A walk around the site of Griffin Lane, Thorpe St Andrew, boatyards and Tin Town

There will be two leaders of the walk: Dale Wiseman of Thorpe History Group will speak about Tin Town, the communities and the boatyards. while Linda Pargeter of Wherry Maud Trust will speak about the Hobrough Dockyard and the families, including the Foxes, who lived on the yard and crewed and repaired Hobrough's barges, known as wherries.

The two leaders will be accompanied by Malcolm Martins whose family were the first to establish their boatbuilding business, R.M. Martins, in 1961 on 1.5 acres leased from May Gurney.

Part of the old dockyard is now a secure area used by the Broads Authority and inaccessible to the public. Sadly the old Fox family bungalow is in that secure area and can only be viewed from the river at a distance. There are only a very few buildings extant on the site that date back to the period the walk will cover.

Timings

Saturday 12 September:

10.30am to 12pm

Location & directions

Broads Authority, The Dockyard, Griffin Lane, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 0SL

Directions:

Acccess from Yarmouth Road, Thorpe St Andrew. From Thorpe Green continue to the Dussindale mini roundabout where you will go straight on along Yarmouth Road. Griffin Lane will be a right turn after a short distanceon from the roundabout. The lane is rather rough and passes under the railway lane. It is not advisable for cars with low ground clearance such as sports cars to go under the railway line. You will meet the leaders of the walk in front of the gates into the Broads Authority Dockyard. There is free parking in that area as long as you do not block the gates. There was once a footpath from Bungalow Lane but it was closed sometime after 1970.

Contact on day:

Linda Pargeter, Trustee of Wherry Maud

Telephone number:

+447990523131

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking required

Booking conditions:

If you can no longer fulfil your booking, please cancel this by emailing [email protected] at least 48hrs in advance of the booked event to provide others with the opportunity to attend.

Booking contact name:

The Forum

Booking website:

https://norfolkhods.ticketsolve.com

Booking opens:

26 Aug 2026 10:00 AM

Booking closes:

11 Sep 2026 03:00 PM

Accessibility details

The terrain is rough in places so wheelchair users should bear that in mind when deciding whether to participate in this event.

Additional information

Max number of people:

16

Estimated duration:

1 hour(s) 30 minute(s)

Check out our online channels

Back to results