The Herbert Woods story
Richard Johnstone-Bryden celebrates the influential life and career of Norfolk boatbuilder Herbert Woods
90 years of Broads boatbuilding
One of the best-known boatyards on the Norfolk Broads celebrated its 90th birthday this year by resurrecting the Potter Heigham Water Frolic fun day and building a new class of 7.3m (24ft) picnic boats for the hire fleet which still bears the name of its founder, Herbert Woods.
The man behind the brand created some of the most significant boats to be launched on the Broads in the 20th century and in the process became a very influential figure in the development of the Broadland racing and hire fleet industries.
Those who worked for Herbert Woods remember him as a firm, fair and very enlightened employer, while subsequent generations of Broadland sailors and visitors continue to benefit from his successful campaign to prevent the closure to the public of the privately-owned Black Horse Broad in 1949.
Herbert Woods began his boatbuilding career as an apprentice at the Norfolk Broads Yachting Co’s Potter Heigham boatyard, which was managed by his father Walter, before moving to Ipswich where he worked for Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies.
During the First World War he was involved in the construction of aircraft before switching his attention to the company’s range of motorcycles, electric vehicles and trucks after the war.
Walter’s deteriorating health prompted Herbert’s return to Norfolk in 1922 to help run the Potter Heigham boatyard his father had purchased when the Norfolk Broads Yachting Co went into liquidation.
Three years later, having seen the shortcomings of the motor-cruisers available for hire on the Broads, Herbert decided to devote his spare time to the development of a new boat to serve the hire fleet he intended to set up.
Up to that point, the region’s hire fleets were dominated by sailing craft ranging in size from the mighty wherry yachts to half-deckers. Motorboats only accounted for a relatively small percentage of the craft offered for hire on the Broads, and they included converted pleasure wherries and smaller craft that owed their origins to sail rather than power. Although they represented a logical progression from the earlier sailing craft, many of the purpose-built motorboats were poorly