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The Ferry Boat Inn was a public house and live music venue in Norwich, UK, which closed in 2006.

The Future of the The Ferry Boat

Norwich is soon to have its first backpackers hostel, a whole new tourism market for the city and the next venture for father and son, Alister and Jason Borthwick.

The team behind the award winning, eco-friendly tourism facilities at Deepdale Farm on the north Norfolk coast, are in the process of developing a hostel in the centre of Norwich, having just purchased the somewhat derelict Ferry Boat Inn on King St.

“The Ferry Boat will make an excellent location for our second hostel. King Street is an easy walk to the main attractions of the City, train and bus station. The river access means we can offer canoe hire and with national cycle route no1 passing the front door we can also offer cycle hire. We are really excited about the opportunities this site offers. The planners like our ideas to regenerate the site and we look forward to working with them to develop a really exciting landmark for Norwich.” said Alister Borthwick.

The Ferry Boat Inn has been closed for over 3 years. The only way it could compete with the chain pubs was as a live music venue, but after much of the river frontage was developed into flats, live music was no longer welcome and the pub was forced to close. Greene King, the previous owners, had considered developing the site into a pub restaurant, but decided the £1m to £2m price tag wasn’t a viable investment. Instead they put the building on the market and the Borthwicks bought the property in early February.

“Our primary use for the site will be backpackers accommodation, mainly private ensuite rooms and family rooms, with a few dorms, which will all be accommodated in a new eco-friendly building on the site. We plan to lease out the hostel, much as we have done at Deepdale, and the canoe hire, cycle hire and café may go to the same tenant or to separate tenants depending on who approaches us. Now that we have bought the site, plans will develop.” said Jason Borthwick.

“We know groups like CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) are keen to see the pub reopen. We definitely feel that a small real ale pub on the site as part of the overall development, would be an excellent addition. This might be run by the tenants of the hostel or as a separate entity, maybe CAMRA know of interested parties and can put them in touch with us. In the meantime we’ll be developing plans for the accommodation, canoe hire, cycle hire and café, looking for tenants for the whole or parts of the site and the possibility of a pub will develop as and when interested tenants approach us.”

Norwich Backpackers Hostel will link up with the well established Deepdale Backpackers & Camping on the north Norfolk coast and with any other backpackers style accommodation that exists in the county or region, including hostels and campsites. The new hostel will open up Norfolk and Norwich to a market that is virtually untapped currently. Most other historic cities, such as York and Bath, support two or more hostels. Norwich’s YHA closed over 7 years ago and no other backpacker hostel accommodation is available, yet the city and the surrounding area fit perfectly with the backpacker market.

The backpacker travel market is quite simply unique. Backpacker hostels offer simple clean quality accommodation, but with one major difference to hotels and other accommodation - the social interaction of fellow travellers, passing on stories and experiences. “Many friendships you develop when backpacking, stay with you for life. Staying in a hostel is a very ‘unBritish’ experience, you chat to people, join people for activities and food. Backpackers are all ages and from all backgrounds, it’s a state of mind!” said Jason.

“The best thing about the backpacker market, is the positive effects on the local area. Hostels work closely with many other local businesses, from those offering activities to attractions, museums, restaurants, pubs and more. We are really looking forward to creating jobs, working with Norwich businesses and adding to this great city.”

Norwich Backpackers Hostel plans to open its doors to customers in 2011. In the meantime watch www.norwichbackpackers.co.uk for the latest information.

Bands that played at The Ferry Boat

Bands that played at the Ferry Boat include THE JINX, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Enter Shikari, Gallows, Blag, RX Bandits, The Aquabats, Kimya Dawson, Bleeding Through, Brigade, Anti-Nowhere League, UK Subs, Demented Are Go, Cult Of Luna, Throwdown, The Vibrators, Twin Zero, The Business, Mixtwitch, Captain Everything!, Million Dead, The Red Chord, Sonic Boom Six, Fandangle, HORSE the band, Bullet Union, Eden Maine, Ghost Mice, Fastlane, The Littlest Man Band, Minus the Bear, Seachange, Hoover, Even in Blackouts, Stretch Arm Strong, Jeniferever, Kid commando, 65daysofstatic, The Dangerfields, Logh, The Good Life, Noisettes, Vanilla Sky, Ambassador 21, Never Heard Of It, Modern Life Is War, Howards Alias, MU330, Stza Crack, Bring Me the Horizon, Send More Paramedics, Strike Anywhere, The Robocop Kraus, Decibully, Chris T-T, Swearing at Motorists, The Martini Henry Rifles, Miss Black America, Jetplane Landing, Melys, Engerica, Kinesis, KaitO, Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia..., Sputniks Down, The Dawn Parade, Bearsuit, Angelspit, The Suffrajets, The Microphones, Karl Blau, Magoo, Herman Düne, We vs. Death, Koufax, Funeral Diner, Days in December, Jairus, Leatherface, Champion, Ciccone, Koopa.

History

The history of the Ferry Boat has been traced as far back as 1822, when it is thought to have been called the Horse Packet. It was known as the Steam Barge by 1830, and in 1867 its name was changed to the Steam Packet. It was first known as the Ferry Boat in 1925. In the mid 1970s a second bar was opened in a converted boat shed at the rear of the pub. It was here that they began putting on live music. The Ferry Boat was originally a venue for cover bands, but in the late 1990s local promoters began booking their own nights at the venue to put on local originals bands, and touring bands from all over the world. Over the next few years the Ferry Boat became established as one of the most important venues for local bands, catering for all types of alternative music, with a leaning towards Punk rock, Ska punk, metal, hardcore and Post-rock. In 2005 a protest was held after the Ferry Boat faced losing its public entertainment licence due to noise complaints from residents of a newly built block of flats nearby. The protest was a success, and the Ferry Boat's licence was renewed. However the Ferry Boat was forced to close a year later in 2006 due to continued noise complaints and financial difficulty. The final gig was an all dayer featuring local bands.

Steve Wright

The Ferry Boat Inn was owned and operated by future serial killer Steve Wright from May 10 to September 8, 1988.

References

1. Norwich Backpackers
2. MySpace.com - The Ferryboat ! - 102 - Garçon - norwich, UK - www.myspace.com/savetheferryboat
3. Welcome to wombatwombat.co.uk
4. mqprojects - lo-fi/indie rock/electronics in norwich, uk
5. Norwich - Ferry Boat Inn
6. Norwich Darkside - Gigs, Music, Bands, and Venues
7. Norfolk Public Houses - The Ferry Boat Inn

52°37′22″N 1°18′13″E / 52.6227°N 1.3035°E / 52.6227; 1.3035

• Music venues in England
• Norwich
• History of Norfolk