Old pictures of Lowestofts
harbour,boats and surrounding area.
(The pictures and words are now out dated but
we have left this page as an archive because it shows a small part of
Lowestofts recent history).
.
These pictures were taken in Lowestoft harbour around
2002 .All Lowestofts beam trawlers were sold or scrapped soon after these
pictures were taken...Ten years later most of the rig support and stand by
vessels (the red boats in these pictures),originally owned by Putfords (later
Seacore Marine) have mostly gone the same way too.The fishing boats,fish
merchants and the fish auctions are all just about gone,forced off the
docks to cater for the wind farm industry.
Rig stand by vessels,some redundant,some waiting new
owners,some just waiting to be towed away and turned into razor blades.At the
time China and India were demanding so much steel that most of these would have
ended up there,to be broken up. The Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club and
marina are in the background of this picture..A short distance to the left is
the North Sea to the right is Lowestofts bascule bridge famous all over the UK
for causing constant traffic jams and chaos. The bridge opens to provide access
for yachts to Oulton Broad and on to the Norfolk Broads, which then causes
traffic to come to a halt in much of Lowestoft,it also breaks down on a
fairly regular basis.
Waveney Road and Baconsdozen was on the extreme right of this
picture.At the time the store supplied the commercial fishing boats with
clothing and supplies.After the council banned all parking/loading and unloading
it closed.The buildings around the store were all at one time offices
but are now mainly low rent flats and bed sits for the unemployed and
unemployable. Years ago this part of the dock was full of railway
lines,trucks and sheds,now they've vanished,along with the herring industry they
supported.Small numbers of commercial vessels use the harbour today but
there are no large fishing boats left to.The fencing etc to the right has now
been removed and the area tidied up in readiness for being used as a base for
the offshore turbine and wind farm industry.
Lowestoft's Commercial Road and an ex rescue boat was
being converted to a diving support vessel in the dry dock of Small & Co of
Lowestoft.Commercial road runs alongside the river talisman trawlers and others
had net stores there,Putfords and other marine businesses had offices and work
shops either side.Shipbuilders and the repair yards of Colne Shipping
and others were on the river banks,the Excelsior Trust is now based
there.
This was Jack,who arrived in 2001 and swifly rose through
the ranks to become head of security and the complaints department. Notice his
webbed feet,he was a very strong swimmer and a loyal friend. These pictures were
taken in 2002 when Baconsdozen was still a ships chandlers,and supplied a
limited and steadily dwindling amount of waterproof clothing,gloves and
souwesters to what little was left of the fishing fleets.The main business now
is the mail order of tools,especially older imperial pattern ones which we send all over the
world,however we have happily left Lowestoft and its useless council behind
us..
Jack took his duties very seriously and also worked as a
doorman.He died in Feb 2012 and is still missed. RIP Jack.
