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webntweb

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Posts posted by webntweb

  1. In 1958 ours was delivered to us at Landamores from a grocers on Riverside Road, Hoveton. We also had deliveries in 1963 at Richardson's and 1964 & 1966, both in Horning - can't remember the names of the shops though.

    • Like 1
  2. Mine was only two years. Constellation II from Chumley & Hawke in Horning. July 1964 and September 1966.

    Hired many times in 60 years of Broads' boating but never the same boat twice since; there was always too many new boats to choose from - a bit like being in a sweet shop I suppose.

    • Like 1
  3. Another thing to bear in mind is the type of stern. Narrowboats generally come in three types: cruiser, traditional and semi-traditional.

    Cruisers sterns are the larger, open type rear decks - usually with a safety rail around the back. Most hire cruisers, certainly the larger ones for bigger groups, have this type of stern. OK for socialising when moored but because of the swing of the tiller it is difficult for more than two people to share the space when travelling.

    Fully traditional sterns just have a small rear deck (just enough room for the steerer to stand and work the tiller). Not really enough room for a second person as the swing of the tiller means they usually have to lean back over the water when making sharp turns.

    Semi-traditional sterns are a good compromise. They appear from outside to look like a traditional stern and still only have the small rear deck, but have an open area just ahead of the stern deck where the steerer stands; this area usually has a bench type seat on either side on which up to three people can sit whilst travelling. There are usually a pair of small opening doors which can be fastened back to the outside of the boat when underway. This semi enclosed steering position gives you some protection from wind and rain as opposed to the other two types of stern. Some owners fit a protective cover to this area (usually fixed by press studs) to keep the weather off when moored. In bad weather it is possible to leave this cover in position and just unfasten one corner then fold it back so the steerer has quite a lot of protection for their bottom half. Another advantage of this type of stern is that you can bring a (very long) centre rope back, and drop the end onto the bench in front of the steerer so they can step off with it when mooring.

    • Like 3
  4. The three and a bit car sets running at the moment are bimode electric trains with the short section being a diesel generator. As there isn't any catenary on the lines east of Norwich, these generators supply electricity to the traction motors so in effect they are diesel trains.

    When the train is on a route under the wires they become electric trains. Manufacturers are working on the possibility of replacing the generator section with a battery section but that would need the trains to run under the wires for a proportion of their journey to charge the batteries. This system is probably some time off as trial trains at the moment have a limit of about 70 miles on battery power.

    • Like 2
  5. I hadn't used public transport since February 2020 until last Friday when I had to make a return journey of six trains and two buses to the only garage that could source the parts for a repair my car needed.

    More or less everybody on the buses wore a mask. It was a different story on the trains - probably no more than a third of the passengers had masks. In my carriage on the busiest train, which was about two thirds full, I couldn't see one other passenger wearing a mask despite the continually played announcement to please wear a face covering.

    As masks protect others more than they protect the wearer it is a sad reflection on our society that the majority that don't wear masks appear to have little or no regard for the lives of others.

    I have asthma but have always worn a mask in shops etc during the pandemic. Most of our shopping was done online during the first year of the pandemic but since the supermarkets have stopped supplying goods packed in plastic carriers, so that I now have to lift the goods out of their totes and put them in carrier bags to take into the house, I have changed to either going to the supermarket early morning or late at night.

    While wearing a mask I move more slowly to keep my breathing rate down and while it is uncomfortable I can manage. I understand that this may not be the case with people with more severe asthma.

    I can't understand why people with conditions that make it not possible to wear a mask can't wear a face shield - not quite as effective but better than nothing.

    • Like 4
  6. I notice the waterways to the right of Barton Broad and Irstead, some of which are still accessible - probably a shadow of when the map was made - in dinghies etc.

    I didn't know that they were there until, when moored at Irstead about three years ago, a chap got into a dinghy with outboard and whizzed straight across the river and disappeared into a dyke on which the entrance was so overgrown with vegetation that it was almost invisible.

    The dyke is marked on one of Vaughan's maps.

    Barton broad connected waterways.png

    • Like 1
  7. 15 metres is just over 49ft. The Grand Classique (Crown Cruisers and now Le Boat?) is 14.63 metres which is just about 48ft. Connoisseurs Magnifique is slightly shorter at 14.5 metres (47.5ft). Both are 13' 5" wide.

    Didn't Alphacraft have a bathtub listed at 50ft?

  8. 28 minutes ago, trambo said:

    There was a hire base here in the 1960s marketed through Bradbeer. Suspect they moved at some point to Oulton Broad as Millstream based at the old Hoseason yard but this needs ratifying.

    Fred

    A R Skitterall & Co, Queens Head Moorings (Bradbeers), according to the 1965 Broads Book. The yard appears to be in an inlet off the New Cut immediately next to the Queens Head Hotel. A foot note on the page states that the Queens Head is no longer a hotel. The 1974 Broads book has no mention of a boatyard, nor does it have the inlet on the map.

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  9. The EDP report says moorings in the picturesque village of Haddiscoe. While the moorings may be in the parish of Haddiscoe, most people would associate them more with St Olaves, and I can't think of many less picturesque moorings on the Broads - on a dead straight canal in the shadow of Haddiscoe flyover with trains whizzing past every half hour or so.

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  10. 53 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

    I recently purchased a Cello 24" Good picture but poor sound quality. I have had to buy an external speakeer to get reasonable sound. Apart from that, I'm happy with it.

    MM beat me to it. Phoenix mentions his hearing isn't great so I would recommend he listens to a Cello before he buys one.

    Could be that it wouldn't be a problem for him, but on the Cello I listened to it wasn't just the volume - speech was mostly unintelligible.

    • Like 1
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