JennyMorgan

But only if the plug hole is too big and the tap has been turned off.

The river Yare, because there is now no commercial shipping to Norwich, has been allowed to tactically silt up since there is no practical need for deep water. The Yare is the major flush to Breydon Water yet we don't hear of increasing problems of excessive shoaling. there, despite this reduced flush. Yet I hear local talk of mudbanks on Hicking being shifted by a strong, Force 8 wind. The watermen of old understood the Broads as do some today but such folk were or are not employed by the BA nor were they on relevant committees. Historically local knowledge has tended to be ignored hence the long held accusation that local Broads people needn't apply for the job! Practically gained qualification, university of life, regretfully count for little. So much information and experience has been lost but perhaps changes are afoot, I quote the Broads Briefing: Monica Pichler, a PhD student in marine microbiology (UEA) also joins us for a three-month internship looking at water levels in the Broads. She will analyse data recorded over the past 20 years to create new tidal information on water levels throughout the Broads area. This will improve predictions of flooding at 24-hour moorings, dockyard and yacht stations, and our understanding of the relationship between water levels, water quality and biology in Hickling Broad. Surely an understanding of what is THE major component of the Broads, from both conservation and navigation viewpoints, should have been a priority from day one. Anyway, must be charitable, better late than never!

Oulton Broad or Beccles, contact the Harbour Master at Sentinel Leisure. Plenty available.

The undoubted joys of a demanding woman! Tis why us sailing boat owners have blocks and tackle onboard!!

But do you?

Of his own admission the victim was both 'largish' and seventy seven years old. Apparently so 'largish' that the air ambulance was used as a crane in order to lift him. I'm not that old but I took a tumble today, not over the side but off the seat on the boat and onto the deck. Got a bit of a buffeting as a gin palace went past causing one hell of a wash but that is another story. I fell badly and I did have a job lifting myself off the deck plus I was the only one aboard. Both events brought it home to me today. Boating does require a degree of both ability and fitness.

Perhaps if I had written Yorkshire Man Rescued then less people would have read it!!

What us simple Broads folk call those of you that hail from Yorkshire. Not being a doggy person it never even entered my mind that you good people would think it was a dog! Chocolate bar maybe but not a dog!

Thanks, Tom. Reassuring comments. It's not just the chilly office temperature that matters but also the knock on effect of Authority activities, e.g. road mileage both of staff, committee members and customers. Re mileage we all have a responsibility, we must all ask ourselves 'is our journey actually necessary'? No bad thing if the such as the Authority takes a lead on this one.

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/good-samaritans-come-to-aid-of-john-donaldson-1-6296680

I can think of worse places in which to be stranded! People have the choice when hiring as to whether they want to pass though the Bridge or not. As with the railway bridges I don't see this as being the responsibility of the Authority, rather that it is that of the local highways department. Surely the best that the Authority can do is to remind the Highways Debt of its duties in the event of a problem? I suspect that Tom can clarify the legal position.

It would be very easy to say that by withholding the results of the Acle Bridge Feasibility Study, as it did, the Authority is guilty as charged. I doubt that the flimsy excuse that it contained commercially sensitive information pulled the wool over anyone's eyes. https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/news/acle-bridge-feasibility-study?fbclid=IwAR3yyX124CPIewbNxNJPQDhE-r-_b0BZo-_uOLfkBLBq4dxIVv7k-2SNs5M

Don't know that I'd be happy if when heading along Meadow Dyke I met one of the modern big buggers coming the other way! It's not just that bridge that is a limiting factor.

I agree wholeheartedly with Marshman on this one. To what degree do we accept conservation by exclusion? Well, in this case no one is excluded, we all have both the right and the ability to access Hickling, albeit not necessarily in the boat of our choice.

With the capacity of modern engineering I have absolutely no doubts whatsoever that Potter Bridge could be lifted, as could the Vauxhall Bridge at Yarmouth, indeed the latter could be lifted with very little effort. As for Potter it is both a Highways and a Broads issue. However, those of us with a long memory will remember calls from certain BA officers to 'discourage' navigation on the Upper Thurne thus we must keep our wits about us. I don't think it unreasonable to suggest that the increasing difficulty in navigating Potter might be seen as desirable in certain quarters, exclusion from above perhaps? Naturally this raises the question of exclusion from below, a strategic lack of dredging?

A perfectly valid question is that. The Authority as a conservation body, they are not just a Harbour Authority, is surely right in taking the lead on this issue. Personally I'm not convinced that electric vehicles are the answer at the moment but that would be another thread. Anyway, rightly or wrongly the BA is taking a lead. What next, turning the thermostat down at Yare House? Committees with local members so as to cut down on travelling expenses? A further cut in traveling costs with a cull of staff in line with Speed Triple's wise comments, the comments re recruitment in the Briefing are alarming? I'm sure that we could all theorize on this one! Not just to 'save the planet' but also to save money. Profligacy, like carbon use, needs to be cut. With that in mind, on both counts, I'll remind folk of that obvious white elephant, the Acle Bridge visitor centre. It will need heating, people will presumably travel to it thus its presence alone will increase the carbon footprint. An energy audit is all very well, but it needs to encompass all BA activities as well as the consequences of what is offered by the BA.

A comfortable riverside home with a handy dayboat at the end of the garden would be my ideal choice!

Can't agree with the demand to raise Potter Bridge, can't have all & sundry accessing Hickling, too magical to be shared, but I do wholeheartedly agree with the rest of ST's post above. As for access to Cromes Broad. It has previously been acknowledged by the Authority (Wherry Dykes, Oulton Dyke), that what was navigable at the time when the Broads Act was enacted shall be maintained as navigable, it's all in the Broads Act.

Having both liaised and worked with the Environment Agency in regard to the Flood Alleviation Scheme I have to say that I was hugely impressed by their sheer professionalism and get on and do it attitude. Down to earth, realistic consultation, no fannying around BA style so yes, dnks does have a point but then so does Marshman. The BA, amongst others, does appear to have contrived a bloated industry that is intent on complicating the issue. by requiring the production of a myriad pages of reports that the intended recipients don't have either the time nor the inclination to read, neverthless we now have to pander to the vanity and self importance of these often petty people. The latest, self congratulatory issue of 'Broads Authority Briefing' is written very much in that style, excess verbosity and not much real content. Bit like this comment really!

I am not convinced that it is floundering just over costs. I believe that the Authority was right to buy the site, it provides a valuable resource for the boating public and access to the river for visitors in general. However, in hindsight, it was clearly bought for the wrong reasons. Had the BA been content to enhance what was already there then I would have been entirely supportive. As it is the drawings and plans fly in the face of a number of the BA's own planning and development policies, as do a number of the reports suggestions. Personally I think that it is a grand design, but in the wrong place.

But is it really on hold or 'quietly' going ahead? Contractors have recently been doing test bores behind the cafe, fifty feet down before hitting anything firm. Dredged spoil that could have been dumped there has been disposed of several miles away. A feasibility study was commissioned, it has taken an FOI request in order to get the BA to reluctantly publish it. That Report, make of it what you will. I am not convinced that it is entirely helpful towards the good Doctors personal vanity project: https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1721903/Acle-Bridge-Feasibility-Study.pdf

I well remember the 1964 Boat Show at Earls Court. I was taken by two boats, one being the Drascombe Lugger, the other being a Riva. Chalk and cheese, don't remember what the Drascombe cost but I do remember that the Riva was an incredible £40,000.00 and that was back then!

Is it a big one!

But what's the pub like now?