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Rackheath Industrial Estate

Rackheath Industrial Estate maps

Historic maps of Rackheath Industrial Estate and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Rackheath Industrial Estate maps

Rackheath Industrial Estate photos

We have no photos of Rackheath Industrial Estate, although we do have photos of these nearby places:

Salhouse| Wroxham| Thorpe St Andrew| Belaugh| Hoveton| Horstead| Horsham St Faith| Coltishall| Brundall| Norwich| Horning| Ranworth| South Walsham| Bramerton| Neatishead| Rockland St Mary| Barton Turf| Cantley

Rackheath Industrial Estate area books

Displaying 1 of 13 books about Rackheath Industrial Estate and the local area.   View all books for this area

Memories of Rackheath Industrial Estate

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Norfolk memories

Hearts Cruisers

This boatyard belonged to my grandfather, Geoffrey John Hart (the gentleman standing at the back of the picture) and the young man in the front of the picture is Jack Ayton Hart, his son. The other son also worked there and his name was Dick. As children my mother, Yvonne, and my brother and myself all played here and learned to swim here too. The boatyard stayed Hearts Cruisers for many years after my grandfather sold it.

Hearts Cruisers

This gentleman is my grandfather Geoffrey John Hart. He owned and worked the business, Hearts Cruisers, with his two sons, Dick and Jack, and we spent many a happy hour there. In those days you could swim in the river as pollution was almost non-existent. Uncle Dick's many descendants are now mainly living in New Zealand but pay regular visits to the area to see where their family originally lived. Uncle Jack moved down to Sussex and his daughter Jane and her family now live in Barcelona.  His son Peter's family are in this country.

Miss Bee

Santa Lucia Hotel c1965
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Santa Lucia Hotel was owned and run by Marion Olive Barkway, better known as Miss Bee. Marion was my grandmother and we used to visit every Sunday afternoon to help out with evening meals. When I was small I remember standing on the sun terrace fishing and gazing out onto the river. As I grew, I got into canoeing and used to keep my canoe there climbing over the wall to get to the river. Marion had a succession of dogs, alsations and daschunds - Judy, Kelly, Amber. Marion never left the hotel apart from the occasional shopping trip. She was always very happy and evenings she would enjoy sitting in reception and chatting with guests arriving and returning often laughing with them. Marion had the upmost respect of her staff. She would always seem to appear from nowhere if I stopped to speak (chat the girls up as a young lad) - kind of guess she was young once as well and still far too sharp for me. Marion... Read more

Old John Barley Corn....

"John Barley Corn" Children c1930
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Known as the 'John Barley Corn' children because at the Staithe where they all used to play, there is an inlet. In the 1920s, when boats came past, the children would sing 'Old John Barley Corn if you throw us a penny we will sing you a song'. Sometimes handfuls of pennies would be thrown. The people on one boat 'Nelson' were always quite generous. It was quite a scramble to each get a couple of pennies.

Belaugh as A Child

As a young boy my parents and I used to stay with a dear lady called Alice Riseborough, I think she used to be the sexton to the church. Iremember watching the American bombers coming back from raids over Europe, sometimes in pieces. I also became friends with some of the local boys. I also remember a farmer by the name of Haynes (?), and collecting water from the local well, and running down the garden and jumping into the bure. My love of fishing also started there. Wonderful wartime memories.

Dorothy Ducker

I was born in Belaugh and have lovely childhood memories. As I recall, at the time there was only 2 girls, myself and Rosemary Basted - all the other kids were boys. We had lovely times on the farms and in the river which ran down the bottom of my garden, there were 4 cottages where I lived with my parents and Aunt Nellie, The Misses Fields (Eva and Jean) lived one side, Ned Durrant and his father the other and Mr and Mrs Thomson on the end, who had 2 boys Bob and Colin [ chummy]. We all went to Coltishall School in a Taxi. There was at that time a shop, but no pub or anything else so all main shopping was done in Wroxham which we had to go to on a bus - and it was a long walk to the top road. We had Sunday School in the Old School that my mother and aunt Nelly went to as girls and I was Christened in the Church on... Read more

A R Taylor

I left school at 15 in 1953, and like many others of my age went to work at A R Taylors timber merchants.  I first worked at the Tunstead road site.  It was hard work and unlike today there was no such thing as a contract of employment so you did whatever anyone who was older than you told you to do.  I remember one of my jobs was to go around every morning to take orders from the workers for cigarettes, tobacco and sweets and such and then in all weathers cycle into the village and purchase the orders.  I remember Alfie Ransom asking me to go to the Ironmongers and get him a left handed hammer and a bubble for his spirit level. Good one Alfie. It took me a little while to work out that I could make a few pence a day by adding a little bit to the daily bill.  I don't know if the men knew what I was doing and dread to think... Read more

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