Zambia World Wide

I have mentioned Framlingham Castle before but as it is a place we enjoy, we naturally took the boys there for a day out and a picnic. Having walked round the castle we sat on the grass area around the moat for our picnic and to give the boys a chance to run around and play without offending anyone. Towards evening we packed our picnic away and walked down the road from the castle, at the bottom of the road is an old English pub, we stopped and sat outside for a cool drink, it had been a really hot day. It was a nice way to end the day which had been enjoyable but tiring. While we sat outside the pub we talked of relatives and friends and the way everything had changed in the time we had been away. Once again the conversation brought back forgotten memories.

When I was a child about 10 or 11 years old, I had an uncle who kept a boat on Breydon Water. Breydon Water is a large expanse of water surrounded by marshland. Three rivers flow into Beydon Water, they are the Yare, Bure and the Waveney. It is very well known for its mud banks and in the summer many cruisers run aground or drift onto the banks. My uncle’s name was William Gates or Billy to his friends, he was the tow-man for the Great Yarmouth Yacht Station at the time. During the school holiday’s we would go with him in the boat for a day out, and help get the stranded cruisers off the mud banks. As a child it was always a good day out and a lot of fun. His other income came from catching eels. He would put the eel pots out early in the morning and go back in the evening to lift the pots with the day’s catch which he would then take home. The only problem was that the eels had to be kept alive when sold. This meant keeping them in large steel tanks until he had enough to sell. This may have been where his nickname came from as he was known locally as Skins. He was a well known character around town and could often be seen riding a carrier bike with his dog Trixie sitting in the carrier. I can remember going to my grandmother’s house after school one night, and there was this enormous gun leaning against the wall. It was so long that the butt was in the bottom left hand corner of the wall and the end of the barrel just fitted in the top right hand corner. It was a punt gun, these guns were mounted in punts, and ropes were attached to the mounts to absorb the recoil when one was fired. Before the floods of 1953 my uncle made money from wild fowling on Breydon Water. Unfortunately the punt was washed away in the flood and smashed to pieces against the banks of the river. The punt gun was being sent to London to be sold.

Twenty miles from Great Yarmouth is the City of Norwich, which is the largest city in Norfolk. We had been there in the past for shopping and to visit places such as the Cathedral, Castle and other places of interest in the City. We had spoken about Norwich to the boys and thought now would be a good time to take them there, and show them some of the places we had spoken of. Craig was still a little young to understand, but we were sure he would enjoy the shops and a tour round the castle, especially the armoury. Norwich Castle is built on a large mound and from the ramparts there is a fantastic view right across the City. We took the boys on a tour round the castle, which is also a museum, and they both enjoyed the tour. The Cathedral is close to the market so we took them there on our way to the market. Norwich market is mostly under cover and the stalls are crowded quite close together. As usual we were still wandering round the market at lunchtime, not buying much, just looking. After lunch we went for a walk down Grapes Hill, which is part of the old city and still has a cobbled street and small old town shops, a real blast from the past. As we were leaving Norwich and driving through Thorpe, Jan spotted the Railway Station and asked the boys if they would like to go back to Great Yarmouth on the train. They both said yes in the way only children can, so I left the three of them at the station. I then drove to Great Yarmouth station to meet them on their arrival. When they arrived at Great Yarmouth station, Jan said that they had enjoyed the journey back and chattered none stop all the way. It was the first time either had been on a train and their excitement was evident.