AdnamsGirl

So sorry for you. It's such a difficult time made so much more stressful given your circumstances. I lost my mum in June and I miss her dreadfully. There is just such a huge hole in my life and I'm sure you must feel the same. Emotions change from day to day and, despite having support from family, I suddenly felt incredibly loneĺy. Like you, my life for the last 15 years or so revolved around looking after our mum's and life now feels very different. We lost kev's mum last year and now mine. I can't offer advice, but i sincerely hope that things will work out for you. There are so many practicalities to deal with but take time to grieve, remember those good times in your life with your sister and look after yourself. Carol

I've been a bit late with catching up on the latest Broads related uploads to YouTube this month, but a trawl earlier threw up something that is a little bit different. As the title says, this is the construction of Moon Tide c1989 - a rather interesting and different film. Carol

It's always I interesting when an old thread gets resurrected with new information and memories. Many thanks Peter. I believe this is probably Norada .. or Lady Edith as she was then. There are some fantastic photos and memories of sailing on her between 1959 and 1961 on Broadland Memories from John Barrow: http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/norada1959_barrow.html Carol

I'm so very sorry to hear the sad news. My sincere condolences to Jill's family and friends. Like most on here, I too had never met Jill in person but had corresponded via the internet, usually on Broads history/boat related matters. She came across as someone who was passionate about the Broads and it's history and, on a personal level, was a great supporter of BM over the years, for which I will be eternally grateful. Someone I deeply regret not having met in "real life". I also had massive admiration for her moderation skills on here. Always level headed, kind and thoughtful, and she had a wonderful ability to calm fractious threads and personality clashes in the most gentle and subtle of ways. As has been sad ... she will be sorely missed. Carol

Excellent and well spotted! I was promised a free trip on Princess Royal if I made it to Cardiff. It is surprising how well travelled some of the old Broads Tours launches were after they left the Broads. Carol

I can help narrow it down a bit. On the far left of the photo is the Horse Shoes pub and you can see what appears to be the modern extension out the back which, I believe was done in 1961. The other definitively dated photographic evidence I have comes from my brother-in-laws 1966 holiday where the black granary building is no longer there. So your thinking of early 1960s would seem about right, and certainly fits with the cars and boats you can see. Carol

It's wonderful isn't it ! I am always so honoured when people share such amazing bits of family history with me and allow me to put them on BM. I think I may have solved the Potsdam mystery. There was a French coffee making bit of kit, introduced in the mid 19th century which was known as a Potsdam boiler. A small, pivoting coffee percolator with a spirit burner beneath. It looked like a very portable item and perfect for a boating holiday. I've found examples online dating from the 1910s, so quite possibly what was being referred to by "cups of Potsdam". Carol

That's lovely - many congratulations to you both. I got married three weeks after my 18th birthday - my OH was nearly 6 years older than me and my dad said it wouldn't last a year. It will be our 33rd wedding anniversary in June Carol

I was thrilled to receive the third instalment in the original Norfolk Broads sailing logs written by Leslie Champness this week. It dates from 1919, when the couple return to the Broads a year after their honeymoon with four friends in tow for a two week cruise aboard the yacht Merriment. It's a slightly different log as each of the crew members, given suitably nautical nicknames, took it in turns to write up the log at the end of the day. Full of humour, it is an absolutely joyous read about their adventures ... and misadventures .... during the holiday. They also attended the Potter Heigham Regatta and the log includes an original regatta handbill along with lots of photos of the event and their holiday in general. It was, once again, transcribed, researched and laid out as a PDF document by the couple's grandson, Bruce Robb ... so no work for me to do other than upload it. It's a great read if you've got fifteen minutes to spare and such a wonderful piece of social history. The Cruise of the Merriment is in the 1900-1949 Personal Memories section of Broadland Memories here: http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/memories.html#1900_1949_memories Carol

Yes, you are right, it seems it was Briggate. There is a lengthy piece about that fire on the Norfolk Mills page for Briggate here: http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/briggate.html Carol

I hadn't heard that one Vaughan. I seem to remember reading that the fire actually occured on what was the coldest day of winter 1963. Carol

This arrived on YouTube this week .... an interesting bit of footage showing Horstead Mill working. It must have been taken shortly before it was destroyed by fire in 1963. The end of the film shows the still smouldering remains. Very sad. Carol

Um ... I did quote Robert Maltster on the Olive Branch/Zenobia and on Ecila counter sterns in my last post Pleased that I seem to have uncovered a possible previously unknown in Gladys though. Whilst The Eagle was only named in the captions, you can quite clearly See Gladys' name boards in a couple of photos. I should hopefully get the whole set up next week ... elderly mum allowing! Many thanks for all your help on this. Carol

Thank you both. So you think it is more likely to have been an early attempt at building a pleasure wherry, built largely in the manner they would have been building traders in, but with features such as the counter stern for pleasuring? Marshman - do you know whether there were ever and traders built with counter sterns. I ask, because there is a little nag at the back of my mind that tells me that I did read of one, but can't for the life of me remember where I would have read it ... or even indeed if I did. I can't see any practical purpose for one on a trading wherry other than aesthetics, which I can't see would really have been a priority on a working vessel. I did, however, remember reading about traders which were rebuilt on conversion to permanent pleasure wherries in Robert Maltsters Wherries & Waterways book. He wrote: "The absence of any other convenient deck space on a pleasure wherry was a disadvantage to the holidaymakers, so it is not surprising that one or two owners decided to have their wherries rebuilt with counter sterns. One rather remarkable conversion was the Zenobia, formerly the trading wherry Olive Branch, built by Allen of Coltishall; not only was she given a counter stern but also a mizzen sail and foresail, turning her into what was quaintly described in Lloyd's Register of Yachts as a 'wherry and yawl'." He also mentions that the original Ecila (not the second Ecila which was a purpose built pleasure wherry and became Sundog) also had a counter stern added when she was converted from a trader. So, it seems it did happen although, as you say, it's unlikely that we'll ever know the history behind Gladys. I'm pleased that she has at least been documented by this photograph and it's great to get some discussion going on here. This is why I passionately believe that this sort of history should be out there and not locked away in private collections or museum vaults. Small jigsaw pieces in a very large puzzle. Carol

That's great - thank you Vaughan. That confirms my (uneducated) thoughts on Gladys which means I must be learning something! Thank you Peter too for the "chimbley" info. I knew if she was a conversion that she is clearly a permanent one. Very interesting note that her sail must have been custom made for her though. There are about 20 photographs in this set and yes, some quite rare and interesting images amongst them. I recognised their historic value when I saw them for sale. They were a pretty major purchase, in two lots as they came from a larger album which had been split apart by a dealer (a major bug bear of mine because in doing so they destroy the archaeology of that history). The album obviously included other subjects and places (including the Ducth and Beligian canals of which I have a couple of pics). I wanted to at least make sure that the two lots containing Broads pics were kept together and put out there as they were such an important record of Broads boating history. Once again, I'll point out that I eventually intend that all of this material that I'm gathering goes to the county council records office - in the meantime, I'll gather it together online so that everyone can see it. I know that Broadland Memories is archived by the British Library (and possibly others) so I hope that it all assists in making sure these important photos, films and memories are preserved for the future. It's been fascinating trying to pinpoint the date of these photos though. The first clue was the presence of a photo of an 1885 menu for the Norwich Angling Club. I did a lot of research into ladies and gentlemen s fashions of the late 19th century - the subtle changes in hats, sleeve shapes etc over the latter decades. What threw me at first was a photograph of the Bridge Hotel at Potter Heigham ... which actually bore the name of the pub that it replaced, The Waterman's Arms. Not only that, but behind the hotel you could see the original Waterman's Arms still in situ. Most sources have down as being built at the turn of the century. I think I have now discovered that the source of that reference came from William Dutt's 1902 guide. I did a lot of trawling through census returns, trade directories and also contemporary guide books etc, to try to establish when it was actually built. That research seems to indicate a date of around 1888/1889, although I can't be absolutely certain. I wrote an article for the blog about it (sorry for the plug!) http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/blog/2016/11/the-watermans-arms/ The photos possibly cover more than one trip, so I believe they probably date from somewhere between 1885 and 1890. I've got the photos cleaned up and laid out ready to caption for the website. I am supposed to doing further research today so that I can get that done and a blog post to accompany them written .... best crack on and stop getting distracted! Carol

My photo was taken in September 2014 Howard, so not sure whether it is the one in your photo or not. Actually, joking aside, I do think this is rather sad. I had contact from Katrina's owners last year. They had just purchased her and were enthusiastic about restoring her to her former glory. Whatever state she is/was in, she was their pride and joy and they were very excited. For whatever reason, it seems that they are no longer in a position to be able to give her the TLC that they wanted to. I know it's a familiar story where wooden vessels are concerned, but sad none the less. She was a fine looking houseboat in her day. I think this postcard dates from the 1950s/1960s Carol

This one is only £20k Carol

As promised - this is the rather magnificent Gladys from the 1880s photos I'm sorting out for Broadland Memories. Thoughts on this one please. I cannot work out if she was a converted trader or purpose built pleasure wherry. If she is a conversion then she has been done a little better than The Eagle was and has presumably had that counter stern added which, I believe, wasn't unheard of. The rear cabin is quite low compared to the rest of her which is possibly a sign that she started as a trader? The cabin sides do look a little rough and ready in places, although there is certainly a lot more glass than The Eagle had. Gladys is listed in Roy Clark's Black Sailed Traders as a pleasure wherry but is not marked as having been built as one. She looks to be sitting pretty low in the water to me? The second photo is cropped down from another image of her and is interesting because it has what appears to be a portable chimney or some such on the rear cabin. It didn't appear in any of the other photos of her which means it must be detachable. When I first looked at the whole photo, I thought it was something on the bank behind, but studying closer I could see that the ropes pass behind it. Is it a chimney and, if so, was this sort of thing common? Carol

Brilliant - thank you for those Liz. It's always interesting to see things from a different perspective and your photos aren't bad at all. I still find it amazing that you were at the same launch. It's a small world Carol

Hi Howard The photographer clearly had some nice equipment and knew what he was doing. Shame the kids wouldn't keep their heads still !! Actually, the photos had sadly suffered a bit and are needing some restoration. They were stuck on to album pages - the old animal glues have attracted moulds and they have buckled and wrinkled a bit here and there. It's time consuming but I like to try and bring out as much detail as possible. I still can't quite get my head round the fact that these people were holidaying on the Broads 130 years ago ! Carol

I'm working on a set of photographs of the Broads from the 1880s at the moment. A very well to do, probably extended family group with youngsters in tow. They clearly visited the Broads on more than one occasion and an invite to the Norwich Angling Club annual dinner of 1885 suggests fairly strong connections with the area. There are a handful of other photos within the collection from the Belgian and Dutch canals and also London where, I suspect, the family hail from. I have around 20 Broads photos, c1885 to 1889 I believe. There are two wherries which feature along with a large and presumably sea-going steam vessel called Phoenix. The wherries were The Eagle, which looks to be a converted trader, and Gladys which has a look of converted trader about her but she has a rather nice counter stern. Not a wherry I have heard of before. More of Gladys when I have got a bit further through the photos. This was The Eagle with holiday party on board. As I said, they seem to have been accompanied on both trips by a large steam vessel, hence so many people here who couldn't possibly have all been accommodated aboard the wherry. There is some pretty amazing head wear being sported here by both the women and the men. Carol

I guess these days many people use the likes of Facebook and Instagram as digital scrapbooks to chronicle their holidays and lives, but back in the day things were rather more analogue! I've made a few interesting purchases for the website over the last couple of months, but thought I'd share this on here as it is just so lovely. This is a scrapbook compiled by the Andrew's Family from Croydon of their two week holiday afloat on the Broads. It is beautifully put together with so much information and includes their own photographs, postcards, clippings from the Blake's brochure of that year and other tourist publications, maps, correspondence from boatyards, mooring receipts etc. etc.. It's a fabulous snapshot in time and a wonderful piece of Broads history. They even met up with Kenneth Horne who was broadcasting an episode of a TV programme called "Ship's Company" from The Broads aboard the S.S. South Town, one of the Yarmouth passenger steamers. It's a little too large to fit on my scanner, so I am going to have to try to photograph this and will then turn the whole thing into a PDF document for Broadland Memories. There are 38 pages in all, this is just a small sample. It really never ceases to amaze me what turns up out there Carol

.. and the 1970s and 1980s Carol

And more sailing from the 1960s ... Carol

Lots of birdie activity here in the garden. I don;t know about a shortage of sparrows ... I think we have them all in our hedgerows here! I love this time of year when everything is coming to life and the hedges are filled with chattering birds. I haven't been as active as usual trying to photograph them, but this was one of my favourite tit shots ... steady ... from a few years ago. Carol