JennyMorgan

I just had to tap 'really ugly boats on the Broads' into Google images. Had to smile when this one came up!

The biggest bodges I see are those enthusiastic cockpit conversions where people build incredibly ugly room extensions on the stern of their boats. Generally there will be no pretensions whatsoever in regard to appearance. This had to be one of the worst but there are a few that are not far behind!

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/health/landlord_of_ferry_inn_at_horning_escapes_jail_after_bouncy_castle_found_unsecured_in_days_after_summer_grant_died_1_4818192

Gracie, you have an uncanny knack of saying just the right thing at just the right time, bless you!

A seventy eight pound increase is nothing to some people, it might be the breaking point for another though, especially when you add it to the inevitable mooring fee increase. I will see a saving on my fleet of small boats but my daughter sees quite a hike in her sailing cruiser toll. Got to say it though, it's not whether folk still see the Broads as being good value, the issue for many of us is whether, year on year, we are being shafted or not. Two ways at looking at the same issue.

Pauline, you have my sympathies. Something very special about a ship's cat.

Marsh, in this instance I think that you are entirely right, for once! However Keith is not entirely wrong. I have always got on with the troops in the tolls office and when I paid my toll over the phone I was asked to confirm that I have insurance. I duly did just that and asked why I had never been asked to prove that I really did have insurance, as I do with my car. It was admitted that the Authority has no power to check at the time of application as the vehicle licencing johnnies can. I didn't push the issue and I assume that they can ask at a spot check. Bearing in mind that it is only a few years since the Broads Bill went through Parliament I find it surprising that being able to check insurance at the time of application was not part and parcel of the legislation. Like far too much of Authority legislation it's poorly thought through in my opinion.

Nice one, Grace. More please.

Perhaps we could, even should start a Broads Anthology thread. I'd especially look forward to contributions from the likes of Old Wossy & Vaughan for example. Don't think that we always need chapter length reminiscences, sometimes a paragraph or two is all that needed. Not Christmas related but the memory of the following event always amuses me. The following is the very true tale of an amateur mole catcher, I was moored up near St Olaves and the land owner, a friend of mine, was trying to gas the numerous moles that were plaguing him. Whilst most of us might use pellets, or the exhaust fumes from a tractor, the gentleman in question was emptying a calor gas cylinder down the burrows. It might have seemed a good idea at the time, until, when he'd finished, he lit up his pipe and threw the match down to the ground. There was no bang as such, just a roar, his prized bit of grass was quickly turned into an intricate trench system, such as had not seen since the 1914/1918 war. I may be mistaken, but I'm quite certain that I heard the scream of an airborne mole as it passed overhead, realising that it didn't have it's lifejacket on and was headed for the river. Okay, so that last sentence is entirely fictional!

It's how it was, Gracie. Be glad that you weren't born a hundred years ago! Just think that only 65 years ago The Commodore P.H. in Oulton Broad had a men only bar. Is that progress?

Come on folks, there are more memories out there, let's be having you! An anthology of Broads stories, why not?

Corn soaked in gin tends to slow them down to a point of not being able to achieve lift-off from out of your garden. You won't need to chew the meat to avoid swallowing shot either .

But is it really progress when a boat becomes dependent rather than independent? The battle by the yards to overcome the issue of flat batteries has been a long and largely unsuccessful one but this has largely been down to the ever increasing demand on the battery banks. On a quiet, still night, even a well insulated generator can be downright anti-social. There will never be enough mains hook up points or hook up points at every available mooring so why create a demand for what will probably never be? It goes beyond that when it means mooring up at two o'clock to ensure access to the mains, or running a generator to the annoyance of others. Progress isn't always progress, it's just an excuse to charge more! (Pun intended)

Hunters and Martham are both very good at telling their hirers what they can have and what to expect. Wish that more would follow their example!

A 1950's Broadland Christmas. Christmas by the Broads has always been very special for my family, not least because it was the one time of the year when we could all come together. My father was the proprietor of a restaurant and shop overlooking Oulton Broad, Christmas and Boxing day being the only two days during the year that his business was closed and his family could come together. As a youngster Christmas Eve was always a joy, a chance to go pike and perch fishing, my mother glad not to have my brother or myself under her feet. For Mum, my Gran and Mrs H, the hired help, Christmas Eve was about preparation. A quick story about Mrs H, I well remember her for her outright broad Suffolk and honest, simple manner. It was a few years before I understood the family legend as of when, during the war, Mrs H was late for work. Full of humble apology she had explained that 'she'd hadda incendry up her back-passage. Let me explain, back passages in Suffolk, and maybe elsewhere, are the narrow passages between houses that lead to the backdoor. Incendries were incendiary bombs and, thankfully, that one did no real damage. Anyway, back to Christmas Eve, the three ladies did prepare but also entertained their lady friends as seasonal pleasantries were exchanged. In the meantime Roger, my brother, would edge our rowing boat towards the Commodore, the local's local. At that time the pub itself was separated from the rather primitive urinals by a covered passage way where us youngsters were able to congregate in the dry whilst our fathers enjoyed their pints. Back then the Commodore, quite sensibly in my opinion, was a man's pub and the license was for ale only. We were kept supplied with copious ginger beer & crisps, the ones with little blue salt bags, by the men repeatedly crossing the passage and treating us lads. I don't remember what we caught on the way but I do remember downing thirteen bottles of ginger pop one Christmas Eve! Back home and Dad would arrive with a sometimes odd array of goodies that would be past their best by the time the Christmas holiday was over. Our Christmas Eve feasts were memorable for the family time and the lack of a television. We would eat a plateful, play a game of droughts or pelmanism, Dad's favourites, before the next course and another game. Christmas morning was inevitably about presents, not that we had that many as just after the war such luxuaries were not widely available. Of course we had to make good the aftermath of the previous evening's feast and, as we had no central heating, we had to make up the fires. I well remember the joy of my parents as items that had been absent from the shops during the war and even after made a welcome return to the table and Christmas stocking. More than anything I remember the long walks after our Christmas lunch, an all male affair. Always an adventure and full of interest. My father knew the local marshes like the back of his hand, the net-work of dykes and, most importantly, where the 'liggers' that crossed those dykes were. Liggers were generally nothing more than a narrow plank but, thankfully, non of us fell in. Winters were colder then, frost and snow was not uncommon. Being lost on the marshes would not have been fun but Dad never lost his way. Halfway house would inevitably be on the river bank at the Dutch Tea Gardens where we would sit and enjoy hot drinks and mulled wine. Chatting, laughing and maybe a carol or two, we would watch the sun work its way down towards the horizon. Inevitably we would arrive home in the dark, to a table loaded with mince pies and a Christmas cake from Dad's bakery, courtesy of Mum, Granny C and my Aunty Peggy. Aunty Peggy's husband, Jack, had been a P.O.W. in Burma and Japan, had come back home when he weighed little over six stone, well under half his normal body-weight. He weighed even less on release. It was many years before I knew what he had gone through. A born & bred countryman and farmer, now I can understand and appreciate his joy and thanks for the freedom that we enjoyed on our Christmas walks. His understanding of the countryside was intense and his contribution to our walk was a joy. Boxing day generally started with a bonfire, wrapping paper, used crackers and party hats, any left overs that would burn. No sooner had we finished the big clear up then we were out on the water. As usual our sailing boat was laid up for the winter so we would be out fishing or aboard Dad's motor-boat. Sometimes we would head up to Dirty Dicks, the Waveney Inn at Burgh St Peter, or perhaps up to Reedham Ferry for a drink with the Archers, great friends of Dad's. Way back then Mutford Lock would open on Boxing Day & one year we went through and into Lowestoft Harbour, the fishing fleet was in, the fish dock crammed with boats. Continental shipping would have a Christmas tree at the mast-head, a delightful custom so I thought. Boxing Day would end with a cold table, the Christmas left-overs and a welcome soup. The next day Dad would be back at work, the holiday was over, more memories were made, days were getting longer, summer and the first regatta was only five months away!

I would imagine fitting a pilot rail, as Vaughan calls it, would be a doddle, & look good too.

MM, not so much telling a customer what he should want, more a case of telling them what they might reasonably expect to receive on a boating holiday. Granted that for most people boating is not camping afloat but it is boating and external power points are not universally available. Only my opinion but if a boat is dependent on additional power sources, shore based or generators, then the boat, as a boat, has failed. Okay for those who are content to hop from one marina to another but thankfully, in my opinion, the Broads is not awash with marinas, at least ones with visitor facilities.

Regarding the noise of rattling rigging, couldn't agree more. For example the unfrapped halliards in the dinghy park nearby the Pleasure Boat can be down right anti-social. Lot to be said for wooden masts! Re shore power at public moorings, agreed, to a degree. Twenty four hour moorings are public but they also tend to be off the beaten track so in many cases the provision of mains power is impractical and unless power lines are going to be above ground, thus unsightly, there will be a huge cost implication. I also think that there is an argument that modern boating is actually departing from the joy of independence that boating has long provided. Perhaps modern boating should be less about pandering to the perceived and often unnecessary 'needs' of modern man and more targeted to providing practical, dependable independence from power points, and educating customers as to what to expect about of the boating experience.

I go with Mr Mynah on this one. I can understand having a grab rail and cabin top handrails such as you see on the Ranger's launches but I wouldn't ever again have a pulpit, blessed things.

Congratulations, Poppy. I take it that you married a much younger woman.

What is disturbance? Well, I think it quite reasonable to accept that a continuously running motor or engine at a location that would otherwise be quiet should be construed as a disturbance.

Ohhh errrrrrr, missus, best not let Roger the motorised Rabbit go ballistic whilst on a 24hr mooring! That could result in an interesting Ranger's report!

Some folk are easily offended! Either an offence is an offence or it is not but I have come up against this let out clause before in regard to planning. So I moor up, run my engine and someone complains, do I pay them £500.00 to withdraw their complaint?

I don't think that it's good-bye hire-boats at the moment, unless they all have generators that have to be run at moorings. When hirers book a boat are they warned of the risks of running the engine at 24hr moorings?