JennyMorgan

I'll have a look in my stash tomorrow. I might have one, or even two the same, that you can have. Will need collecting from Oulton Broad though.

No, but dredging plant, especially if specialised and on hire, can itself be costly. Reducing the hire period might go a long way to offsetting the operating costs. I don't have the costings so can only guess as to what option might offer the best value, hence, once again, my question to Tom.

It would be good to think that since the Broads Authority, supported by the Broads Act, governs the Broads, that they then would be the final arbiter, that bodies such as NE (or whatever they call themselves now) only act as consultees. In the past the BA has tended to cow-tow to anybody that would provide an excuse for them not dredging.

Slipping, or knocked sideways, not sure which, 'tis a dotage thing! My recollection is that it was water injection that was trialed, hence my question to Tom. Grovelling apologies if I got that wrong! Re night work, both Rail Track and local highways departments do it, hence my question to Tom. Time and tide would appear to be the governing factor here , especially if specialized equipment is otherwise standing idle and especially if it is rented.

Navigation and water ecology, the Authority, via their newsletter, tells us about their plans to cut weed in the main rivers and open Broads. No real problem with that until you read the detail! The detail being that cutting on open Broads is restricted to marked channels such as on Hickling. Despite 'that bridge' at Potter traffic across the Broad can be quite significant and when the wind is less than helpful sailing boats need to navigate outside the marked channels. This can also be a safety factor. Okay for me in my Drascombe, I can lift my centre-plate but the keel boats from Martham Boats & Hunters, for example, don't have that facility. It also raises the issue of 'Sandford', however you identity it, via the backdoor. History clearly shows that Navigation is playing second fiddle to conservation in regard to weed cutting, especially where Natural England is poking its unwelcome nose into Broads issues. And so to Oulton Broad, we don't have, thankfully, a defined navigable channel yet the North Bay of the Broad is fast becoming choked with 'water plants' (Weeds) despite the fact that the entire Broad is both navigable and navigated, and not limited to a channel. I accept that mucking around in boats is not the B all and end all of life, not quite, but the Authority is responsible, not just for enjoyment, heritage and conservation but also navigation and in that they have no option, it's defined in law. Let's remember their shared duties; It is the duty of the Authority to manage the Broads for the purposes of: Conserving and enhancing the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the Broads. Promoting opportunities for understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the Broads by the public. Protecting the interests of navigation. Don't know about you but two thirds of those requirements can be related to navigation, two thirds being a clear majority! Beyond that do we really need to be told the irrelevant story of national parks?

Thank you, Tom, informative and interesting. A couple of questions though, why not work at night? There is a well known saying, 'time and tide waiteth for no man', namely work with the tide rather than hang around until the tide is right. Beyond that river traffic will be minimal to non existent during the hours of darkness. With modern navigation equipment and bright lights this should provide absolutely no problems. As a matter of interest, since the Yarmouth river bridges will limit the size of vessel able to do this job, has water injection been considered? Smaller tugs are used as high pressure water rather than muscle is used to dislodge the silt. Poppy's link shows what was used down at Felixstowe and whilst such a ship could make mince meat of Breydon I don't see it heading up the Bure anytime soon! It will be interesting to see this at work.

Martham Boats is one place that immediately springs to mind. 'Robin's on the old Brooke Marine site at Lowestoft is another alternative. Just curious, how long is a smallish boat?

I would happily add my grandmother to that list!

Can you not just have one screen, preferably big, subdivided as required for however many tabs you have open? Or is that what you already do? Me, I keep it simple, one screen and one tab at a time.

Plough dredging on the Lower Bure, I'm not familiar with that term. Is that where the silt is dislodged on the ebb so that, hopefully, the sediment is washed out to sea? Oulton Broad, bug*er, that will upset the bream!

Dad, Ted, myself and Harry Last, landlord at Coldham Hall, were sat sunning ourselves near the front door of the public bar. Harry was performing one of his party pieces, wetting a regular's whistle with a tray of best Bullard's ullage, having just tapped a few barrels after the previous night's lock-in. Dad & I had been helping him bottle up, having previously done our bit to empty the shelves. The regular, by the way, was a swan! Said swan was clearly enjoying his tipple, to which were added a gin or two. Wasn't long before the swan was lurching a bit, Ted, in his role as a responsible conservationist, commented that he didn't consider it good practice! Wasn't long before he was laughing as much as the rest of us! The swan's flippers slapping on the stone floor, its neck extended and its head low to floor, swaying side to side like a metal detector. Ted, bless him, had dropped in for his usual, quiet Sunday pre opening morning pint, only on that occasion, more than fifty years ago now, it wasn't particularly quiet! Ted was a wonderful man, good memories. Thanks for the reminder.

I note that the hydrographic surveys are for the purpose of checking water depth in regard to future dredging requirements. Fine but the rivers are a natural resource and as such have variations and those in turn create and control so much of what we know as The Broads. Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree but I do see a general lack of understanding in regard to the ebb and flow of our rivers.

Their choice. Long live choice. Why do us men do it? It's in our genes. At least its a mutually agreeable activity.

And surveys are being carried out!

'JP' refers to the DEFRA grant as the national park grant. On a previous occasion DEFRA increased their grant by £1.5 million over three years in order to help towards the backlog of maintenance, inevitably JP hived much of it off for other projects, like staff car parking, but that is another story. In other words there is a precedent for using the so called NP grant towards the costs of Mutford Lock. As with a number of projects on the Broads their purpose is not just for navigation. Dredging at Hickling, for example, is as much about conservation as it is navigation thus the cost should be shared. If Mutford Lock were to be closed then the effect on the Waveney and Oulton Broad would be immense. There are heritage as well as conservation issues involved, once again a fair justification for cost sharing.

The Authority has long been keen on desktop studies, anything other than get out in the field. That appears to be changing and I have actually seen them engaging in practical surveys. I would like to think that they are seeking projects that need doing rather than seeking excuses for not doing and actually I'm quietly confident it's swinging over to the former. As I understand it they now have a specification to work to which is logical although not always the answer. Granted that hydrology is a complex issue but I am not convinced that a one size fits all approach is entirely the answer, such issues as flow and the tidal flush for example. I do know that the EA has a tidal model for the Broads as part of the flood alleviation scheme, as well as practical expertise, and I understand that this is now available to the BA, I hope so. The BA certainly has the grunt to do the job but it also has a backlog largely of its own making. Disposal of spoil is probably the biggest problem, or rather the BA's attitude towards it is. Put it back where it came from, on the bank! In the meantime, on balance (that will please Marshman) I think that the Authority is actually doing a pretty good job with its dredging program, nevertheless it could do more, apparently it has good and useful plant moored up and idle at the Thorpe yard. Broadland Tom, perhaps you can tell us. Is the Authority getting on top of the backlog of maintenance or is the list of jobs to be done still growing? Very often it is not the big jobs that need doing, rather it is the smaller ones that tend to get over looked.

That would never be used!

Additional sound effects could include a 'raspberry' and maybe a suitable sound to reflect her 'fart-boat' heritage.

Perhaps someone could ask that of the BBC?

Fred, please understand that this is not the definitive answer but I do think that it has a glimmer of truth behind it. Somewhere in the general locality of the Broad, as I understand it, salt water does have an effect on the water-table, indeed the pressure of the salt water apparently forces red-ocher out into the water that feeds the Broad. The weight of the salt water in the North Sea must then surely affect the level of the Broad. Dr Martin George's epic epistle should make my muddled thinking more clear!

At one time we kept my daughter's sailing cruiser at the excellent Martham Boats during the winter. That meant a trip up from Oulton Broad and through Po'er. Potter as with both T's being silent, Norfolk style. Anyway, arrived at the bridge, nosed up to it, no way thinks me so toddled off to the Bridge Pilot's office. 'You'll do it' says the pilot, 'half an inch to spare'! The challenge was obviously set, the honour of Suffolk was in my hands. He was absolutely right too, half an inch to spare!

Dredging was a continual process, even when I was a kid. Back further in time, when sailing wherries worked the Broads, every inch of the river was used, no motor boats parading along the centre of the river, wherries needed space to tack and manoeuvre. It would seem that today, rather than maintenance dredging, that restoration dredging has become policy. It is certainly the case in Lowestoft Harbour where once upon a time the Port Authority had its own dredger, now a dredger visits the harbour when it becomes too shallow. Obviously a cost saving for harbour authorities. Oulton Broad and the Lowestoft to Norwich Navigation had its own dredger, as I'm sure did other rivers.

My thought has long been that a lock incorporated into the bridge would be a reasonable way forward.

Valid question but it's a 'no' from me too. Very few of us actually use the whole Broads system , should we receive rebates for the bits we don't use?

I've tried most things over time and short of grit in the varnish I've yet to find a good, purpose made non slip product. That said does internal varnish need to be non-slip? Even with bilge water swilling over the cabin sole during a blow? I agree that Owatrol is really good but a couple of years I discovered Danish wood oil, a product to which I have been well and truly converted. Both products ideally need to be applied to bare wood but it is well worth the effort.