Paul

There are quite a lot of things for Children to do on the Southern Rivers if you know where to find them. Upstream from Waveney River Center you'll find Beccles which has good safe moorings at the yacht Station alongside which there is a large playing field with a good play park suitable for all ages. It's a short walk into the town where you'll find a good range of shops including butcher, baker etc. There is a fee to moor at the Yacht Sta. Just downstream you'll find the entrance to Oulton Dyke which takes you to Oulton Broad, again it's a Yacht Station with a mooring fee but it's right next to the Park which has a boating lake, play park, museum, tennis courts as well as lots of room to play football, run around etc. You can also catch a train for the five minute ride into Lowestoft to visit the beach. Try and use the train from Oulton Broad south which takes you over the swing bridge across Lake Lothing. Along with the beach and amusements etc there is a great dancing fountain which my kids (9 and 2) love playing in. Take beach ware and towels as they will get wet. If you do want to visit the seaside I would go to Lowestoft rather than take the boat to Great Yarmouth. Beyond Oulton Dyke you have the stately home of Somerleyton Hall, perhaps not quite so suitable for young children but the Hall and Gardens have reopened on Sundays and Thursdays only though some areas of the garden remain closed, including the play area. I'm not sure about the maze. There are free moorings at Somerleyton. Continue down river to St Olaves and keep left on to the New Cut which will take you to Reedham on the River Yare. There are free moorings here though the tide can run quite quickly so moorings can be more of a challenge but there is a quay attendant to help you. From the moorings it's about 15 minutes walk to Pettitt's Animal Adventure park: https://www.pettittsadventurepark.co.uk Next to Pettitt's is the Humpty Dumpty Brewery which is open most afternoons, always worth a visit to make sure Dads are not forgotten! https://www.humptydumptybrewery.com Continue up the River Yare past the chain ferry and turn left into the River Chet which takes you to Loddon. There are two good play parks here, plus a skate park if you eldest is into such things. The first play park is a more adventure based one on the Pits, and old recreation ground at the top of Pits Lane. Moor at Pacific Cruisers if they have space, say hello to Richard and Fiona, broadland's friendliest boat yard owners and then walk along Pitt's Lane until you come to the end, the play park is on the corner and along with play equipment and plenty of room for ball games and frisbee etc there are also picnic tables so if the weather is good take a sandwich or too. If you're getting towards needing your toilets pumped out here would be a good place. Rockland Broad, which is shallow and crossed between marker posts into another little dyke which takes you to the free moorings at Rockland Staithe. There is a nice pub here but is remains to be seen what they will be able to offer, and a post office and village store ten minutes walk away in the village. There are also some nice walks along the marshes. Returning to the River Yare and continuing upriver you come to Brundall. There is not much here noawadays for the visiting boater, the riverside shop has gone and it is mostly private marinas and boatyards but as you enter the village there is a nice pub, Coldham Hall on your left, after which on the same side is a dyke leading into Bargate, a very pretty secluded little broad. A second dyke leads out the other side and back to the main river. Continue upstream and you will come to one of the rivers real gems, The Ferry House at Surlingham. Free moorings, lovely food but you might have to book ahead for both. https://surlinghamferry.co.uk Continuing upstream you'll come to The Waterside restaurant as previously mentioned. Wave as you cruise by and then after you pass under the bypass bridge you have Whitlingham Country park on your left. There are a few free moorings though they do tend to be quite busy. https://www.whitlinghamcharitabletrust.com From here the river leads into Norwich with it's famous cathedral, the Castle which is a museum and art gallery and better than average city center shopping with a decent market.

I think it's more along the lines of a smoke screen in a further attempt to get the pub itself de-licensed. I don't think there is any intention to create a serious business of any kind on the site.

I'm just considering the implications of possibly been having moderated by a cat .......

Not this time no, although I have in the past and have got that proverbial rabbit, I think this time I was glad of an excuse to switch. One reason Talk Talk has been such good value for me over the past few years is the Sky Sports add on was really cheap, I contracted when there was an offer of £8 a month and have managed to negotiate to keep it each time we have renewed. That boost has ended so it's back to £36 a month now. Talk Talk have slipped behind Sky in recent years, their mobile app is rubbish and doesn't let you watch much in the way of programming, just control your box and view program guides. With the SkyGo app we can watch any of our contracted content anywhere on an android device, including the Android TVs in the bedroom and caravan meaning no multi room subscriptions or additional kit needed. Add to that the TV boxes they supply which are dreadful, we are on our third this year and this one is faulty. They tend to freeze up when using the hard disk either to record or playback meaning a reset every time and this latest one seems to be suffering their latest glitch which is a faulty dolby decoder so every time the audio switched from surround to non surround content, like at ad breaks you get a crackle on the sound. I have switched the surround off for now. Interestingly whenever you email them it takes about three days to get a response, but I had an email in my inbox within 30 seconds of completing the Sky sign up process saying how sad they were to see us go.

And before anybody gets to thinking that I'm about to name and shame somebody, the title of this thread is eponymous, i.e. it refers to me. I've had a "sort things out day" today, and have come up against a number of things that really annoy me, and I wondered is it me, or does anyone else feel the same. Firstly the TV. Broadband etc. Our contract is up next week and I've had a lovely email from those nice people at Talk Talk explaining why my package is going up by over 50% on what I am paying now, so much so that it is now cheaper to go back to Sky, who I left about five years ago who can offer the same package with more benefits, such as an app to watch the package on the go, extra channels not offered by talk talk, discounted netflix etc but, these are all introductory offers that last the 18 months of this contract. So no doubt when i come to renew in 18 months I will be shopping around again. Why don't companies just fix a fair price and stick to it ... Secondly, passwords. Why don't companies when they ask you to create an online password tell you what it must / must not include. I've had to register something today and entered a password only to get "your password must be at least 8 characters long and include at least one uppercase, one lowercase, one digit and one special character. So i change it and guess what .. the character "\" is not permitted ... special characters can be * + - _ ?, so why not blooming say that, as not only do I have to type and retype the new password every time I also have to go back and fill in half the page which banks out each time and accept all the ts and c's again and try and decipher that illegible capture thingy. And finally pop ups when you land on a web page, "do you want to web chat" ..... "can we send you our latest offers" .... "we would like to know your location" .... No, I don't want to web chat, if I did i would click the little link in the corner that says, "webchat". If I want you to know where I am I will tell you and I certainly don't want to be bombarded by yours and everyone else you can think of's special offers. I just want to read the bleeping web page i came too Arrrggghhhh! Is it me, have I really become a grumpy old git?

The Beauchamp used to be one of the very best hostelries on the river, perhaps even the best. The Sunday carvery already mentioned by VetChugger as good as any you would ever find. Served in a really pretty dining room, note dining room not restaurant, as it should be with a pub. Not just the carvery, all the food was excellent and it was a regular haunt in my camping days when I would walk down the lane and have lunch on that terrace wand watch the world go by. Sadly that's 30 and more years ago. I doubt it will see those glories again.

I couldn't agree more, the supermarket we have used for a number of years is now off our radar permanently due to the attitude of the staff. I take on board that they are concerned for their own safety, I am concerned for their safety too, along with my own. We all need to be concerned for each other in this day and age. I understand that they may have an axe to grind that they are working when others are being paid to stay at home but there is no excuse for the rudeness we have experienced from staff on more than one occasion. I will not name and shame obviously, but I did email them to suggest that they are missing an opportunity to make their door guards "meet and greet" staff and should take a lesson from our local Tesco who's door staff always greet you with a smile and thank you for waiting if it has been necessary. That said I never respond to rudeness with rudeness, simply go elsewhere.

Do they not fit summer rails, after all high summer temperatures have not been uncommon in recent years and Network rail get a decent amount of warning that summer is coming. There should be a penalty for every day the bridge cannot swing.

Regarding the issues raised in the Channel 4 program like most I do not know the truth of that and will not judge, either by forum, newspaper or any other medium, but the other matter referred to by Cambridge Cabby is nothing to do with trial by forum, it was bought before a court of law and he pleaded guilty. I will forgive most things, we very few of us can claim a blameless past be it by thought, or word or deed but somethings I do not forget and for that reason I would not visit the establishment in question, much as we loved mooring in the unnamed dyke nearby. On those occasions it was a tinny or two and an evening spent enjoying the sights and sounds of the marshes.

Phew, looking at the list of vehicles it appears that one's Maybach is fine for E10, and at the rate it drinks, nay guzzles the stuff one should be fine

probably eyeing up their next meal, they will eat their mother.

TCMBB has added another wonderful idea, A railway carriage holiday cottage, arrive by train at one of Britain's most unique stations and spend the night in a converted railway coach. So we are now pitching to hikers, birders, recluses and trainy types. We'll be fighting them off soon ....

Right, I've spoken to the current Mrs Boatboy and we have agreed. When my numbers come up on tomorrows lottery we will buy the place and restore it and reopen it as a brewpub. I can create a couple of house ales available only at the Berney, "Berney Best" and "Wherryman's Special". A guest from Humpty Dumpty or Green Jack maybe, that fizzy cold stuff for our unenlightened friends and Stowford Press for the ladies. A few decent single malts on the top shelf and all those funny coloured gins that Tesco seem to have nowadays. Beer by post from the brewery, perhaps a bunk house style letting room for hikers in one of the outhouses and a small hikers camping field. Market it to hikers, birders or simply anyone who wants a day or two of reclusion, given the lack of anywhere else to eat and drink they are all captive audience. Open from Imbolc to Samhain and mark opening and closing with a bonfire party. Free daytime moorings, overnight moorings a fiver redeemable at the bar. Basic pub fayre, rolls and pasties at lunch time then in the evening cottage pies, gammon and egg, liver and onions, spotted dick, roly poly and apple pie. Pool table, dart board, cribbage and dominoes but absolutely no jukebox and no one arm bandits. No wi-fi, no apps but conversation to be fully encouraged. TCMBB has identified just one slight hurdle, we don't play the lottery .......

Regardless of the ownership I don't think public vehicular access is ever going to be viable. The property has limited right of access across private property but even if the landowners were obliging in extending this I think railtrak would quash the idea given the two user operated level crossings which have to be negotiated.

I remain convinced that as a free house in the right ownership the Berney Arms remains viable, though it would need someone with bottomless pockets willing to pretty much write off the initial and significant investment needed in the place to get it back on track. Will that ever happen, very unlikely. Firstly you would need to acquire the whole site, not some ridiculous notion the owner has had of trying to sell just parts of it. You would need to persuade the current owner to sell which I have no doubt would mean over paying significantly compared to the current value based on condition and usage. Fro the last report I heard about it's condition the place is deteriorating rapidly so once you have acquired it you would need to spend a small fortune on a) making the living quarters habitable again and b) bringing the public bar up to standard. You would need to understand the location and the diversification options suitable to it. You need to create a product which rewards the intrepid for making the effort to visit and be realistic about it's earning potential and as such the lifestyle it would afford. Settle all of that and you could have a future at the Berney Arms.

reading through the information there it seems to me that the Authority have "got away with one", having substituted an alternative mooring some considerable distance from the access to one which was nearby it, and been able to negotiate the rights to a permanent mooring out of the deeds at the point of any future sale. I wonder if any financial restitution has been made as par of the agreement? If that is not so then it would appear that the new owners of the mill have been very accommodating. I did look at the property when it was for sale, and was very close to buying it myself, just 5 balls away!

I keep seeing people on forums and social media who remain adamant that we should all stay locked in our homes until this virus disappears or until a vaccine, or cure is found. The one I find funniest is the graphic doing the rounds that suggests staying indoors, never venturing outside, never contacting another human soul makes you 100% safe. Sadly life doesn't work like that. Firstly even locked in your own home isolated from the outside world you are not immune. The post you picked off the mat this morning, the milk bottle on your doorstep, the box of cereal in your home delivery could all be carrying the virus into your home. Corona virus can live on hard surfaces for up to 3 days. How do you know that the tin of beans delivered to your home was not touched by someone with the virus yesterday? For some people shielding has been a necessity, such as our resident Chelsea supporter and I hope Ian has managed to stay as safe as possible through all of this but eventually we all have to venture outside again at some point. but in doing so we must take every care that we minimize the risk for those most vulnerable amongst us. It makes my blood boil to watch people in supermarket routing through items on the shelves, handling countless number of items before they choose one to buy. Or to see them halfway round the supermarket deciding to stop and have a chat on their mobile phone about last nights TV and how their vaginal thrush is still very irritating. I kid you not, that's an actual conversation in the middle of Tesco which I over heard yesterday. There was quite a queue developing behind this selfish thrush sufferer until people decided just to ignore the 2 meter rule and push past. We have to accept that the way we do things must change. When you go shopping take a list, know what you want. Shopping, certainly in supermarkets has to become a picking exercise, not a browsing one. Find a more suitable time and place to have your daily catch up, don't block supermarket aisles and keep those in the queue waiting. We must, as a species get back to the principle of consideration for others, being thoughtful, showing some respect.

I use Sikaflex EBT+, around £7 a tube and can't be beaten. Sticks, seals, inside, outside, paintable and UV stable.

We have a pitch booked with a major holiday company to take the caravan to Wales on July 11th, they have been very candid in conversations we have had with them that they expect sites in England to reopen on 4th July but Scotland and Wales not until 15th. They must be getting that from somewhere. I cannot imagine that holiday parks would be allowed to reopen and boat hire companies not.

On second thoughts I'm going to add one of our largest monuments, Offa's Dyke, which as we all know glorifies the 8th century tyrannical King of Mercia who tried (largely unsuccessfully if the dubious historical records of this era are to be believed) to subjugate the Welsh. Filling that in should keep these morons busy for a while.

That's very useful Tempest, thank you. I have added the statue of Ramjet, in Much Whinging In The Marsh for his tyrannical abuse of and discrimination against internet forum moderators.

be careful Tempest, i think you are discriminating against center extremists!

the problem with that is that while mob rule and anarchy govern our streets the genuine voices, which are the most important are the hardest to hear.

I'm afraid this is now descending into lunacy, no doubt, in my mind at least, fueled by the frustrations of such an extended lock down. When I heard on the news of the removal of the Baden Powell statue I was horrified, though I have since learned that it's planned removal if to protect from attack, rather than for reasons of his past associations. This all started with the death of a Black American man at the hands of law enforcement officers, a disgraceful event which stains that nations character. It is for the leaders and citizens of that nation to address that situation, and for right minded people everywhere to support them in their efforts. Sadly it is not the first such incident in the USA and sadly I doubt that it will be the last. The USA has a terrible record of social reform and I believe it will take generations before that changes. That doesn't make the struggle to implement change is any less important, in fact it makes it more so. But to use this as an excuse to commit criminal acts is wrong. When society or any part of it takes it upon themselves to enact "social justice" then a slippery slope is created, one which leads to anarchy and mob rule and sadly we are seeing that on our streets right now. It must be stopped. Those guilty of these crimes must be bought to justice, whatever their personal beliefs of right and wrong. If not stopped, then where does it end, it ends in violence and bloodshed. A statue to day becomes the politician you disagree with tomorrow.

who said that?