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).
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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.
 
Stand by vessels in Lowestofts trawler basin
 
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.
 
Lowestoft Outer Harbour
 
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 Dry Dock
 
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.
 
Don't mess with Jack
 
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.
 
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