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  2. There will be no evidence either way as bats hit by high vehicles will be tucked between trailer and cab and taken away from the site. Really? So every Bat that collides with a vehicle will be stuck in between cab and trailer? There's me now educated that Bats hit only articulated lorries then and further to that they only hit between the cab and trailer unit? In the words of Victor Meldrew - 'I don't believe it' or John McEnroe - 'You cannot be serious' I have yet to see any evidence of dead bats anywhere along the NDR let alone adjacent to the modern art that is referred to as Bat crossings. Besides which, the sonar arrangement that bats employ is right up there, better than anything mere mortals have produced. Bats use their sonar at night to catch insects on the wing - Yet can't avoid an articulated lorry? Griff
  3. What a decent sort you are Griff. I hope it goes well, with your instruction, I can't see it going any other way I hope they have a fantastic week afloat Grace x
  4. I don't think bats are supposed to use the crossings as such I think the idea is the detect the structure and go up above lorry trailer height. There will be no evidence either way as bats hit by high vehicles will be tucked between trailer and cab and taken away from the site.
  5. It just feels different when you have so much time on the boat. Also, the longer you are in a syndicate the more ‘ownership’ you feel. Well, maybe I’m generalising there, but that’s how Graham and I feel. I recall on our first few trips how unsure we were of everything. It took us quite a few trips before we really got to know the boat.
  6. Original plate was KN08 HED at a guess.
  7. and check the fenders are up They most certainly will be, Bro being ex RN like myself, mind you in his RN days he didn't have much practise with fenders being on 'Bombers' Griff
  8. Sometimes one gets 'Called out' After Clive left us, I said to his family - 'If there's owt you need - I'm here' Clive's boat - Dungraftin a Hampton Safari is now of course in the ownership of his family. Berthed at Sutton Marina. They want to keep and enjoy her - Good. What is not so good is that they have not much idea of boat handling and general boaty stuff. Yes, they have been onboard many times with their Dad / Grandad (Clive) and his late wife Kathy enjoying their time afloat without actually learning some of the basic helming skills The call came in a couple of months ago. 'Griff you kindly said if there's owt we need' ? - 'Well there is' - 'Can you come onboard Dungraftin with us for a weekend and properly instruct us in helming, berthing, ropes and hitches, mudweighting, bridges, tide, wind, fuelling, pump outs, etc etc' That was me check-mated right there as easy as wink Their idea was to crew up Friday early evening, go to the pub and then sail Saturday morning - Really? If only! Dungraftin has to my knowledge not had anyone onboard for about five months minimum. (The yard winterised her October last year). They have no idea if the diesel tank is full or when the holding tank was pumped out, no idea of what winterising entails, nor when the engine / batteries etc were last serviced or looked at or any current outstanding issues. So, as a result I'm driving down this afternoon to the wetshed, stay onboard 'B.A' overnight (And change the defective horns) with Bro and his crew, then disembark tomorrow morning, round to Sutton yard and get stuck in. De-winterise, check systems, pump out, fill diesel tank, warm through, spring clean inside and as much of the outside as I can (Wx permitting). I'll be armed with Henry hoover, microfibre cloths, green nylon pads, flash etc etc and aim to get her in some sort of order before the owners arrive early evening thereby be ready for sailing Saturday morning as they intend. Purdey dog will of course be with me. She is going to be mightily miffed she is not onboard 'B.A' for the duration plus she won't be able to wander round the upper deck whilst underway in her normal fashion and if we end up berthed in the vicinity of 'B.A' she is likely to 'Jump ship' ! I'll be onboard till Monday afternoon, they will continue afloat for the rest of the week On the upside a bad day afloat is better than a good day in t office, even if you aren't on your boat of choice Griff
  9. I’ll wave if I see them , and check the fenders are up
  10. Today
  11. 'B.A' is due to be crewed up from this evening through to Monday afternoon. Bro and crew - Six in all plus a huge ridgeback out for the weekend Griff
  12. The Broads National Parkway (which I am sure they wanted to call it) is not a Norwich bypass nor a northern ring road and was never designed to be. It was built as a feeder road into what is fast becoming a vast and all-enveloping dormitory housing estate. It is what the planners are calling the "Growth Triangle", which is already beginning - and is planned - to smother the whole of the countryside between Norwich, Wroxham, Brundall and Acle. So in the future a journey from Norwich to the Broads by car or train, will be undertaken entirely through a landscape of random "affordable" little boxes, each with its wooden barrier fence around it, while all the surrounding roads, pavements, driveways and patios will just cause all the now polluted rainwater to run off into the Broads rivers. When I think of the beautiful central Norfolk farmland that I grew up in, it makes me weep. If you extend the NDR you will simply extend the total devastation and rape of all the land around it. So where will the bats go then, I wonder?
  13. If you look at the NDR, it's taken much more land than it would in the past, precisely because of " green " measures. There are cycleways bridle ways, treed areas, and all sorts of land grabs that take more farm land.
  14. By October we will be seeing higher tides anyway - I agree it is not guaranteed by any means! But who knows what a dry summer could produce - I have absolutely no idea at this stage!!
  15. Griff - you are absolutely correct. Despite the huge cost of building them, totally without any evidence of their functionality, a recent report concluded that there was absolutely no evidence that any of the "bat crossings" had ever been used by bats. I don't think that this will be the end of the matter - it is totally logical to extend the NDR but you just need to find the right route! Like many things you have to get the balance right and sadly this is needed whatever the tree huggers say. However whilst I am sure it will happen, sadly I will not live to see it, and to those who fear more new houses, the marshes of the Wensem Valley are never going to be built on - it is really very wet and soggy which is why it is proving so expensive to build in the first place!
  16. Yesterday
  17. Today in a neighbouring village I saw a vehicle sporting a private reg plate - ' T O W 1 E' Now imagine having an IQ low enough to want that displayed on your pride and joy Griff
  18. The general consensus on the Rhond is that those bat crossings on the NDR are totally useless. I've never seen a bat anywhere near them when night driving Griff
  19. They put two bat net crossings in the NDR at a huge additional cost as they had also done so on the Thetford Bypass. Are we to be led to believe that the bats follow this route over the road to avoid getting hit by a car!!!!!! Has anyone on here ever been unfortunate enough to actually hit a bat whilst driving at night? Whilst I totally agree with protecting the wildlife, I would also like to see some factual evidence to suggest that Bats will use the crossings. The larger picture for me would be the overrun on time and expense (as seems to be the normal nowadays) at the taxpayers expense. And YES as has been mentioned previously, as soon as the road is in, along comes even more housing. Funny really, that gets the go ahead with no issues or am I just being cynical.
  20. I've only visited Bungay once but enjoyed it very much.
  21. Hi I’m really enjoying your holiday tale /blog glad you enjoyed the bure valley railway if you happen to travel on there again it’s worth a short walk in to Aylsham lots of independent shops and nice cafes 😁 I’ve been lucky to drive some of the trains when I was younger and had more time. enjoy the rest of your trip. Roy
  22. If you still like Bolero you could go for that and then if there were issues at Ludham nearer the time, Richardsons would change your booking. It would depend on availability as to what they offered you though.
  23. St.Ives is apparently open - but I've not been past to confirm, so don't take that as 100% gospel.
  24. You syndicate folks are dedicated. I admire you giving up your valuable holiday time, I don't think I could do it.
  25. Today I decided to do something different as you've seen, Bure Valley Railway. I like steam railways plus this one had an added interest for me - my late father volunteered there briefly before he became ill. Despite this I'd never visited personally so it was a but of a pilgrimage today. Before setting off for Wroxham, we had another walk as far as the altar cross and we both enjoyed the walk as much as yesterday. I'd forgotten that of you stand by the cross, you can see across to the Thurne, Thurne Mill and Womack, not to mention much of Fleet Dyke in a southerly direction. It was blowy and a bit wintry though so once we'd set off I didn't open the helm-side roof so much today. I reverted to my cold weather M.O. of repeatedly getting frustrated by being inside, opening the roof for a few minutes of cold air and then getting too cold so shutting it again. I turned in to Wroxham Broad and did mudweight briefly but it was too windy to feel comfortable so we continued in to Wroxham and moored at Barnes Brinkcraft. I enjoyed the Bure Valley Railway experience. It's probably one of the newer preserved railways having opened in 1990 on the site of an old passenger branch line (which was still used for freight until 1981). It trundles it's way slowly 9 miles to Aylsham where you get off and have time to visit the cafe before the return journey. It's narrow gauge so the locos and rolling stock are relatively tiny and they sort of shake you gently from side to side as they move along. Suzie isn't always a relaxed traveller, especially in the car but I found myself relaxed and sleepy and she was the same. We returned to the boat around 4 and shortly set off for Horning. I was thinking of mooring at the Ferry Inn but couldn't believe my luck when there was a gap just big enough for us on the Staithe. What the photo doesn't show is there's a boat not far in front of us so I think if we'd have been 35 foot we'd have been struggling. Unfortunately the kitchen at The Swan was closed but I've had a decent meal at The New Inn instead.
  26. Mooring at Horning Staithe at 17:30? You'll never do it, I hear you say. Wrong!
  27. Hi Daniel, Where abouts in the marina did you get a berth in the end? EA have move to caution from SSA but I’m not 100% certain that st ives lock has been reopened, I think the upstream locks are open now. I’ll be down Friday to do some jobs,then back on Sunday for a cruise up to hemingford meadows ,if all goes well we will carry on upto godmanchester on Monday,back to Jones on Tuesday. have you made plans yet?
  28. We went back to our home mooring in Horning yesterday afternoon. Today we had a car trip. First we went to the Ellough Industrial Estate, near Worlingham (past Beccles) to try to source a new 3 plug connector for our electrical wire to the canopy from ASAP marine suppliers. Success! Then we went to Bungay, which is a charming little historic town. Not as prosperous as it used to be, with several old pubs/ shops closed down. However, they did have some lovely independent shops and cafes, including bakeries, fish monger, what looked like quality butchers and greengrocers, art supplies shop, cooking supplies shop (unfortunately closed on Wednesdays) etc. There’s a ruined castle and two churches, one decommissioned, which was open, and one still in use, which wasn’t.
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