VICTORIA ROAD
Named of course after Queen Victoria, this road
follows the exact line and site of one of the ancient tracks in the sand
outside the town wall. It ran from the White Lion Gate, and now runs from a
junction with St.Peter's Road, just east of St.Spiridon's Church, to end at
Wellington Road.
Lucille, back left.
Lucille Greaves was living at 28 Victoria Road in her
parents boarding house during the last war, and worked at Johnson's factory
which was in due course bombed. Prior to the bombing though, the factory was closed
and the company purchased another factory at Stockport and those who wanted to
move there were given that option. She was at Stockport for 9 months, but then
it was decided that older women could do the machining, and the youngsters were
to join the forces. Three of them volunteered, rather than wait to be called
up, and so joined the ack‑ack (anti-aircraft) guns. Lucille was trained
in Wales as an aircraft spotter. She worked two hour shifts on spotting, and
general duties at other times, except that on night shift you were then excused
day duties. They were posted to Scotland then Birmingham, and all over the
country as required, eventually to Park Royal in London. Then she went to a
movements unit. After the war she worked at Erie Resistor, the electronics
company on South Denes.
When working at Johnsons she had sewn sleeves into
jackets and boiler suits for 9 pence (just under 4 new pence) for a dozen pairs
of sleeves. Painter's aprons‑ white aprons were worth a shilling a dozen
for all the sewing, including stitching on the tickets. She received three
shillings and fourpence for her first week's work. Her husband William had a
business delivering packets of tea to the shops for Lyons. He had a van, and a
warehouse at the Southtown station. They met a week after the war at a dance in
the Winter Gardens by the Wellington Pier. There were dances also at the dance
hall on the Britannia Pier, but that was considered much rougher. The
"hops" then cost a shilling each for entry. The "Queen of the
Channel" steamer then ran from the Britannia pier to Ostende. Lucille went
on this once, and spent the whole time laying down feeling sick. In the 1953 flood the tea was all soaked and
had to be dumped. Some years later the tea trade improved so that William
controlled a number of van drivers and he would travel further afield taking
orders.
Many of the houses
were damaged by soldiers during the war. Lucille took a fancy to the
house at 80 St.Georges Road as the house had a hallway which she liked.
Lucille's Mother continued the boarding house at Victoria Road, but then Sid
Greaves bought it from her after father had died, in 1960, and Mother moved to
Lowestoft. The family consulted Dr.
Ellis on Regent Road prior to the war, but when Lucille was confined in 1954,
the midwife refused to attend for two days so they sent for Dr.Tan from over
the road at no.7, who sent her directly by ambulance into the old general
hospital. Dr.Blake in Regent Road (Valentine Blake) worked with Ellis, and was
a smartly dressed gentleman with a perfumed handkerchief hanging from his top
pocket.
At the junction of Victoria Road and Havelock Road, on
the south‑west corner, stands Trett's Garage. "Bibby" Trett was
born Aggie Martha Rebecca Beck, having been nicknamed "baby", born at
Ormesby (3rd.Jan.1900). Her mother was Agnes Maria Wolsten, and father was
Benjamin, who went with his father on a trip to Ormesby, Grandfather Wolsten of Ormesby was a
shipowner, who normally never went to sea, but one day in about 1890, decided
to take a trip in the boat with his men. A storm blew up, and Wolsten was
washed overboard. His wife sat up in her bed and heard him calling her name‑
"Martha, Martha", but he was never to be seen again. The men
afterwards recounted how he had in fact so called out as he was drowned.
Ben Beck lived at Halvergate, and was a wheelwright.
Wolsten was a friend of his, and he took his son with him one day for a bike
ride. His future mother in law took a fancy to him and said he could call
whenever he wished. There was a band at Filby that Beck and Trett also played
in. Grandfather Beck had a stall at
Yarmouth market, and was noted for his cucumbers and grapes, and had a huge
greenhouse. They came to market with their horse and cart, which was left at
the Feathers Inn for the day, whilst a man there took the horse to graze in a
field, and brought it back later.
Agnes milked the cows and made butter to bring to the
market wrapped in a cloth in a basket. The ladies in the town would pay for a
boy to carry a big basket for them as they went around the stalls looking for
the best produce. Also on the Beck's stall were freshly picked Halvergate
mushrooms, used to make a special ketchup. Agnes Wolsten also attended the
stall on a saturday with her daughter, who had the task of taking the takings
to the bank on the quay, which then had trees all down the centre. When the
apples were ripe, these would be exchanged for herring from the Scots fishermen
moored along the quay. The dining rooms had a dinner for them for 1/6.
The house at Ormesby had a granary, the family there
kept cattle and grew wheat, and made their own bread. The house was known as
"Tungate's buildings", but they renamed it "The Gables".
The pebbles in the walls came off Scratby two generations earlier. Agnes, when
she married, took this house over, and her mother continued to live with them,
as her husband had been lost at sea. In due course Ben Beck cemented over the
stones in the walls, and painted the house cream. His father helped with the
work. One of the Italians at that time
used to deliver ice-cream in a barrow as far afield as Ormesby. The french onion
sellers also came round on their bicycles.
Percy Trett senior, (grandfather of Percy, the present
garage owner) was a coal-merchant and boat owner, and sold his boat at the
height of the fishing Industry, and was so successful that he could retire at
the age of 45. The garage then was dealing in hay and horse feeds. He went over
to Ormesby and bought a house called "Holly Lodge". He was then to be
seen with his son and Dr.Boake's
daughter, Biddy, a "strange girl"; on bicycles, and with a tent
rolled up, quite regularly at half-past seven in the morning, heading for the
beach, the tent to be used for changing on the beach. Trett was known to Ben
Beck, but pointed out by his daughter. One day she saw the son again, also
called Percy, cycling back from the beach with one of the Johnson brothers. She
then took off with him on a ride round the fields in a direction where they
could not be spotted, although in fact they were, by her father, who
fortunately did not disapprove. The Beck sisters bikes came back from Acle
market with odd size wheels. There is still many a second-hand bicycle to be
found in the auction sales on a Thursday.
In those days at the farm at Ormesby the whole family
worked hard. Tasks to be done included cleaning out the dairy with buckets of
water, a task undertaken by the girls, and when there was young corn in the
fields, they were instructed to go down to the field on their bikes, and act as
human bird scarers. Bibby also had to hold the pig one day when father slit its
throat, and her clothes were covered in blood. Mother was none too pleased at
this however, and this task was subsequently banned. In consequence Bibby was
allowed a new mac from Arnolds, and ten shillings to spend. The baby pigs would
be brought into the house to warm them up when first born, another task for the
girls. Her sister's husband was then employed to deliver milk. Bibby sometimes
went into Yarmouth on the bus with very large sums of money to be paid into
Barclays Bank.
After visiting Acle market, Beck would visit the local
hostelry, but drunk or not, the horse could generally find its own way home,
and there was no breathalyser then. Mr.Clem.Long (Clifford) was head man at the
time, looked after the horses, and was a skilled wheelwright and carpenter.
With two large carts with wooden high seats they would go off to buy fruit, and
then transport it away for the jam factories.
Beck did very well from all this trade, but began to drink ever heavier,
and turned to betting, such that he mortgaged the house and farm due to his
losses, and eventually lost all his businesses.
Percy Trett junior rented the garage off his father,
and gradually bought it off him, eventually he bequeathed it to his son Percy,
the present incumbent. The garage is much as it was when the horses were there,
with the addition of a pit to assist the servicing of cars, whereas the
warehouse at the back, in Well Road, has been fitted up with the latest
equipment for M.O.T. tests, and is some evenings used as a keep fit hall for
weight training. At one time there were
three generations of Percy Trett around at one time, which was very confusing.
No wonder that the name Percy has currently been dropped, though I would urge
its re‑introduction! There were also two Bibbys, as without consultation, the middle Percy named his
daughter Bibby, and registered her as such.
The present Percy Trett is of course well known as a local historian,
biologist, and magistrate. His assistance in providing much of the pictorial
material, the loan of Rumbelow's diaries and other material to assist in the
preparation of this work has been completely invaluable, and I can only hope
that this work is a fitting testimony to his collection of memorabilia and
records, and to his work on things ancient in Yarmouth over the years, and I am
most grateful for his assistance and encouragement.
Ben Beck‑‑:‑‑‑Agnes
Wolsten Percy
Trett‑‑‑:‑‑‑
: :
Agnes (Bibby) ‑‑:‑‑‑‑‑‑:‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑ Percy
: :
Bibby
Percy‑‑:‑ Jan Davy :
:‑‑‑‑‑‑‑:‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑:
Marcus Simon Rebecca