Miss Elaineous: MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS THE VENETIAN WATERWAYS AND BOATING LAKE...

Our holiday centre- Haven Seashore- was two miles walk from Great Yarmouth Pier. During low season, there is no bus into town so we walked most days, flattening the walk in 25 minutes. I never put weight on whilst on holiday as I don't drive! On top of that walk a day's sightseeing would also follow (with stop offs for coffee/ afternoon tea/ snacks etc.)

Our journey along the main seafront road passed the rather desolate Venetian Waterway and currently defunct boating lake. This lake is due to be regenerated shortly, thanks to lottery funding. These pictures look a bit grim as we didn't enjoy the same glorious weather that we'd had in Norwich only a few days earlier. It wasn't cold but it was windy sometimes, and overcast.

Here is a photo of the boating lake in its heyday. This one is dated 1936.

Here are the details of this regal section of the seafront:-

The Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust is working in partnership with Great Yarmouth Borough Council to carefully restore the Venetian Waterways and Boating Lake (Grade II listed on the Historic Parks and Gardens Register). Situated at the northern end of Marine Parade the Boating Lake was first opened in 1926 followed by the Venetian Waterways in 1928. The site saw hundreds of holidaymakers enjoying boat rides along the serpentine “canal” and walks in the surrounding parkland, which at the time boasted a radical, nationally-acclaimed planting scheme.

At the beginning of 2017 it was announced that our bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery, in partnership with Great Yarmouth Borough Council, was successful and would release £1.7 million of funding for the Venetian Waterways and Boating Lake Project.

The four-year project will involve much-needed repairs to the structures of the bridges, the Waterways and Boating Lake, as well as a comprehensive schedule of activities for residents and visitors. The café on the Boating Lake Island will also be renovated and re-opened to help fund the ongoing maintenance of the park.

Source (text and photo) The Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust.

On leaving the camp, though, firstly our walk took us through a section of sand dunes and scrub that I christened 'No Man's Land'. This area of marram grass and gorse looked really bleak and godforsaken, although there are several beaten pathways to the sea and we did spot a couple of dog walkers. On our first day, we had a l-o-n-g walk to our holiday home, consisting of: a mile long walk from the railway station to the pier, the two mile walk to the Haven site and, as sod's law would have it, a 15 minute walk to our caravan. We were situated right near the farthest end of the camp. Typical! And all of this on a hot day with a headwind blowing hair across my face and whilst pulling (or should that be dragging?!) a suitcase with a wheel which chose that moment to crack. Although we tended to spend our holiday walking into town, for our journeys back we found a local bus service that stopped about ten minutes away from the back of the camp and also utilized the little road train.

No Man's Land. This view was not very exciting...

The derelict boating lake. I'm looking forward to this being restored so that I can have an elegant boat ride...

The Venetian Waterway...

Of course, no seafront is complete without the obligatory wino hut- we found an empty bottle of cheap red gut-rot in here!

On our final day, I took some beach shots from the caravan park. Here, no man's land is much shallower and there is no road bisecting the route to the beach.

There is beauty in such desolation!