Breydon Water and the Breydoners

The vast estuary at Great Yarmouth, where the Rivers Bure, Yare and Waveney meet the sea, exerted an irresistible pull on AP throughout his life. It is a massive expanse of salt marsh and mudflats, three miles long and more than a mile wide in places. Huge numbers of wading birds and wildfowl spend the winter there, and stop off on spring and autumn migration. Arthur’s father had an allotment, which backed onto Breydon, where as a young child he discovered the delights of nature by catching and watching woodlice, caterpillars and dragonflies.

At low tide on Breydon Water the vast areas of mudflats and saltmarsh teemed with birds. The hardy Breydoners, whom Arthur so much admired, were an almost wild race of men, who scratched a living by catching fish and shooting birds, both for the meat trade and to sell to the amateur collectors who would buy interesting specimens. They lived on makeshift houseboats and were wily, skilful and knowledgeable hunters. In his books and articles Arthur recorded their lore and anecdotes and described their faces and clothing. They thought he was a bit strange but tolerated this ‘odd fish’. The three Breydoners in the show are: Pintail Thomas, who went to sea as a cabin boy, and came back to Breydon when he was strong enough to handle the boats. He lost three fingers when the old flintlock gun, which he inherited from his father, exploded; Shortun Page who was less than five feet tall. His big boots totalled half his height and he wore ‘quaint gold earrings which vibrated to the movement of the boat, his ringlets falling round his neck; and Snicker Larn, who worked with Shortun, and, like him, spent his last days near Breydon.

The Old Age Pension just saved them from the Workhouse. During Arthur’s lifetime the Breydoners’ way of life was disappearing with the draining of the marshes, the restrictions on shooting and the import of cheap meat from abroad.