Mouldy

If you put your past managers names on, you’d have needed an even bigger one!

I’m not against the race, but given that it is a ‘race,’ I doubt whether the more serious competitors will observe too much caution when negotiating Ludham Bridge. If two or three cruisers are trying to hold station waiting for several paddlers to come through, there is surely a risk to all river users there. There are no public moorings downstream of the bridge to allow craft to moor safely and allow the paddlers to pass, should rangers be on hand to hold other river traffic and prioritise the competitors passage.

Could be interesting at Ludham Bridge in particular. It’s bad enough with boat traffic on a Saturday and Sunday without a plethora of paddle powered craft all heading down The Ant, in a race. Wonder if the YouTuber who seems to spend a lot of summer weekends, capturing and posting accidents and mishaps, will be there.

Just seen this - ideal on The Ant and The Thurne on a Saturday! https://www.norfolkoutdooradventures.co.uk/the-paddle-skedaddle

They can’t accurately predict the weather for the following day, never mind next ruddy month.

I believe the Secret Garden has reopened.

Still open, but didn’t get a great hygiene rating from the council, apparently. Read about it on a FB Food on The Broads page.

Uh-oh! Breakfast in the pub, followed (no doubt) by a large portion of cake and/or other goodies from the shop! On the other hand, you only live once! Very handily placed to overnight at Upton, too! Sounds like a foodtastic day to me!

Goodwill doesn’t pay inflated salaries for certain staff members of the Blessed Authorities though and I can’t imagine that the good doctor is all that bothered, especially when infighting amongst some members of BRAG appears to be dragging the group into self destruction.

Try here, Ian: https://www.fendequip-direct.com/product/anchor-marine-fender-cover/

And the fact that British consumers aren’t satisfied with seasonal produce anymore. The expectation now is that we can eat strawberries at Christmas and asparagus in November. Energy costs are now dissuading UK producers from growing some fruit and veg as heating greenhouses is too expensive and a shortage of pickers means that some of what was grown, had to be left in the fields to rot. They might be part of the reason that when I bought parsley and thyme from the supermarket a few weeks ago and they came from Portugal and Greece respectively.

Had to read that twice!! Are we still able to use the word slap? Have the woke brigade not banned it yet??

Barnes advertise Premium, Mid Range and No Frills whilst Richardson’s have Platinum and Classic ranges. There is some differentiation, but I’m guessing that saying they have a premium range, implies that those that aren’t within that group, are not premium by default. Maybe calling some ‘old tubs overdue retirement’ wouldn’t be seen as good for business.

Most of the larger hire yards are doing this now, surely. Platinum, Premium and Luxury are all terms that feature in their advertising, giving some indication that the craft that feature in those ranges have something extra to offer in terms of luxury. Even Hoseasons offer their Starboard range, with various extras included. The word charter just seems to indicate that the whole experience is a bit more special. Looking at some of the Broads related FB groups, many regular visitors are being dissuaded from returning due to ever increasing hire (charter) costs, making a week on the Broads too expensive especially when compared to other holiday options.

Stay at the end of the dyke, near the mill. It’s wider there and still close enough to the pub for a post coronation beverage. Ideal!

Surprised that the issue with the port engine issue wasn’t picked up on the survey.

Obviously following NYA’s model, although it’s fair to say that the craft that NYA offer for ‘charter’ are all a ‘cut above’ in terms of quality. I think Ray has hit the nail on the head though. For many years we went to France and Italy with Eurocamp, staying in mobile homes on parcs in some very scenic areas, including the Gorge du Tarn, Ardeche, Gorge du Verdon and the Dordogne. Some were quite basic, others more luxurious with air conditioning, en-suite facilities, decking and gas barbecues all included. Maybe the name Eurocamp gave the impression that it was a tent in a field, but in reality it was far more than that. Are they trying to oversell the product? With some of Richo’s newer craft, maybe not, but chartering something like their old Ocean 30’s doesn’t quite fit the picture that the branding implies imho.

In 2010 my wife, mother and father in law and I drove to Provence in my Skoda Octavia vRS. We were staying near Castellane to visit the nearby Gorge du Verdon. I’d done some research on the area and found a tourist route called Route des Cretes (D23), which was supposed to offer magnificent views over the gorge, with various stopping places to get out and take in the scenery. The start and finish are within a few hundred yards of each other and part of the route is one way traffic, so we started at the correct end to drive the entire way round. It certainly lived up to the description - it was stunning, but my driving ability was slightly impaired by my father in law sitting in the front passenger seat, but was trying to sit on my lap! I’ve had to ‘borrow’ the photo from Google, but here’s the reason:

I don’t want to eat a little duck either, Gracie . . . . . . . . . . . A bigger one’s better - more meat to enjoy! 😉😁

The only vehicles with a gross weight over 7.5 tonnes allowed over the bridge moving forward are emergency vehicles. Buses are now prohibited.

Just seen on FB that the bridge has reopened to pedestrian and road traffic with a 7.5 tonne weight limit imposed.

New one on me too. Fineway used to be in Hoveton years ago. Their yard was near where Barnes hire out their dayboats now.

Hippersons in Beccles for fuel and pump out. Pacific Cruisers at Chedgrave for both and water, but not on changeover days. Waveney River Centre are advertising fuel available on their website. Beccles Yacht Station for water.

Sadly, HS2 has gone too far to be stopped. Thousands of acres of land have been turned over to develop a railway to speed the journey between London and Birmingham by a few minutes. Maybe, a few years ago, this could have been something for the country to be proud of, but based on current estimates, it won’t be finished into its terminus in central London until 2041. When many other countries already have high speed railways, once again were a bit late to the party. There are so many better ways that in excess of 100 billion pounds could have been spent to benefit a much larger proportion of the population, it really does grind my gears.

Isn’t it amazing that multiple billions of pounds have been spent on building ‘smart’ motorways, that most sensible people could see was a flawed idea in the first place. Far too many billions of pounds have been found to build a massive vanity project, that most of us live too far from to gain any benefit from, in the form of HS2, yet preserving our coastline and saving the homes of folk living in coastal villages, is deemed not worth the cost.