JennyMorgan

The church is still where it was! Over time the mooring has been realigned but I go there once in a blue moon and can't really answer your question.

There are barbel on the Upper Wensum so theoretically they could find their way down to the Yare. I have questioned the Environment Agency fisheries team at Norwich and they tell me that the general Broads environment is not suited to barbel. As for bleak, I've fished for them at Penton Hook on the Thames. Not sure that a plague of the pesky things would be welcome on the Broads though! I can only guess that the Broads is also unsuited to bleak. Apparently barbel were introduced to the Broads many years ago but there was no evidence that they ever bred.

Great minds . . . . . . . . .

Perhaps it's gone over the cliff by now.

There is an annual run of sea-trout on the Yare every spring but I can only guess why, perhaps it's down to nature! We get a few on the Waveney but whether they are sea-trout that have turned left rather than right on Breydon I don't know. I'm not convinced that the Waveney has a regular run. What we do get on the Waveney are trout that I'm told have been washed out of fisheries at Bungay during floods. You will need a game licence if you are going after those sea-trout during the coarse fishing close season but it's generally worth it.

Media muckraking? Hardly helpful at this time.

Being curious I Googled Dongarra: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongara,_Western_Australia I wonder what the reason was for choosing that name? A desire to appear worldly perhaps?

I can only agree wholeheartedly with Polly on this one. We also owe it to NHS staff to do our bit, something that so many refuse to do.

Very relevant copy here: The following is from the Environment Magazine ENDS. useful summery by ENDS... "13 Jan 2021 The Environment Agency (EA) is taking enforcement action against Natural England (NE) for erecting two fish barriers without permits in the Norfolk Broads. In an email seen by ENDS, the EA said that the wildlife regulator had installed the passes at Hudson’s Marsh and Gravel Dyke without flood risk permits and that they had referred the matter to their enforcement team to investigate further. In November, the High Court quashed NE’s permit to erect two nearby fish barriers at Hoveton Great Broad. They were described by the Angling Trust as “environmentally disastrous”. The EA had granted Natural England a permit to install the passes in July 2020 in order to “combat turbidity and promote better weed growth”. But the Angling Trust and Broads Angling Services Group challenged the EA’s plans through a judicial review, arguing that the Natural England project would block off vital spawning grounds at Hoveton Great Broad (HGB). At the time, Freedom Of Information responses obtained by Fish Legal revealed that investigations by the EA’s own fisheries team (FBG) had suggested that the impact on spawning fish would be “catastrophic”. Justin Neal, a solicitor for Fish Legal, said: “None of this information was made available to the public during or after the consultation, so it had to be dragged out of the EA afterwards”. Despite the High Court ruling, which found the EA had failed to publicise and properly consult on the application for the permit, Natural England meanwhile erected two separate fish barriers at Gravel Dyke and Hudson’s Marsh. In an email to Fish Legal - seen by ENDS - the EA said an application for a Flood Risk Activity Permit was required by NE for these sites but “as no such application was received this matter has been referred to the EA’s enforcement team to investigate further”. The EA also said it had not been not aware of the construction of the barriers in September 2020 and that local FBG team views “were not sought regarding these particular barriers”, neither was the EA “aware of a WFD assessment” relating to them. Neal said: “The biomanipulation project at Hoveton Great Broad has been a mess from the start. In 2014, NE said in its environmental statement that it would not go ahead with the scheme if the EA fisheries team objected to the proposal. Unfortunately, the fisheries team’s view that the scheme was a bad idea for fish was suppressed by the EA. “In fact, no one knew exactly what the fisheries team was saying until after the Flood Risk Activities Permit was granted by the EA in July 2020. We launched judicial review proceedings and the decision was quashed. Meanwhile, we learned that NE had installed two more fish barriers.”

Likewise! Thank you for taking my comment in the spirit in which it was intended.

Many clearly are and many clearly have. How much longer before many are overwhelmed? I do worry about it.

Blame our good friend Ray for his regretfully relevant comment! "we live in a world where lying is so commonplace that it is accepted or expected.". Vaughan, you and I, and probably Ray, grew up in a world where both truth and honour could be taken for granted. Sadly to day that is clearly not the case.

Good news for the Broads and it's thanks to us anglers. Got to say that I was surprised to see Natural England being called to account, long overdue in my opinion. Just a pity that it has taken an outside agency to protect the natural environment of The Broads. For headlines only: https://www.endsreport.com/article/1704401/a-mess-start-ea-investigates-natural-england-unlawful-fish-barriers

The other day I called her my NHS hero, her reply was that she hadn't even thought of it that way. She is one of many tens of thousands, just as is Vaughan's daughter. I'm immensely proud of her.

The Press is driven by demand. Whether they lead or follow that demand is open to debate! Not just in the media, it is also rampant in government and local government. Indeed the courts even support lying as we know with one particular local quango that shall remain nameless! Greed and sleaze has become a way of life . . . . . I could so easily become political at this point!

My daughter is a pharmacist and is now expected to administer drugs as a means of reducing the pressure on doctors, she is now very much on the front line. Her ward has eight covid patients to care for as well as her other duties. She lost two patients the other day, I know that she was deeply upset. Despite that she has to go home and for the sake of her two small boys she has to carry on and be normal. All I see is my daughter who is exhausted and drained yet, for the sake of the boys, she can still smile.

Six single beds thus encouraging a week of celibacy, a radio set to provide alternative after dark entertainment and joy of joy, an Ascot water heater!! One bath between 6 or 7 people. Imagine, no TV, no microwave, no phone or internet, no wine cooler and no hairdryer but at least it's in a select area!

Indeed I have! His hat comes off when he needs to scratch his head in puzzlement!

Not if you know what you are doing! I've seen several GRP cabin sides and cockpit combings broken due to the lack of spreaders when lifted by HIABS.

A fraction of what some hard-standing is on the Broads!

Might depend on who lifts her! A cheap-jack HIAB set up could be lethal. I well remember an attempt at Oulton Broad to lift an old woody at the never to be maritime museum, it didn't survive the lift let alone being lowered. The gunwales went first! Quite dramatic it was! I hope that the new owner will be able to finish what they have started.

BBC News this morning had a report regarding the mental impact of Covid 19 on NHS staff. I hope that come the next New Years Honours list that this will be recognised. The bravery and dedication of frontline staff has to be recognised.

I can take a hint!! Mods relax.

The Thurne Lion also had well known links to the grubbier side of our illustrious capital.

As a one time freelance photographer that sometimes supplied pictures to the press I can say with some sincerity that journalists are not always to blame. Although not enforceable D notices in my time were generally accepted by editors thus I had three 'sensitive' pictures blocked. Governments don't always respond well to the truth. Problem today is that editors panda both to their advertisers and to the perceived IQ level of their readership. Me, I don't buy newspapers for that very reason, unless you count Private Eye as a newspaper. That Morgan man, the pits.