A Trip To Great Yarmouth

~ beetleypete

Today (Saturday) was the warmest day of the year so far, reaching 21C. Despite the warmth, there were dull skies and very strong winds. We decided to go to the East Coast of Norfolk for the afternoon, leaving at midday and heading for the small resort of Caister-On-Sea. However, on arrival at the car park there, we were unable to park as the machines only took coins. We didn’t have any, and there was nowhere nearby to get change.

Undaunted, we left the town and headed to the partly-ruined Caister Castle, which houses a car museum.

It was closed.

That left the option of driving a few miles south to the busy seaside town of Great Yarmouth, which we did. Popular since 1760, and greatly developed in the Victorian era, this large town is a holiday destination for many people in England. Sadly, it has lost most of its Victorian grandeur and replaced that with gift shops, amusement arcades, and fish and chip shops. But we do love a bit of ‘retro seaside’, so parked the car and headed out.

Depite the coastal gloom, I took some photos. (They can be enlarged on Flickr by clicking on them)

The once-famous Winter Gardens contained exotic plants and tea was served in a genteel fashion. Opened in 1904, it lost it’s appeal some years ago, closing down in 2008. It has since fallen into disrepair, though there are plans to restore and reopen it.

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The Empire Picture House opened in 1911, showing silent films. It has had various uses since, and is now a nightclub and street food venue. Fortunately, the wonderful architecture has survived.

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The main pier in the town is the Britannia Pier. It has a theatre, amusements, and a small funfair.

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Traditional donkey rides are still available on the beach under the pier.

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The beach and seafront.

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The 41 mile drive home was traffic free, and we ordered a delivery of Chinese food for our evening meal. A pretty good Saturday!

64 thoughts on “A Trip To Great Yarmouth”

  2. Considering it didn’t go to plan, it doesn’t sound too bad. I’ve never been to Great Yarmouth but it does remind me of many seaside towns I’ve visited. I hope they do something with the Winter Gardens. It must have been amazing, and the Empire is quite a wonderful building. Thanks for sharing a trip down nostalgia lane, Pete.

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  3. You jogged a few memories here, Pete.

    I loved donkey rides as a kid. On Llandudno beach, mainly, but also sometimes on a day trip to Blackpool. At Llandudno, where we went every year for a week’s holiday, I had a favourite. He was called Johnny, and was black.

    We lived in Suffolk for a few years in the 1970s. I remember the cold North Sea. And visiting on a lovely, sunny day, only to find a sea fret there. When we travelled a couple of miles inland, we ate our picnic on a village green in glorious, warm sunshine!

    Lovely pictures . I hope the Winter Garden building gets renovated.

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    1. I am very happy to have jogged those memories. There was something idyllic for me about seaside towns as a child in London, and that never left me. The Winter Gardens development is dragging on, and I fear the completed project will have little elegance or class about it inside. I just hope that they are forced to renovate and restore the original building without any significant changes.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  4. That’s an impressive beach. I had forgotten about donkey rides. I would like simply feeding them apples or carrots. I hope they manage to restore the old building. Too bad about the other places being “out of reach” but it seems to enjoyed the day regardless.

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    1. The good news is that the donkeys are well cared-for, and completely rested out of season. The owners have to have a council licence to operate, and they look after them as it is their only source of income. The beaches in Norfolk are spacious and huge, but the North Sea is brown and cold!

      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. There was a line in an old war movie in which Robert Hardy was an officer in a submarine that had been damaged by a torpedo. It was filling with water and one of the junior chaps shuddered “Have you ever known anything so cold?” The Robert Hardy character said “Lord yes! Brighton in August!” Not the North Sea I know but it struck me as funny.

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    1. It was definitely a nice day. We were out and about for 5 hours, enjoyed some sea air, and walked quite a long way too. Fortunately, the drive there and back is an easy one, so allows more time at the destination.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  6. Pingback: Sunday Musings In April | beetleypete

    1. We all enjoyed seaside trips back then, they were a big deal. Now I live so close to the coast in Norfolk, we could literally go every day if we wanted to.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  8. We had gusts to 60! Been like this for several days. Waiting outside on Thursday my car was rocking in the parking lot outside the grand daughter’s volleyball building. And not from loud music or any other activity known to cause that sort of thing🤣

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  10. Pingback: A Trip To Great Yarmouth | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

    1. I was wearing shorts, but also a coat. The wind was too much for enjoying the beach. I like that ‘faded glory’ of the old English seaside, it has always appealed to me.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  14. I was born here in Beccles, back in the late forties (1948). We’re barely nine miles inland from my favourite seaside Port town of Lowestoft, which is a stones throw away, south of Great Yarmouth(a short bus ride in both cases..

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  15. We often went to Yarmouth in the past when the boys were young, but not so much now as we prefer the IOW. Infrequently now we’ll go there en masse when everyone is free for a day out, but apart from the lovely beach it all seems rather tacky in comparison to when my parents took me there for a short break as a teenager in the early 1970s.

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    1. The choice of fish and chip places is huge. There seems to be somewhere selling them every 200 yards. It is dated and very run down, but to be honest that is part of the appeal for me, Carol. Even the Sea Life Centre has closed. I quite like the ‘faded glory’ of such places. (And the donkey rides have gone up to £4 a go!)

      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  18. Dull skies and strong winds. Sounds like here. Only I participated in what amounted to a barn raising in a backyard in Farmers Branch. Sounds like the country, but it’s two blocks from the interstate. And it was really a 10×14 covered pergola type thing but it still took all day in a high wind🤣 Great pics, wonderful place!

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    1. Raising a building might have been hard here yesterday. The winds were up to 70mph, and buffeting the car around on the exposed main A road. I like going to such places that have almost been trapped in a certain time.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  19. It sounds like what you described is in the film, ‘empire of light.’ Have you seen it? Very good film. The place you described and the theater both. Sounds like a really good day and glad you didn’t give up , even with the challenges

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    1. That film is on my wish list to see. Although it is set 200 miles to the south from Great Yarmouth, most of those English seaside towns are very similar, with the same problems attracting tourists to outdated facilities and entertainment.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. The Winter Palace received a grant for complete refurbishment, and since then they have been arguing about what to do with it. The current plan is to have various food outlets, restaurants, and small shops inside, but it keeps stalling through the planning approval process.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. I can imagine how wonderful The Empire would have been as a cinema in its heyday. It’s a great pity that it didn’t remain one, as the current interior use is rather ‘shabby’.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  24. Despite your high temperatures, twice what it was here, it doesn’t look like a beach day. I hate car parks these days as do many only take apps for payment. I much prefer cash or card. Getting a mobile signal is not guaranteed around here.

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    1. It was only brave souls and tiny children who were venturing onto the beach in the cold wind, but the promenade and town were both very busy.

      We have been caught out with phone app parking in the past, and much prefer card payment car parks. Those taking coins are so rare now, we didn’t think to take any out with us. The car park in Yarmouth yesterday was £6.80 for 4 hours, or £8 all day in an alternative car park. We paid for 4 hours by card, long enough for our afternoon there.

      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  26. I think I read about Great Yarmouth in David Copperfield as a child and have always been intrigued. I haven’t been to visit as of yet. But I have been to Whitby and Scarborough in Yorkshire, so have experienced charming British seaside towns.

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    1. Whitby has more charm, but Scarborough is very similar to Great Yarmouth. There is a blue plaque on the building where Dickens wrote the book. The association with writers is celebrated in the town. ‘Charles Dickens set key scenes of David Copperfield in Yarmouth and stayed at the Royal Hotel while writing the novel; describing the town as “the finest place in the universe.” While Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe, simply remarked that Yarmouth was “infinitely superior to Norwich.”’

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  27. (1) Traditional donkey rides? We don’t have traditional donkeys here. They’re wild burros. And you definitely can’t ride them!
    (2) I really liked the picture of the Empire Picture House. But it shouldn’t be a nightclub. I hope the Empire strikes back!
    (3) That last photo is cool. I love the architecture of that seafront building!

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