BROADLAND TOM: THE TRIALS OF A NORFOLK WATER BAILIFF 1952-1976. By Tom Cable B.E.M.

(1991) 1992 paperback reprint. 8vo (147 x 210mm). Ppviii,256. B/w photographs, illustrations, map.

This book "is the autobiographical account of the life of one of the Broad's best-known characters, Tom Cable of Ludham". From 1952 to his retirement in 1976, Cable was "Water Bailiff on the Rivers Thurne and Bure as well as the famous Hickling Broad and Horsey Mere, where he remained until his retirement in 1976. In this book, [Tom's recollections] tell the story of the broads themselves over that period. ...When commercialism gradually began to dictate the future of this unique landscape, still threatened today despite National Park status". Chapters include: Early days; A new life; The education begins; The floods and the film; The timber town; New headquarters and new friends; A dying breed; The European eel - its life and death; The revolution; Baits; The new arrival; The poachers; Turning chaos into order; A new era; New problems and new ideas; Pollution and the Hundred Stream; Hickling Broad; Horsey Mere; Survival; The bad year; The inland broads; Electro fishing; New faces and new problems; Trade union shop steward; Public relations; Fishing and permanent pegs; The Yellow Peril; The fish farm; Swans; The student; The final days; The cancer and the cure.