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Sunday August 9, 2009

Great Yarmouth

You can take your "pleasure craft" from the North Broads down to Yarmouth but this is not really a holiday for amateurs like us. The waters become tidal and you have to be very careful not to become stranded, and there are many other hazzards. So we decided to visit the historic town by spending our last night there before returning home.

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Yarmouth's history is all around - and pretty easy to spot through the trappings of modern additions. Our hotel itself, the Imperial, was delightful - an old building on the sea front, originally opened in the 1800s as a boarding house for men - its fascinating history with photos is displayed in the hotel foyer.

However, Yarmouth was not quite what I expected. A little more like Blackpool rather than Portsmouth - though, as my colleague Tony points out, I do not think I have ever been to Blackpool so I cannot really make that comparison! It is a real bright-lights-and-entertainment-like place. True - there were many people with tattoos but just not the jolly jack tars I was expecting (ok I admit - my ideas lie somewhere in the 19th century). So - we were able to finally get an excellent "fish and chip supper" at the famous Harry Ramsden's - unfortunately not its traditional home, which is in Yorkshire, but part of a worldwide chain.

The town is full of relics of the Victorian era - read about them here - I wish I had printed off these walks and information prior to coming here. Many music halls and other venues are all still standing - but either derelict or mutilated by modern annexes and flashing neon lights. The saddest was the Winter Garden - where some attempt has been made to commercialise it as a theme park of sorts - but currently it is closed up (supposedly only temporarily for "essential maintenance") together with its theme park contents, and only the lovely Victorian glass house left to admire from the outside.

There was a lot more to offer beyond gazing glumly at the past - here I am reclining on a concrete sofa (modern sculpture) - and almost alongside are some archaeological remains of an ancient monastery.

Yarmouth_0755.jpg

Once we had moved along the sea front to the more industrial part, at the mouth of the river, we found the Nelson monument. It is out of the town and (on a Sunday at least) quite deserted. Some suggest it does not have the pride of position it deserves but I loved it, in all its splendour, surrounded by light industry.

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On our way out, we saw the complications of living in a town divided by a busy river.

YarmouthBridge_0730.jpg

Posted by Christina at 12:58 PM. Category: Days Out

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