Paul

I think the reverse is true, they know hireboats rarely get under, most will never get under but holiday makers don't want to miss out. That's got to be worth an extra few quid.....

Perhaps it's just me being tight Howard (nothing new there is the cry!), but I dislike paying for another boat when I've already paid for one. The short break route gives you extra time on the river, always a bonus in my book.

Sadly for us a standard dayboat is not really an option. Our eldest has a kidney condition which means we need a toilet close to hand.

rather than waste your money on a dayboat from Potter heigham, which are very expensive enjoy the rest that the broads has to offer and then when the chance arrives perhaps look at a short break above the bridge exploring heigham and Hickling and West Somerton. If there are only two of you then Whispering Reeds have a little short break boat called Bittern http://www.whisperingreeds.net/bittern/ If there are more then look at Martham Boats https://www.marthamboats.com/hire/motor-cruisers When we were up last summer we asked about a picnic boat from Herbert Woods for the day, £240. I would like to tell you what I said to them but fear I would get modded! For not much more than that you can take Bittern out for a whole weekend.

which is not easy whilst his snout is firmly in the trough .....

Good luck if they expect Michael Gove to do anything. I doubt he even knows where Norfolk is, let alone what the Broads are.

Don't worry if those flappy windy thingies get a bit close, just yell "make ready to go about", that'll confuse the little bu88ers.

we used to fly our pennant from the mop on Pacific Princess, which when stood on the deck in the V of the pulpit rail and secured to the rail with a zip tie stood about 3/8 of an inch higher than the highest point of the roof. We knew therefore that if the mop handle went under Ludham Bridge then everything else did. I'm sure it was considered very uncouth, and made scrubbing the decks tricky too.

It gets very shallow near the entrance to Pound End, stay at least 50m clear, and in the little bay immediately to the left as you enter, stay at least 30m clear. Other than that depth is pretty good.

I know where there is a whole pack of 1982 Blakes and Hoseasons brochures unopened. They were left in the chapel's boiler room waiting to stoke the old beast when the asbestos lining on the water tank started to erupt. The cost to remove was such that, as the boiler was on it's last legs anyway the room was sealed. It has remained sealed for the last 37 years. There are a number of packs of others there too, as working in a travel agent at the time all of our unused brochures went into the boiler's furnace. Many a winter evensong was warmed by old Airtours, Cosmos and Carousel brochures. The Blakes and Hoseasons were never burned.

anybody want to hazard a guess at it's final price?

Indeed it wasn't.They built the Scimitar GTE and GTC, much beloved of Princess Anne and then the SS1 and it's predecessor the Sabre. Sabre was a name reused from a car they built in the 60's, very desirable and sought after nowadays. There were other small four wheel cars too, I remember the Kitten's predecessor which I think was called the Fox, plus they made a four wheel pick up, the Rebel was it? Which replaced the ill fated 3 wheel pick up which I think was the Ant. I had a GTC, it was OK, Ford engine was pretty reliable but the thing squeaked, rattled and shook like crazy and only slightly less rain came in with the roof up than it did with it down.

beware of online tyre reviews, very few people who post them have any idea how to accurately assess tyre performance. Many people who post tyre reviews I'm convinced have never used the tyre they are supposedly reviewing and if they have I doubt they have checked that their wheels are accurately tracked and aligned. I asked the question about tyres on the MB owners forum recently wondering what tyres other people were using on my particular model (partly due to the inability to find tyres I like in both front and rear size as posted earlier). I was amazed the number of people who came back to me suggesting their particular choice of tyre was supremely quiet, gave fantastic grip, was brilliant in the wet and lasted for ever. Of course no tyre lasts forever and the more dry grip it gives the faster it will wear. That's just the science of rubber compunds. Softer = more grip and faster wear, harder = less grip but longer wear. The tread pattern on the car has nothing to do with dry grip, that is for clearing water. The better the tyres wet grip the more roadnoise it will give which is down to the block pattern which clears the standing water. Choosing tyres is always a compromise that suits you and the vehicle you are driving. Beware making judgement on your old tyres. The inaccuracy of your tracking will have greater impact on their performance than their quality. If you tracking and alignment is not correct then the tyre does not sit accurately on the road and will not offer the performance it should. Your comment about the pull when travelling through standing water should not be seen as a failing of the tyre, actually quite the opposite. That pull is caused by the slowing of the wheel caused by the friction of the tyre clearing that standing water and getting rubber onto the road surface. The greater the pull the better it is doing it's job. A tyre with little or no pull in those circumstances indicates that the water is not being cleared and your tyre is travelling over the surface of it - aquaplaning. When this happens you lose the braking and turning ability of that wheel.

I'd seen it online myself, it looked in really good order and reasonable price for the interior fit out.

Wasn't the Alpha 35 at Broadland Yacht Brokers you were looking at was it?

There are two brands of tyres I avoid at all costs, wanli and sunny, except there are sunny'son the back of the Merc which were fitted when I bought it. A lot of tyre we treat as midrange today began life as budget brands to achieve recognition, Avon, Hankook, Vredestein and Kumho come to mind. Out of choice I would fit Toyo Proxes T1R's to any high performance car. I used the previous version of these throughout my racing career and they stick like the preverbial to a blanket, though the cost of that is that they wear slightly quicker, but that is the trade. Sadly they don't make the correct size for the front of the Merc, just about every other option is available but the one I need. As I like to match tyres on all four corners I thought I'd opt for Hankook Ventus V12's. Alas they are not made in the rear size....... I love my merc, but the different tyre sizes front and rear is proving a real ball ache!

I would urge caution to anyone using additives in their fuel, lubricant or transmission. Adding anything to these systems other than the manufacturers recommended fuel, oil or ATF will invalidate any manufacturers warranty and most aftermarket warranties. Not having had to worry about such things for most of my motoring life I have sampled a number of different products and most of them are little more than snake oil. With regard to fuel I've never found hard evidence that one fuel is better than another and every time I have tested premium fuels I have never seen anything to justify the extra cost. All I do know is that the Greenergy tanker which supplies the BP station in the village also supplies our local Tesco. As for tyres you pays your money and takes your choice. A tyre which performs well on one vehicle might not perform so well on another. There are tyres from recognised brands which I wouldn't have on my wheelbarrow whilst there are some budget brands which are very decent. Regarding car brands then it's much like tyres, except that you can find hard data on the web as to which brands and which models have proved more or less reliable based on warranty repair claims. Japanese brands have been top of this list for many years and remain so today. Honda, Suzuki, Toyota, Mazda and Lexus fill thetop five spots. German marques were once known for their reliability and build quality but this has not been so for years. As the complexity and technology of cars has increased Japanese manufacturers have managed this much better than those in Europe. As for Robin's X5 and it's intermittant tail gate then welcome to the world of BMW ownership. Since the introduction of iDrive in 2001 BMW has been plagued by electrical issues. Ask any garage technician what kind of repair they like the least and to a man they will tell you electronics. They are often intermittent, usually give no indication of where the fault lies making them time consuming and expensive to address.

Sounds like the closed season should be extended to cover 01 Feb - 31Aug ......

oh dear .....

Well done Wales. It hurts me to say it but they wanted it more in that second half. To my untrained eye England are in desperate need of leadership. Owen Farrel is not a test captain. Problem is, looking at the current squad i don't see any stand out candidates.

plus one for that. I would even go as far as to include SSD's in that same comment. I had an SSD connected to our home network which let me down. Even a trip to our local computer shop could not recover the data. He did say if it was a standard HDD he might have been able to. The moral of this story is two backups.

results of this weeks quiz .... Lulu 1 JanetAnne 1 santed 2 grendel 4 Bern 7 Nigel 9 Polly 10 Tigerhawk 11 mike 16 I shall pass the baton to mike for next weeks quiz. Thanks for being gentle with me, no teddies out of the pram etc. Hope those who took part enjoyed it.

So revised categories for this evening's quiz 1) The Life And Works Of William Blake 2) Developments in Rocket Science 1939 - 1969 3) History of Farming In Russia 1800 - 1917 ...... Sorry, that was last nights pub quiz. For tonight the delights on offer are 1) Watching the Detectives 2) British Roads 3) Song Lyrics, with a twist. +++ intermission +++ 4) British Winter Olympians 5) Art & Literature of the Twentieth Century 6) General Ignorance Each round consists of six questions, with a bonus quickie slipped in along the way so a total of 42 points up for grabs however I have been known to award bonus points on occasion. See you all later.

I will be running the Quiz on Friday, please be gentle with me. Watch for new subjects tomorrow.

They may have been working on the path itself as i understand they have resurfaced it and made it "accessible". You certainly can't miss it now unless you are looking too far down the field. The path cuts in from the end of Pinewood Drive by the bowling green and leaves the playing field behind the play park, bringing you out opposite what was that little row of shops next to the New Inn, of which I think only the Golden City remains, the other two having been converted to residential. It shows up well on google maps aerial photo.