr Alfred Dowson, son of H.G. Dowson, Esq., late of Geldeston, and brother of Mr Arthur Dowson, resident surgeon to the Norwich Dispensary, had been accidentally poisoned through taking a dose of aconite in mistake for tincture of orange peel.

The circumstances connected with this case will be found in the following evidence, which was given before W. Wilde, Esq., of this city, coroner at an inquest held in the Dispensary on Saturday evening: The housekeeper at the Dispensary, whose name is Billyard, stated that for the past few days the deceased had been officiating during the absence of his brother, the resident surgeon. Deceased was in apparent good health up to Friday evening, with the exception of a cold of which he complained. He was a way from the Dispensary in the early part of the evening, but returned at eight o’clock and sat in his own room till nearly eleven, when he requested witness to get some ale and gin, and make him some flip, which he wished to have as it was the last day of the year.

Witness procured a quart of ale and a quarter of a pint of gin. Deceased drank two glasses of the ale in its cold and unmixed state and ate heartily of some bread and cheese. Witness made flip of the remainder of the ale and a portion of the gin, and deceased drank half a pint of it, afterwards conversing freely with witness as to where he should like to go and what he should like to do in the new year. About twenty-five minutes past twelve, deceased took his chamber candlestick and went to bed, bidding witness good night.

About an hour afterwards he came to witness’s bedroom and begged her to get up immediately, saying, “I am very bad – I think I have taken something wrong. Get me some hot water.” He added that he added that he had been into the surgery and taken something just before supper, and he was afraid there must have been a wrong label on the bottle. He repeated that he felt very ill, and said his pulse was beating violently. What he had taken was, he said, to give him an appetite. Witness procured some hot water, of which he took about half-a-pint, but he appeared to get worse. Witness then went for Mr Spatchett, chemist, who came immediately.

Mr James Spatchett stated, that on being called to the deceased, the latter said, in a frightened tone, he was afraid he had taken something by mistake in the surgery while intending to take some tincture of orange peel. He described to witness the situation of the bottle, and witness found the tincture of orange peel in the place mentioned by the deceased. Deceased asked witness to give him some spirits of ammonia and ether, and said he had taken some of that mixture already. He described his feeling, stating that he felt a sort of pricking sensation from his lips and mouth through his stomach. Witness procured some ether and ammonia, but when he returned deceased was unable to take it – he was, in fact dead, although only five minutes had elapsed since witness was called in. Witness produced two bottles of the same size, and having the same shaped labels. One contained aconite (a poison) and the other contained tincture of orange peel. They stood almost two feet apart on the same shelf in the surgery.

Dr Eade said that he was of the opinion the sensations described by the last witness as experienced by the deceased were such as would have been produced by an over-dose of aconite. A dose of aconite might have been taken in a hurry in mistake for tincture of orange peel, as they were nearly of the same colour. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that death was occasioned by taking a dose of aconite in mistake for tincture of orange peel.“

More information abut the history of Geldeston can be found on the Geldeston village website

I posted an account and a selection of photos of our sailing day on the wherry yacht Norada in September. Having recently upgraded my movie editing software, I thought I’d try it out by putting together a short film using some of the footage which was taken by my husband on his Fuji HS10 camera. It’s not a dedicated camcorder, but seems to give quite good results … even if the cameraman is a little shaky!  I’ve not had too much time to spare on editing this together, but hopefully it captures a little of the atmosphere of the trip.

You may have noticed that things have been a bit quiet on the Broadland Memories website and blog of late. It’s been a difficult few months and there has been a distinct lack of free time on my part to actually devote to website matters. As many are aware, Broadland Memories and it’s associated projects are pretty much a one woman band!

The summer months are generally a busy time for me anyway but matters have been compounded this year by family responsibilities. As anyone who cares for elderly parents will know, as time progresses the level of assistance they need during their day to day life increases. Sadly, both mum and mum-in-law have reached the point where their mobility is rapidly decreasing, falls are happening more often and other age related health issues are becoming more frequent. I think I’ve spent more time in doctors surgeries and hospitals over recent months than I have at home! Unfortunately, it’s a situation which is unlikely to change much in the foreseeable future. Understandably, something’s got to give and I have had to take the reluctant decision to put the website on hold for the time being.

Whilst I’m doing my best to keep up with email enquiries there may be a delay in me being able to respond and I’m also extremely limited in the assistance I’m able to give at present. I must also apologize to contributors who have sent me photos, memories and other Norfolk Broads ephemera during the summer – as soon as I am able, they will be added to the Broadland Memories website but I’m unable to commit to when that will actually be at present. I hope to be able to write the occasional blog post when time allows and, in the meantime, will continue to “Tweet” Norfolk Broads related historic photos and facts via the Broadland Memories Twitter account whenever I have a few minutes to spare.

It’s not an ideal situation, but I hope people will understand that my priorities must lie with looking after the mums – sadly, they are not here forever.

Another wonderful piece of historic amateur footage of the Norfolk & Suffolk Broads has appeared on YouTube this week. Filmed c1965, this 11 minute film was taken during a family holiday on board the motor cruiser A332 Valentina.

Valentina - Blakes Boating Brochure 1966 entry

Valentina was a four berth, forward drive cruiser which was 31ft in length and looked quite distinctive! When this film was shot, Valentina was part of the Neatishead Boatyard fleet (located near to Neatishead Staithe at this time) – their black and white, chequered burgee can clearly be seen flying on the bow, and the yard itself also appears briefly at the start of the holiday. I always love seeing old home footage of the Broads like this and, even though the camera work is a little shaky, it is still an important record of the local history and entertaining to watch too! The family cruise through Horning and pass a couple of Broads Tours passenger launches and one of the 1960s ice cream boats. Later they visit St.Olaves and Oulton Broad where an unidentified wherry yacht is filmed gliding across the the water. The Queen of the Broads passenger steamer also makes an appearance.

Lovely stuff!

There is something very special about catching sight of a wherry sail in the distance when out on the rivers of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads. The black sailed traders once numbered into the hundreds but as the rail network spread across the Eastern Counties, providing an easier and quicker method of transporting goods, their numbers began to decline.

In the late 19th century enterprising wherry owners discovered that there was a lucrative new market which could be tapped into and a few of the traders were converted for the use of pleasure seeking tourists. As the holiday industry grew, new purpose built pleasure wherries and then wherry yachts began to appear, fitted out with comfortable interiors and all the luxuries that the Victorian and Edwardian eras allowed. Their numbers are now few, but it is still possible to turn back the clock and experience a little of that Edwardian elegance by joining one of the public sailing days organised by the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust. On Monday we did just this, having booked a trip on the wherry yacht Norada which was making her way back to the wherry base at Wroxham from Stalham.

Norada was built for holiday hire by Ernest Collins at Wroxham in 1912 and originally provided accommodation for up to ten passengers in three cabins. Interestingly, the 1916 Blake’s brochure mentions that the accommodation was altered in 1914 and that she now provided sleeping in three separate cabins – presumably a partition was added to divide the main saloon? A week’s hire in 1916 cost between £9 and £14 depending on the time of year, a fee which included the services of two attendants who slept in a small cabin in the forepeak that was accessed via a hatch. The crew quarters contained a pantry and a small stove on which meals for the passengers were prepared. The 1916 entry for Norada also noted that she had been built to pass easily beneath the old Ludham Bridge, an obstacle known locally as the “bung hole” due to it’s single, low and narrow arch which prevented the passage of many larger vessels along the River Ant. Ironically, the bridge was actually replaced c1914/1915.

The image on the left shows the 1929 Blake’s Yachting List entry for Norada which includes a nice illustration of her layout – note that a “portable bath” was included in the inventory! I think the stated 6ft headroom was a little generous though as, at 5ft 10in, I was unable to stand upright in the centre of the saloon. It also mentions that she had been recently fitted with a two cylinder Ailsa Craig engine, this being “most useful when parties desire to reach some particular town or village and winds and tide become adverse.” The cost of a week’s hire had increased to £25 5 shillings for the summer. Last year I purchased some cine footage of a family holiday taken on Norada in 1931 which I covered in this blog post in December. That post includes a number of stills taken from the film and you’ll notice that a tent was rigged above the crew quarters in the forepeak.

Norada remained on hire until around 1950 when she was then sold to a private owner who renamed her Lady Edith after his wife. In 1964 she was bought by Barney Matthews who restored her and in 1987, her 75th anniversary year, her original name was reinstated at a ceremony performed by Ernest Collins grand-daughter Betty Ames. The Wherry Yacht Charter Trust was established in 2002 and brought together the wherry yachts Norada and her sister Olive, along with the pleasure wherry Hathor which had originally been built for the Colman family. After sinking briefly in 2005, Norada spent 2007 to 2009 out of the water undergoing some major restoration work which included the rebuilding of her elegant counter stern and a new tabernacle. A very quiet electric engine has been installed to assist when “winds and tide become adverse“, her interior has been restored and refitted and she was officially relaunched at a ceremony held at Salhouse Broad in July 2012. The wherry yacht White Moth has also joined the trust for the next three years to help raise funds for the ongoing restoration and maintenance of the fleet  – more details about chartering and public sailing days can be found on the link to the Trust’s website above.

Having spent an enjoyable afternoon on Hathor as part of the Trust’s public sailing days in 2009, the chance of a day on another of these iconic Broadland vessels couldn’t be missed. On Monday morning the crew and passengers met at Wroxham and were transported via minibus to the Museum of the Broads at Stalham where Norada had been in attendance over the weekend as part of the 2012 Open Heritage Days events. Skipper Peter Bower was already on board and, after a short briefing, Peter and crew members Dawn and Colin prepared Norada for the trip – the photograph on the right shows Peter and Colin putting a reef in the sail before departure. After the mini heatwave of the weekend, the weather was forecast to be cloudy with the possibility of a few showers. Thankfully, the rain stayed away but it was quite breezy out there – unfortunately, the wind was blowing in entirely the wrong direction which meant that most of the journey back to Wroxham was spent tacking. Now, I have to confess that although I enjoy sailing I do seem to have a major problem with motion sickness. Short trips are fine, and it was wonderful to be sitting outside on the counter stern as we made the slow passage down the Ant. On approaching Ludham Bridge I decided to take a brief respite from the chilly breeze and dived below decks into Norada’s spacious and comfortable saloon. It was at this point that the motion sickness began to kick in! Apart from popping my head up on a few occasions for a breath of air, I was pretty much unable to move from the saloon until we arrived at Granary Staithe in Wroxham at around 7.30pm. Unfortunately, it’s not something that passes quickly either as the world was still moving about in a peculiar manner the following day. I think I might have to stick to shorter sailing trips in future!

Norada moored at the Museum of the Broads at Stalham prior to setting sail.

Skipper Peter Bower at the helm as we cross Barton Broad.

Norada’s saloon, looking aft. The seating either side converts into two single berths. A small sideboard can be seen in the foreground on the left – on the opposite side, the brochure entry showed a small wherry piano. This still survives but is awaiting restoration after becoming waterlogged when she sank in 2005.

The forward cabin with a double berth either side.

The infamous “Baby Blake” toilet! I was surprised to discover that these are still being produced by the Blakes Lavac Taylors company in Hampshire.

The galley is a later addition – the 1929 brochure entry shows that this space was originally occupied by another double berth which was screened from the passageway by a curtain.

She looks stunning and, despite the queasiness and spinning, it was a pleasure and a real honour to spend the day on this very special lady. Many thanks to Peter, Dawn, Colin and the Wherry Yacht Charter Trust.

I’ve yet another update on the whereabouts and history of one of the original Broads Tours passenger launches – it’s amazing just how much information is coming in on this subject and how much affection there is for these classic wooden tour boats.

The Prince pictured in the 1920s

I was contacted a few weeks ago by Ronnie Rusack who is the owner of the Ratho Princess. As mentioned in a previous blog, Ratho Princess began life as The Prince which was built for George Smith and sons Broads Tours business at Hoveton in 1924 by the renowned boatbuilder Graham Bunn. Ronnie very kindly sent me a whole load of photos and information about the history of this beautiful launch and has given me permission to share some of that on here. The Prince /Ratho Princess is around 41 ft in length with a 10 ft beam and escaped the cutting in half and lengthening process which some of the other early Broads Tours launches underwent when Charles Hannaford took over the fleet in the mid 1930s.  The photograph on the left is a very early shot of The Prince, presumably taken at the Broads Tours base at Hoveton. It was originally fitted with a petrol engine but this was replaced c1969/70 with a Perkins 4107 diesel engine.

Princess Victoria - pictured in the late 1970s

In 1973 The Prince was sold to Waveney Rivers Tours at Oulton Broad from where she operated until the winter of 1977 when she was then purchased by Cedric Lovewell who owned the Southern Rivers Steamer company at Norwich. Cedric renamed her Princess Victoria after his daughter and, c1983, replaced the Perkins engine with a 1.5 BMC which had been removed from another ex-Broads Tours Launch – The Countess. As Princess Victoria, she was used to run trips on the Wensum and the Yare alongside Empress and Prince Edward, two other former Broads Tours passenger launches. As previously mentioned, Prince Edward had begun life as Princess Pat, built c1924, but was sadly destroyed by fire in April 1991. The photograph on the right shows Princess Victoria passing Cow Tower on the River Wensum in Norwich in the late 1970s.

Moving to her new home on the Union Canal on the 26th November 1993

In 1991 she found another new owner, businessman Joe Holland, who planned to operate a passenger service between Kirkintilloch and Glasgow on the Forth and Clyde Canal. It turned out to be a short lived venture, but a forlorn looking Princess Victoria was spotted by Ronnie Rusack who instantly fell in love with her. After approaching the owner, Ronnie managed to purchase her in 1993 for just £5,000. Ronnie owned the Bridge Inn at Ratho, just outside Edinburgh, from where he also ran two cruising restaurant boats. Princess Victoria was to become a passenger trip boat at the new Edinburgh Canal Centre which he was planning to establish at the Bridge Inn. The photograph on the left was taken on the day that the boat was craned out of the water at Kirkintilloch and transported to her new home at Ratho on the Union Canal. Ronnie recalls that it was a freezing cold November morning and a concrete boat was called upon to break the ice to enable Princess Victoria to reach a point on the canal where she could be craned out onto the lorry. Despite the thick fog which descended over central Scotland that day, she made it safely to Ratho by early afternoon.

In January 1994 work began on restoring and converting Princess Victoria for use on the Union Canal. Head height inside the boat was low and the roll-back sunshine roof was prone to leaks so and new raised central section of the roof was built. The old seating was stripped out and replaced, the decision being made to reduce her capacity from 52 to just 36 passengers to give a little more comfort to those onboard. The aft cabin was also refurbished for use as a galley for serving teas and coffees. Some planking was replaced, the hull was stripped down and repainted, the interior re-varnished and she was ready for use by April of that year. Ronnie approached a local primary school to come up with a new name for her and she was duly re-christened Ratho Princess.

Ratho Princess passing the Forth bridges on her way to Leith Festival of Sail on the 23rd May 2003

Skippered by ex London policeman Bill Irvine, she proved to be very popular with visitors and made daily afternoon trips between Ratho and the M8 blockage on the Union Canal – navigation on the canal had closed in 1966 and had later been severed by the building of the M8 motorway. The Edinburgh Canal Centre became involved in a campaign to restore the Scottish Lowland Canals, joining forces with British Waterways Scotland to bid for funding from the Millennium Commission for the project. The bid was successful and in the year 2000 Ratho Princess was able to cruise to Edinburgh Linlithgow and Falkirk. In 2002 the magnificent Falkirk Wheel was completed, connecting the Union to the Forth and Clyde Canal once again. Ratho Princess has since attended many events throughout central Scotland and even managed a short sea trip round the coast to the Festival of Sail at Leith Docks in May 2003, passing beneath the Forth bridges en-route (see photo above right).

The remodeled interior of Ratho princess

In 2005, Ronnie decided to sell his business but just couldn’t bear to part with Ratho Princess. Instead, he decided to remodel the interior to make her suitable for living on board whilst away from home. Keen that the redesign should compliment her age and character, the refurbishment took six months to complete with bespoke furniture being commissioned to fit her curves. The aft tea room became a bedroom whilst a new galley, toilet and lounge were created in the main cabin. Looking at the photograph on the left of her new interior, I think a remarkable job was done and she looks stunning. Ratho Princess continued to earn her keep for a little while longer, carrying just six VIP passengers at a time on trips between Edinburgh and Bowling on the Clyde, but since 2010 has been used mainly for pleasure by Ronnie. She still attracts a lot of attention however, and this year attended the celebrations for the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Falkirk Wheel and travelled along the River Forth to Stirling for the Queens Diamond Jubilee Flotilla.

Ratho Princess pictured in 2010 at the event which was staged to mark the 10th anniversary of the re-opening of the Union Canal.

Ratho Princess at Stirling for the Queens Diamond Jubilee Flotilla in June 2012.

Someone once said that you don’t own a classic wooden boat – you are just a custodian. It’s wonderful to know that this 90 year old lady is still in still going strong and has found such a great custodian in Ronnie Rusack. My thanks to him for providing the photos seen here and also for the wealth of information on her history.

Previous blog posts on the ex Broads Tours launches:

Old Broads Tours boats never die …

Broads Tours update

More Broads Tours

Broads Tours – Princess Mary

It was a sad day when the Sutton Mill museum closed its doors to the public in September 2008 but the vast collection of artifacts housed in the former corn mill are now to be sold by auction on the 11th and 12th of September.

Sutton Mill was built in 1789  for grinding corn, originally with eight floors, but following a fire in 1861 it was rebuilt with an additional floor and at just under 80ft in height is now the tallest surviving tower mill in the UK. The mill ceased working in 1940 after a fire which was caused by a lightning strike. In 1975 it was bought by Chris and Marian Nunn who set about restoring the building to house their ever growing collection of items which reflected the changing social history of Britain. Sutton Mill and its Broads Museum (not to be confused with the Museum of the Broads at Stalham) contained an eclectic mix of rural and domestic bygones, old tools, televisions, radios and other early electrical items, tobacciana, household goods and food packaging, advertising memorabilia and shop displays which included a complete Victorian pharmacy.

Sutton Mill - copyright Colin Mitchell see details below

The collection began in the late 1950s when Chris Nunn rescued an old wooden washing dolly which was being used by a neighbour to flatten a path. The realisation that so much of our social history was being discarded in the post war years led to the couple amassing an incredible array of items – Sutton Mill provided the floor space to display the collection to the public in a suitably quirky setting. The museum attracted up to 20,000 visitors a year, but in 2005 Mr Nunn decided that it was time to retire. The museum was closed, the mill and it’s contents were put up for sale and were eventually bought by the Sussex based company Yesterday’s World who already ran a bygones attraction on Great Yarmouth’s Marine Parade. It was clear that further restoration work was needed when, in 2007, the upper floor was declared unsafe for the public. A notice posted on their website in September 2008 announced that, after a difficult year of trading, the museum had become a less than viable operation and was closed. In February 2011, the Eastern Daily Press reported on local concerns over the dilapidated state of the mill which had been placed on the buildings at risk register – Yesterday’s World stated that it was unable to fund the estimated £500,000 restoration costs but pledged to work with North Norfolk District Council to ensure that the Grade 2* listed mill was preserved. They blamed the failure of the museum on the fact that the mill was off the tourist trail, poorly signed and down narrow roads in a remote location.

The museum’s exhibits have now been divided into over 1000 lots which will be auctioned at Sutton Mill on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th September by Diss based auctioneers T.W. Gaze. The lots can be viewed on Monday 10th September or via the online catalogue on their website. Some of the weird and wonderful items up for sale include a “Grip Test” amusement arcade machine, an ice cream vendors tricycle, a complete bookbinding workshop, a GB patent cast iron cucumber slicer and a stuffed coypu!

The photograph of Sutton Mill © Copyright Colin Mitchell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Sunday 26th August marks the 100th anniversary of the devastating floods which hit the region. I’ve covered the event being held to mark the centenary by the Bure Navigation Conservation Trust at Coltishall this weekend and the effects of the flood on that section of the Upper Bure in previous blog posts, but I thought I’d share a few of the old postcards which were produced at the time showing the aftermath of the floods.

Most of these images can already be found within the postcards section of the Broadland Memories website but I thought it relevant to re-publish a selection here. There had been rain over several days prior to the storm but it began raining heavily in the early hours of Monday 26th August 1912 and in less than 24 hours over 8” had fallen over the region. The accompanying gales ensured that the tide remained high and, as the water poured off of the land, the rivers were breached in many places causing mass flooding across Norfolk and Suffolk. Over 40 bridges were destroyed, railways became blocked and the harvest was lost. A number of lives were lost and thousands more were left homeless as the flood water swept through the region. Because of it’s high population, Norwich was one of the worst hit areas. Numerous photographs were taken throughout the city at the time and were subsequently issued as postcards, so it’s here that I begin the photo gallery.

The first postcard shows a very animated scene in Prince of Wales Road.

It is said that the flood water in Norwich rose to over 15 feet above the normal high tide level and that Carrow Road (pictured above) resembled a canal. Power and communications in the city were cut and Norwich effectively became cut off from the outside world for a few days until the water began to recede.

The flooding in Magdalen Street pictured on August 27th 1912. As the water levels rose the sewers became blocked and the floodwater had nowhere to go, a problem made worse by the fact that the gullies in the streets became blocked by debris.

The heavily populated areas of Heigham, Coslany and Westwick were the worst affected areas of the city – they were also the poorest districts and over 3,500 homes were flooded with 15,000 people being affected, 2000 of whom were left homeless. The YMCA in Norwich took in 280 people who had been evacuated from their homes, many more were housed temporarily in local schools. The postcard above shows Exeter Street, the terraced houses seen here no longer exist.

The printing works of the Norwich Mercury on Bridge Street were destroyed as the Wensum became a raging torrent. The works stood on the riverside near to St. Miles Cosalny Bridge. Four people lost their lives in Norwich, including fish porter George Brodie who was one of the many heroic people who attempted to rescue those who were trapped in their homes.

For those who remained in their homes, food and other supplies were delivered by boat or horse and cart. Local postcard collector Tony Williamson contacted me recently to identify the location seen above as Lothian Street with Cushions woodyard (still trading there) seen on the right. He also said that this particular image of the floods was one of several which were staged for the camera: “Francis Willmott, (a photographer from Muspole St) took a shot just previous to this showing the cottagers, the boatman and Lord Wodehouse who was standing in a few inches of water.“

Trowse Bridge was one of the many bridges in the region which were destroyed or damaged in the 1912 floods. The bridge was rebuilt in the following year.

The road bridge which crossed the River Yare at Lakenham was also destroyed.

Villages along the Yare were affected too as the river burst its banks. This particular postcard shows a train crossing the flooded marshes at Cantley. What’s interesting is that this is actually dated as being October 1912 – is the date right ….. or did the floodwater really take this long to subside?

The first of two photographs of the aftermath of the floods at Beccles, captioned as showing Gillingham Dam on August 28th 2012.

Another image of the floodwater in Beccles, photographed in Bridge Street. A contemporary account of the floods in Beccles can be found on the Foxearth Local History Society website.

Further upstream, this birds eye view of Bungay appears to have been taken from the top of the tower of St. Mary’s Church, looking out across Trinity Street to the River Waveney and surrounding countryside.

Moving to the River Bure, this is the first image which comes by courtesy of the Norfolk County Council Library & Information Service and shows Horning Ferry Inn.

Further upstream, the deluge caused considerable damage. Huge amounts of debris was carried down the Upper Bure and the lock at Buxton collapsed, causing an even greater surge of water which also destroyed the road bridge at Coltishall (seen above). The resulting damage was catastrophic for the Aylsham Navigation, the Commissioners were unable to fund the estimated £4,000 repair costs, and the navigation was closed. The County Council’s Picture Norfolk archive contains many more images of the 1912 floods – just type 1912 into the search box.

I’ll finish with what is probably one of the most iconic images of the aftermath of the 1912 floods. It shows the trading wherry Zulu, which was famously trapped above the lock at Buxton, being hauled out and dragged round the damaged lock on rollers before being relaunched below.

I received some lovely photographs via email this week which were taken on the Norfolk Broads in the 1950s and 1960s by John Austin. John was part of a group of sea scouts who visited Broadland annually, during Easter week, hiring multiple boats from Hearts Cruisers at Thorpe St. Andrew. I’ll add a selection of the images to the main Broadland Memories photo galleries when time allows but for now I thought I’d share a few of them on here.

John was the senior scoutmaster for his group and has fond memories of the old Hearts fleet and Commander Ron Ashby: “Because of our policy to always return a Boat in better condition than when we started our trips, The Commander often would let us have a Brand new Boat for trials at reduced rates, we usually had 3 boats at a time, often The Queen, King and Ten, or other combinations. One year we had horrendous storms, and returning to base, had a few minor breakages of crockery, for which we apologized and offered to pay, to which the Commander replied, “Bunny” my boy, we’ve had 5 boats sunk this week, the only ones I haven’t had to worry about, were the ones you had, No Charge.“

The first photograph was taken at the Hearts Cruisers base on Thorpe Island.

The next photograph shows three of the boats hired by the sea scouts – in the foreground is Y474 King of Hearts, and in the background are Y408 Queen of Hearts on the left with Y574 Princess of Hearts alongside.

In the third photo some of the sea scouts are enjoying a hearty meal on board!

The final image is an interesting one as it was taken at Geldeston Locks Inn and features landlady Susan Ellis standing alongside some of the group. John recalls: “Susan was a stickler for keeping to licensing hours even in her isolated position, she would not serve you even a cider out of hours.“

Coincidentally, I received a few old press cuttings from Vaughan Ashby this week relating to the Hearts and Jenner’s boatyards which will also make their way onto the website soon. I set out with the best of intentions this month to try and catch up on a few website odds and ends – photo captions and history pages to update, various small batches of photos to sort through and prepare, some memories of boating in the 1960s to add and I still have a blog update to write on Broads Tours The Prince. The demands of looking after after an 83 year old mum and a 91 year old mother-in-law seem to have swallowed up all my spare time but I shall crack on with things as and when I am able!

If you are starting your holiday next weekend, or are at a loose end and are in the area, then just a quick reminder about the event which is being staged by the Bure Navigation Conservation Trust at Coltishall Common on Sunday 26th August from 12 noon to 5pm.

The family friendly event, held in conjunction with the Coltishall Commons Trust and the Norfolk Wherry Trust, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the devastating floods which closed the navigation on the River Bure between Coltishall and Aylsham in 1912 and will feature a whole host of activities, exhibitions, stalls, entertainment, food and drink. The wherry Albion will be in attendance, carrying a token cargo of ale from the Lowestoft based Green Jack Brewery which will later be on sale at the Rising Sun pub, along with the historic houseboat Heather, both of which which will be open for visitors to view.  The Museum of the Broads will also be amongst those exhibiting on the day and there will be some traditional village fete type games, a raffle, tombola and a hog roast! Stuart Wilson, chairman of the BNCT says: “The Coltishall event is a chance for everyone to have a great time whilst remembering the past and laying foundations for the future by raising funds for three worthwhile Norfolk-based charities.” For more details visit the event page on the BNCT website. Visitors will also have the opportunity to purchase pre-publication copies a book on the history of the navigation, Sail and Storm, produced by the Aylsham Local History Society. A potted history of the navigation can be found on this previous blog post

Moorings at Coltishall are likely to fill up quickly, and to avoid clogging the village up with traffic the trust have organised a vintage 1950s Bedford bus to shuttle visitors between Roys overspill car park at Wroxham and Coltishall Common. The return trip will cost £2 for adults and £1 for children. Entry to the event itself is free.

Many people are aware of the archive.org Wayback Machine which has archived over 150 billion web pages from 1996 to the present day and allows you to look back in time to see what your favourite websites used to look like in the past. A recent comment on the Norfolk Broads Forum about the creation of the Broadland Memories website has prompted me to dig into my own archives to find a very early incarnation of the BM website.

It was around this time six years ago that I first had the madcap idea of creating an online archive where old photographs and memories of life and leisure on the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads could be gathered together in one place and hopefully preserved for future generations. Quite honestly, I hadn’t got a clue where to start, having no previous experience whatsoever of website design. Learning how to build a website using code was completely out of the question, but I discovered that there was software out there that worked in a very similar way to a desktop publisher which would hopefully enable me to create something that was workable. Funds being somewhat limited (nothing changes), I happened to have a copy Serif’s WebPlus 7 that was bundled onto a CD which came free with a computer magazine, so I decided to give this a try. With lots of great advice from the members of the Norfolk Broads Forum, a whole heap of begging for old photos and memories and eleven weeks of head scratching and swearing at the computer later, I finally launched the very first version of the Broadland Memories website on November 3rd 2006. Looking back at that first incarnation now I feel so embarrassed at just how amateurish the whole thing looked …. although there are those who would say that things haven’t really changed much on that score! As a first attempt, with no design experience and some outdated and very limited software I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on myself – at least it got the idea of a Broadland Archive off the ground.

The main archive directory page of January 2007 (see right) was a far cry from what it is today, although I did my best to make it as easy to navigate through the site as was possible. It was functional, but it certainly wasn’t pretty!  As you can see, I hadn’t created the 1980s and 1990s sections at this point and the “Paper & Ephemera” archive wasn’t even on the drawing board.  Next to that is one of the original 1950s photo gallery pages. Photographs in the landscape format were displayed at a resolution of just 400 pixels in width, whilst the layout was somewhat haphazard and untidy. It’s interesting to note however that there were just five pages of photos from this decade at that time, and similar amounts in both the 1900-1950s gallery and the 1960s gallery.  To put that into context, there are now over 150 photo gallery pages spanning the different decades on Broadland Memories. The website continued to grow slowly over the next year, still largely contributed to by the members of the NBF, but Google eventually did its job and a wider audience began to discover it.

A catastrophic computer failure late in 2007 gave me the nudge I needed to upgrade the web design software to the latest version of WebPlus 10. Over the winter months I redesigned and rebuilt the entire website from scratch, the end result was pretty much what you see today. The Paper & Ephemera section followed soon afterwards and it’s been tweeked here and there over the intervening years, including another major software upgrade after discovering some display issues with an Internet Explorer update. More recently the website has expanded to include the BM Blog and the BM YouTube channel. As from this week you can also follow Broadland Memories on Twitter!

This isn’t intended to be a self congratulatory post at all, it’s more to question whether a website is ever really finished? By the very nature of the Broadland Memories Archive, it will always be added to and continue to expand as time goes on. I’m also constantly tweeking and adapting things to try to make the site easier for me to keep on top of. There are still aspects that I’m not happy with, but I have to work within the limitations of the software and my design capabilities. From the onset, I wanted the website to have more of a feel of a magazine or a book, with everything laid out there to see without the need to click on photos to enlarge them. It also needed to be fairly simple to navigate through and I didn’t see the need for flash graphics a gizmos to distract from the content. I’ve probably made a rod for my own back in creating the page templates as I have, and there are now off the shelf web templates that might make things quicker from my point of view …. but I’ve sort of got used to working the way I do! WebPlus has a lot of fans, but it also has it’s detractors ….. Broadland Memories has even been picked out as an example of “how not to build a website” in the past! The main thing is that it seems to work and it enables me to get the wealth of interesting and historic material which has been sent to me out there for others to share. Writing this post has also been a rather nostalgic (if somewhat cringe-worthy on my part) look back at the humble beginnings of the archive. Over the last six years my “hobby” website seems to have taken on a life of its own and is now pretty much a full time job during the winter months! It can be hard work but it’s a labour of love and, as I always say, it’s the people who have taken the time to get in contact, scan their old photos or write down their memories of the Broads for me which make the Broadland Memories website what it is. Many thanks to you all.