See inside the derelict ruins of former city live music hub

It was once a thriving pub at the centre of the city’s live music scene - the place for aspiring bands to strut their stuff on stage for the first time.

Eastern Daily Press: The former Ferry Boat Inn pub in Norwich has finally been bought - and is going to be a development of 41 homes called 'King's Bank'. Pictures: BRITTANY WOODMAN The former Ferry Boat Inn pub in Norwich has finally been bought - and is going to be a development of 41 homes called 'King's Bank'. Pictures: BRITTANY WOODMAN (Image: Archant)

Once, to step into the Ferry Boat Inn on King’s Street in Norwich was to be surrounded by music, friends and energy - with the added warmth of a local pub.

The pub closed down in 2006 and few will have stepped within its walls since, with the site left to become derelict, deteriorated and a far cry from its previous glory.

As work gets under way on a £7m regeneration of the former pub to provide housing, the developer tasked with revamping it has revealed what it now looks like inside - and the scale of the project to renovate it.

Many of the pub’s previous features still remain - cut off beer lines still remain behind what was once was a bar, while outlines of fire places also still remain.

Its timber beams are also still visible, but the rest of the building resembles a bomb site.

Rubble lays strewn across what remains of the floor and workmen inside must tread lightly, with holes in the walls and floorboards.

Some of the tables, chairs and booths from its boozer days also remain, but are ripped, torn and instead form obstacles on the ground.

The glass panes of the pub’s wooden doors have been obliterated, with large shards hanging from the frames and smaller shards littering the floor.

The first and second floors of the building are much the same, derelict and plastered with rubble and radiators hanging off the walls.

One bedroom appears to have been recently occupied, with a duvet slung on the floor next to a makeshift dressing table, complete with toothpaste and a towel hanging across the wall.

But beneath all this, beauty still remains, with the Grade II listed building’s 200-year-old timber features set to be incorporated into its conversion.

Ben James Smith, chief investor of Estateducation, which is carrying out the revamp, said: “I have seen places in much worse states than this - it will make a lovely conversion.”