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AdnamsGirl
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Posts posted by AdnamsGirl
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Many thanks for the very kind comments.
Whilst I would have been happier for it to be fully mobile friendly, I am at least relieved that it is all working properly now!
Once my rather neglected garden is tidy again I will be editing the 1978 cine footage from the Vardy Family collection ready for upload & working my way through some more old photos and postcards. I also finally checked out a couple more cine films last night which I bought last year but hadn't watched yet. Ooooh ... a very lovely little film from the late 1960s of a holiday on the motor cruiser York Rose plus some sailing footage from the late 1970s. I also have another 70s film on the way this week
Carol
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OK ... the new Broadland Memories website has been uploaded this morning. I've not finished checking properly, but it all appears to be there. If you notice any issues, please let me know.
http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/
Most importantly If you have any page other than the main Home page saved as your bookmark then you will need to go and re-save it as all other pages now have different page names/URL's. Similarly, the site search will not function properly until Google has indexed the new website. I hope that won't take too long!
Other than that, I hope it all works OK for everyone. The layout hasn't really changed much, although there are fewer but longer pages. I figured that scrolling isn't too much of an issue these days and, with generally faster internet speeds, loading the photos in the gallery pages shouldn't be a problem. The one major change is the "Then & Now" section which has been revamped to display all the photos at the same size as the gallery pages, and a town and village index has been added to those pages too.
Many thanks!
Carol
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A quick update on progress on the new website.
Firstly, a massive thank you once again to everyone who helped with donations towards the costs involved of the software and computer upgrades needed to keep on top of Broadland Memories and get the website updated and rebuilt.
I've been putting in as many hours as possible to get all of this sorted and I think I am there with the rebuild now. I had hoped to have got it uploaded this week, but the bank holiday weekend got in the way and I haven't quite finished checking everything through properly. Fingers crossed it will go live next week! The mobile version has been a bit of an issue as I would have to build maintain and update an entirely separate mobile website. As I said before, trying to get such a text heavy website transcribed onto pages a third of the width of the current site would be pretty much impossible. What I have (hopefully) managed to do is to ensure that all of the missing text and display issues which were being experienced on mobile devices are gone. Yes, you will have to zoom in to read the text on small mobile devices, but it does seem to be working quite nicely. I've largely had to check all of this myself, but have done so on multiple devices, different operating systems and internet browsers to try to ensure that there won't be any further issues.
Once it goes live, if anyone spots any errors or anomalies please, please do let me know.
Ultimately, I am going to look into moving the website over to Wordpress software which will be far more mobile friendly ..... a job for the winter months when I have a bit more time to spare! I am happy that I have now got it to display the content correctly and have taken the opportunity to display all of the gallery pictures a little bigger and to have a major revamp of the Then & Now section. It will also be easier for me to update and maintain now too and hopefully better for others to use.
I've also finally taken the plunge and set up a Facebook page for Broadland Memories ... if you like that sort of thing then please go and give it a like!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Broadland-Memories/429309293913085
Thanks again .. and keep your fingers crossed for me next week!
Carol
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Excellent - many thanks for that!
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So pleased that you have finally been able to find something out about the film Nigel, wonderful to put a name to the film maker.
Griff500 - I'm guessing that you probably recognise some of the faces in the photo below which shows some of the Porter & Haylett boat fitters c1983. One of a collection of photos which were kindly sent to me for the Broadland Memories website by Iain Gray.
Carol
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It's quite probably true. From the picture and film evidence I have seen, the Broadland regattas were always a major event and drew large crowds of spectators in the days before TV's were in everyone's living rooms! It wasn't just sailing back then either ... half barrel racing, swimming races, bathing beauty contests ... all manor of silly water based games which would probably be ruled out today by the Health & Safety bods. I've several pictures from the first half of the 20th century which show the riverbanks lined with decorated wherries and boats, all crowded with spectators watching the action at the various regattas. I would imagine that regatta day would still have been very popular in 1951 - easy rail travel into Beccles back then too, not only on the main line but also the Beccles to Tivetshall railway which was still open and would have brought in people from the villages between.
These two postcards were of the 1924 Beccles Regatta
Carol
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Hi Carol, long time lurker and first post. I worked at Southgates as my first Saturday Summer job and started to watch this purely out of interest. As it progressed it quickly dawned on me that I remembered this particular Saturday which was either in 1975 or 76, probably the latter. I have no recollection who the guy was who filmed the day or for what reason but remember we were all briefed to carry on our jobs as normal although one or two of the scenes appear to be quite staged.
I can't believe that this was nearly 40 years ago and had virtually forgotten this era until seeing this film for the first time yesterday. There were some real characters at the yard ranging from the older traditional boatbuilders to the younger engineers dressed in their finest flared jeans! Happy days and some great memories brought back. I can vaguely remember some of the names of the people that worked there so let me know if you need any more info...
Wow ... not quite sure how I missed this, but a belated welcome and thank you for the information. Wonderful to find someone who remembers it being filmed. If you ever fancy writing down some of your memories of working at Southgates for Broadland Memories then I would be really pleased to add them to the the website. I've lots of great memories of holidays, but would love to have some boatyard tales too!
Always happy to receive any personal memories and stories of living, working or holidaying in Broadland for the archive!
Carol
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I too will miss the Trawlerboys at the Locks - always a good pint. The Grain "Oak" was especially good last weekend though and it is great to be able to find some of the Grain Brewery beers for sale on the Broads. They produce some excellent stuff. The brewery own the Plough pub in St Benedict's Street in Norwich which is where I usually get my fix!
The Locks is just such a special and very lovely place though
I did notice that all the old Barsham Fair posters had disappeared from behind the bar. That was a surprise.
Carol
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Pooping in the Locks is an ancient relaxitive.
I always knew there must be a reason why somebody took the time to carve a pair of underpants into the quay heading at the Locks
Carol
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This aerial view from Horning is quite a good illustration of how much has changed over the years. From the bottom right, working our way up, you can see Southgates boatyard, followed by Percivals & then Banhams just before the green. The 1964 edition of the Broads Book listed some 13 yards at Horning offering boats for hire.
Carol
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It was the ex Broads Tours passenger launch Princess Mary which was at the Falkirk Wheel. She was moved up there in 2003 and was used to run trips until around 2011. I had some correspondence and photographs from her skipper up there, Mike Lennox after I contacted the Falkirk Wheel regarding her whereabouts. In 2011 she was moved to the Leeds & Liverpool canal where she went up for sale. I've not heard anymore about her since. More photos & info about her time in Scotland in this blog post I wrote:
http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/blog/2012/07/broads-tours-princess-mary/
She wasn't the only ex BRoads Tours boat to make their way to Scotland. The ex "Prince" passenger launch became Ratho Princess which ran trips on the Union Canal before being retired and used as a pleasure cruiser. She had undergone a major refit and looked spectacular. Once again, I had correspondence with her owner who sent me some photos and history about the boat - you can find all of that in another BM blog post:
http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/blog/2012/09/broads-tours-the-prince/
Ratho Princess appeared for sale again recently .. the price started at a whopping £45k I believe but has dropped since. She'd make a lovely flag ship for Broadland Memories!
:danceIf you follow links back from those blogs, there was also details of another ex Broads Tours launch, Vanguard 2, which was being used as a Water Taxi in Wales. If anybody spots any other ex Broads Tours launches in other parts of the UK, then I'd love to see some pictures
Carol
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Ha! Nothing so exotic as airports involved. I haven't had a valid passport since we got married 30 years ago and don't "do" planes!
The last time he tried to cook he gave us both food poisoning, which is some going for a vegetarian meal.
Hmmm .... (goes off to check life insurance policy ....)
Carol
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Some lovely old pics in this article in the EDP.
Shame that their children didn't catch the Broads bug! And unusual really given that they must have been brought here from an early age if the couple holidayed here every year. It's amazing just how many people I have contact with through Broadland Memories caught the bug after coming along with their parents in the 50s/60s/70s/80s etc.
I'm currently distraught! OH wants a holiday away from the Broads and boating this year !
Just what other sort of holiday is there?
After a distinct lack of boating last year because of what was going on with mum in law, I'm not sure I can cope with this idea!
Carol
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More goodies from the Ludham Archive Group on YouTube. I was fortunate to see this one a whle ago and it is an amazing film - looks to have been shot on 16mm and shows turnaround day at Southgates boatyard in Horning during the 1970s. A bit sad as it finishes with the deserted boatyard having been shutdown and abandoned. Despite many enquiries, Nigel couldn't find the origin of this film or the cine-photographer responisble ... so glad he has decided to put it out though as it is a wonderful record of Broadland boatyards of that era.
Carol
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Oh, I so want that time machine. Browsing the latest Norfolk Broads uploads to YouTube this evening, I spotted that Nigel has uploaded some fantastic old cine footage of the Norfolk Broads for the Ludham Community Archive Group. Early 1960s ... got to be pre 1965 as the Ferry Inn at Horning still had its thatch. Mid summer ... it was sooooo busy !!! All those gorgeous wooden cruisers ...
Carol
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We visited the new tea room at Potter Heigham yesterday afternoon. Quite a transformation!
The cafe offers light lunches in the form of jacket spuds, panninis, sandwiches etc and the homemade cakes are huge and all look fabulous! Between us we sampled the Victoria sponge, the coffee & walnut cake and the coconut & lime cake ... all very yummy! A very nice cup of tea too. I presume the cakes must have proved popular as many of the choices had gone by later afternoon.
Carol
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I'd forgotten just what a great bit of footage this was.
I can't help with any info about the boat, but would also love to know more.
Carol
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I'm sure Uncle Albert's Trousers did a session for John Peel in the 1980s ....
Carol
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Another quick update on progress so far. The new software was installed on my old PC a week ago and I've pretty much had my nose buried in it ever since! It has been slow progress whilst I got to grips with what the software can do, and there has been a lot of trial and error whilst I try to sort out a new design for Broadland Memories which will hopefully work on most computers and portable devices. On that side of things, I think I am just about there now. I have rebuilt several of the main pages and we've tried them out on PC, laptop, netbook, tablet and my old HTC phone .... after a change of font. things are looking quite promising on the display front. It is all working so much better than the current site and, whilst pages do not auto resize (not possible with Webplus) I think I have solved the issues of missing and overlapping text which is the major issue with the current site when viewing on portable devices. Yay! These initial pages seem to load well and the links and buttons are performing nicely so far. The new design is a lot less messy looking too!
My next task will be to rebuild all the photo galleries, history and memories pages and, of course, the paper & ephemera sections. Before I get too far into this, I would appreciate a couple of volunteer testers who can also try it out for me on different devices/ browsers etc. I am able to test on IE, Firefox and Chrome but would really like a Mac user to check what I have done so far out for me too. Obviously, I'd need volunteers to check in on the test site a few times a week to check on the new additions as I upload them. Please PM me if you think you can help.
The new PC arrived this week and I got it all set up yesterday. It's obviously taking me a while to get that up and running and unfortunately it is taking me away from working on the website! I've been getting up early and working long into the evening to try and do as much as I can and can hopefully transfer what I have done so far over to the new PC very soon. The website rebuild is not going to be quick, but I'm sure it will all speed up a bit once I am happy that the basic design is OK and works
I can't import the existing site into the new software (I've tried) so there will be a lot (and I mean a LOT) of mind numbing copying and pasting of text ahead. With how things are looking so far, I am seriously hoping that I may not have to build a separate mobile site after all. I'm not sure that BM is a website you'd necessarily want to browse for too long on a mobile anyway? I don't use any analytics so haven't got a clue how many people access the website via portable devices. As long as I can make sure that all text, photos, links etc. etc. work on phones and tablets, then I think I will be happy.
Thank you so much once again to all who helped make this possible.
Carol
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I came across this interesting set of photographs recently. They are part of the King's College "Serving Soldier" project and were taken by a naval officer during a holiday on the Broads in 1905 ... presumably on the wherry Fawn, although there seems to have been more than one wherry pictured here. They start from the 5th row down:
http://www.kingscollections.org/servingsoldier/collection/travels-of-a-naval-officer-volume-4-part-2
Carol
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The Norfolk Uncovered series of films on YouTube are really interesting and highlight some of the lesser know history of the county. Not all Broads related of course, but fascinating none the less if you're interested in local history. Check out the rest of his uploads here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/djoska87/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=0
I went though a few more last night, including this one of the old chalk mine tunnels underneath Norwich. Incredible ... but you wouldn't catch me going that far underground!
Carol
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Just a quick update ..
Many, many thanks to everyone who has kindly donated since I added the button to the website. Donations stand at £320 (after taking off Paypal fees) which is absolutely wonderful and I am so touched that people think so much of Broadland Memories. Thank you all so very much.
The new software has been ordered from Serif and will hopefully arrive at some point this week. In the meantime, I have been making a start on getting some ideas together for the website redesign. Getting the website to work on mobiles is looking as though it will be slightly more complicated than I had hoped ... essentially it seems that I will have to build a separate mobile site from the way it reads. If this is the case, then I don't think I will be able to have a full version of the website available for mobiles/tablets, but should hopefully be able to do a "lite" version which will have all the picture galleries but may have text only versions of the personal memories/history etc. I don't know yet ... I will know more once I have the software up and running. The priority will be to get the main website rebuilt first.
On the computer front, having weighed up all the options, the most practical solution seems to be to go for something off the shelf. Firstly, it will mean that I can get started on the website rebuild straight away rather than having to wait for my PC to be rebuilt, and it also means that I can keep my existing PC as a backup. In the past when something has gone wrong with my PC then I've been rather lost as far as the website is concerned as it is not something that I can work on and run from a little netbook. I will eventually sort out upgrading that to the current version of Windows, but it will be fine as a backup for the time being.
Essentially, the donations I've received will cover about half the total upgrade costs, which is fantastic. I think I should be able to fund the other half myself, so any further donations now will be kept in the piggy bank for future purchases of archive material and other ongoing costs involved in its day to day running.
I'm not sure how long it will take me to rebuild the site but I will probably need some volunteers who can test it on different devices with different browsers etc. as I go along so that I can try to pinpoint issues before it goes live. The sooner I can get it all up and running, the sooner I can crack on with adding new additions!
Thank you once again to everyone who has helped with this, both via donations and with advice. It really is very greatly appreciated.
Carol
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I genuinely did look into the idea of this a few years ago and the prices charged by the likes of Vistaprint and Bonusprint just make it economically unviable.
My only experience of Vistaprint was extremely poor quality products. Bonusprint are better BUT they charge £7.99 + £4.99 postage for a single mug ... that's £12.98 before you start. Add on to that the fact that PayPal will charge me a percentage of that money I receive as a fee .... I would need to put another £1 on top before I even started to get into profit.
I wouldn't pay £15+ for what is a bog standard, pottery mug however pretty the picture on it was, and I don't think many other people would either. It's great for family mementos, but not really viable as a fundraiser.
Besides which (and call me a snob
) I really wouldn't want the Broadland Memories name being associated with over priced, not particularly great quality merchandise. The only way to make it work would be to bulk buy from a reputable producer ... but I know I wouldn't sell very much even if I had the space and funds to go down that route. It was a nice thought ... but it's a non starter really.Can I just add that I am extremely touched by the generosity of people who have donated so far. As of this afternoon, a total of £195 has been donated which is going to be a massive help towards the costs of software and PC upgrades. I am working my way through replying to everyone individually, but a huge thank you and virtual hugs to you all.
Carol
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:dance
Wherry yacht? on the Bure
in Broads Photos
Posted
Did White Moth ever have a boom?
I'm not sure whether I've seen any photos of her with a boom and it doesn't look as though she had one in the old brochures, although it is difficult to be certain from the poor quality pictures in those. Also, she has two struts in the stern below the seating, rather than the three in wherry yacht in Roy's picture, although I guess that could have been modified over the years.
Blakes 1958 brochure lists three wherry yachts for hire - White Moth, Rambler (Leo Robinson) and Olive. Norada was certainly about and sailing then too, but in private ownership and had been renamed Lady Edith. I don't think it's Rambler but I know that both Olive and Norada had booms at this time.
Carol