JennyMorgan

Just curious, Vaughan, was your friend who caught the pike 'Parrington' by any chance. There was also a McCalpine-Lenny who was also prone to eating pike. I well remember him bringing one back and putting in the foot-bath in the cloakroom so he could clean it and where it promptly came back to life and yours truly was the only one brave enough to tackle it. Despite the river being a 'trout water' thus we were expected to kill pike I never did, especially as the only one I ever tasted was pretty awful!

On the other hand,face down, she might run aground! I well remember a young lady of our youth who was similarly well endowed, the usual comment being; 'oooh look, here comes a pair of nipples, and yes, Barbara is following 'em'!

I shall now doff my bobble hat every time Albion sails past, just in case Marshman is aboard !

'Norfolk is as Norfolk does', 'Normal for Norfolk', well, those indigenous Norfolk boys are an independent lot, their lives governed by the land, the water and the weather, and Norfolk itself. Let the Broads be what the Broads are.

Tim, the luck that Vaughan & I had in going to a Norfolk prep school was in that Langley is near the Yare & Taverham is besides the Wensum. In my case I had a very wise headmaster in that for two hours every afternoon we either had sports or the freedom to roam as we pleased. Whilst I loved playing rugger & hockey I loathed cricket so whilst others played their games I freely roved the bank of the Wensum at a time when we were allowed to learn by experience, so long as we lived to tell the tale. It was a wonderful freedom for a young boy. In the evening we had 'prep' for an hour or two so we did pay for our afternoon freedom but it was a good deal. Whether Vaughan enjoyed quite the same freedom I don't know but I was exceedingly privileged, not that by any stroke of the imagination did I excel in the three R's. Taverham had a tenant farmer who farmed acres of land adjoining the river, he was an old boy called Alec Able, a true Norfolk countryman with generations of farming behind him. We took to each other & I spent many an hour driving his tractor, an ancient Alice Chalmer or walking or fishing the river. I also got to know another old boy who owned a local gravel pit on which he sailed a National Twelve. I was also allowed to fish there and often crewed the old boy. A major something or another, in all respects a gentleman. Although a Suffolk lad my formative years were spent in Norfolk and for that I shall be eternally grateful.

Where the Broads are concerned someone once wrote, and a man called Jamie Campbell quoted it, 'If you want to lead Broadlanders then find out where they are going then walk in front of them'. In my opinion a very wise observation. Some years ago the BA wisely ran a course at a Lowestoft school, it was in conjunction with the UEA, it offered a certificate for those of us who completed it. It was then that I met Trudi Wakelin, on that occasion the tutor, at least by title. The class, of which I was one, probably all attended not so much to learn as a child might, but as an adult with an interest. I admired Trudy because the class became a mutual learning opportunity. We listened to each other, we learned from each other, we moved forward together. Trudy clearly knew less about the subject than the majority that attended but she asked and she listened, we all gained, we all moved forward. I am not aware that the BA ever held a similar course but for me it was invaluable & I gained a huge respect for Trudi and I regret her moving on from the BA.

I agree, Mark. A curriculum that promotes the Broads as the Broads and the legal reality would gain a great deal of respect and hopefully be a new start in the Authority regaining the trust that it has lost over the last ten or twelve years.

For the hull, as you intend to epoxy it, maybe use a tissue of glass as a scrim? She wouldn't need to take-up then!

.....and put them on his elbows!

http://www.xmasclock.com/ One for Gracie!

Two fifths of the above I can only agree with, even like!

A near neighbour of mine has one on the bank at Oulton Broad, an interesting structure. P.S. Good luck with the Broads Authority planning department

One problem, Berney, is that Gracie doesn't wear flat heels, more likely needle sharp stilettos. You will therefore need to provide heavy duty paving from Gracie's reserved mooring to the chocolate counter.

Dr Packman is a gentleman in that he takes his hat off in the office and no, he doesn't wear a wig.

Mine is simple and probably obvious. I would dearly like to see a change of ethos at the top, the culture of pursuing personal 'visions' to become a thing of the past. There has to be a positive unity in driving both the Broads of today and more especially the Broads of tomorrow. I would dearly love to see the trust between stakeholders & the Broads Authority returning to its previous. enviable level. I would like to die knowing that the Broads is in good hands. At the moment both governance and management have distanced themselves from the stakeholders, that has to change. The Broads is unique, I wish for that to continue, in good hands.

Good luck, Vaughan, they are as common as muck though, really not worth buying. We'll all back off now!

That's still quite cheap for a boatyard badge, some well top the £100.00 mark! Vaughan, have you got a few left over from the good old days?

I recently, just before Christmas, spoke face to face with Dr Packman and asked him about the National Park branding. His answer was simple, 'I've taken it as far as I can at this moment in time'. Obviously that statement doe not exclude the future thus I presume that it is meaningless hence we must maintain our caution. As for personalisation, how and why should we avoid it? I have just written that I had a conversation with Dr Packman, should I have just said a 'representative of the Broads Authority'? Would that have been preferable? It would rather have devalued both my comment & reality. Bill, clearly you waste no opportunity in attempting to rubbish the opinion of those who appear to be somewhat less naive than yourself in regard to the governance and management of the Broads Authority.. Strangely enough Marshman & myself can agree to disagree without rancour, it can be done.

Bill, if you honestly and sincerely believe that statement then I'm sorry, it's my firm and honest belief that you entirely wrong, even disillusioned. Dr Packman will eventually retire, and not before time, neither of us can have any possible preconception of whether his successor will further pursue the status of being a full and legal national park or not. Indeed neither of us can possibly know the reality of Dr Packman's as yet undeclared vision. I certainly don't trust him, not one iota. I admire his determination to achieve his vision, doesn't mean that I admire his manipulation of reality & people to achieve that end. Give the man an inch and he'll push for a yard, the pressure has to be maintained, we'd be fools if we backed off. In my sincere & honest opinion any effort to mislead children in order to achieve one's personal agenda is pretty despicable. The truth is the truth, calling the Broads a National Park is, if we really believe the Authority, is allegedly for no other reason than for marketing, if that is a fact then it means it's not for education but can we honestly believe that. The emerging evidence suggests not. Tim is on the money.

I have a vague memory that I read somewhere that HW built three trimarans but don't take that as gospel. I also had a hunch that that might have included one for a fellow called Donald Crowhurst and that lead me via Google to a trimaran built at Brundall by a yard called Eastwoods who used to build some really smart cruisers in their time. Interesting and tragic story: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Mu4lCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT59&lpg=PT59&dq=John+Eastwood+boat+builder&source=bl&ots=-Mgd27pIL1&sig=2o3EVmak56sKrRcF0dkL6FAkREw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiry8fwyeDRAhWIIsAKHZuLCxkQ6AEIKjAD#v=onepage&q=John Eastwood boat builder&f=false

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/416231190533510087/

More especially when worn back to front.

Was he one of our lot?

Probably not, don't want to upset 'em!

I don't know although I do know that he was a fine mechanic/engineer who suffered acutely from seasickness yet he and my father regularly went sea-fishing during the winter.