GeoffandWendy

LEAVE POTTER ALONE on the front, with VISIT COSTA on the back.

It's his accent Grace, they don't speak English properly in Scotland, you have to agree what Iain has said and hope that you have fully understood it, or ignore it!

Being in the open, steering a NB is one of the downsides, unless you are lucky and get a dry weeks weather. I suppose hiring a boat on the Broads with a sliding canopy, was one of the reasons why we decided on trying the Broads. If it's warm and sunny, we can slide the canopy back, and if it's cold or wet, we can enjoy the journey from the warmth and comfort of the cabin, with a nice mug of tea or coffee and see all the yachtsmen in their waterproofs, getting soaked.

Quite right to. We can do without idiots like this!

Holiday homes for 2115?

I think a Costa Coffee, would attract more people, they are one of the largest Coffee chains in the UK and not all of them are run by Costa themselves. Two of them in our town are actually franchises, run under the Costa banner. I am sure that if Costa could secure a riverside plot near the bridge in Potter, it would attract visiting boaters, to spend some time there, as well as benefiting the locals, for somewhere to meet for a coffee. Coffee shops are very much used these days, a bit like the Milk Bars, where during the sixties. When out shopping in town, we always call for a Costa Coffee and maybe a cake. My Costa Coffee points card has presently got £83 on it, which we use when on holidays. So you can tell how much we have spent on coffee over the last twelve months. Sorry Grace, but I don't think a Costa would spoil Potter, as long as other outlets are kept out.

I wonder if the driver was Jeremy Clarkson's great great granddad, filming the 1920's version of Top Gear.

Yes I am all in favour of that, but that graffiti around Oxford was not what you call art, it was just yobo's signatures. We have a few underpasses in our town, that have some nice artwork, done by people who do care, but you sometimes get the yobo's who come along and spoils it.

Aren't there any Costa Coffee cafe's in any of the Broads towns (excluding Norwich) ? They seem to be everywhere else. We have four of them scattered around Tamworth, one in the town centre, two more on Ventura retail park and one inside the Odeon cinema complex.

Eric We will keep a look out for you. We are staying in the Northern broads for that week and as we won't be able to get under Wroxham & PH bridges with our boat, it limits where we can go. We will certainly keep an eye out for you, throughout the week and the kettle will always be on, if you see us moored up anywhere. But until then, we have the April holiday to look forward to, aboard Star Gem.

I am looking at all the options Iain, as there is so much to choose from. Herbert Woods have some nice choices, with the cabin arrangements that we are looking for (double aft & fwd en- suite cabins). Some have extra single/bunk cabins as well, which would be ideal as extra storage space. Their prices are not bad either, it's so difficult to choose really. But we are talking June 2016 for this holiday, so plenty of time to look yet. The prices may have gone up by then, but by booking with Richardson's again, may benefit as far as discount is concerned. Oh why is there so many boats to choose from. It's just choosing the right one that suits your requirements for the best price really.

Just had a look at Broadland Mars and I see what you mean. (missed that, when looking through the brochure). That additional smaller cabin, would be handy for storage, instead of the sit in bath. It has two showers like the other boats, so that's all we will need. It also has a Saturday start day, which will suit Lewis & Julie better, regarding booking their holidays. We don't have that problem, being both retired. So thank you for that Grace. We looked at some of the Brinks boats, but they are too expensive, compared with Richardson's. We will have a look for similar boats from other hirer's, just to see what's on offer, before we decide, but I think it will be Richardson's when it comes to the final choice, for both the price and style of boat.

We enjoyed last nights programme. I do hope that boatyard that was all fenced off gets reinstated, it seemed such an eyesore. Also the graffiti all over the bridges and some of the locks. What is the matter with some people in this day and age, they are not happy unless they are destroying things for the enjoyment of the majority. It was nice to see some old footage in this episode and how the canal restoration programme was inspired by Tom & Sonia Rolt with their narrowboat Cressy in the 1950s. If you havent read his book, Narrowboat, then do so, well worth a read. I was surprised that Sonia Rolt was still alive at the time that this episode was filmed. Shame about that damaged lock gate, at least it wasn't Tim's fault. Those diamond shaped locks are unique to the Oxford Canal. Looking forward to the next episode.

Thank you Grace. I agree with you on choice of boats, that's why we fancied these one berth at each end, with the lounge cockpit in the centre arrangement. Ideal for two couples. Once we have finalised everything, regarding the dates, boat and booking we will let you all know. For the time being though, it's just less than five weeks to our holiday on Star Gem, which we are so looking forward to. It will be nice to get my old sea legs working again.

Thank you Roy. We might consider this as an option for 2016, but for this year, all our holidays are already booked. We are already contemplating another Broads holiday for a week next year, taking Wendy's youngest daughter and her husband with us (see Holiday Tales post, "Can't get enough of it or what!" Will be watching Tim & Prunella on the Oxford Canal, tonight at 8pm on Channel 4.

Wendy & I met up with her youngest daughter and her husband this morning, for what seems to have become a fortnightly session of Ten Pin Bowling on a Sunday morning at our local bowling alley. During the bowling session, we got to talking about holidays and Wendy asked her daughter and son-n -law if they had ever considered having a boating holiday, to which they seemed to have never actually thought about, as they usually go abroad for a few weeks and spend another week, usually somewhere like Cornwall. So we asked if they would like to spend a week next summer (2016) with us (as a foursome) on a Broads holiday, to which they seemed quite interested. We haven't chosen a date yet but a couple of boats in the Richardson's brochure have caught our eye, one being Broads Sunset, which has two separate double cabins both with their own separate bathrooms. Two more slightly cheaper boats are Sunlit Horizon & Sensation, which have similar sleeping arrangements (2 double berths & bathrooms). Sharing the costs between us will work out cheaper than it will cost just the two of us if we went on our own. So not only can't we get enough of the Broads ourselves, it looks like we have now convinced two more members of our family, to give boating a try. They both seemed quite keen on the idea, and I am sure they will get the bug once they have tried it. Lewis, Wendy's son-in-law hasn't yet decided whether to order a Captain's suit or a outfit, but knowing him, gawd knows what he might end up with. One thing is for sure, it is going to be a great holiday with Lew aboard as he is the life and soul of any party, a laugh a minute. Yes and Lewis did beat us all at Bowls, great fun though! Once we know the dates, we might book this, whilst we are down there in April for our holiday.

When you loose your Mum, you loose your best friend. My mother would be 101 if she where still alive, but unfortunately she died at the young age of 63, from terminal C, quite a while ago now. Happy Mothers Day to all Mums past or present.

I want my mam, I want my mam I want my Ma-ammy! God rest her soul!

Now don't get any ideas Alan, or you might end up giving up your share in Ranworth Breeze and starting a Floating restaurant business. Maybe Richardson's will build a few for hiring out.

Very tranquil to watch except for those speed boats, It seems that there were no speed limits in those days.

Hi Alan. Not bothered about the journey time negotiating locks, just the physical effort when you reach a long flight. I am not as fit as I used to be and Wendy would panic at the helm, entering locks, so I would need to be at the helm, leaving the lock work to Wendy, which she isn't to happy about. So that is why we chose the Broads.

Like Siddy, I have my windows 8 Laptop (now updated to 8.1) running like windows 7, from the desktop. Mine is a HP Pavilion g6 model with top end Radeon Graphics card, (2 years old now) so it can be used for some high spec games. Most laptops come with internal graphic cards. It doesn't have the touch screen facility, just the touch pad, but I find this annoying, so I use a plug in mouse with scroll wheel, this is much easier to work with and much quicker than messing about with the touch pad, although the touch pad can still be used whilst the plug in mouse is connected.

I use XP on desktop and 8.1 on this lap top I am typing this on. I prefer my old XP and just use the lap top for email, browsing and catching up on news etc. because it is portable and can take it anywhere. The question is. What will Windows 10 be like? Windows 7 was better than the useless Vista, but then Microsoft cocked up again with Windows 8.

I have just replaced my Landing Net, which after ten years, was getting rather worse for wear. It cost me about £25 when I bought it. Not wanting to pay too much for a replacement, I decided to go for this one from Amazon. It doesn't come with a bag or holdall, but I already have one anyway. It is equally if not better than my original and for the price, will take some beating. £9.99 with free postage http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00N8XEAUC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

I thought that might be the case. I suppose negotiating certain bridges in tidal currents can be a bit daunting for first time boat hirer's. That is one reason we have decided to just stick to the Northern Broads for our first holiday, so next time we visit, we will have more confidence with boat handling. To quote Del Boy - " You know it makes sense Rodney!"