Mouldy

We moored at the bridge earlier today, on our way back down The Ant to get rid of some rubbish. I too was disappointed to see that the spaces on the shop side, that will have to serve the shops and pub during the works on the opposite bank, were missing several posts. I can well imagine the chaos that will inevitably occur as novice crews heading downriver, unfamiliar with rhond anchors and their use, try to moor with nothing to tie to.

Sunday 16th April I was up early. I know there isn’t much tidal rise and fall on the upper Ant, but I wanted to get under before high water, so we were both ready to go just after 07:00. We checked how much we’d left on the electric post as we disconnected the cable and were surprised to see that our £1 credit had run out, especially as we’d only really had the TV on and been economical with the lighting onboard, which is LED. I guess the posts have been adjusted in line with rising energy costs. Conscious of the boats moored around us, I didn’t warm the engine up before setting off, but with the engine at little more than tickover along the 3 mph section, we weren’t stressing the engine. It was quite misty and visibility wasn’t great, but again, at 3mph, it certainly wasn’t an issue. We waited until we were near Wayford bridge before dropping the canopy and screen. There was just a little more clearance than the previous day, perhaps an extra inch, but plenty to get Moonlight Shadow safely through. It was on the chilly side, so screen and canopy were promptly raised as we made our way back towards Barton Broad. My intended destination was Gayes Staithe, either the side on or the end on moorings ideally. When we arrived, both were occupied, but it was early, so we assumed that there would be some movement before too long and moored next to Silver Cloud. We had breakfast and I went for my shower - Deb had showered as we’d travelled between Dilham and Gayes. By now, the sun was shining brightly and it had turned into another beautiful day. After we’d had a coffee, we decided to wander round to the fudge lady, but bumped into the people on board the boat on our favoured stern on end mooring. We stood and chatted to them for a while. I noticed Kate (kpnut) chug up Lime Kiln Dyke and waved, but she obviously didn’t see me. The boat on the end mooring was going, so we waited to replace them on the mooring before going for our walk. The time was getting on by now. I suggested making a short detour on the way to the fudge lady. The wife agreed, so we were soon sitting in the courtyard at The White Horse, having some lunch and enjoying a beverage. My pint was very enjoyable, but calling a beer ‘A Man Called Chris’ must be questionable. Lunch finished, we wandered slowly back to the boat, calling at the fudge lady en route. She’s clearly gone very upmarket since last year, with her offerings now displayed in a wooden shed, complete with a card machine as an option for making payment. How 21st century. Back onboard MS, we settled down, with the saloon roof back, watching the comings and goings at the staithe. Deb was busy with her cross stitch, I flew a drone for a few minutes, read for a while and took a few photos. Back in the days of hiring, we’d never have dreamt of spending an afternoon like that, preferring to see as much as possible over the course of our holiday, but now the attraction of finding a mooring and sitting quietly doing very little comes far more easily. A combination of age and regular visits through ownership, I guess. A few more boats arrived later and moored, three private and three hired. I grilled pork loin steaks for dinner, with creamed potatoes and broccoli, enjoyed with a glass or two of wine. We watched an old episode of Jonathan Creek on TV (it was the best think on offer) before retiring to bed as usual around 22:00. It had been another unexpectedly sunny, relaxing day.

The rest of the photos from Saturday that I couldn’t add yesterday due to network issues!

I posted my thoughts on this thread just a couple of days ago. Over the intervening period two things have come to my attention to prove my point. Stealing the donation box for water at Gayes Staithe is just petty. If enough folk fail to make their online contributions for water, it’s not hard to imagine that the tap will be removed and further impact the boating community. As for The Secret Gardens at How Hill, what an I say? Vandalism and theft have caused them to be closed. Obviously, neither of these incidents is directly related to the question of alcohol and it’s consumption on a boat, but more in line with our society and the elements within it, that think that it’s okay to carry out these petty acts that impact so many more of us.

Go for it, Jean. We ventured up there for the first time last year. It’s a lovely stretch of river, really quiet (as you’d expect), with a peaceful mooring and electric posts, too.

We had a lunch in there last year, which we enjoyed very much. They have a very pleasant garden, if the weather is suitable and most folk you speak to enjoy it too, but we haven’t been there for a meal in the evening. The Crown at Smallburgh has also been recommended, which is a bit further to walk, but not too far. We haven’t been, but will investigate one day, I hope.

Might have been on our way to The Fudge Lady, via The White Horse! Sorry to have missed you though! Good luck with the rest of the work at LBBY. Were hoping to be back in the northern rivers on Norfolk Lady in July, before the start of school holidays and ensuing mayhem!

I’ll have to post the rest of the photos when I have a better signal. It appears that Gayes Staithe is a bit of a dead spot on EE!🤦‍♂️

Saturday 15th April (Continued) Needless to say, Tesco was busy. I’m not a fan of shopping at the best of times, but a busy Saturday in an unfamiliar store isn’t my idea of fun! Purchases made, Deb (who’d been waiting outside with the dog) took the bags whilst I went to get some fish and chips for lunch. I rushed back to the boat, so the food was still hot and we enjoyed our lunch. I’ve not used the chippy in Stalham before, but it’s now firmly on my list of approved chip shops. With the washing up done, we moved across to Simpsons for water before setting off for our intended overnight stop. We turned right at the end of the Stalham/ Sutton branch of The Ant and passed Hunsett Mill. The sun was glorious and very welcome. With the saloon canopy and windscreen lowered, we safely negotiated Wayford Bridge which was showing just a smidge over 7ft on the gauge. Unlike Ludham, that does seem very accurate! There was one boat moored at Dilham when we arrived. I turned and moored behind it - we were on the bend, so had to compromise a little but it was good enough and the dog managed to get on and off quite easily. We chatted to the couple on the other boat - another private craft and while we were talking, two Hampton Safaris turned up and managed to squeeze in behind us. The sun was still shining, so we thought a libation might be in order. We wandered down to the Cross Keys for a drink, which did go down very well. They were just lighting their pizza oven and temptation to stay for dinner was hard to resist, but we managed! By the time we got back to the boat, the temperature was dropping and some cloud cover was moving in, but no matter. We had dinner, albeit later than usual and a quiet evening, retiring to bed around 22:00, after a grand day. The sunshine had been an unexpected bonus that we’d thoroughly enjoyed.

Not to mention London - Damn spellcheck.

Saturday 15th April I’d been awake a couple of times during the night. The last time I remembered checking my watch was about 03:00 and rain was still pattering on the roof. I think it was about 06:00 when I came to again and wasn’t expecting a wonderful morning, due to the overnight rain, but much to my surprise, the rain had stopped. I wandered through to the saloon and flicked the heating on and there was even a hint of sunshine breaking through the clouds. I wasn’t quite ready to get up, so returned to bed for half an hour or so to allow the heating to take effect. There were definitely some breaks in the cloud when I dragged myself out of the comfort of the bed. Deb was up too and she took Harley for her early morning walk. When they arrived back, we had some toast and marmalade for breakfast whilst watching a flotilla of Richardson’s boats obviously heading back to Stalham at the end of their holiday. It’s fair to say that not all of them were heeding the speed limit though. It had been my intention to be at Womack Dyke on Sunday evening for a carvery at the Kings Arms, however we needed some supplies, so the carvery will have to wait until Wednesday. Stalham was the initial destination, so we set off and turned up The Ant. Just as I was turning right at the junction, I spotted an otter swim into the river and dive in front of MS. I arrived at the bridge just in time to encounter two craft heading in the opposite direction, so held station whilst they passed through. The moorings that are to be closed shortly for works were packed, with hardly any spaces available. Their imminent closure will cause a lot of issues during the course of the works, for sure. We passed Simon (Cambridge Cabby) somewhere near Griff’s Corner on our way up river . There were a few craft moored at How Hill and two at Irstead, one on the parish Staithe and the other on the BA mooring. We were soon across Barton and continuing towards Stalham. By now, the sky was clearing and the sun was peeking through. Arriving at Stalham, we noted that there was space at the public mooring at the entrance to Richardson’s yard, but we carried on, hopeful that there’d be space at the Staithe, which there was. I turned MS carefully round and reversed into the space, leaving room for another boat to moor in front. I had a shower before we wandered over to Tesco. More to follow.

Two are Hampton Safaris, so let’s say three and a half!

Moorings are full here! Four boats in total.

Been there, done that. We used to bring our son on The Broads from when he was about six until he was seventeen in 2005, when going on holiday with his parents didn’t earn him street cred. He didn’t accompany us again until 2014, when he came with us and his then girlfriend. They came with us for another three years, until his girlfriend became his wife and was too pregnant to have a boating holiday. We bought into the Moonlight Shadow syndicate in 2018 and then bought our own boat in 2019, but retained a 4% share in MS, primarily so our son and his family can still enjoy a Broads boating holiday at a cost somewhat less than hiring a boat themselves Now working and with a family of his own, he fully understands why we were (and still are) so passionate about the area and how relaxing a boating holiday can be.

There was a barge moored at the end furthest from the new boat shed and the top of the quay heading has broken away at the boat shed end, taking with it the mooring ring, making the two ‘straightest’ bits unusable. We tried to moor in the middle, but the curve of the moorings left the bow sticking out too far for my liking. It worked out okay though. St Benets was fairly full, but we had a peaceful night until the Richardson’s Rush started around 07:00 this morning, by which time we were up anyway. We’re currently moored at Dilham, so we may we’ll see you in the morning!

Friday 14th April The wife finished work at lunchtime, so we had a little extra time to finish packing up the last of our bits and pieces and squeeze them all into the boot of my car. We’ve been so used to having our own boat equipped with everything we need, that trying to remember to pick up all we need for a week on Moonlight Shadow is something of a challenge. We left home just after 15:00 and arrived in Horning about 16:10. There’d been a serious accident on the A47, so we’d lost a little time in diverting round it. I checked with the yard foreman at HPC, to ensure that the turnaround checks had been completed and was pleased to hear that they had, so we made our way to the mooring and unloaded contents of the car boot onto the boat. With a few of our possessions safely stowed away, we cast off and made our way out of the marina. There were only two boats moored at Cockshoot Dyke, but we had plenty of time so headed for the church moorings, only to find that some of the quay heading had been torn off along with the mooring rings. Unable to secure the boat to make getting on and off the boat easy, especially for the dog, we moved on and found a suitable spot at at St Benets. We’d just finished tying up the boat when it started to rain, a few spots at first, which quickly became much heavier. With the rest of our things put away, I fixed a problem with the cable connecting power from the instrument panel to the canopy, providing power for the saloon lighting. We had our dinner and watched TV for a while, retiring to bed at about 22:00. I fell asleep to the sound of rain beating on the roof, trying to work out a plan for our week on the northern rivers and hoping that the weather would improve.

Must be satisfying to know that you can still pull a long legged bird even now, though Neil!

Oh, I know that feeling!

Goes with the territory, surely. You know what you’re doing when to take the job. It’s no good accepting a job at a sewage works if you don’t like the smell, so it follows that if your job entails working in inclement weather, you just get on with it.

Nothing missed Vaughan, but as you state alcohol related incidents on The Broads are due to people falling in the river having over imbibed. There is clearly the potential for folk on a boat being too drunk to negotiate the gap between boat and quay heading to fall in. There can be no doubt that alcohol numbs the senses and gives some people the idea that they have ‘super powers.’ Sadly, the actions of the minority, often have consequences for the majority. It’s happened before and will happen again. Selfishness has largely replaced selflessness in our society. Insufficient thought is often given to others and the consequences that may follow.

Slightly contentious post, given that another current thread references a fatal accident on the rivers. There is little doubt that over indulgence in falling over water could be extremely dangerous on a boat, even if not at the helm. Falling in when inebriated, in more tidal areas in particular, wouldn’t be good. It appears that some people’s ability to recognise their limits is sadly lacking, so enjoying a glass or two whilst onboard is probably okay. The issues arise when those limits are exceeded and one person’s enjoyment affects many others. These days, one doesn’t have to look far to witness selfish or loutish behaviour in all aspects of our lives.

The BA have closed comments on their Facebook page for this announcement. I can’t imagine why! https://www.facebook.com/BroadsAuthority

I seem to recall that bank works were late at St Benet’s last year, causing a considerable length of the moorings there to be closed for the early part of ‘the season.’ Obviously, like Hardley Cross, no businesses were directly adversely affected, but it did deprive boaters of available moorings during what was a busy season.

135 metres of quay heading is a lot to have become damaged over the winter, in my opinion obviously and the major difference between these moorings and Hardley Cross is the number of businesses that are near Ludham Bridge and dependent on seasonal visitor trade. The works in progress may cause the river to be too narrow and impact moorings on the opposite bank, further impacting potential trade.

Difficult to express an opinion with one’s tongue firmly in one’s cheek on here! 😉 I don’t think he does. He can achieve full NP status and the issue of replacing diesel engined boats will no longer be an issue.