There’s nowhere like Norfolk
s i th u o m r a Y Why
Great
The Hippodrome
Why is Yarmouth called Great? It’s not just because it’s the East Coast’s greatest seaside resort. The town also has a rich heritage stretching back many centuries.
The herring was also called a silver darling, but in Great Yarmouth we also had unique bloaters. No, that’s not someone who ate all the pies but a herring that is intact. Like losing football captains, herring were usually gutted.
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By the late 19th century the town was the largest herring port in the world and in 1913 1,163 fishing boats were operating out of the port – it’s said you could walk across the river boat-by-boat – and the herring were exported as far afield as Russia, India and Africa. On one day alone, the fleet brought in 80 million fish! Explore the town’s fishing heritage at the Time & Tide Museum, a former smokehouse. And no, that’s not somewhere Fag Ash Lils used to hang out, it’s where the fish brought into port were cured to give them a longer shelf-life. Keep up! Britain’s greatest naval commander Horatio Nelson spent time in Great Yarmouth, before the Battle of Copenhagen and on his return to England after the Battle of the Nile. Discover Nelson’s Norfolk at
Great Yarmouth’s Nelson Museum. When a guest, the landlady of The Wrestlers on the Market Place offered to change the name to The Nelson’s Arms. Nelson replied that he only had one. And we like the anecdote about when he received the Freedom of the Borough. At the swearing-in ceremony he put his left hand on the Bible. The clerk said, ‘Your right hand, my lord,’ and Nelson famously replied: ‘That is in Tenerife’. You might also bump into Lady Hamilton and Nelson at the Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival. It takes place every September along the length of the historic South Quay, featuring tall ships, shanty music, and more pirates than you can shake a cutlass at. Just make sure you don’t get press-ganged!
