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AdnamsGirl
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Posts posted by AdnamsGirl
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Regular visitors to Hoveton & Wroxham will be familiar with the houseboat "Heather" which moors at The Kings Head. Converted into a houseboat from the hull of an old dutch work barge in the 1920s, she later spent many years on hire at Turner's boatyard in Horning.
The current owners have started a blog about Heather which they hope will generate some more information about her past. If you remember holidaying on her at Turner's or have any old photos, or can help with her history then please do get in contact with them ..... contact details can be found on the blog.
http://houseboat-heather.blogspot.com/
Carol
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fuel
in Broads Chat
We've just got back from a great week on Broadland Saturn 3. Aware of the recent increases in fuel prices, and having been pre-warned by Richardsons that some people were finding that their fuel deposit was not covering the cots of a weeks cruising, we decided to try and be as economical as we could ....... and I was shocked when they came to fill up at the end of the week!
Broadland Saturn is a small boat, with a modern and economical (in our experience) Nanni engine. We were in no rush to get anywhere this week and had decided to stick to the northern rivers. We set ourselves a self imposed limit of 1600 revs ...... we seemed to end up going against the tide for most of the week and this often meant we were doing well below the speed limit ( 4.5 mph in a 6mph section for instance, or 4 mph in a 5mph zone). There were a couple of occasions when we had to up it to 1800 ..... travelling between Acle and Stokesby on Wednesday against the tide and similarly on the Bure between Thurne Mouth and the Ant Mouth yesterday morning when we were really battling to get above 3 mph.
Our GPS log records that we did just over 20 hours of cruising during the week, covering 82.6 miles with an average speed of 4mph. Maximum speed of the week was 6.4mph which shocked me as I don't recall getting above 5mph all week .... and then we sussed it was the bridge pilot at Wroxham who opened her up to power us through the bridge on Sunday! We had no need to use the heating, or run the engine at a mooring, so no extra fuel used there.
Day 1 - Stalham to Dilham
Day 2 - Dilham to Coltishall
Day 3 - Coltishall to Ranworth
Day 4 - Ranworth to South Walsham Broad and then on to Womack.
Day 5 - Womack to Potter Heigham, then to Stokesby and back to Acle.
Day 6 - Acle to South Walsham and then back to Womack again.
Day 7 - Womack to Stalham.
Total fuel used = £20.41 ..... yes £20.41 !!
I have to confess that I was expecting to have used more as we had travelled around a bit and was stunned when the guy filled us up when we got back to the yard. I'm not sure how much they charge per ltr, I am guessing somewhere around the £1.25 mark? It equates to having used roughly 16 litres of diesel which works out at around 0.8 ltres per hour of cruising .... wow!
Having witnessed how some people this week seemed to be in such a hurry to get everywhere I really can't say I'm surprised that a few hirers get a nasty shock when they get back to their boatyard!
I'm well chuffed at getting nearly £80 back .... it means I don't have to cook tonight and we can go off to our local for a meal!
Carol
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Ok .... my "man" came up trumps and sent me the original sale details and accompanying photos and this is definately Widgeon and not a Water Gypsy. Obviously, I can't post the photos I have on here, but there are significant differences in the design of the two (not only the size). It was first advertised for sale at £6,500 in September 2007 and the price kept dropping over subsequent months. The listing stated that it had been restored by a boat builder and, as mentioned earlier, needed some work to finish fitting out the interior although all the equipment was included. It finally ended up on Ebay in August 2008 at £4,000. The seller did list it as being a Loynes boat, built in 1952 and 20ft in length.
The aft steering must indeed have been a later modification.
Carol
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It's an odd one isn't it? I need to double check whether this is definately the same boat which was for sale a couple of years ago - sadly, I didn't keep the details but I know a man who might have them lurking on his computer still! I'll also speak to Craig when he's back from his holiday.
I seem to remember that it was initially advertised as being a Powles boat and I assumed it was a Water Gypsy. Craig had it listed as being Widgeon and I talked to him about it at the time looking for more info. The 1B registration number doesn't correspond with the reg numbers he has listed for any of the Water Gypsys. I can't read what the reg number is on the brochure entry but it also doesn't look like 1B. I do remember that it had aft steering which didn't tie in with the original layout so assumed that it must have been altered at some point ..... I didn't actually go and look at the boat itself when it was for sale, but if you think it all looks original then maybe this is one of the Water Gypsys. There seem to have been no reported sightings of at least a couple of them after the 1980s - could one have possibly moved to another waterway, been renamed and was then given a new reg number when she returned?
The Water Gypsy's were listed as being slightly larger than Widgeon at 24ft in length with an 8ft 9" beam ... if you are still at the WRC John could you just pop over there with a tape measure please?
I wonder whether there may be any identifying marks remaining inside, on drawer bottoms etc? Widgeon and Water Gypsy were quite similar looking boats, but the windows on the Water Gypsys look rather different. Could you possibly get a few more photos, especially a side on view?
Carol
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Hi Martin
That's a very good point and I hadn't actually noticed the ensigns on the back when sorting out the brochure entries. Having had a quick scan back through that particular brochure most of the hire fleets are shown without ensigns with the exception of the Loynes fleet and some of the Powells and Woods boats.
I would have said that they were probably just added for the staged brochure photos, but having checked through the 1960s gallery pages on BM I have come across one photograph of a hire boat displaying an ensign ... and it is another of Loynes fleet "Loch Ness" pictured at Horning in 1965. Scroll down to the second photo from the bottom on this page:
http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/page178.html
It is the only photo I have found though, so how common it was in the 1960s I'm not sure. I believe that I have seen older photographs where hire craft appeared to be flying ensigns, and in the 1930s Woods had their own "Light Cruisers" blue and white ensign flying from the back of their hire craft. There were a fabulous array of boatyard burgees over the years - in the days when boats seemed to have just been sign written with their reg number and name (possibly location too)it was the way to tell which yard the boat belonged to! These days the hire fleets are usually plastered with the boatyards name in large letters .... and I suspect if burgees were added that they would be pinched!!
Carol
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The poster for this years Open Gardens Day.
Carol
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Widgeon was built by J.Loynes & Sons in the 1950s .... as far as I am aware there was just one of them. She was 20 feet in length with a 7ft 6" beam (see brochure entry from 1969 below). She was up for sale for ages a couple of years ago having supposedly undergone a full restoration with just finishing to the interior needed. The price kept going down, and down, and at one point we were sorely tempted! Looking at her out of the water now she appears to be in need of some TLC! She is a little cutie though!
There were two of the Kingfisher class listed in Blakes 1969 brochure, also built by Loynes but an earlier boat (built just before WW2) - a little center cockpit cruiser at 22 feet in length with an 8ft beam.
Both classes seem to have disappeared from the Loynes fleet listed in Blakes brochures by 1971.
Carol
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The Ludham Open Gardens day will be held on Sunday June 19th and offers a great day out! I believe that 12 gardens will be open in the village this year, including many along the riverside, and the Norfolk Wherry Trust will also be holding an open day at their Womack base in conjunction with this event.
There really are some fabulous gardens to see and the added bonus of free water taxis to take you between the various stop off points along Womack Water. I believe the price this year is £5 per person which includes car parking.
The gardens will be open between 11am and 5pm - if I can get hold of a copy of the poster for the event then I'll add it nearer the day. Several visitors at previous years events have commented that Ludham is one of the best open garden days in Norfolk!
A couple of photos from a previous Open Gardens day at Ludham to wet your appetite!
Carol
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I should add that we have never encountered behaviour like this again when crossing Breydon - all of the faster, sea going boats which have been on Breydon at the same time have been courteous and have slowed down and given us a wide berth when passing. I do still get a sense of dread when seeing a boat approacing at speed ahead or behind and think "oh no, not again!!" after that experience. I'll admit to being in tears below decks because it was absolutely terrifying - and just utter disbelief that someone could behave in such a dangerous manner just to get a laugh. As I said, I am in no doubt that we were deliberately targeted - the vessels owner/ helmsman knew exactly what they were doing and were just out to cause distress. Such cretins should never be allowed behind the wheel of a boat! Had we been sunk as a consequence, I do often wonder whether they would have actually stopped to try and help us or just sped off.
Carol
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Yikes ... that brought back some unpleasant memories!
We experienced the same thing a few years ago .... only not voluntarily .... and it was incredibly scarey. We were crewing for our friend, crossing Breydon in a Broom Admiral - 43 and a half feet of mahogany is usually fairly difficult to roll, but not on this occasion! On reaching Reedham, ready to make a crossing, the sky was looking ominously dark and the storm clouds began to gather behind us but we figured we would make it across before it hit us. Out on Breydon we spotted a small sports cruiser heading towards us at great speed from Yarmouth. Naturally, we expected it to come down off the plane and slow a little as it passed us ..... it didn't .... in fact it actually targeted us deliberately and made a pass at a similar distance shown above. Turning to try and ride over the wash didn't have much of an effect and we were thrown all over the place, the helm seat flew across the wheelhouse, I was slammed against the side of the boat and items which had been stowed for safe passage were all over the floor. If that wasn't bad enough, the helm of the offending boat then spun round and targeted us again from behind ..... there was no way we could avoid the full brunt of the wake and the boat rolled violently. We were, by this time, just sitting ducks in the water as the idiot made repeated close passes, backwards and forwards, laughing with his mates as he did so. By this time I was just cowering in the cabin as I was absolutely terrified ..... the skipper admitted afterwards that he was genuinely concerned that we were actually going to go over at one point. We just couldn't make any progress as we had to sit there and try to keep turning to attempt to ride out the wash. A hire cruiser which had been crossing from Yarmouth had been thrown on to the wrong side of the posts, but thankfully managed to right themselves.
I phoned River Control to ask for assistance ...... by this time the storm clouds had caught up with us and the rain started. Finally, the sports cruiser gave up and shot off back towards Breydon Bridge, leaving us in the middle of Breydon in the midst of a violent squall. As we were a good way across, it really didn't seem to make any difference whether we carried on or tried to turn back to Reedham. Visibility was almost down to zero by the time we finally made it to Vauxhall Bridge. We had also been towing a wooden tender which had been swamped by the combination of wash from the idiot and the heavy rain. Once safely through Yarmouth we slowed to a crawl whilst the skipper climbed down into the dinghy to bail it out before it sunk completely. A formal complaint was made to the BA afterwards, but (as far as I am aware) nothing was ever followed up.
Thankfully, such behaviour is extremely rare, but I have to confess to crossing Breydon with a sense of trepidation ever since.
Carol
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Oh stop it .... you'll make me blush!
But if anyone wants to pay me lots of money to come and do some commentary, I'm open to offers!
Carol
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I hope that's EPIC in a good way rather than a polite way of telling me it's too long!
Glad that it arrived safely and that you enjoyed it. For my sins, it is me doing the commentary ...... not something which came at all naturally, took lots of attempts and still makes me cringe when I listen back to it!
As I couldn't afford Felicity Kendals voice over fees I was stuck with doing it myself!
Many, many thanks for the link at the top of the page - it's very kind of you.
Carol
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Thanks Brian - it will be in the post to you this morning. Hope that you enjoy it!
Many thanks for the mention Howard! I must owe you a beer or two!
Carol
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I bet Carol would like to see it!
Yes she would !!
I haven't seen or heard of the film. I know that various promotional films were made by Blakes and Hoseasons over the years, but I am not sure if they continued into the 1970s. If they did, then I don't think they would have shown a closed and derelict boatyard. Is it on 8mm or 16mm film? It sounds as though you think it may have been professionally made - if it was done by a production company then I would have thought it is likely to have ended up being put on 16mm rather than 8mm ?
I have no idea ..... but I would certainly love to see it as it sounds fascinating!
Carol
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After reading an article in todays EDP about a photographer who has produced a series of "mash-up" photos combining modern day images of Norwich with those taken from the same spot of bomb damage sustained during the blitz on the city I went and checked them out on Flickr .... wow .... what an incredible set of images!
EDP article here: http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/picture_gallery_norwich_blitz_ghost_photos_are_an_internet_hit_1_815661
Flickr photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/osborne_villas/sets/72157625836754972/
Carol
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Hi Neil
The building now houses a wine bar, a kebab shop and an Indian restaurant I can't embed a Google street view map here but if you follow the link below you can see what it looks like now:
Carol
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Here are a few more old shops.
This was the riverside store at Brundall which was operated by Tide Craft cruisers - the advert dates from 1958.
Also from 1958, another riverside store which was located 75yds south of Potter Heigham Bridge and was run by W.H.Morris who ran the top shop (now the post office) up near the Falgate.
And finally - Waller's store and restaurant at Oulton Broad.
Carol
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It seems that an article on the film must have appeared in the EDP at some point over the last week, but didn't make the online edition. Consequently I missed it (despite asking the journalist to let me know when it was going in!) as I don't get out every day to get a paper. I just got a forwarded email this morning from a lady who had read it and gave a bit more info about the Stokesby stills.
I'm not quite sure when it was in there, but if anyone has a copy of that EDP then I would be very grateful if they could scan the article and either PM or email it to me!
Carol
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That's great - thank you Nigel!
So it is likely that it went before the current bridge was installed then?
Carol
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Hi
Yes it certainly is a facsinating way to view the city and well worth thr trip up to New Mills if you can do it. I posted an account elsewhere of the trip we made up there in May 2008 .... we were very fortunate that my friend kindly took us through all the bridges in his boat. I think that Bishops Bridge is the most difficult to navigate through becasue you have to turn at a weird angle as soon as you get through (if memory serves correctly) but the rest are no problem. The channel was clear when we made the trip and there was at least 6ft depth beneath us at all times, but do go slowly and keep an eye out for shopping trolleys etc which might have got dumped! I think they are making an effort to try and keep this all tidy and make more of an ammenity of the area.
Here is a Google Map which I prepared earlier !
It marks all of the bridges on the Wensum, has photos, and gives the clearances (at average high water) - just click on the place markers to bring up the info:Carol
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Glad that you all enjoyed seeing the clips!
Trying to decide which bits to use was a little difficult but I decided to largely concentrate on a few of the more interesting sections which I had already posted stills of. The thing which really got me seeing these films was the fact that so much of it was so instantly recognisable .... so yes ..... in many ways Broadland hasn't changed! The villages have grown and places like Wroxham and Hoveton are almost unrecognisable these days because of the mass development which has gone on, but there is still so much which doesn't look that different really.
Carol
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I have managed to sort out a trailer with some clips of the cine film and uploaded it to YouTube yesterday - feedback from those that have seen it (thank you for your help!) has been positive so far. I have had to compress it a little to ease upload/download speeds so the finished product should be better quality, but I have been told that it does view very well in full screen. I haven't done any work on the film itself yet other than putting a few excerpts together. Turn up the sound on your PC as there is some accompnaying period music to help set the scene. Trying to condense 40 minutes worth of footage down into around 3 minutes of clips wasn't easy, but I hope that it gives a good flavour of these fabulous films! Best viewed by clicking to go through to view it on YouTube so that you get the full screen option.
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Hi Jill
Crumbs ... it would be nice to think that I could sell enough copies to have that much income from them to spare, but in reality what I am putting out has a very limited market and appeal, so I'm not expecting to have a best seller on my hands! I currently sell around 10 - 15 copies of the DVD of my grandfathers c1950 cine film per year .... once I have taken off the costs of producing these (DVDs, printing etc) and postage and packing, the small profit left over covers my annual hosting fees and domain name. At the moment I am very very fortunate to have extremely low hosting costs (thanks to boat database Craig). With the new DVD it is possible that there will be an initial flurry of sales but I suspect it will then settle down into a similar sales pattern to my grandfathers film.
I don't think that the EAFA has a system for donations in place (although I could be wrong) - as it is owned and operated by the University of East Anglia then I would imagine that the funding for it comes from their eductaion budget, along with revenue raised from the small range of DVD's they have for sale (and some extremely interesting ones at that!), the licensing of material from their archives to TV and film production companies for re-use, and the film shows and talks they do around the region. Their website is here: http://www.eafa.org.uk/
Carol
The Houseboat Heather Blog
in Miscellaneous Links
Posted
Hi Andy
Yes, Royall's did carry out some work on her during the summer. She had the aft cabin sides removed to create an open sun deck area which, I think really does give her that 1920s gentleman's launch look. More details on this Royall's blog post .... just scroll down towards the bottom of this page:
http://royallsboatyard.blogspot.com/2011/08/summer.html
Carol