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Lowestoft Community Centres

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Lowestoft is a town in Suffolk, in the UK region of East Anglia. Lowestoft Ness is the most easterly point of the UK. The town is thought to date from Viking times, the prefix 'Lowe' being a Viking male name, and the suffix 'toft' meaning 'Homestead'. The town developed into a fishing port in the middle ages, and rivaled nearby Great Yarmouth. The coming of the railway brought a change in the fortunes of Lowestoft. Sir Samuel Morton Peto built a railway linking Lowestoft with Norwich and a number of other towns. He also developed moorings for 1000 boats, which boosted international trade with the continent. Peto's efforts also made Lowestoft a thriving seaside resort. Fishing was a huge industry for the town, however in the 1960's, the catches from the drifter fleet declined, and they soon disappeared from Lowestoft. Many trawlers were adapted to work a service boats for the North Sea oil rigs. Now the fishing industry in Lowestoft is practically dead, though a fisheries reserch laboaratory still exists in the town. The towns other major industry, the Eastern Coach Works, also disappeared, as have the two shipbuilding companies which emplyed over 1000 men at their peak. The town retains its rail conncection, and sees frequent services to Norwich, Ipswich and London Liverpool Street. The town is also linked to Norwich via the A146; and to London via the A143. Towns nearby include Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Beccles, Bungay, Dereham, Wymondham, Thetford and Southwold.