Oulton Broad

Monday 19 August 2002. Having left Lowestoft, we travelled round about two miles to Oulton Broad where our first job was to have a spot of lunch.

Oulton Broad is one of the famous Norfolk Broads - though really it is more correct to call it a Suffolk Broad. The Broads (a neat way of getting around the county problem) were thought to be natural features until the 1960s when it was proved that they were the result of peat workings in medieval times. Local monasteries had excavated them, selling the peat for fuel - for burning on fires basically - to local communities. Norwich Cathedral alone took 320,000 tonnes a year.

At some point sea levels rose and flooded the excavations. Bad news for Pete and Doug, who were shovelling in the pit that day, but at least their names were and will be remembered... Windpumps, often mistaken by visitors as windmills and dykes were hastily constructed but the flooding continued until the area looked like that of today with broad lakes, reed beds, marshes and groups of young men falling overboard from boats whilst totally bladdered.

The area became known for boating holidays quite early. Small yachts were available for hire from 1878, Harry Blake opened an agency for yachting holidays in 1908 and the familiar firm Hoseasons made an appearance shortly after World War II. Boats on the Broads these days vary from preserved old trading wherries, to small day-hire boats like those pictured in the foreground, all the way to modern electric cruisers as the Broads Authority is continually adding charging points at mooring places.

At the east end of Oulton Broad is Mutford Lock which links the freshwater Broad to the saltwater Lake Lothing. The lake stretches through Lowestoft and then opens to the sea.

Looking across the lock gates to the Wherry Inn, named after the large sailed trading vessels. All other boats on the Broads must give way to sailing vessels as they don't have accelerators or brakes and whether they can dodge you depends almost exclusively on the whims of the wind and your skill or stupidity whichever applies.

Depending on the direction the wind is blowing it is often the case that sailing boats can only progress along the rivers by tacking to zig-zag across the width of the river. We had booked a boat ourselves, but not for this day - that joy was still to come. For now we sat and relaxed waiting for the afternoon opening of a nearby transport museum. Which we will see in the next article!

Great Yarmouth 2002 Index