JennyMorgan

Undoubtedly unseasonable though!

As will almost certainly happen with the 'one off' Peto's Marsh moorings at Oulton Broad. The man is a fool if he doesn't think that people can see through his shenanigans.

The weather yesterday was simply perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Woke up this morning to an unexpected frost but the sky was almost cloud free. Summer seems to get earlier every year. Regretfully many of you can not access the rivers and enjoy this wonderful weather. When will it end? When will these crackdowns end? About the same time? Dear old Sod!

Perhaps an unfortunate use of 'executive powers'?

Paladin is far better qualified to comment than yours truly so I am pleased to read his take on this latest faux pas. That last sentence, especially, is bang on the money.

Spot on, Charlie. My feeling is that the Hireboat Federation should have made its case to the Government, not the Authority. The Government is showing that it will support a well made case from industry and employers. I still question the wisdom of the Authority in relaxing its laws for one sector of river user but not the other. The Hireboat Federation has a strong and deserving case to make, and I support that, but, like Charlie, do not relish us private boat owners picking up the subsequent shortfall, if that should happen. Should government agencies fail to support the Hireboats then, perhaps, there is a case for support from the Authority. Hindsight is a wonderful privilege but it does appear to have been a knee-jerk reaction. The Authority could surely have agreed, for example, a three month tolls holiday rather than an exemption thus allowing time for the Government to react. Obviously just my opinion, Government might already have been approached and support declined, I can only judge by what has been stated in the Broads Bulletin.

Oh how I feel for her! My wife was in the same boat and had to take to crochet. She has since had a grommet inserted into a finger, which helped a lot. Following a bad fall on her shoulder and getting on for two years of extreme pain and two operations she has picked up her needles again. The surgeon is well pleased with his handiwork and we are just so grateful! A cup of tea and a biscuit on the hour and that's my duty done, loving it.

With the NBN logo knitted onto the front. My Lynn churns out Shetland shawls and the like, about a month each.

There is talk about that lock-down going on for three months and that's provided there isn't a second wave of the virus. My wife's medical history is not good either so I share your concerns. Just have to take each day as it comes and today was good plus the weather was exemplary, hope that it was the same for you!!

Lowestoft harbour might offer a refuge for those who just want to store their boat afloat.

Wise words, Andy. Perhaps your very nice landlord will be benevolent to you! At this moment in time we can only hope for a late season, I hope so for your sake.

Like wise but in practical terms I wonder if the BA is in any position to turn a blind eye on the one hand whilst getting heavy on the other. In neither case does it effect me directly except that all our tolls might need to rise next year in order to make up the shortfall. I really don't know the answer.

Paladin is quite capable of speaking for himself but I do have some sympathy with the point that he's highlighted. The Adjacent Waters issue is a running sore as regards the Broads Act, it is an unfair, unreasonable clause that should never have been enacted in the first place. My opinion, of course, but I do know that it has and does cause ill feeling. Two boats in the same mooring, one pays and the other doesn't, that doesn't seem fair to me. What would be fair would be for ALL boats stored on an adjacent water should be toll free. If a boat is stored ashore then a toll is NOT charged, if it is stored afloat then a toll is charged. Agreed.

Yet hireboats that are also not being used will be toll free, doesn't seem exactly fair to me. Perhaps to make for a level playing field the hire fleets should pay the flat rate. I believe that the Authority has a healthy cash reserve. No easy answers in these exceptional times.

Just to remind folk that boats stored ashore are toll free.

Very true!

I do feel some concern for the small yards such as that of Andy at Freedom. With that in mind I took a peep at Andy's website, I was impressed with his response which I thought very wise & reasonable: https://www.freedomboatingholidays.co.uk/guides/covid19-bookings.php

All in the name of balance, albeit balance might not be possible on many topics involving the Broads Authortity. I really do not understand the man..

How things change! If there is no one out on the water then I suppose it's inevitable, weird though.

I can just see Plod running along the river bank, puffing on his whistle. I'll have to get my oars out then!

Even for those of living locally and using our own boats?

That's excellent, if not surprising news!

As happened on Thorpe Island at Jenners.

Likewise! I have never accessed Brundall from the river but I have fished it, with consent of the landowner. Don't remember it being open to all and sundry though. Fly fished for pike there. As for Martham, there was a time a when we could access the North Broad for fishing from a dinghy, can't even do that now. There is record of some very big pike coming off the Broad, not by me though. Thirty or forty years ago, never tried it since. Wheatfen was blocked off, agreed, but as Ted Ellis said, just push your way in past the old wreck, that was in reference to a canoe or dinghy. A long time ago now. A case of waters being lost by neglect and lack of use, not sure which came first! Seems that we all agree, basically! Not open to motor cruisers in living memory.

Cockshoot was closed with an assurance that it would re-opened, an agreement that has long been forgotten, or so it would seem. In fairness it hasn't been missed, the Broad having previously been silted up for decades but nevertheless an agreement that has since been reneged upon. HGB was illegally closed before the Broads Authority came along thus they have no responsibility towards it being reopened, regretfully. I believe that the same applies to Brundall. Hickling is seen as a problem because senior Authority staff have made it quite clear in the past that the Broad should not be open to navigation. Granted that dredging is finally taking place but then that is largely a conservation project. The Authority had to be dragged kicking and screaming into dredging the approaches to the Broad, seemingly hoping that silting up would achieve their Officer's previously stated ambition. In my lifetime I have seen Martham, Barnby and Wheatfen Broads closed to boat access and there were well documented attempts by the Authority to close Horsey during the winter. I understand that there are more 'broads' closed to navigation than are open to it.