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AdnamsGirl
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Posts posted by AdnamsGirl
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Many thanks Andy
I was unsure whether to ring River Control about it at the time, but will certainly do so in future if I spot anything similar.
Carol
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We've just got back from a week on the southern rivers and I thought I'd better post up a word of caution about the informal, short stay moorings in Norwich between the Carrow and Novi Sad bridges.
We usually stop here so that we can pick up supplies at Morrisons during the week and attempted to moor there on Saturday. As Kev came in slowly to moor, with me standing on the bow gathering the rope together, I happened to notice a submerged shopping trolley, almost slap bang in the middle of that stretch of moorings, right beside the quay heading. It was low water and I doubt it would have been visible had we arrived at high water. Thankfully I spotted it in time and got Kev to back off ..... it was close though!
I don't know who has responsibility for these moorings and whether I should report the underwater obstruction to the Broads Authority?
Just exercise some caution if attempting to moor there at the moment. In the end we decided to head on up to the Yacht Station instead.
Carol
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I was really disappointed too with the BBC coverage - lots of shots of the man-powered craft and very little else! I found myself screaming "Show me the boats!" at the TV !!
Bit of a waste of an afternoon really.
Hopefully some better footage will turn up on YouTube! This is a nice bit of film of MTB 102 and the Dunkirk Little Ships .... I just wish they'd have carried on filming for a bit longer to get the historic ships section and Broad Ambition.
There seem to be a few time lapse films of the pageant - it sort of puts it all into perspective really doesn't it?
Carol
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Thanks John
I will have to be pedantic and point out it's the Rushcutter's at Thorpe though!
We usually have a night at the WRC (those superb showers with hairdryers are worth the mooring fee alone) .... but I don't think I'll be paying £6 for internet access though!
Carol
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Hi
Can anyone update me on the current wi-fi access situation on the southern rivers please?
The pubs I have listed are:
Surlingham Ferry Inn
Reedham Ferry Inn
Chedgrave White Horse
Are these still offering wi-fi and are there any others to add to the list?
I know that the WRC make a charge for access - how much is this now?
Many thanks
Carol
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The photograph of the pontoon ferry is indeed the one which used to operate at Horning - it went out of use during WW2 after it was hit by a bomb in the air raid of April 1941 (the same raid in which the pub istelf was also destroyed). Here are a couple more photos. The first was taken by John Payne Jennings c1880s/90s.
This one is c1930
The Ebay photo is one that I have seen a few times in different places and has always been attributed as being at Horning - a foot ferry was also operating alongside the chain ferry. The Ebay one is, I believe, usually dated as being post WW2 ... so late 1940s or early 1950s I think. With regard to the foot ferry, Robert Maltser mentions it in his "Norfolk & Suffolk Broads" book and says:
The passenger ferry was a large marshman's punt with a light chain that was hauled hand over hand, a wet, cold operation in the depths of winter; the charge was an old penny, though that often went unpaid when those using it had to haul themselves across the river.This foot ferry apparently continued to operate until around 1967. I guess that they may have used more than one of these over the years which may explain why it looks different to the one Nigel has dated as 1915.
I am sorting through some 80s and 90s photos for the website at the moment taken by John Chesney and amongst them was this image of a passenger ferry at Horning called the Stanley Arthur. I'm not certain on a date, but going by clothes and hair styles, I think this is probably 1980s. I was going to stick it on the blog to appeal for more information as I hadn't seen a photo of this before.
Carol
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Oh ... footie!
I was beginning to think that Northern Soul dancers had invaded Broadland .......
Carol
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Hi Howard
Thanks for that. The more I have looked into this, and the opinion of others I've spoken to, is that it seems to be aimed at websites which use cookies to harvest personal information for marketing purposes etc. The ICO don't actually seem to be sure how this is going to be policed and enforced but have said that they will act on complaints from members of the public. I am sure that they will also be monitoring what happens with large companies come deadline day.
Someone checked my website for me (although not thoroughly) and it seems that I am largely cookie free anyway. The webcounter on the home page sets a session ID - all this does is just log a hit when the page is visited and I don't get any information from it. YouTube set cookies where I have videos embedded ..... I can re-embed the videos using their prvacy enhanced mode which means that a cookie is not set until the video is played. I will add a warning about this. The only pages I am unsure about are the two bridges articles which use embedded Google maps - I suspect that Google probably would use cookies on such things.
I have been meaning to add a privacy statement to my website for ages to inform people that I do not gather any personal info, ISP addresses etc, from visitors and that I would also never pass on personal contact details - emails/phone numbers etc - without their express permission.
If I can at least get these bits sorted out then I think I should hopefully comply as best as I am able! I just can't see that I would be able to implement a cookie acceptance box anyway with the software I use ..... and I'm sure there must be thousands of people who are in the same position.
Carol
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No David - I was alerted by my web host (via my reseller for that web host who is a friend). The web host had posted a blog regarding the issue with relevant links for info and help - he alerted me to this in case I was using cookies on my website.
It seems that YouTube does set a cookie for embedded content, but I can avoid that by using the privacy settings for that embed code. They will still set a cookie if the video is played via my website but I am hoping that if I at least put a warning up that this will be enough to comply. I am still looking into things at the moment but I can't honestly see how this can be policed and whether they would go to the bother of attempting a prosecution on a website like mine.
It will be interesting to see how it all pans out with the larger companies though. I have yet to come across a cookie acceptance box on a website anywhere!
It's probably just me getting into a flap over nothing that should really concern me ....... not unusual!
Carol
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I have just been informed about the new EU cookie regulations governing all websites which must be implemented by the 26th May 2012 and it's got me into a bit of a panic this morning as I'm not sure I fully understand what I am going to be required to do. I don't want to end up with a £500,000 fine!
http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations ... okies.aspx
This is going to affect everyone who runs a website, be it business or personal ..... in fact it will affect everyone as it seems that we are going to start getting boxes popping up when we browse the internet asking us to agree to cookies being placed on our computers.
I have been trying to read through various documents on the subject but it is a bit of a minefield as to what cookies are exempt and which are not. My technical knowledge as regards website design has always been on a "need to know" basis only ..... as my web design software is a "What-you-see-is-what-you-get" program (Serif Webplus X4) which works much like a desktop publisher I haven't actually needed to know a lot! I've added a few bits of html code here and there for certain features, but that has usually been copied and pasted from elsewhere.
I need someone who understands these rules and regulations to help explain what I need to do!
I don't actually know what cookies my site might use. I don't gather any personal information about visitors to my website - I don't use Google analytics but do use Google webmaster tools. This just gathers basic information on what the main keywords are on my site, what search queries people have used to find the site and how many clicks to my website have resulted from those search results. It also provides information about which other websites link to mine and checks for crawl errors, html problems and malaware. I can't honestly remember how I set it up, but think I just had to submit the site to Google and add a document into the main website directory.
It's not a particularly useful tool and I don't really check it that often so it can be removed if I need to.
If you have previously visited a page on my website then any underlined hyperlinks to that page within my site will show as being a different colour to those which haven't been visited - is this done via cookies from my website or does the web browser do that? (Sorry .... I know I am rather dense!)
I have a basic web counter on the home page of the main website - this is a Serif add-on which just logs each hit on that page only. Again - if this uses one of the cookies which need to comply with the new rules then I can remove it.
The website blog uses Wordpress and I have no idea what that might use in the way of cookies but I believe there is a widget available for Wordpress which will comply with the new laws. Once again I have a simple webcounter on that, all it does is gather a page view count and not personal information about who is visiting the website.
I don't carry adverts or use Adsense at all - and don't intend to. I do have links to external websites though.
I don't know how this is going to work with embedded material? I have YouTube videos embedded and Google Maps.
I am just totally confused and rather worried by it as I have no idea how on earth I am going to implement this cookie acceptance box should I need to.
I need some help as I don't want to have to take the website down.
Carol
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Did I hear mention of free beer?
There were certainly female wild hop plants growing beside the 24 hour moorings at Geldeston Locks a couple of years ago .... whether there would be sufficient quantity I doubt, but it may have been growing elsewhere along that stretch of the river. I'm sure I've seen it elsewhere on the southern rivers too, but can't think where at the moment. As for permission to pick .... I would assume that it's a bit like picking blackberries isn't it? If you are on someone's land to do so then I guess you would need permission, but if just picking from the river or road then probably not?
We have masses of wild hops growing in the hedgerows along our lane .... unfortunately it's all male!
Good luck with the search - it sounds like a lovely idea.
Carol
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I thought you'd enjoy the film Howard!
I think it's quite interesting that it doesn't actually show any yacht racing, but more the general scene of the crowded boats lining the river and some of the other "water frolic" events which took place at regattas back then ..... health and safety would certainly prevent such things today I'm sure! The regattas were big social events that it seems everyone got involved in back then ...... without TV's people needed something to do!
The coracle thingies look as though they are cut down barrels to me ..... and the girls in their bathing suits being paraded up and down the river must have been quite risque in the 1930s!
I am extremely grateful to Dave Smith (who had the films transferred) for allowing me to put it out there for all to enjoy.
Carol
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I've kindly been given permission to upload a short film of the Potter Heigham Regatta, filmed in the 1930s by an amateur cine photographer, to YouTube via my channel. Also included is film of the swing bridge near to Lowestoft harbour, presumably filmed during the same visit to the area. It's a great little piece of Broadland's history!
You can read the full story behind the films here: http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/blog/2012/03/potter-heigham-regatta-1930s-film/
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I found this whilst having a trawl on YouTube yesterday evening and it's an absolute gem! Filmed on 8mm cine in colour in 1954 it follows a family holiday which covers a major part of both the northern and southern rivers and runs for just over 26 minutes.
Lots of footage taken on the rivers with loads of lovely old woodies, also some interesting street scenes at Wroxham/Hoveton and Great Yarmouth yacht station and seafront (including a visit to Joyland). They also visit Coltishall, Horning, Potter Heigham and Ranworth. On the southern rivers they pass the Red House at Cantley on their way up to Norwich - again some nice footage of the city. On the Waveney they stop off at St. Olaves and head to Oulton Broad. They pass the Golden Galleon at one point and a passenger steamer on Breydon .... and we also get a glimpse of MTB-653 which moored near Horning during the 1950s.
The family took the holiday on the motor cruiser "Harbinger" which was seemingly hired from Stalham Yacht Station. It's an amazing piece if film and the fact that it is in colour really brings 1950s Broadland to life!
Carol
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Hi
The entry for the Clipper class from Blakes 1952 edition only lists numbers 1-5 (see below) .... the next brochure I have for refference is 1957 which does list number 6 but it doesn't really help in pinpointing exactly when your boat first appeared in the fleet. Sorry that I can't be of more help!
I've had a look at the original photo of Chumley & Hawkes yard taken by Bob Righton in the 1950s which is at the top of the page on Broadland Memories which diesel falcon posted a link to but it is, unfortunately, not of high enough resolution to be able to make out a name.
Carol
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You're a very naughty boy David!
I have seen people take powered tenders beyond the footbridge at Geldeston, but believe that the agreement reached with the landowners along that stretch was for the use of unpowered craft only. I seem to remember reading a year or so ago about the planned enhancement of that stretch of the Upper Waveney for "quiet recreation" I believe they termed it - imnproving the footpath and encouraging canoes by making portage around the sluices etc. a little easier.Between Geldeston and Bungay town centre there are three obstacles which require you to take your vessel out of the water and physically carry it around to get back in the water again. This is obviously not a problem with canoes, but how easy it would be to do with a dinghy I don't know. Somewhere online there used to be a very nice guide to canoeing this stretch which included details of the portage points and how far you had to carry your craft around the sluices and weirs. Heading upstream from the Locks Inn, you will first encounter Ellingham Weir - you will need to lift the canoe or dinghy out here at the official portage point and carry it round (this may be a couple of hundred yards). Further upstream you will encounter Wainford sluice which again requires portage of your craft. Just outside Bungay is another sluice.
Plans to reopen the navigation between Geldeston & Bungay have been mooted quite a few times over the years, but in all honestly it would just not be economically viable. I have various newspaper cuttings and quite a few notes about the "Lost" navigations which I hope to eventually collate together for the website ..... but haven't had the time to do so! If the locks needed to be reinstated then the costs these days would be extremely prohibitive when weighed up against the benfits gained from re-opening such a short stretch of the waterway. The lock at Ellingham was filled in - the link below takes you to one news cutting I have from the 1970s which reported on that event. At that time the reopening of the NW&D Canal and the Upper Bure were also mentioned. I think I also have a news cutting on a proposed new cut being put in the connect the Bure at Tunstall to the Yare somewhere near to Reedham (thus bypassing Breydon) and another from the 60s which included the estimated costs at that time to reinstate the Upper Waveney, Upper Bure and the NW&D Canal.
http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/documents/news/news_70s/70s_extendingthebroads_waveney.JPG
Carol
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Well blow me! The magician seen at roughly 2 minutes 20 into the film "Poz" (also seen judging the kids fancy dress competition) is one of our neighbours! He is still a childrens entertainer and used to do the discos for functions at our local pub ....... I'm sure he still wears the same suit!
What with spotting footage of my grandparents bakery and my nan walking out the shop door in another EAFA offering this week, it's a small world ...... everybody knows everybody in Norfolk!
Carol
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Oh wow !!
I seem to be sitting up late again having got lost in the East Anglian Film Archive website and have just come across a film from 1953 which features the Water Witch at Salhouse quite heavily. Made for the Childrens Film Foundation, the film follows four youngsters as they go out in a rowing boat to explore the wreck of the Water Witch. Quite a charming period piece .... but I seriously doubt that a Norfolk thatchers son in 1953 would have spoken like this!!
Great footage of the Water Witch though.
http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/650
Carol
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Carol
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They have apparently put around 200 hours worth of footage online so far ..... their collection contains around 12,000 hours of film and 30,000 hours of videotape, so hopefully there will be more to come.
Carol
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We've spent the last two evenings sitting up until gone 2am trawling through the EAFA website - there are some absolute gems on there and it is so wonderful that they have been able to make all of this stuff available online. I hope they can continue to get the necessary funding to continue the excellent work.
Some of the other Broads films include this Hoseasons promo film from 1971 which follows a family around Broadland onboard Santa Caterina from Harvey Eastwood's .... although with a bit of artistic licence they actually seem to start their holiday on it from Astons boatyard at Loddon !
http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/451
The Norwich section contains some equally exciting footage such as this one from 1962 which follows a journey by river from Thorpe, up the Wensum into Norwich. Some great shots of the industrial riverside area:
http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/1714
Also in amongst the Norwich films is a very poignant home movie, filmed in colour by an American serviceman in 1945 of the bomb damaged city and the graves of those killed during the blitz raids, and street scenes from the late 1950s to 1970s when the slum clearance saw vast swaithes of the city being bulldozed to make way for tower blocks and shopping centres!
On a weird and wacky note .... they have a few films made by the early British film maker Arthur Melbourne-Cooper who was a pioneer in stop frame animation. This truly bizarre animation which features a dream sequence in which a young child's toys come to life and start having punch ups is just incredible. I had no idea that this technique dated back so far, and this particular film dates from 1907 would you believe!!
http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/1893
I just find this all so exciting!
Carol
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Swift needed rather more than just a coat of Varnish inside to bring it up to the standard of the rest of the fleet. We have hired Swift three times over recent years, the last time being May 2010. The Galley was actually earmarked to have a complete refit and the wood panelling between the dinette and the heads needed replacing. And yes ... the cushions could have done with a recover too. The extrerior (still original gel coat) was also really beginning to show it's age and is probably getting to the point where it would possibly need painting if it was to remain in a hire fleet. The engine was faultless and very economical. It is a great boat and, even though it may have been getting a bit tatty, was always well maintained mechanically. superbly equipped and was always clean. Pacific have many, many repeat customers as the service they provide is just superb. A really friendly, family run yard who always go the extra mile when it comes to customer service.
Clive has a whole team of people to carry out the refurbishment of their boats ..... as far as I am aware, Richard at Pacific does most of the work on their fleet himself. To carry out the regular winter maintenance on the entire fleet probably doesn't leave a great deal of time for a refit of Swift. It makes perfect sense to me that they should update to the ex Conway Castle. As I mentioned, it looks in superb condition for the money that was being asked for it and will be a real credit to their fleet. They have some very nice boats, but Swift was beginning to let them down appearance wise compared to the rest of the fleet.
I am also looking forward to seeing how the Nanni performs ......... we proved how economical they actually can when we hired Broadland Saturn for a week in October. Stalham to Dilham to Coltishall to Womack, Potter Heigham and Stokesby, then back to Stalham .... fuel used was £20.47 for the entire week!
Swift will make a great project boat for a new owner as it was basically a very sound boat.
Carol
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I spoke to Fiona at Pacific earlier and can confirm that they have indeed bought the ex Conway Castle to replace Swift (AKA Chuggity Bob
)We had a look at the boat at Waterside a while ago and it looked very nice .... if I'd have had the money ....
Never mind ... I now have the next best thing and have booked a week on what may now be called Pacific Conway (and possibly Chuggity Bob 2!) for next year.
Carol
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The good news is that I have now sold a total of 46 copies of the DVD, so it has just about broken even with the costs involved! Many thanks to all who have bought a copy
It was always one of those things which was a bit of a gamble as it is such a niche market, but I'm relieved that I have recouped the outlay.
The bad news (for me) is that I have now gone into debt again! I spotted this on Ebay last week and just had to have it ....... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140631294045?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
HOW MUCH !!!!! did I pay for that !!!!
It's actually footage which was taken onboard the wherry yacht "Norada" in 1930/31 ..... Norada is one of the survivors and is currently under the care of the wherry yacht charter charitable trust and should be sailing this year. It struck me as being another example of such historic footage that needed to be out there for others to share rather than being locked away in a private collection somewhere. So I went and spent the money Kev's been earning by doing some overtime over the last few weeks!
It's probably likely to cost me about the same again to get it transferred (along with two other small films which I need to get done), but I will try and get some funds together to get it done as quickly as possible so that It is at least preserved even if I don't actually do anything with it for a while. Editing it and producing a new DVD may be a project for NEXT winter, with a 2013 release as I just have too much other website stuff to work on this year.
It arrived this morning and I am so excited !! The only problem is .... I can't actually view it as our 16mm projector isn't working !
What I really need is a 16mm cine viewer/ editor - if anyone has one lying around whch they would be prepared to loan to me for a few weeks I would be extremely grateful! I need to splice the other films I have together, and whilst I do have a splicer, it would be helpful to be able to run them through on a viewer first.So, in need of funds to get this stuff transferred into a digital format, I'll make no apologies for a shameless plug for the existing Broadland Memories DVD's as an idea for stocking fillers if you are stuck for something to buy your Broads loving family and friends for Christmas!
Please order by Wednesday 14th December to ensure delivery before Christmas!
Carol
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What I really need is a 16mm cine viewer/ editor - if anyone has one lying around whch they would be prepared to loan to me for a few weeks I would be extremely grateful! I need to splice the other films I have together, and whilst I do have a splicer, it would be helpful to be able to run them through on a viewer first.
PACIFIC CRUISERS
in Hire Boat Discussion
Posted
We have just had a week out on Pacific Breeze and were very, very impressed with the latest addition to Pacific's fleet. An excellent replacement for Swift and remarkable value for money!
Breeze is in superb condition and, as with all of Pacific's boats, was beautifully presented and very well equipped. The interior differs slightly to Swift in that the forward cabin is partitioned off with a door from the main saloon/galley area. This door was the only real negative from our point of view - fine if you are using the berths as two singles, but adding the infill to make it into a double (as we do) meant that opening the door inwards to get into the cabin required a certain level of joint flexibility to squeeze your way around it. Richard did mention that the door had been removed by the previous owner and I can understand why. He also said that they were considering replacing it with a curtain. The phrase of the week did turn out to be "bloody door!"
It was a personal thing though, and others may not find it an issue and it does make the boat much more practical for young families or groups of friends. Be aware that the dinette does make a rather small double. Door problems aside, Breeze was absolutely perfect for us as a couple. Beautifully fitted out with attractive wood laminate flooring, Breeze is fitted with a four burner hob along with the oven/grill and has a good sized electric fridge. I haven't got on with electric fridges on boats in the past as they always seemed to defrost and have been very noisy. No such issues on Breeze - whilst it does make a little noise it is certainly not obtrusive and worked perfectly all week. There is the usual 12 volt cigarette type socket to plug chargers etc. into, but Breeze is also fitted with a built in 600 watt inverter with two household sockets which is suitable for charging up mobile phones and laptops etc. Not to be used for hairdryers/ straighteners etc. of course! There is a new digital TV with a built in DVD player - we struggled with the DVD player as the picture kept freezing every few seconds so we gave up. Not really a concern as we tend not to watch TV whilst out on a boat anyway. Richard has installed LED conversions to all the lights throughout the boat so drain on the batteries with these is minimal and I was impressed by the light they gave off. The warm air heating was very efficient on the cooler evenings.
The galley was very well equipped - an area which Pacific seem to excel at! I usually take a pile of utensils and cooking equipment I think I might need but usually find it already onboard with Pacific .... they even have non-stick frying pans! It's attention to detail like this (and the friendly, personal service of course) which make Pacific our company of choice.
The Nanni engine was very quiet compared to the BMC fitted on Swift and proved to be very economical too. We tend to be economical boaters anyway, taking advantage of the tides and keeping the revs down and don't feel the need to rush round everywhere, but in our week out we covered the entire southern rivers - our GPS logged us as having cruised for a total of 23.25 hours, covering 104 miles at an average speed of 4.5 mph. We used the warm air heating for a total of around 7 hours over three evenings. We used 37ltrs of fuel at a cost of £50, so had the nice bonus of £45 returned from our fuel deposit at the end of the week.
The canopy over the cockpit seemed nicely balanced and was easily manageable by just one person where necessary. The upright supports for the canopy seem to be in a slightly different position to those on Swift and I must confess we found it rather difficult to get in and out through the side when moored side on - just something to be aware of for the less agile. We found it easier to exit and enter through the rear and step round the back corner onto the side decks to get on and off. This worked for us but may not be ideal for everyone.
All in all, Pacific Breeze was just a lovely boat and we'll certainly be hiring it again - stunning value for money!
Carol