Mouldy

Bird scarers perhaps?

Bit late to the party with our congratulations - been on kitchen fatigues! Really pleased to hear that you’ve sold Luna and acquired your new boat. Hoping to meet up again when we get up to the northern rivers over the summer!

That bit of road in Horning seems to have been under water for weeks. I’ve been to Horning Pleasurecraft three or four times this year, so far and it’s been flooded like that (or worse) every time.

Precisely my point. Isn’t it about time we standardised measurements? We buy carpet now in metric widths, timber in metric lengths, fuel by metric volume and even bottled beer in 500ml bottles. Some milk is sold in two litre bottles and other in four pint bottles. Yesterday I quoted the fuel consumption of my car in miles per gallon. I haven’t bought a gallon of petrol or diesel for years, so if we continue to use miles as a measure of distance, surely it makes sense to use miles per litre as a standard? I wonder how many of the younger generations know how many inches are in a foot, feet in a yard, yards in a chain, chains in a furlong or furlongs in a mile. It really is farcical.

Aw, c’mon Helen, most English people would struggle with Welsh place names, especially without expectorating at anyone standing in the firing line. How do the Welsh expect us to pronounce names like Dduallt, Machynlleth or Abergwygregyn? I rest my case.

This was one application, not for housing but for reconfiguration of the site: https://planning.broads-authority.gov.uk/PublicAccessDocs/planningdocs.aspx?appType=Development Control&appNumber=BA/2021/0209/FUL

Yep, so a US gallon is different to a UK gallon. Fairly sure a litre is the same around the world. My lad is a fabricator/welder and has never worked in imperial measurements from when he started his apprenticeship. Crazy.

Don’t get me wrong, I can read a map. I passed my HGV in 1978 when I was twenty one and there were no sat-nav’s to help then. Reading a map was an essential skill, multi dropping in towns and cities required planning and the ability to balance your A to Z on the steering wheel, whilst negotiating traffic. I mourn some things from the old days, but maybe children of today are taught things that are relevant to our current and future lifestyle. Computing was in it’s infancy back in the sixties and early seventies when I was at school. Where I do feel sorry for youngsters of today is our inability to embrace change. We still refer to miles per gallon, but buy our fuel in litres? How many schools now teach imperial measurements. We all buy pre packed commodities in metric quantities. Isn’t it about time we ditched feet, inches, pints, gallons etc and adopted the system that is taught in schools for the benefit of the next generations? My son is 35 and even he wasn’t taught imperial measurements.

I’m not sure why there is so much ‘knocking’ of the Aweigh app. For anyone who is new, or relatively new to Broads boating, it offers a great deal of information. Not only maps, tides and speeds, but moorings, electric posts and a great deal more for free. Despite being a long time visitor, I still use the speedo and although the tide times may not be entirely accurate, they do give a guide as to high and low water at a given point and the potential tide direction. As for mobile data use, it’s negligible in real terms. When my last contract with EE expired, I managed to secure a SIM only deal with unlimited data, minutes and texts for £13 per month on a two year contract, which I’m very happy with. It gives plenty of scope to ‘hotspot’ for streaming music and TV, when I’m on the boat without worrying about exceeding my monthly allowances. We also have the Project Troll app for ‘live’ bridge heights, which could be developed into a really useful resource with some funding, although progress seems to have stalled at the moment, with heights for just five bridges available. It’s easy to forget that we are not all born and raised in the area, with a wealth of local knowledge to fall back on. We all use technology everyday in our lives, in some form or other, whether it’s the tablet or PC we view the Forum on, the sat-nav we have in our cars, the mobile phone we have in our pockets or even the chip and pin we use daily without a thought to the tech behind it. What is the big deal with using an app? Aren’t we lucky that we have the freedom in this country to make the choice between using it and not?

Still likely to have to be delivered by road, which could be awkward given the road access to Broom’s yard.

You may already know that a great number of our old HGV’S are sold and exported to Africa.

I’ve seen recently that some manufacturers are devoting more effort into hydrogen fuel cell development rather that EV’s. There are definitely other options available, including so called E-Fuels. What I can’t understand is why our politicians think that we are solely responsible for global warming and throwing everyone under the bus in their quest for carbon neutrality. The impact of the ULEZ scheme in London is a prime example of a knee jerk reaction to a situation that has adversely impacted so many people. In real terms, our emissions are negligible as a country in the big scheme of things . The biggest polluters are China, USA, Russia, India and Japan. I wonder how much effort is being made in those countries to achieve the same targets.

I’ve been thinking about changing my car too. Mine is now approaching eight years old and now has 98k miles in the clock. Despite having been used as a van since we moved, moving all sorts of stuff from the bungalow to the tip since we moved, it’s still in good shape. I’ve recently had to spend the best part of a thousand pounds on it, for new front fog lamps (the old ones had filled with water after driving through a flood), a new headlamp washer pump (which is required for the MoT as it’s fitted with HID headlamps) and a service. I did find out that VW/Audi have extended the change interval for the timing belt, so I don’t have to worry about that for a while. On positive note, I still enjoy driving the car - it’s quite lively and I can have a bit of fun in it, it has an enormous boot and is very economical on diesel, still averaging around fifty to the gallon despite being driven enthusiastically. Until the wife retires, I still want to keep a second car, so my current thinking is that it will cost far more to replace with anything similarly versatile, so I’ll hang on to it a while longer yet.

It’s a relatively small hole in the water, so not so much money required to fill it!

Normally go to a chandlers to get my wallet cleaned out!

Most of the overseas package holiday operators that are advertising on TV currently are offering various incentives, including discounts, lounge access and free child places. If the possibility of some warm sunshine wasn’t enough to spend your holiday cash abroad, all of these ‘little’ extras will probably help. I’m getting frequent emails with special offers from Dolphin Holidays and Parkdean for breaks in the UK. Clearly, Hoseasons aren’t alone in their attempts to encourage you to book with them.

I think that a lot of banks etc. offer packages including breakdown cover. Until recently, we were paying over £200 per year for an enhanced account with NatWest which included travel insurance (with exclusions), basic mobile phone insurance and basic car breakdown cover with Green Flag. We've recently bought new phones and found they were cheaper to buy direct from Apple, with AppleCare and get separate SIM deals from EE, rather than buying the phones with an airtime deal from the same provider. We had very comprehensive RAC cover anyway, including personal membership, in or on any vehicle (including my motorcycle) and onward travel, so have reverted to a standard bank account. I’ve been with the RAC for many years, over 30 now and until my last experience, had always found them to be excellent. However, I had an issue during the pandemic to which they were very slow to respond. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but if their service is lacking, should I need to call them out again, I will move to another provider. I’ve read good things about a company called GEM, so they’re in line to be tried should the need arise. https://www.motoringassist.com

I’m not criticising the landowner. As long as the moorings are well maintained, I’m more than likely going to use them. What will annoy me is broken mooring posts and quay heading that could damage my gel coat. My point is that due to the BA’s unwillingness to talk objectively to the landowner with a view to achieving a mutually acceptable settlement, we have lost moorings that were paid for from our tolls and which we will now have to pay additional money to use. I still believe that the BA will be watching this with interest, as well as other landowners who may feel that this scenario will be more beneficial to them too, when current leases expire.

I’m fairly certain that the BA’s lease on the moorings at Horning Staithe is ending soon and I seem to recall that the Parish Council was trying to pursue a means to get more visitors to the Staithe during the day to increase the footfall and potential business for the local traders. You don’t need a crystal ball to work out what’s likely to happen there, do you? Stern on daytime moorings for dayboats with a solar powered ticket machine, similar to what we have in car parks, maybe and another mooring lost for the toll paying Broads boating community? That’ll fulfil the requirement for more visitors and greater footfall.

I haven’t made a comment about the cost, other than to suggest that the BA may try to use it as an indicator for attempting to introduce charges at other sites, based on occupancy at Langley. It’s no secret that our Blessed Authority are pleading poverty and wanted a toll increase of circa 2% more than has been agreed and are applying to the Government for extra funding, allegedly to support navigation. My understanding is that they’re still trying to introduce charges at Reedham, too. Having a mooring on the southern rivers, I could well be interested in using the moorings and trust that they will be policed to ensure that, having paid for a space, I can moor, that the moorings will be maintained and the grass trimmed to a reasonable height and not become substantially overgrown. I’ve moored at Hardley Mill and paying £10 to moor at Langley is really no different, other than there being no electric available.

Here we go again! I have no doubt that some people will pay to moor there. It’s certainly one of my favourite spots on the southern rivers, but my point remains that I can’t help wondering whether the Blessed Authority will use this as a guide to the boating public’s willingness to pay mooring fees at other locations to the ones that are already chargeable. I’m guessing that payment to moor will be made in advance, so I trust that the moorings will be monitored to ensure that other boats and anglers do not occupy too much space and prevent use by those who have paid.

£10 for the first night. I wouldn’t think that too many people (other than constant cruisers) would want to stay for a second or more, especially holiday makers who will want to see as much as possible during their break.

I may be being cynical, but I can’t help thinking that the Blessed Authority will be watching the popularity of these moorings with interest. If folk don’t mind stumping up £10 a night here, how long will it be before charges are imposed at BA ones, other than where they already exist?

I’m not necessarily advocating a ‘plate piled high’ is my idea of the ultimate dining experience, but by the same token I do like more than two (small) lettuce leaves and a microscopic piece of fish or meat to be provided for a disproportionate amount of money, even if it has been artistically arranged on a plate, with a tiny jug of fancy jus. The thing is, we are all individuals and all like different things. What suits some won’t suit others. I do like the carvery at The Kings Arms, because I can add what I want to my plate and leave feeling satisfied. I never have had much of a capacity for beer - any more than a couple of pints and visits to the loo through the night become far too frequent and disturb my sleep. What makes a good meal for me is honest food that doesn’t appear to have come from the Brakes Bros catalogue and been chucked in a microwave, a decent atmosphere and something that is sensibly priced. Fortunately, there are a few pubs on The Broads that satisfy those criteria for me and they’re the one where I’ll choose to spend my pension.

Perhaps that’s where lines get crossed. We’re talking about pubs that potentially serve food and you’ve used the term ‘restaurant’ to describe The Waters Edge.