JennyMorgan

Amen to that! Smart, indeed very smart, just useless! Probably aimed at the short break market where folk don't go far.

But they don't allow dogs! Even I think that it looks great, so long as it doesn't do big speeds.

It's already over sixty quid, for a common as muck badge that's incredible! Bet Vaughan now wishes that he'd kept a few back for a rainy day. Reckon that it'll top the ton! Just think, as school kids we scrounged them for nix. Collecting badges used to be reserved for skint kids!

Good luck, Rick. Great to read that you are interested.

Simon, Robin has explained things admirably. Several of us petitioned Parliament which meant actually going to the Houses of Parliament. Had we not then I am confident that the Authority would now have the power to exclude anglers and boaters from any water that they considered vulnerable. All this is detailed in Hansard, the official record of Parliamentary goings on. The Authority tried it on twice, in the Broads National Park Act as well as The Broads Act. Despite it being thrown out in The Lords the Authority still tried to invoke European legislation in order to close Horsey Mere with threats of £20,000.00 fines. Despite all this there are still folk who insist that there is nothing to be concerned about!

Hi Hemsby, its a battle that has been going on for several years now, regretfully.

Thank you, Robin, a very fair comment on your part.

Whilst I'm Broads born & bred I did have a few years down South as a sailing instructor, bosun and delivery skipper. I'd had two years working in London as an illustrator, a job I loved but I was never at home in London. Great place for the weekend but as a home for a single country boy it was not much fun. One incident, as I sailed along Bosam Deep at the end of the day, really brought it home as to where my home really was. Bosham Deep is the channel that runs from Chichester Harbour to the delightful village of Bosham. The channel also provides mooring to scores of big boats that need deeper water so they remain afloat at low water. I was tacking up the dyke with the tide under my keel, dodging in between the moored boats, cutting close under their sterns , knowing that both wind and tide would help me keep clear in the event of any problems. As I cut under the stern of a rather tasty yawl a very clear voice rung out from the coach house, 'we don't consider that to be good practice'. Not a royal 'we', just a general observation. I gybed round and held my position just off her quarter and responded by saying: 'From where I come from we consider it good practice. we neither waste wind nor space'. The lady laughed and said: 'Ah, a Broads sailor, come alongside'. So along side I went, I like the camaraderie of the sailing community. Turned out that the lady was just that, born a few doors away from my home at Oulton Broad, her father had been chairman of P&O Steamers, she'd learned to sail on a Broads One Design, as well-to-do City families did back then. There I was, 150 or so miles from home and I almost bumped into another Broads sailor! My wife to be used to drive down to Bosham for the occasional weekend and one evening we were sat chatting in the much preferred spit and sawdust of the local Anchor Bleu pub. From the other side of the stand-alone chimney breast that we were sat against a voice called out; 'One of you is from Lowestoft, the other is from Oulton Broad'. Lyn, my wife, is Lowie through & through but because I had picked up a fair dollop of the Sussex drawl most of my customers accused me of being from Canada which I really didn't understand, nor appreciate. Great, someone got it right! Turned out that he lived about half a mile from Oulton Broad. Lyn & I were amazed! Another time I was well offshore, well out into the English Channel, sailing a Wayfarer Dinghy with one of the other instructors on our day off. We encountered a very nice motor sailer when a very, very Norfolk voice hollered out: 'Dew yew keepa throshin bor', it was Harry Last, then land-lord of the pub at Coldham Hall, what a small, small world! Life was not going to let me forget my beloved Broads.

Written opinions from ex members of the BA, yes, I have seen such letters too. Also pretty damning opinions from ex BA staff.

I honestly believe the above to be verging on fact. Having sat in on various meetings at BA HQ I also believe that there are those who are relying on that route to fulfill their ambition. Gently gently catch the monkey.

Chris, you could well be right. Hearsay on my part!

We tried named cushions etc, at Fowlers, they kept getting pinched! Vaughan, re rare badges, no joking, there are avid collectors, even on this forum, who have been known to pay considerable bucks for badges they don't have. Luckily the Hearts badge is quite common! When it came to 'souvenirs' nothing is or was sacred. For one season we had an ex Dunkirk Little Ship in the fleet. Within weeks the official brass plaque was nicked, grrrrrrrr.

Another factor is trim, whether under engine or sail a canny crew would know how to get the best out of the hull. Thames barges, for example, flex at sea so the distribution of weight/trim is crucial, must surely be the same for the Comrade.

On a personal level I wish Mr Jones luck with this one. I knew and liked his father and for no other reason I hope that he can pull it off. Great Yarmouth needs a hearty kick up the rump, just maybe this is what is needed. Yarmouth is a 'was a time town' and its going to take some effort to pull it off. Deep down I fear that Marsh is right though.

http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/casino_hotel_and_leisure_development_proposals_to_go_on_show_in_great_yarmouth_so_site_originally_considered_for_the_edge_1_4864667 Will this proposal put Great Yarmouth back on the itinerary of broads holiday makers? Was a time when a Broads holiday just had to include at least one bright light's night at Gt Yarmouth in order to enjoy the star-studded night-life that included such greats as Roy Chubby Brown. All very much in keeping with the concept of the Broads National Amusement Park!

In my case I shall be grandson sitting. Perhaps we can have a chat about Donald Trump?

Tim, wonderful stuff and much appreciated. I have a feeling that one or two keels still carried their sails into the 1960's. sure that I read that somewhere. Just googled, apparently it was 1949 rather than 1960 that the last one was under sail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humber_Keel

Suffolk's water is always passed thus contains a fair proportion of Adnams.

That pedantic old bugger is here! Norfolk Wherries have been known to go as far a field as The Fens (Albion), Portsmouth as well as mainland Europe (Gypsy and Ardea) and quite a few to Southwold and up to Halesworth. If you can imagine such a thing a plywood wherry even went to Africa, okay so it was put together out there. Ardea spent several years as a knocking-ship in Paris. Norfolk wherries, and Suffolk ones, have certainly got about! It's almost all in Roy Clark's Blacksailed Traders, often on E-Bay. Re the comments about Suffolk built wherries, Ardea & Albion for example. Interestingly a greater percentage of Suffolk built wherries have survived than have Norfolk ones, unless someone knows better!

Tim, it was a very different world back then and even more so behind those walls. Atkinson was part of it and captured it so astutely. Thanks for the reminder.

It is a fact that the faux Broads National Park, in the guise of the River Bure, runs through the suburbs of Great Yarmouth thus Norfolk's town of high culture could, if it hasn't done so already, claim to be a part of the BNP. Err, who said parts of it have been BNP for years? I digress, but I really don't like to mention the unmentionable. We mustn't ignore the fact that the Broads runs into the sea at Gt Yarmouth. Will we now see people in green wellies, or sensible walking shoes, clad in Crag Hopper rather than Adidas emblazoned garments, striding down Regent Street with the clatter of hi-carbon walking sticks? Will candy floss stalls and greece burger outlets be replaced with muesli and yogurt bars? Will chav be replaced by culture? Gt Yarmouth National Amusement Park, the mind boggles but why not, it's only for marketing purposes.

Regarding Nyx, they don't build 'em like they used to. No tats or piercings, no muffin tops either. Indeed the picture is reminiscent of Health & Efficiency, right down to the lack of body hair or a mobile phone.

Sexism, no. An appreciation of the opposite sex, yes