The Postcard
A Nene Series postcard that was published by Coates & Sons of Wisbech. The image is a glossy real photograph.
The card was posted in Great Yarmouth using a 2d. stamp on Wednesday the 18th. July 1956. It was sent to:
Miss Douglas,
No. 4, Townsend,
Woodford Halse,
Nr. Rugby.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"just a card to say we are
having a nice time.
The weather is very good
up to now.
Hope all is OK. See you
when we get back.
Kind regards,
From Mr. & Mrs. F. S."
Great Yarmouth Winter Gardens
Great Yarmouth Winter Gardens is a Grade II* listed building in Great Yarmouth, England. It was built of glass and iron in Torquay over the course of three years, starting in 1878.
It was moved by barge to Great Yarmouth in 1904, purportedly without the loss of a single pane of glass. Over the years, it has been used as ballroom, roller skating rink and beer garden.
In the 1990's it was converted into a nightclub by Jim Davidson, and has since been used as a family leisure venue.
In 2018, it was named among the top ten endangered buildings of the Victorian and Edwardian eras in a survey released by the Victorian Society.
In July 2021 it received a £10 million National Lottery Heritage Fund grant in order to support its repair and re-opening.
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth is a seaside resort and minster town in Norfolk straddling the River Yare, 20 miles (30 km) east of Norwich. A population of 38,693 in the 2011 Census made it Norfolk's third most populous place.
Its fishing industry, mainly for herring, fell steeply after the mid-20th. century, and has all but vanished. North Sea oil from the 1960's brought an oil-rig supply industry that now services offshore natural gas rigs. More recent offshore wind power and other renewable energy have created further support services.
Yarmouth has been a seaside resort since 1760, and a gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the North Sea. Tourism was boosted when a railway opened in 1844, which gave visitors easier, cheaper access and triggered some settlement.
Wellington Pier opened in 1854 and Britannia Pier in 1858. Through the 20th. century, Yarmouth was a booming resort, with a promenade, pubs, trams, fish-and-chip shops and theatres.
There is also the Pleasure Beach, the Sea Life Centre, the Hippodrome Circus and the Time and Tide Museum, as well as a surviving Victorian seaside Winter Garden in cast iron and glass.
-- Great Yarmouth in the Past
The town was the site of a bridge disaster and drowning tragedy on the 2nd. May 1845, when a suspension bridge crowded with children collapsed killing 79. They had gathered to watch a clown in a barrel being pulled by geese down the river. As he passed under the bridge the weight shifted, causing the chains on the south side to snap, tipping over the bridge deck.
Great Yarmouth had an electric tramway system from 1902 to 1933. From the 1880's until the Great War, the town was a regular destination for Bass Excursions, when 15 trains would take 8,000–9,000 employees of Bass's Burton brewery on an annual trip to the seaside.
During the Great War, Great Yarmouth suffered the first aerial bombardment in the UK, by Zeppelin L3 on the 19th. January 1915. That same year on the 15th. August, Ernest Jehan became the first and only man to sink a steel U-Boat with a sail-rigged Q-ship, off the coast of Great Yarmouth.
Great Yarmouth was bombarded by the German Navy on the 24th. April 1916. The town also suffered Luftwaffe bombing during World War II because it was the last significant part of the UK on which the Germans could drop their remaining bombs before returning home.
Despite damage in both wars, much is left of the old town, including the original 2,000-metre (1.2 mi) protective medieval wall, of which two-thirds has survived. Of the 18 towers, 11 are left.
On the South Quay is a 17th.-century Merchant's House, as well as Tudor, Georgian and Victorian buildings. Behind South Quay is a maze of alleys and lanes known as 'The Rows'. Originally there were 145 of them. Despite bombing, several have remained.
Great Yarmouth was badly affected by the North Sea flood of 1953. More recent flooding has also been a problem, with four floods in 2006, the worst being in September. Torrential rain caused drains to block and an Anglian Water pumping station to break down. This caused flash flooding in which 90 properties were flooded up to a depth of 5 ft (1.5 m).
-- Great Yarmouth Sights and Amenities
The Tollhouse with its dungeons, dating from the late 13th. century, is one of Britain's oldest former jails and oldest civic buildings. Major sections of the medieval town walls survive around the parish cemetery and in parts of the old town.
Great Yarmouth Minster (The Minster Church of St Nicholas, founded in the 12th. century as an act of penance) stands in Church Plain, just off the market place. It is the third-largest parish church in England, after Beverley Minster in East Yorkshire and Christchurch Priory in Dorset.
Church Plain also has the 17th.-century timber-framed house, in which Anna Sewell (1820–1878), author of Black Beauty, was born.
The market place, one of the largest in England, has been operating since the 13th. century. It is also home to the town's shopping sector and the famous Yarmouth chip stalls. The smaller area south of the market is used as a performance area for community events.
The Scroby Sands Wind Farm of 30 generators is within sight of the seafront. Also visible are grey seals during their breeding season. The country's only full-time circus, the Hippodrome Circus, is just off the seafront.
-- The Two Piers
Great Yarmouth has two piers, Britannia Pier (which is Grade II listed) and Wellington Pier. The theatre building on the latter was demolished in 2005 and reopened in 2008 as a family entertainment centre, including a ten-pin bowling alley overlooking the beach.
Britannia Pier holds the Britannia Theatre, which during the summer has featured acts such as Jim Davidson, the comedian Jethro, Basil Brush, Cannon and Ball, Chubby Brown, the Chuckle Brothers and the Searchers. It is one of the few end-of-the pier theatres surviving in England.
-- The Marine Parade
Great Yarmouth's seafront, known as 'The Golden Mile' attracts millions of visitors each year to its sandy beaches, indoor and outdoor attractions and amusement arcades.
Great Yarmouth's Marine Parade has twelve Amusement Arcades within 2 square miles. Their names draw heavily on Las Vegas and include: The Flamingo, Circus Circus, The Golden Nugget, The Mint, The Silver Slipper, The Showboat, Magic City, Quicksilver and The Gold Rush.
In addition to the two piers, tourist attractions on Marine Parade include Joyland, Pirates' Cove Adventure Golf, Yesterday's World, the Marina Centre, Retroskate, the Arnold Palmer Putting Green, the Sea Life Centre, Merrivale Model Village and the Pleasure Beach and Gardens.
-- The Great Yarmouth Floral Clock
Alas, the clock in Marine Parade is no more - it had to be removed in 2005 following repeated attacks by mindless vandals.
The Yarmouth In Bloom group, who had regularly planted flowers and attended the displays, were dismayed by the continual trampling of plants and breakages to the clock hands, and decided that enough was enough.
-- The Venetian Waterways
In August 2019, the Venetian Waterways and gardens re-opened. The waterways, running parallel to the main beach, were a feature constructed as a work-creation scheme in 1926–1928, consisting of canals and formal gardens, with rowing boats, pedalos and gondolas.
The waterways had been allowed to silt up, decay and become abandoned. With a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund of £1.7 m and the labour of volunteers, the flowerbeds have been restored with 20,000 plants, and the 1920's cafe has been restored. That and the boat hire are being run by a social enterprise.
-- The Nelson Monument
The South Denes area is home to the Grade I listed Norfolk Naval Pillar, known locally as the Britannia Monument or Nelson's Monument. This tribute to Nelson was completed in 1819, 24 years before the completion of Nelson's Column in London. The monument, designed by William Wilkins, shows Britannia standing atop a globe holding an olive branch in her right hand and a trident in her left.
There is a popular assumption in the town that the statue of Britannia was supposed to face out to sea but now faces inland due to a mistake during construction. However it is thought that she is meant to face Nelson's birthplace at Burnham Thorpe.
The monument was originally planned to mark Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile, but fund-raising was not completed until after his death, and it was instead dedicated to England's greatest naval hero. It is currently surrounded by an industrial estate, but there are plans in place to improve the area.
-- Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens used Great Yarmouth as a key location in his novel David Copperfield and described the town as 'The finest place in the universe'. The author stayed at the Royal Hotel on the Marine Parade while writing the novel.
-- Great Yarmouth Museums
The Norfolk Nelson Museum on South Quay houses the Ben Burgess collection of Nelson memorabilia and is the only dedicated Nelson museum in Britain, other than one in Monmouth. Its several galleries look at Nelson's life and personality, and at what life was like for men who sailed under him.
--
The Time and Tide Museum in Blackfriars Road was nominated in the UK Museums Awards in 2005. It was built as part of a regeneration of the south of the town in 2003. Its location in an old herring smokery harks back to the town's status as a major fishing port.
Sections of the historic town wall stand opposite the museum, next to the Great Yarmouth Potteries, part of which is housed in another former smoke house. The town wall is among the most complete medieval town walls in the country, with 11 of the 18 original turrets still standing.
Other museums in the town include the National Trust's Elizabethan House, the Great Yarmouth Row Houses, managed by English Heritage, and the privately owned Blitz and Pieces, based on the Home Front during World War II.
The Suez Canal
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, on the 18th. July 1956, the UK completed the withdrawal of its troops from the Suez Canal, following Egypt's repudiation of the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936.
Audrey Landers
The day also marked the birth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Audrey Landers.
Audrey Landers is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Afton Cooper on the television series Dallas and her role as Val Clarke in the film version of A Chorus Line (1985).
-- Audrey Landers' Career
Before joining Dallas, Audrey guest-starred in numerous television series, including The Dukes of Hazzard, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat and Battlestar Galactica.
She also appeared as a panelist on Match Game in 1979 and on Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in 1983–84.
In the 1990's Audrey appeared in the television miniseries of Jackie Collins' Lucky Chances. From 1990 to 1992, she played the role of Charlotte Hesser, eldest daughter of upstate Pennsylvania mob boss Carlo Hesser on the ABC daytime series One Life to Live.
After Audrey left Dallas in 1984, she was cast by director Richard Attenborough as Val Clarke in the film version of A Chorus Line (1985).
In 2013, she reprised her role of Afton Cooper in several episodes of the second season of the revival of Dallas.
With her young sons as inspiration, Landers created the children's television series, The Huggabug Club in 1996, for which, in addition to writing the scripts, she also wrote the 250+ original songs in the series.
Her partner (and mother), Ruth Landers, produced the series and donated it to Public Television for its five-year run.
In 2006, she co-wrote, and co-directed the family adventure film Circus Island, a Ruth Landers production.
Landers and her mother have also created a fashion line called Landers STAR Collection which is gaining global popularity through QVC UK, and in Italy, Canada, Germany, and the U.S.
-- Audrey Landers' Personal Life
Audrey is sister of actress Judy Landers, and has acted with her in several roles, including multiple episodes of The Love Boat and The Hitchhiker episode "Split Decision".
The sisters also appeared toether in Circus Island and Ghost Writer, both produced by Ruth Landers. Audrey and Judy Landers were on the cover and in a non-nude pictorial of the January 1983 issue of Playboy.
Audrey Landers married businessman Donald Berkowitz in May 1988. They have twin sons, Adam and Daniel, born in 1993.
