Julz

The Art place is tucked away around the back at Ludham Jonny, its more like a shed, theres no access to it from the shop and cafe on the roadside, you have to walk around where the one or two little boats are out on their 'for sale' display Julz

They have probably retired or moved on after all these years Jonny, the guy with the old balance seat scales was there when i was a child many moons ago, and he added the weights then totted up their total value to give you your bodyweight, and all in stones and pounds, so he may well have given up when he was faced with the prospect of having to convert to metric. There used to be a small art studio at the rear of the Ludham bridge shop who would take a commision to do a painting or pastel of just about anything you wanted, they used to have some lovely ones of children and pets as well the usual Norfolk scenery type. They are obviouly more expensive than what you would pay for a quick charcoal sketch along a seafront at somewhere like Blackpool, but they are good quality and something ment to treasure. We are also off to Norfolk on Sunday, but will be staying up on the north coast for a while, before venturing south to the Broads sometime the week after, were going to be on tour for the next 3 weeks, Yipee! Julz

This thread has now been moved to 'The Norfolk Broads Events' section thanks Julz

I have made the topic 'Sticky' as requested, would you guys like me to move this topic to the 'Norfolk broads Events' section which is the usual home where we post up stuff to do with meets and sign up lists ect? Julz

Its your choice John, im sure the team will give you help and support where required Were down in Norfolk for three weeks as from 7th Aug, but will miss out on any September or October bash due to our youngest daughters wedding on the 8th October, so wont be able to help out with any meets then. Julz

Memories of my early years spent in Norfolk, the Coypu being caught in their cages and displayed as trophies to the locals at the 'Crown inn' at Haddiscoe, the little cottage there were we lived for a couple of years or so, (I would love to take another look around it today) the old Johnsons yacht station, and the craftsmen who used to build the wooden boats there, i loved the smell of their workshop, and the smell of freshly cut timber still reminds me of the place today. The smoke houses and bloater shop in Gt Yarmouth, the Hot peas stalls on the market place, and later the Chalet park at the foot of Haddiscoe bridge, and the old Wolsley cars we used to travel their in, the black 4/40/4 and the two tone beige 16/60 I suppose also i miss being fairly young and fit again, ideally probably i would like to be in my early 30s again, my young family complete, with a fairly good career, no health problems, and happily married to Bill, with a fairly nice lifestyle and not needing to pill pop everyday lol Julz .

They are beautiful creatures, i have seen one before when it settled on our awning at Sandringham, they seem to be attracted to woodland habitats Julz

Largest supermarket is Tesco at Stalham, or Roys at Wroxham, you can buy enough items to make a decent meal at Lathams, but its not a supermarket as such, more like a large village store which also sells hardware and gardening items, as well as clothing and household textiles more than it does foodstuffs Hope this helps Julz

Retired bodger and codger to the building trade, and local mad house key holder here! Blimey! the PC brigade would shoot me if they spotted that one lol! now a part time Traveller with a big caravan on the back to prove it, True Romany style! Julz

It probably started out as a youngster being someones garden pond specimen, and either got dumped into the river when they became overstocked, or got tired of the chores of pond maintainance , due to them being rather prolific breeders, and quite dirty fish to keep regards needing regular filter cleaning, or it escaped during a flood! Julz

Even the proffesional rescuers can make mistakes, there was a case in the news last week where a lady needed urgent medical treatment for a condition whilst aboard a cruise ship in the north sea, it was decided to transfere her to a Norwiegen rescue boat, but whilst doing so the crew managed to drop her stretcher due to the swell of the tides causing the vessels concerned to move apart, dumping her into the north sea which was -3C at the time, she did have a life jacket on for the transfere, and they managed to get her out, only for her to die later in hospital, it must have been a terifying experiance for the poor woman indeed. Julz

I will ask around for you Jonny, we do have quite a few gaming young lads in the family, but i dont know much about them myself, except that they are always going on about some of them being 'Chipped' is this the same with yours? Julz

I might just get brave and try the CIF out on one small crack in an inconpicuous place and see what happens I was told about some stuff called 'Creeping Crack Cure' by an old seadog on the Marina, but being as he was a wooden fishing boat owner, i then doubted that he had tried it out for himself on his own craft! Julz

Thanks for the reply David i thought that was the case, but just wondered if there was a product out there which would cover them up slightly, we did take quite a bashing in the wind last week with some force 7s blowing along the Menai straights, along with lashings of heavy rain. It was also so sad to see the remains of Dickies Yard, one of the main new boat dealerships and chandlers in the area, which had been burnt out by a fire since our last visit a few months ago, and by the looks of things will not be returning to reopen in the same location, the land now destined to be a redevelopment area for some posh appartments according to the planning notices pinned to the boarding. We found some good slipway facilities though at the new Conwy marina, they have worked hard at the upgrades of berths there over the last few years since the housing complex was built, and now have floating pontoons with EHU, and some very fine craft moored there, nice to see it so busy at this early part of the season, and watch all the salty bottoms having so much fun Julz

We noticed a few of these last week along where the GRP joins onto the Aluminum awning rail, they are no longer than 2cm, mostly vertical, with a couple of places grouped to form a spider configuration, they look just like pencil lines, but nothing will shift them, and i doubt they go full thickness as theres no interior water ingress and the damp meter readings are all within normal range. So the question is, what can we do or use to get rid of them, and to prevent any re-occuring in the future? If they are just Gelcoat cracks, is it possible to somehow paint over them or use some kind of touch up paint? Julz

Although i have never come across a composting loo installed on a boat, i have had the experiance of using one on a campsite, where it was a necesity due to the place being a long way from the main sewerage system on the farm where we were staying, so it was a financially viable alternative to extending the main sytem down into the camp field Yes there was a smell with it, but no where near as bad as the old 'tub' toilets of days gone by, you could also see down into the holding area of it, which i found most off putting, and like a lot of the loos found on the continent, anything other than what you had eaten or drank previously had to go into a bin at the side, including toilet paper and sanitary products Im not sure if this is the same composting set up as the one your refering to, or are the boat composters more like the modern 'digestor' systems that use enzymes to break down solid waste into a liquid, which in turn drains away into the stratas of the land, or in the case of a boat into some bio form of a clumping agent? Julz

I have just fetched my Land Boat (caravan) back from the approved workshop this morning, all nicely serviced and safety checked, with the 2011 badge on display to prove it, and to satisfy the insurance requirements and gain a nice discount on the premiums for displaying it! lol It just needs a good wash and a polish now with Fenwick's Bobby Dazzler, then it will be ready for being Norfolk bound very soon I totally agree with you Barry regarding the state of disrepair some people allow their 'Pride and Joy' to get into, the customer services where we collected from today has a fine display of just exactly what some people see as 'acceptable' within their units, with the scorched pannels and upholstry, dangerously cracked tyres, worn out and corroded brakes, sooted heating systems, cracked hitch heads, and blocked ventilation, its a wonder they didnt suffer a fatality as a result of some of these things they were so poorly maintained Hopefully soon the Caravan & Trailer safety test and insurance will become compulsory just like the Boat safety has, at the moment it isnt, but you can be pulled over and fined for having a dangerous unit by the police check points that operate on the main holiday routes throughout the summer months, and they do have the power to impound any unit considered to be dangerous, and the maufacturers are doing their bit by saying that any unit not serviced annually with an approved workshop will forfit its warantee, so at least some element of getting into the regular servicing habit is instilled into the owners from day one of buying Julz

We use Fenwick's products for cleaning our Caravan, quite a bit of the bodywork is GRP, and over winter its also prone to algae growth from being near a tree. The main wash (yellow bottle) is a tough and powerful remover of the black streaks and algae, whilst the 'Bobby Dazzler' (White bottle) puts a protective layer and shine on the surfaces making any future black streaks or algae much easier to remove just by washing alone Both products can be bought from most caravan shops for around £8 a bottle, but there big enough and strong enough to last you a couple of years of monthly cleaning. They also do a black streak spray for the same price, but we cheat and just keep some of the main wash diluted ready for use in a garden spray which works just as well at a fraction of the cost Julz

It maybe better to buy a propper stainless steel kitchen Jointing strip from somewhere like B&Q or Focus for around a fiver, rather than a wooden strip which is combustable and would also be prone to warping due to the heat from the cooker and moisture from the sink and drainer. they sell a variety of shapes to join either two flat surfaces as a continuation as in your case, or shaped ones for rounded front worktops to join into the corners of an L-shaped Kitchen. They all can be trimmed to size using a small hacksaw You could try Olearys Motorhomes for a reasonably priced new one or the possibility of spare parts, they deal with the self build market and classic campervans going as far back as the 1950s, so may stock the part you are looking for http://www.olearymotorhomes.co.uk Julz

The Pictures Of 'Buttons' the old steam galloper bring back fond memories of when i lived in Haddiscoe as a child Carol, it was a regular Sunday afternoon treat as an infant in the early 60s to be taken for a walk along the sea front, with an icecream and a ride on 'Buttons' with one of my parents if I had been 'good' during the week lol I also remember a hot food stand just at the side of the Gallopers selling 'American style fried Norfolk Turkey wings' a predecessor of the Kentucky Fried Chicken shops, and a very popular snack with the holiday makers and Locals alike Julz

The E-bay one has the wrong make of outboard Brian, to be the stolen one, unless they have done a quick swap of Engine of course! Julz

How wide do you want your gangplank to be? In the past, before my Dad had his hip replacement done, he was unable to stride the gap to get onboard a hireboat we had, so we bought a 14ins wide aluminum motorcyle ramp which was strong but lightweight, and folded in the middle to stow under a 6ft side bench with ease. They have rubber type prongs at one end and lashing straps to fix them firmly to the side of the boat or trailer, or even used it to get him up a small flight of steps once, the other end has small d shaped feet for the ground side, all surfaces are non slip. I still have mine, but i eventually bought a pair to load a mobility scooter into the boot of my car by placing the prongs onto my rear sil just above the bumper, they can be bought from most motorbike accesory shops or of e-bay where i bought mine for about £120 for the pair. for a wider ramp it would be possible to leish them both together from the underside. Julz Edit to say woops! I didnt spot the link to the quadbike ramps on the previous post, they are quite like mine, and work well, but now i have seen the price of those, i think i was Stung a bit !

There are several types of chip fat available to the fish fryers, some set rock solid when cold, and it would be a nightmare as you would have to melt it all to strain out any bits, something the chippies do to the hot fat with a special wire sieve inbetween batches of chips, but often some finer residue still remains. We used to have someone collect our old chip fat to run an old L reg Vauxhall Frontera on, but like mentioned above, it soon died in the engine department within a couple of months of doing so, I think it was the head gasket that went bust, and the car went for scrap Julz

I may just pop in with my daughter on Saturday night as shes southern bound for Suffolk for a couple of days, but it all depends on how Bill is doing at this end, he still has his Kidney drains in, so cannot travel far from home, and needs someone home with him incase of any emergencies, but if i can be there then i will Julz

Its nice to see this party realy getting started Sadly, Bill and I will not be able to make it this year, due to a few health problems, and after a trip down to see the Consultant recently, im now on the waiting list for Surgery, which should take place during September or October this year. Until then, im still having lots of tests and hospital appointments to have ECGs and scans done, sort out things with the anaethetist ect, not to mention loads of pill popping, so we really need to stay close to home I will sort out a NBN Birthday Cake with Brian, who the Suttton Staithe booking has now been transfered to, and hope that you all have a good time Julz