Tourists sunbathing on Great Yarmouth beach, c. 1950
Great Yarmouth Museums
Roller skating at Wellington Pier, c. 1950
Courtesy of Mr P. Parker
One of the rides at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach
Great Yarmouth Museums
Written memories of Great Yarmouth
By Laura Matthews
My grandmother had a week's holiday in Great Yarmouth every summer for over 50 years. During the 1920s and 30s my grandparents and 4 children lodged with Mrs Hood at 8 Garfield Road, Newtown, Great Yarmouth. My Grandmother would buy food in the morning and Mrs Hood would then prepare it for their evening meal, after the family had been out all day. I have several photos from that time of the family on the beach, boating lake and in the gardens of the new waterways.
After the war, my grandparents brought me up and so I was included in these holidays. We then stayed at the Bath Hotel on Marine Parade, run by Mr and Mrs Jefferies. There were washbasins in the bedrooms. But arrangements had to be made with the management if we wanted to use the bathroom. This seemed like the height of luxury to me as at that time we lived in a country cottage with an outside toilet and a tin bath! At the end of the holiday the waitresses were given a half-crown tip and the cook got 5 shillings.
Most days were spent on the beach or sitting on deckchairs around the Marina, where we could listen to the music from the shows going on inside and watch the bowling matches. There were also trips on the Golden Galleon from the Quay, on the Norwich Belle or the speedboat from the end of Britannia Pier, and to Scroby Sands from the beach. There was roller-skating at the Wellington Pier, and a Brass Band played in the gardens there most Sundays. As a child my favourite pastime was the pony rides at 6d a time, which went from the jetty as far as the Wellington Pier and back again.
We went to a different show every night of the week. Some of the theatres changed their programmes mid-week so it was possible to see a completely different show there twice in the week. There were variety shows at the Wellington Pier, Britannia Pier, Windmill Theatre, Royal Aquarium and ABC Theatre, and of course the Circus and great plays at the Little Theatre.
Visits to the Pleasure Beach were not just for the rides but also for the sideshows, which included sights like a calf with two heads, dwarfs and someone called Victor Victoria!! I think there was a motorcycle "Wall of Death". Another "must do" was to go to the market on Wednesdays, mostly to listen to the stallholders shouting their wares, especially the crockery sellers who would throw the crockery about without any breakages. On the way back we called at the Bloater shop to send boxes of bloaters to several relatives.
After the Bath Hotel we stayed at the Holkham Hotel, run by Mr and Mrs Reily. I have a receipt from there dated 7/8/1958, which shows the cost of full board for 3 adults and 2 children to be £43.2.0. Some of my memories from that time (1960s) are of promenade photographers, how cold the open-air swimming pool was, and of a rather strange man who walked around the beach selling ice-creams from some sort of cold-box. Beach huts were booked for the same week each year and we used to meet up with the same people in the neighbouring huts and formed some very good friendships.
Written by Mrs. B. Hearn