A RIVER YACHTING RESORT 157 



the rustic dances of the labouring classes on a Saturday 

 evening in the low-roofed and brick-floored tap-room are 

 worthy of encouragement. It is generally agreed that the 

 time devoted to Horning Ferry is well spent, and as enjoy- 

 able as any part of a cruise in Broadland. 



The Ferry Inn is a charmingly picturesque hostelry of 

 considerable antiquity, which contains in its visitors' list the 

 autograph signatures of many notable men, amongst whom 

 may be mentioned the Duke of Argyle and the Marquis of 

 Lome. For many years the Ferry Inn was in the hands of 

 Mr Thompson, a sportsman of the old school, whose splendid 

 physique, genial countenance, and unlimited stock of sporting 

 yarns were known to every " Broadsider " in the county. 

 We can remember how " Old Thompson " used to make our 

 piscatorial bumps throb with excitement as year after year 

 he would relate that the giant pike, supposed to be at least 

 50 Ibs. in weight, was still pursuing its unchecked career of 

 piracy and plunder. This marauder of the deeps round Horn- 

 ing defied the strongest gimp, and if only half the tales heard 

 were to be believed, it had appropriated enough fishing tackle to 

 start a small shop with. It was not, however, by legitimately 

 acquiring the various gee-gaws provided by confiding anglers 

 that it gained its reputation for potential greed; many a 

 pheasant and duck was supposed to have disappeared in its 

 capacious maw, much to the astonishment and chagrin of 

 those who had shot the birds ; but at length this advanced 

 type of Esox lucius met with an untimely end in the trammels 

 of a bow net. It is always so with noble fish. Its gross 

 weight proved to be 34 Ibs., and the scene of his depredations 

 knows him no more. 



Poor Thompson, having in due course become a martyr to 

 rheumatic gout, retired, fearing that the winters of this marshy 

 land " might double him up for ever." The Ferry Inn since 

 his retirement has changed hands once or twice, but is still 

 an excellent retreat for those who desire to indulge in 

 fishing and shooting which the locality offers, although, 

 of course, the place, to those who knew it in the palmy 



