A fishing port for centuries, a holiday resort since the 1760s and a vital part of the energy industry since the 1960s, Great Yarmouth has a long and fascinating history. Yarmouth’s position at the mouth of the River Yare enabled it to become a major trading port in the Middle Ages as well as a centre of the lucrative herring fishing industry. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was a supply base for the Royal Navy and found itself in the front line again when it was bombed in the First and Second World Wars. Significant parts of the town were destroyed, including many of the unique maze of alleys and lanes behind the seafront known as ‘the Rows’. However, much of the historical fabric of the town remains, and today it welcomes many visitors to its legendary seafront.

In Secret Great Yarmouth & Gorleston, author Pete Goodrum takes a new look at the town, exploring facts and stories ranging from the legendary to the little known. Covering Great Yarmouth’s ancient charter, naval history and its architecture, as well as its successes and tragedies, the book spans 900 years of a community’s life. Significant events and tiny details are woven together to tell Great Yarmouth and Gorleston’s wonderful story.