"O England!—dearer far than life is dear,
If I forget thy prowess, never more
Be thy ungrateful son allowed to hear
Thy green leaves rustle, or thy torrents roar!"
YARMOUTH QUAY.
'Twas from the "craft of sail and oar"
That states and kingdoms sprang of yore;
When Commerce ceased to woo the wind,
Their wealth decreased—their power declin'd—
Then, thou who lov'st thy native shore,
Pray Heaven to bless "the sail and oar!"
The subject of the annexed View, representing the Quay at Yarmouth, conveys a faithful idea of that interesting and important locality. It is considered by competent judges as the finest quay in England, and in point of length exceeds every other in the United Kingdom. It is one hundred and fifty yards in breadth, contains in its centre a delightful promenade—planted on each side with trees, protected from the east wind by a row of handsome and well-built houses—and presents in all its aspects a striking combination of commercial activity and ornamental beauty. To the elegant Town Hall, which occupies the centre of this space, and to other public buildings, we have briefly alluded elsewhere. As a grand panorama of commercial life, it would be difficult to point out a finer scene than what is every day presented on the Quay at Yarmouth. Its principal foreign connexion is with the Baltic; and its trade in coal, corn, and other merchandise, coastwise, is very extensive. By means of the navigable rivers Yare, Waveny, and Bure, it possesses great facilities of intercourse with the interior of the county.
In Yarmouth Roads—so renowned for the safe riding they afford to shipping—the anchorage is extensive, and there is room for any number of ships. The Roadstead, however, is better calculated for summer than winter, for to large vessels it is only accessible in the daytime with safety.
The trade for which Yarmouth is peculiarly noted is its fisheries, which are an unfailing source of wealth and employment to the inhabitants, and have proved an invaluable nursery for those hardy and gallant seamen who have so often fought and conquered in the battles of their country. The mackarel[1] fishery begins in the end of April, and ends in the beginning of July. The herring[2] fishery commences at Michaelmas, and continues till the end of November; during that interval, it affords constant employment to sixteen hundred fishermen, besides six or seven hundred men and women who are engaged in the curing-houses.[3] In addition to all these, many others are occupied in the various manufactures connected with the fishery—in the preparation of nets, rope, twine, baskets, coopering, &c.