Lowestoft Drifter

Cracking photo

James(Thumb)

The smacks would date this to the 1920's maybe 1930 I would think

United Boys LT53 O.N.135063 built 1913 Gt.Yarmouth.
Owners included J.V.Breach & F.Ward and Smalls.
Requisitioned in November 1939, FY803 M/S returned in September 1945.
Sold to Norwegian owners in 1948
And yes it is a photograph with life in it.
Cheers
Dave

Hi Steve this is one of the best i have seen a wonderful photo perfect light
Brian C.

The dates could well be right Davie, as sailing smacks were still working from Lowestoft after WW1. In fact according to Edgar March's 'Sailing Trawlers', 33 new smacks were built after 1918 and by 1939 eight were still working under sail alone. When he visited Lowestoft in 1946, it was a different story and he wrote "On Sunday the 13th of October 1946, I walked in drizzling rain round the banks of Lake Lothing. The graveyard was a depressing sight with gaunt ribs sticking up out of the mud where hulls had rotted away, others still bore some resemblance to smacks."

Steve