webntweb

Same here

Just read elsewhere an article in the Gt Yarmouth Mercury about the shop at the Ferry Inn, Stokesby being quadrupled in size.

Definitely Boathouse Hill Carol. Pic attached September 66.

I looked at that a couple of days ago. Lot of boat for £47,500. Unfortunately at 3.9 metres its too wide for the Chet and Ant - doubt it could get under Ludham bridge anyway. Over the years I've seen reports that these boats were better fitted out than the equivalent Connoisseurs. Probably Vaughan would have more idea as I think they may have had this model in the Crown Blue Line fleet.

Did Wild's not mould their own 34ft Bermuda hulls?

My first pint(s) in the Berney Arms were in July 63. I had just turned 18 and it was only my second "legal" pub - the first being the Suspension Bridge Tavern opposite Yarmouth YS. We had just left the Berney heading for Norwich when one of the guys realised he'd left is jumper in the pub, so quick return and another pint - well it would have been impolite not to.

From Le Boat: "This cost covers the fuel you use to power the boats engine and onboard systems (such as heating), engine oil, as well as gas and general engine wear & tear. The per hour rate is £5 to £12 depending on boat and location.

Yes I received them a couple of weeks ago. My daughter had already bought me some on a Boots 3 for 2 offer so i should be OK until I can get out more often in the sunshine(?).

I had an email yesterday telling me to do the same.

The Wilds page explains it. They were building that type of boat in the 70s and they mention suitability for European waterways, which explains why one of the 34ft dual steers is pictured in front of Auxerre cathedral in 1976 in the original post. It also shows the two 34ft (higher saloon) versions, with and without, dual steer that were available to hire on the Thames. I thought I remembered one on hire in Ireland and the website page confirms that.

It's an advertisement for "Boat Enquiries", a company that if I remember correctly only ever listed two or three boats on the Broads. One was and ex-Broom Captain that was turned round at Oulton YS and the other two were small grp aft cockpits. No pictures I'm afraid as I don't have that year's brochure any more. The picture has a cathedral in the background which looks like Auxerre in France. There were definitely cruisers on hire in that area and I have seen very similar, if not the same boats, to that one on French waterways - although I don't remember Boat Enquiries listing any French hire fleets. The only thing that throws me a little is the date: 1976 which I thought was a little early for French hire companies other than the British owned/run ones which tended to use ex-Broads built boats in those days. Perhaps Vaughan can enlighten me on that.

Thanks for the answer Vaughan and the lovely pics.

That must have been horrendous Vaughan. Can you remember if the Connoisseur base at Beaucaire was affected, with it being one lock higher (Ecluse de Nourriguier). Isn't the Canal du Rhône à Sète at sea level all the way from the Nourriguier lock to the other side of the Etang du Thau, at the first lock on the Canal du Midi (Ecluse 65 du Bagnas) which is about 100 kilometres? That would have been some area to be flooded.

My brother who lives in Macclesfield has just had his first jab at a vaccine hub attached to the AstraZeneca research lab at Alderley Edge.

Having stopped at YYS many times since the 60s I can't remember ever going into the Swan. Early holidays with my mates it was always dashing off to the bright lights of Yarmouth, and then later with our children and then grandchildren it was off the boat and down to the seaside. We did use the Suspension Bridge Tavern at least a couple of times though.

When I started drinking in the 60s it amused me that when asked what they'd like to drink, ladies would often answer I will have a gill please. They meant half a pint but a gill is actually a quarter of a pint.

There used to be the Railway Tavern

Reminds me of an average day in Horning in the 60s - only there would be a dozen or so motor cruisers in the mix as well.

We had a similar experience on the Canal du Midi which has it share of very sharp bends. There are two in fairly quick succession (near Ventenac if my memory serves). We were on a 48 x 13.5 ft Connoisseur Magnifique and had passed the first bend and were warily approaching the second which is a hairpin. We slowed down (from 5 or 6mph) and sounded a long blast on the boat's horn as the canal guide said we must. As we began the turn the bow of a hotel peniche appeared in the middle of the canal. He hadn't blown his horn so we had no warning. The canal is narrower than normal at this point and the bank to our right was rocky and too high to see over. All I could see was this high steel bow with a large anchor hanging down and we were headed straight for it. It was going to be a definite collision and it was obvious who was going to come off worse. I still don't know why, but I did the opposite of what i would have thought was normal in this situation and pushed the morse full ahead, aimed for the right bank and straightened up a couple of yards from the bank. This had the effect of putting us in a straight line past the peniche except it was a hairpin and his stern was little more than our boat's width from the bank. I steered even closer to the bank and at the last second straightened up again and slid past just rubbing our rubber rubbing strake along the last few feet of his stern. The helm glared at me as if I was in the wrong and all I could think of was to shout "votre klaxon" as I passed him. All this was in probably little over 30 seconds and I think if I had put the boat in reverse we would have definitely collided. About 15 minutes later we heard, in the distance, a horn sounding - he had reached the next sharp bend.

I had the Oxford and had no side effects apart from a slight tenderness in my arm the next day. My wife and a couple of friends had the Pfizer and all only had side effects similar to me. A friend of my daughters did feel quite poorly the day after the Pfizer for two or three days but she's fine now. I suppose it just depends on an individuals metabolism/immune system.

I see Minervois Cruisers at Le Somail on the Canal du Midi have ceased hiring. They hired steel narrow and wide beam boats, the narrowboats, and possibly the wide beams, were built (I think) at Napton Narrowboats on the Oxford Canal. Some of the narrowboats are for sale at Chirk Marina on the Leicester section of the Grand Union. Don't know where the wide beams are for sale - in France I would presume - but one of these could cause some nervous moments if they got to the Broads. Timothy West was on one in his TV series.

DRS who own the class 37s that worked the routes out of Norwich to Gt Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Sheringham have 23 of these locos. At the moment they intend to keep about 12 running for at least five years - and longer if still viable. They have plenty of spares. They did replace them on the above services for a short time with class 68s built by Stadler, who incidentally built the bi modes that have replaced them on Anglia services. The 37s and later 68s were being used as a temporary replacement for a diesel multiple unit that was written off in a collision with a tractor - until the bi modes came into service. There are a couple of other companies still running class 37s - which have been a reliable, long lived loco - 308(9) were built between 1960 and 1965. Four of the class have been retained by Network Rail as departmental locos and renumbered Class 97/3 - three of which work solely on the Cambrian lines in Wales. As of summer 2019 a third of the class 37s still survived - 68 of them in mainline service, the remainder either being used on heritage railways or in storage.

Definitely British, not big enough to be American.

Not sure why its obvious. Some disused signal boxes have been dismantled and re-erected in other places. Windows could have been filled in to give privacy as a holiday let.

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