Mending the Nets - the job of the Beatsters
Photograph showing Beasters mending the nets
By John Layton
Mending the nets was an important job in itself, as each net was some 50m long, and, with up to 100 nets per boat, the total length of netting per boat could be almost two miles.
The beatsters, as the net-menders were called, were highly skilled and, it is said, could almost mend nets in their sleep!
My grandmother, on my father's side, was a Head Beatster in the 1920's/1930's. She was paid piece-rate, at 2/6d (12 1/2p) per net, no matter how badly it was holed. If there was a large hole, it would take one or two weeks to fix, and the family would have to go hungry!
Beatsters at work, mending nets, 1950's
Great Yarmouth Musuems