Thorpe St Andrew, Norfolk

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... [more]

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... [more]

East Anglia

John Sell Cotman, who founded the Norwich School of artists with Crome, was born in this riverside village in 1782. The banks of the Yare are thick with chestnuts and willows, and pleasure boats and dinghies glide through smooth waters between fine old houses. Thorpe is now almost a suburb of Norwich. Further down is the Rush Cutters pub.

East Anglia Photographic Memories

This is the River Yare. While Norwich has operated as a port for hundreds of years, it is only in more recent years that the recreational aspect has become more important, although it is known that Nelson almost certainly learned to sail here.

Norwich Photographic Memories

This view looks downstream to the Rush Cutters pub from the south bank. The boating business is still there; it is now called Hearts Cruises, and has a wider range of boats than in 1919.