The Winds of Change - changing from sail to steam
Sailing Drifters, early 1900's
Great Yarmouth Museums
Steam Drifter, 1950's
Great Yarmouth Museums
Photographs showing sailing and steam drifters
By John Layton
Photograph 1: Sailing Drifters are seen here heading for port with holds full of herring. Probably early 20th Century.
This was quite a spectacle, as can be seen here, with people standing at the harbour's mouth to watch the boats enter the harbour.
Inevitably the older Sailing Drifters gave way to more up-to-date Steam Drifters (photograph 2).
Yet this was not a smooth transition, as many of the older skippers refused to change. It was the newer generations that gradually introduced the new technology to the industry.