City Boats was 'born' on May 26th 2000. Mervyn and Beryl High purchased 'Southern River Steamers' from Cedric Lovewell who ran the latter for 25 years. There were 2 river buses in the purchase - 'City of Norwich' and 'Vanguard'. Both vessels are of wooden construction and were built in 1931 and 1950 respectfully, 'Princess Elizabeth’ was added to the fleet in 2003.
Vanguard seats 60 passengers, City of Norwich seats 50 passengers and Princess Elizabeth seats 40 passengers.
Mervyn - Doing the Job He Loved
Over the last 9 years all the vessels have undergone major refurbishment in various stages and are subject to 3 inspections on an annual basis by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Princess Elizabeth is our designated private charter boat. Mervyn undertook all the business marketing and was heavily involved with various groups to promote tourism in Norwich until he became terminally ill and passed away on the 19th March 2007.
After Mervyn's demise, Beryl was joined in the business by daughter Linda and son-in-law Richard. Linda is largely responsible for all the administration and Richard (the one in the overalls) is responsible for maintenance.
