Julz

Hi Bobdog, I must admit that is an area of Norfolk that I have yet to explore properly, I have been upto Cromer a couple of times, but seem to take the coast road and miss out on some of the smaller inland villages inbetween. I must admit we only discovered Fakenham purely by chance when a leak in our old caravans Bathroom ment a trip to the nearest Argos store to buy a dehumidifyer urgently, to help dry it out! We are planning to take a dayboat out at some point during our next trip, and being Ludham based, we often cruise up the Ant and onto the Barton area, but experiance has learned us not to try this in high winds, as the dayboats with canopys up soon turn into a Sailey, and we did once get pinned to the bank at the northern end of the broad! Julz

Congratulations to both of you John, I hope you have a lovely time, so lucky to be going to Friesland, Bill and I had our Honeymoon there, and toured by coach at the time, but fell in love with the place, and visited several times since, mostly based at the Hotel Spaander on the banks of the ZeiderZee at Volendam. The Hotel is a real gem for history lovers, its full of old paintings done by the students of the great master artists, the story goes that if they could not sell their works, and were unable to pay their tab for board and lodgings, the kind innkeeper would take a painting in lieu, and these are the paintings that still hang around the walls of the place today, some of them dating back to the 1600s when the place was first established . The old bar, although now unused and kept as a museum piece, is another gem from the past, although sadly now the main hotel is run by a chain, Great Western hotels, as a three star, and has deteriorated as far as food and main bar are concerned, compared to what it used to be like when we first visited 27 years ago, when all staff in the restaurant wore full dutch costume, and the cuisine was pure Dutch, and we still smile today about their take on Fish and Chips, which turned out to be Kippers and deep fried small whole potatoes! Julz

We were lucky enough a couple of weekends ago to attend the Yorkshire Armed forces day in Scarbrough, and were very impressed by the displays given by the aircraft both old and modern. The Red Arrows were in attendance, and performed superbly, followed by a fly past by a Vulcan bomber, a Spitfire and an Hurricane, but the best of all was right at the end of the display, when a Lancaster Bomber flew very low over the clifftop where we were standing, so low infact you could see the pilot in his cockpit as he swooped around to give everyone another look, much to the delight and much cheering of the crowd. This has given us a taste for seeking out other airshows, and I was wondering when the Lowestoft one was on? Im also trying to re-schedual a recently cancelled trip to Donna Nook, which over looks the Wash, and its Military bombing training ground, with much activity if you happen to be there at the right time, and of course at a safe distance! Julz

I hope you have a lovely time John, are you off to somewhere nice or just soaking up the sun with family and friends? Julz

We enjoy the north as a good stopover point on our journey down to the Broads Bob, it sure is a nice place to live. We normally stop off at one of the Sandringham sites for a few days, good for spotting wildlife around the estates woodlands, and also nice to visit some of the pretty little villages and markets around the area, and on occasions we have spotted members of the Royal family out and about around the estate. Fakenham market is a good one, but getting a parking space on the day is another matter! It has to be a very early start to get there before the crowds start to arrive, but well worth it if you enjoy collectables like my husband Bill does, with his old woodworking and stone masonry tools, silver Coins and the odd gold sovreign. There are a few stalls selling new stuff, but it is more secondhand stalls on the whole. Anyone Know of anyother markets worth a visit in the area? Julz

With the high season just about upon us, and some people prefaring to stay in land based accomodation to enjoy their Broadland break,and some planning to use a dayboat for their river cruising, im wondering who will be out and about over the comming next few weeks? It would be nice to share any Hints and tips on this thread, and write up any holiday tales of how you enjoyed your land based Holiday in Norfolk, including your accomodation, places and pubs you visited, or even things like campsites you stayed at, facilites on them and if you found them to be good value and well kept, and would be happy to return again. I will be heading down to Norfolk for most of August, spending the first week up on the north Norfolk coast staying at a Caravan Club site with my Elddis Avante Tourer, then we will be moving down to the Broads for the rest of August, hiring a dayboat for a few days, generally enjoying the area and all it has to offer, and spending some time with family who live just south of Beccles. What are your plans? Julz

For any caravanners out there who are considering using the Womack CL, its a lovely little site, but beware if you have any low slung gear, motormover, sparewheel carrier ect under your van or you tow a larger unit, because the gradient of the entrance gate on leaving can cause the caravan to 'ground' and scrape at the lowest point undernieth. We did find out the hard way with our last caravan, and on changing it for one a bit larger, we unfortunately had to stop using the Womack Staithe CL due to the reasons mentioned above. Julz

Thanks Alan, I have been around reading the forum via Wi-fi Hotspots, but I had a few problems logging in to my account, which Jonzo has now kindly sorted out for me now that im back home. Julz

Womack is also a favourite spot of ours, although being caravanners we used to use the small caravan club certified location just at the back of the staithe. It gave us a lovely view across the water, and sometimes we spotted an Otter at play on the far shore, or occasionally a Muntjack deer would comedown to take a drink at the waters edge. The best time to find a vacant mooring is as John says, around 11am in the morning, when some crews are preparing to move on for the day, although during school term time when the rivers are generally quieter, there are often free spaces over night, especially during early and late season. Julz

Any MacDonalds, including the one near Morrisons Island at Beccles, any Toby Carvery, including the Captain Manby just up the road from the James Paget hospital on the A12, any Brewers Fayre chain pub, all have free Wi-fi, restrictions on time at some places, but all reasonably priced other wise and no problems with signal to send recieve emails or surf the net using my tablet, the only thing that sometimes fails is streaming TV channels and heavy downloads, especially during peak times. Julz

When are you going Jonny? there is a possibility we may see you down there if you wanted to land lub with your dog, I know a few dog friendly places to stay, I believe the travel lodge at acle accepts dogs for a small extra fee if that helps, or why not camp with Fly? Julz

You either need a pair of folding scooter ramps Jonny, and a thick carpet off-cut to protect the boats gelcoat, or you might be easier with bathtub design and load him off and on via the Bow, then in through the front double doors, which will give easier access than any single doored craft. We spotted a few people using the bow for loading on and off a wheelchair when we were at Ludham last year. Its also something that we may have to consider doing with our daughter Kay once her Chemo has completed, she loves the Broads, and I think the peace and tranquility will be good for her after all the worry she is going through. Julz

We have had Omega from Brinks out in the past which I believe is a Haines build, and really enjoyed her, likewise the brinks Royales are quite nice, although the latter does involve three steep steps down into the saloon which would prohibit wheelchair use down to the cabins and heads. At least Omega gives you the option to sleep in the Lounge on the same level as you board, and both have bathing platforms which make boarding so much easier for the not so mobile if you are thinking of taking your disabled Uncle with you Jonny. Julz

Hi Jonny, Just to say that Melody is not the easiest of Boats to board for the less Mobile, she sits fairly high in the water, her sidewalks are high to get up onto, and theres no cut out rear 'boarding gate' like there are on some other sedan style boats We had a look at Melody when we took Supreme out, it was the boarding issues that made the descision for us, fine for long legged fit young people, but no good for a less mobile short legged boater like me When do you plan to be down that way? Julz

That Clip is brilliant Carol, real Hi-de-Hi stuff, brought back some fond memories of when we used to take the youngsters to the Caravan Club touring park when it was at Butlins Skegness, back in the 80s, they loved the all inclusive fairground, competitions and water sports around the pool Can Anyone remember the N.A.L.G.O Camps? These where the ones run by a large trade union at the time, to provide the workers who were union members and their family with an affordable annual Holiday by the sea . There was an option to have a 'stamp' stopped out of your weekly wage each week, that went towards the cost of your holiday at the camp, and an option for those who's workplaces closed down for the 'works fortnight' during the summer months, to travel by coach to the same destination Nalgo camp with the costs included in the 'Stamp' As a teenager, in the summer I left school, and just before starting Nursing college in the September, I went to work on the one at Knipe Point, a bay near Scarborough, as a babysitter, along with a friend who was waiting to start her Police officer training. It was very much like the Butlins and Pontins sites, only on a smaller scale. eventually, due to coastal errosion, half the chalets had to be condemed as they were slipping into the sea, and the site became no longer economically viable for the Union to run, and by this time the trend for cheap package holidays abroad had seen a decline in the use of these camps. The remaining chalets were demolished and the land nearest the main Scarborough to Filey road was re-developed into two rows of smart retirement Bungalows. Sadly, fast forward on 30years, and further coastal erosion has now seen these Bungalows tetering on the edge of the Cliff, with some about to fall down it anytime soon, even the main road has had to be diverted onto a new by-pass, and other properties in the area have been unable to get house insurance due to this risk. Julz

I have just had a look at Clives website link Jim, and managed to find a piccy taken on the Pontin's Dolphin site around 1972, You can see the start of the rows of Bed-Sheds as we knick-named them to the bottom of the tennis courts LH side The first row were painted with whitewash outside, the following rows behind that decended down the hill towards the sea, still had their original shed-brown outer, and were rumoured to date back to the early 50s, they were just big enough to get a double bed into and a stacking type chair at the side of the bed, there was a small hanging rail in the corner at the foot of the bed, and a mirror screwed to the wall and that was about your lot! I bet a lot of unsuspecting customers were glad that it burned down in the end Dan, it was more of an endurance test than a Holiday for us, we must have been about the youngest customers there, the rest were elderly people, whos entertainment needs and tastes came first before you could say 'Disco'! We also witnessed the destruction of the old Butlins at Filey, when they slowly demolished it as it was taken over by Haven Holidays. By this time we had a touring caravan of our own, and used their site regularly for short breaks and hoildays. Everytime we went, another part of the village had been flattened, and some of it included the catering crockery and other logo'ed memoribilia, which was just smashed amoungst the debris from where the bulldozers had been. Haven now have well over 1000 caravans on this site, a few of the original brick built self catering chalets remain, but are in a poor state of repair, and the entire area has become a mecca for the Chavs who are looking for a bargain break, with all inclusive entertainment for themselves and their kids. Its all far too 'Loud' for us now, especially when the drunken 'domestics' start on the way back from the clubhouse at night, often followed by the site's security staff, and the Boys in Blue, so we tend to use the Caravan Club Adult only sites instead, which usually give us a better nights sleep Julz

I spent my honeymoon to my first husband down at the Pontins Dolphin site in Brixham, north Devon, It was the scorching hot summer of 1976, and all the points had melted on the Railway track on our journey down from Derbyshire, causing long delays The brochure showed a terrace of fairly new chalets with all mod cons, but failed to point out that these were only available as an expensive upgrade, offered on arrival on a first come, first served basis. What we actually got was a plasterboard lined garden shed, with a large single glazed window that only had a small opening pane at the top, to say the place became a sweat-box rivaling any type of prisoner of war torture was an undestatement, and we spent most nights sleeping outside in old fashioned Deck-chairs, sneaked from around the pool in the middle of the night, and hidden stored away from the cleaner under the metal framed army style thin foam mattress bed by day All the facilities were in a bathroom block, no showers back then on this site, and we had to wait our turn for a bath when we wanted one, and just hope that the person before us had remembered to wash the bath down and had not left their scum tide mark around the sides! With only six bathrooms for the 'Ladies' and six for the 'Gents', the wait could be very lengthly indeed, and it wasnt long before we cottoned onto the idea that maybe the best time for a bath, would be during the small hours of the morning when the block was often deserted, and being Honeymooners, we didnt care to read the the notices on the door before we jumped in together for a good long soak The food was typical camp style set menu, benches for 8 people, Formica topped tables, the same people allocated to sit with for meals, if you liked them or not, and if the dish of the day was something you really could not stand, the alternative was a Cheese or Ham salad, and if you didnt like that, you went hungry We soon found the local Cornish pasty shop and little bakery, and after taking to the owner whilst being served, he took pitty on us, as a young couple who at the time were only 19 and 23, and were short of funds, after just scraping together the money for a deposit on our first little house, and being so duped and ripped off by Pontins. He would often look out for us walking back up the hill to the camp at the end of the day, and offer to give us any left over items that had not sold in the bakery that day. In return, we bought our cold drinks and sandwiches to take to the beach as we walked down each morning to catch the bus into Paignton or Torquay. A few years later, we borrowed my parent's touring caravan, and with two little ones by our side, we headded south to take a visit down Memory Lane, not much had changed with the Pontins camp from what we could see, and we were glad that we were not staying there, but the little old Pasty shop and bakery was still up and running, and with a bit more cash in our pockets, we once again became regular customers, and the owner after a couple of visits recognised us, and made a real welcoming fuss of us and our new offspring in tow, and we returned home from that visit with a coolbox full of Cornish pasties for our family and friends, but of course, this time we paid full price for them Julz

Ok Alan, will do, now you come to mention it, I believe some of the figurines that I inherited from my mother, are actually Royal Doulton Bill's other hobby is Stone Masonry, and he has some fine specialist tools for doing that Too Julz

Hi Alan, I have just shown that piccy to Bill, and hes asked if you have any 'Norris' planes, apparently the rolls royce of the 'Plane World' He also says that living in Sheffield, where a lot of these planes were originally made, you are at an advantage as far as collecting goes, as they were often available fairly cheaply to the factory workers who made them, and were sometimes sold on 'down the pub' to make a bit of beer money locally, so where in plentiful supply compaired to other parts of the UK where retail charges and transport costs made them less affordable to the locals Bill says that in his collection he has the following, Fore-plane and Jointer, Jack plane, Rebate plane, (sometimes called a Rabbit Plane) Block plane, Shoulder plane, Bullnose plane, Compass plane, Norris plane, and of course, the full set of Beechwood moulding planes, and the 'Granny's tooth' Hornbeam planes, mostly used to get staircase joints cleanly routed out for making a perfect fit in high class fixtures such as the Victorian polished Oak type, which often didnt get covered up by carpets Julz

Wow! Quite a collection there Alan, I will show Bill the pictures when hes up and about later, one of the oldest collections he has are the Victorian moulding planes, designed to make intricate wooden beading and cornices, where each plane cuts a different profile in the timbers, there must be over 50 of them, they are all tucked away at the end of our garage in a toolbox or two, along with various antique saws, including his favourite Distan (sp?) and other types of old woodworking tools. They have all been well used in their day, but theres not the call for such fancy woodwork in modern buildings, although he did use them on some National Trust properties he worked on just before he retired I will have to have a go at taking some piccies of my figurines to post up, but I must admit im fairly rubbish at the photography and resizing stuff, but I do know some of the names of them, my favorites are the 'Equestrian Lady' 'Top O'the Hill' and 'Julia' which my mum bought me for my 21st Birthday. I also collect Beswick Horses, Glass Paperweights (mostly Caithness), a few Leyburn teapots, and a couple of Capo-De-Monte sculptures, with 'The Tramp' and 'The Cheats' packed away safely out of the reach of our little grandchildrens fingers and flying toys! Your figurine looks really nice, and quite an early example of their work, Did you ever get the chance to go around the pottery where they were made? We went out on a pensioners outing as helpers a few years ago, and they took us upto Stoke and the Potteries Museum, where it included a tour of the Wedgewood and Coleport factories, and the retail outlet, needless to say, I came home with much lighter pockets and heavier bags then when I set out, but it was well worth the trip, as sadly a lot of it has now closed down, and shipped overseas due to cheaper labour costs, and in some cases the company closing down completely when they went into receievership. Julz

I collect Coleport figurines, must have about 50 of them, it started when I inherited my mothers collection, but tbh, Im a bit tired of them now as they look quite dated with a modern decor, and have not bought anymore for a few years Bill collects Pre-1945 coins, and we regularly visit a handful of specialist shops around the UK where he gets lost like a kid in a sweetshop, whilst I go off and do some girlie retail therapy of my own He also has a good selection of old woodworking tools, after working in the trade for over 50 years, some of them, including severeal sets of different types of planes, go back as far as the 1800s, and I bet you and him would get along just fine Alan, he loves to talk about his past career and show people, most who are only familiar with the likes of a 'Black and Decker' how these lovely old things work Julz

We were lucky enough to spot a pair of Otters playing early last season on Womack water, they where out amongst the Treeroots, on the bank opposite the Staithe, at around 6am one morning, as we walked our dog down from Danny's Paddock Julz

So I take it that the Post Office and little village shop has closed down now? Whilst I can see that a PO in a pub is better than no PO at all, I much prefare the old style little shop which once was part of the hub of the community, and was more welcoming to youngsters who just wished to pop in to buy mum a birthday card, or even an icecream maybe, on there way home from school, rather then them entering a pub at such a young age alone Julz

We live not far away from the river Wye, and normally its quite shallow, its only the recent wet weather thats swelled it to a depth that has become deep enough for this tradgedy to happen, in summer you can often see kids paddling in it at certain stretches, and its also a river popular with fly fishermen as it passes through the private estates of Haddon and Chatsworth that charge a small fortune for fishing parties to fish from their land. Im unsure which stretch of road the accident happened, as the road does follow the course of the river for some considerable distance, the stretch from Buxton down to Bakewell does have a few places where the river is only a few feet away from the road, and being one of the highest altitudes in England, its very prone to bad weather and icey roads long before the lower levels get any, and even in Autumn, the fallen leaves from the overhanging trees can make the road very slippery indeed, there are no crash barriers installed, and there have been a fair few Bikers come to a sticky end along that same stretch over the years. I can only think that the poor man who lost his life did so from his injuries and possible hypothermia rather than purely from drowning, I would have thought that even in winter, and in flood, the water would have only been about 4ft deep max before it started to flood the road. A car that entered the water in the upright position simply would not have had the depth to become fully submerged unless it had become overturned and one side of it was completely underwater. My condolances go out to the family and their friends in their tragic loss. Julz

They remind me of when we used to stay in the Cordon Rouge apartments on Wroxham bridge, before the days of the bridge pilots there, you could almost gaurantee that on a busy high season weekend, there would be at least one boat get stuck under the main archway We once watched the BA first try loading on more people to give extra balast and bring the boat to sit lower in the water, and when that failed, they sent for a big old workboat with a powerful pump onboard, which was used to fill the bilges of the stuck boat with many gallons of River water, which finally enabled the boat to be low enough to be pulled free, moored up at the De-masting moorings, and the process reversed to pump the river water out of its bilges. The problem was solved somewhat when the pedestrian bridge was installed, and a row of dangling strips attached to act as a gauge to oncoming craft from downstream as a simple warning, if the strips touched any part of your boat, do not proceed with the bridge passage Sadly it didnt take long for some pillocks to make a game of trying to remove these during a transit, and after a couple of seasons, they were almost non-existant again, and the Hire yards started insisting that no Hireboat was to transit the bridge without the services of the bridge Pilot. Julz