ristow

is Szaj & John B

Mav
lk
, Norfo
Scratby

Linda Berry
A Aldeburgh, Suffolk

h Trellis
r & Elizabet
Steve Turne
, Essex
Rowhedge

Photo A – Ruth Slater, head of

St Lawrence Primary School
pictured with Suzanne Gatrell
from CoastNet.
ShoreStories
Suzanne Gattrell explores the power of words and story sharing
in celebrating East Anglia’s rich coastal and community heritage
through CoastNet’s Holding Back the Tide project.

through a series of oral history

G
ertrude Stein once said that
human beings are interested in
two things. They are interested
in reality and interested in telling stories
about it. This is certainly something I’ve
discovered through my work with
CoastNet’s latest community project
based in East Anglia, Holding Back the
Tide. The project is working with
individuals and community groups to
record local peoples' experiences of how
life and landscape have changed on the
East Anglian Coast in the counties of
Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk over the past
50 years or more.
It involves collecting artefacts,
memorabilia, photographs, but most
importantly it involves peoples’ stories
interviews. Gertrude Stein’s words
immediately resonate with the sheer
enthusiasm of a wide range of
individuals, schools and organisations
jumping on board throughout the
region – from Scratby in north
Norfolk, to Burnham on Crouch in
Essex. Culminating in a touring
exhibition of coastal living history for
regional and local museums in Spring
2009, the project looks set to unearth
great oral riches and memory gems.
As well as recollecting the coastal times
of yesteryear, youth projects are being
set up to look at the values and visions
of young people about their coastal
homes in comparison to its heritage.

The Edge Summer 2008 7


Scratby, Norfolk – Mavis
Szaj and John Bristow
Mavis Szaj was one of the thousands
of people in 1950s Britain who
regularly holidayed on the East
Anglian coast.
Mavis, now living in Scratby, used
to come on holiday to the town
regularly in the 1950s and, after
her mother bought a house in 1959,
Scratby became their summer holiday
destination of choice (see picture A-
C). For Mavis, Scratby has wonderful
memories. “Scratby always conjures
up nice memories for somebody….
and everyone’s got their own story of
a special summer holiday here”,
she remarks.
With her interest in the social and
economic side of coastal
communities, Mavis, along with John
Bristow has volunteered on behalf of
the Scratby Coastal Erosion Group to
assist in collecting oral histories from
local people for the Holding Back the
Tide project.
8 The Edge Summer 2008
A
B C
Rowhedge, Essex – Steve
Turner and Elizabeth Trellis
Sixth generation ‘Rowhedger’ Steve
Turner was the first person to have his
oral history collected by Mavis during
a training day for all those
volunteering to interview participants
in the project. Nestled on the banks of
the tidal River Colne, Rowhedge is
still very much a seafaring
community today with locals
enjoying the opportunity to sail,
motor, kayak or row from the village
quayside (see picture D). Estuaries and
tidal rivers are iconic to the Essex
coastline and Rowhedge itself has a
rich maritime history, enjoying its
own ship building heyday between
1890 and 1914.
Steve’s family tree shows that his
great, great, great grandfather was
born in the village about 1780 and his
family has more or less always been
involved with boats. His great great
grandfather was a shipwright, his
granny’s brother was chief clerk at the
Iron works and his grandfather Fred
Turner, known to fellow workers as
‘Turner the Burner’, was a riveter in
the shipyard. However, Fred also
crewed on the royal racing cutter
Britannia and, as launch man, would
taxi King George V to shore.
Also sharing her memories, was fellow
Rowhedge resident, Elizabeth Trellis.
Recalling the amount of boat traffic
on the Colne, Elizabeth commented,
“Of course, what we really miss is the
coasters up and down, because it was
very, very busy when we were here
between 1970 and 1975. We used to
keep a log of them, which was great
fun for the children to see where they
came from and learn a lot of
geography from the boats”.
Today Elizabeth still keeps a log of the
boats which she can see from her
house, just across the high street from
the quay. She is a well known figure
around the village, known as ‘the lady
who swims in the river’ – a rather
impressive claim at 74 years old. It was
this fame that sparked two local
villagers to ask if they could name
their boat after her (see picture E).

Aldeburgh, Suffolk –
Linda Berry
In addition to interviewing local
people, Holding Back the Tide also aims
to make links between generations,
with planned link ups with local
participating schools. Linda Berry, Head
teacher of Aldeburgh Primary School in
Suffolk, was the first to say she would
like her school to participate. Also
volunteering to collect oral histories,
Linda will be interviewing local people
along with the help of members from
the Alde and District Local History
Society and is particularly interested in
the surviving habitants of the ‘Lost
Village of Slaughden’. This village, just
south of Aldeburgh, has been lost to the
North Sea as a result of the extensive
erosion faced by this part of the Suffolk
coast over the centuries. Aldeburgh
pupils will be learning about Slaughden
through a field trip to the original site
and a visit to the Moot Hall Museum.
Originally built in the middle of the
town, this 15th century town hall now
presents a visually arresting example of
how the East Anglian coast is eroding
(see picture F). Today, although still in
F
its original position, it is no longer
situated in the centre of the town but just
metres away from the beach.
Holding Back the Tide is an adventure
of rediscovery into the cultural and
natural heritage of the East Anglian
coastline through the recollections of
local people. It will create a valuable
community resource for future
generations that can be used by local
museums, heritage trusts and societies,
future schools programs as well as coastal
management bodies. And judging by
early interviews, there is a lot of lost
history to rediscover and learn from,
through the age old art of storytelling.
Holding Back the Tide would
not be possible without the
funding provided by the Heritage
Lottery Fund and Hervey
Benham Trust. More information
about participating groups
and activities underway can be
found at the project BLOG
www.coastnet.org.uk/holding
backthetide.
Photo A – Mavis Szaj and her sister
on Scratby beach in 1949.
Photo B – Scratby postcard from
the 1960s conjures up memories of
childhood seaside holidays; Now:
an offshore wind farm can clearly
be seen just off the coast in a
recent image.
Photo C – Mavis Szaj, her father and
her sister at their holiday home in
Scratby in the 1950s.
Photo D – The Essex village of
Rowhedge where CoastNet’s offices
are based is itself steep in Maritime
Heritage and was the setting of
the oral history training for
volunteers in May.
Photo E – The lady who swims in
the river, Elizabeth Trellis, seen here
on a boat named after her in the
village of Rowhedge, Essex.
Photo F – Aldeburgh’s 15th century
Moot Hall is a visual reminder of the
effect of coastal erosion along the
East Anglian coastline. Now situated
right by the sea, it was originally
built in the centre of the town.
The Edge Summer 2008 9