13-14 January 2007
The Greatness of Great Yarmouth
Vandalism on the beach
The greatness of Great Yarmouth lies in acquiring this accolade without deserving it. The greatness lies in being next to the sea while hiding it almost without effort. The greatness lies in being a deserted town of frivolous entertainment and gambling. In fact, the town had so many places of entertainment but all of them were empty. Even without the street lights, the dazzling, blinking and moving lights are probably enough to light up the seafront. Lighthouses are too old-fashioned for Great Yarmouth.
There is a difference between classy elegance and cheap imitation. This is the difference between Plymouth and Great Yarmouth, between Eastbourne and Brighton. Great Yarmouth is run-down, drab and deserted. In summer, it is likely to be overcrowded and polluted. It almost appears that the worst of Norfolk folks get sent to this place. The houses fill the streets in crowded array. There are no gardens in the front. I doubt very much if they have back-gardens. Almost every house is a B&B. One need not guess the main business of the place in summer. For the rest of the year, it is without activity, wallowing in total idleness.
Finding the beach and the sea was in itself a challenge. The many piers and unsightly buildings hide them both at every step. When I did find the beach, it was lovely. On a chill Sunday morning, I walked barefoot on the beach to the sound of gentle waves and isolated sea-gulls. The beach was clean. If a deserted town is a bad thing, a deserted beach is a good thing. In the distance, I could see thirty wind turbines. It wasn’t a windy day and six of them were not in action. Each one had three blades. This is a standard design. It is more efficient and stable than one or two blade turbines.
On the beach
While much of the town was not to my taste, some parts of the seafront are well-kept. Walking north beyond Britannia Pier, a beautiful landscaped garden separates the beach from the road. Water is a key component in the garden’s design. The garden provides many easy paths along the water’s edge and over bridges. Leaving the garden, I walked into wide grasslands that are popular with locals walking their dogs.
The real greatness of this town was in the past. Its fame was in the fishing trade, particularly in herring. Today nothing of that sort exists even in a small scale. While people used to go out to sea to make a living, today all I could see were two guys waiting on the beach with their lines, hoping that the sea with throw up something in their way.
The Small Stories of Great Yarmouth
I stayed at All Seasons Guest House on Saturday night for only £20. This is cheap considering that the room was en-suite. The room was small but comfortable. Like elsewhere, the drive is to convert every room to en-suite. This necessarily makes the rooms small. There is never a table and a chair to sit and read. No one wants to, I guess. Great Yarmouth continues to provide single room accommodation. This is generally not possible in many other small towns and villages. There are even cheaper places. I saw places advertising at £15 per night. In peak season, a single room goes up to £30.
The middle-aged couple had moved from Hatfield in Hertfordshire seven years ago to set up this business. The town has a booming business in the tourism industry. It’s quiet in winter but it’s busy rest of the year. In the 1950s, the beach used to be packed with people in the summer but it’s not that crowded these days although it’s busy enough to run a profitable business. They themselves do not travel at all. In fact, they do not even leave the guest house together. Someone is always at home to receive phone calls and take bookings. When I spoke to the landlady on the subject of travelling, she said, “We don’t have time to go gallivanting around the country. We can’t afford to lose business, you know”. All my ambitious travelling was summarised in one word: gallivanting!
The guest house was completely non-smoking. The landlady’s mother had died of lung cancer. Her sister has been diagnosed too. She has three months to live. The landlady herself dislikes cigarette smoke and never had the urge to give it a try. She is thankful that the ban on smoking is going to come into effect on 1st July this year. I am aware that the ban prohibits smoking in enclosed public spaces that include pubs, bars, restaurants, factories and offices. I am not so sure if it is applicable to B&Bs. However, it will have an effect on the entertainment centres in town.
On Sunday morning, as I waited for the bus back to Norwich, I met a school teacher at the bus stop. His wife was a foreigner settled in the UK. She was a teacher in the same school and she taught English while he taught the sciences. There are schools that cater for special educational needs of some children but he taught in what he termed as a “problem school”, something new to me. These are attended by children of parents who are alcoholics, jobless or faced with other social problems. When parents are bad role models, it is not a surprise their children turn out the same or worse in similar company. While we chatted about the falling interest in studies and abilities of English kids, some of his students came by. There was no respect in their behaviour that one almost expects in an Asian context. While an open relationship may be a good thing between a teacher and his students, what I noticed was carefree and disrespectful. The students threw litter on the walkway on purpose. They asked the teacher to “fuck-off”. We must note that within a Western context this phrase has become so common and overused that it is no longer obscene. I was told that teachers have no respect within the school, much less outside. Leaving respect aside, by current laws, teachers do not have sufficient power and authority to even punish students.
Part1 | Part2
