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SwanR
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Posts posted by SwanR
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Lovely to read your write up. Thank you for sharing it. Four nights always goes so quickly with so many places to visit and to moor. Great that you’ll be back.
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There were some amazing sunset colours and skies this evening. Lovely photo Sam. Enjoy your weekend.
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It certainly is a very windy day. I feel like I should go for a walk but I’m struggling to work up any enthusiasm! 🤭
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Really enjoyed your tale. I’m seriously considering a trip on the southern Broads for next year. I think the ability to get moored at Ranworth if you time it right will be a benefit of the new charges.
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I've seen some of those pretty butterflies this week in our garden. I don't recall ever seeing them here before.
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Looks like most of the ones in your photo of those not on hire are the ones they bought in second hand. As for those Ideal 45s ... some of those have been up for sale for a while haven't they.
I know that NBD's yard has looked as if they have more boats out this week. It's been other yard's boats that have lined the car park.
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16 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:
you can venture South and enjoy the Breydon journey
Strangely enough I was watching another vlog this morning that was someone crossing Breydon. Really not sure I will ever want to do that. I don’t even like Barton Broad. But perhaps the channel is less confusing on Breydon. Just need to remember not to head for the North Sea!!
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Oh my goodness Kate. The Brownie Guide Promise. That takes me back to being a pixie and then a gnome. If any of that comes up in Nik’s questions then I’m claiming Biker points for you and me.
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Love your photos. I’ve been watching a vlog on the southern rivers and thinking that I really must get back there. Problem is I want to hire on the south rather than bother crossing Breydon. That would just be additional expense for a 10 or 11 day hire from the north so as to have a week on the south. Problem is there’s nothing that suits us from Pacific so it might have to be Brooms.
Keep showing us your photos and that will do me for now.
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What a wonderful write up of your day. Very interesting to hear all about the countryside.
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We do love Paddy’s Lane. That’s our frequent last night mooring if we’ve hired from Richardson’s.
The day has brightened up with sunny spells and not too much rain late morning. Hope you’re having a lovely day Kate wherever you have decided to be.
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I wonder whether this was actually introduced as part of changed procedures following Covid lockdowns. They’re also more strict about giving everyone a trial run at Richardson’s than they used to be. It works well. They check the boat is ready and send you over, asking you to stay in your car until someone comes to greet you. They are then looking out for you on the quay. Boat run through and trial run completed they can then move on to someone else while you unload and get away when you’re ready. It’s probably quite time efficient for the yard.
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We mostly go to pubs for a meal and almost never just for a drink.
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Ha ha ... we didn't go into any of the pubs, just thought the Black Bull made a nice photo. :)
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Here we go. Some photos from Corbridge. Highly recommended for a visit if anyone is in the area and wondering where to go.
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I’ll have to remember that Paul. We loved Corbridge. Would definitely visit there again. Had coffee and scones in Massey’s Tearoom. They were the best scones I’d had in a long time. And spoke to some very friendly ladies who were doing the flower arrangements in the church. I’ll post a few photos later that I took there.
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1 hour ago, grendel said:
I have noticed that instead of being light at 4am its not getting light now until later- the mornings are drawing in now.
Grendel I’ve definitely noticed the same with the evenings getting dark a little sooner. It’s been feeling a little autumnal but I’d rather have cool and showery than the heat of southern Europe. And actually, had it been hot weather when we were away then we would have been saying that we we were too hot to be out walking up those hills! 🤭
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Our verdict ... we definitely want to go back. The lodge was fantastic and a great location for exploring. We didn't get over to the coast as we didn't fancy the long drive and had plenty to see where we were. But that's on our list for a future holiday.
The people everywhere were very friendly and welcoming and the scenery was stunning. The weather was what it was ... if you holiday in England you take that chance. But the daylight hours were sooooo long being further north at that time of year. I couldn't believe how light it still was at well past 10pm.
Here's a little video. Not sure about the quality of some of the clips but I hope you take a look and see for yourself how beautiful it is up there.
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Wednesday we went to a National Trust property Wallington House and Gardens, Very nice, very pleasant to wander around. It was well worth the drive to get there. On the way back we found a lovely pub called The Boatside Inn. The staff were so friendly, the service was good and the food was great. It was at a little place called Warden, just outside Hexham. We enjoyed it so much that we went back there the next day for another lunch out.
Thursday we went walking at Tyne Green Country Park by the river on the edge of Hexham. This was a little gem that we found by chance but was a lovely place to chill. Then we carried on to Allen Banks and Staward Gorge, another National Trust location so we got free car parking. We certainly made use of the membership that week. More beautiful countryside and another quiet walk.
Friday we visited Corbridge. Now that is a delightful Roman town. It seemed to be very popular as the car park was almost full when we arrived. We stopped for coffee in one of several cafe type places. Had a walk around the main streets, visited the church, and then had another riverside walk before heading back to the lodge.
Saturday we got up early and were on our way by 05.30 as we wanted to get south of the roadworks on the A1 before it got busy. We had a good easy drive and were home by lunchtime.
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Sunday we went into Hexham itself. I'm still not sure what I made of it. There was a main road like most towns have, with rather a lot of charity shops. Then there's a nice park area. And some very historic buildings. Of course we couldn't go into the abbey as there were services so we paid a return visit later in the week to take a look. There was one very nice shopping street, very attractive, somewhere near the abbey and the market square. It was quite a bustling place, and it's well served by supermarkets on the other edge of the town, kind of opposite side to where we stayed. But having seen it I don't feel the need to go back there.
Monday we went to Hadrian's Wall ... did I mention the hills? Ha ha ha ... we stopped at a National Trust and English Heritage site, Housesteads Roman Fort. Very inspiring, great little film playing in the museum to give you the history lesson. Really worth making the climb ... I hadn't thought about the car park being at the bottom of the hill.
Tuesday was a washout so we made the most of the amazing views from our lodge and chilled out for most of the day. Once the rain stopped we made a return trip into Hexham to see the abbey.
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As the forum is fairly quiet at the moment, while people are hopefully out enjoying their holidays on the Broads, I thought I would add this little write up.
Now that we are fortunate to live in Norfolk we have got back to taking holidays in other parts of England. I thank my lucky stars every day that I don't have to wait to come on holiday to be able to see some of the places that I love around the Broads, even though arriving anywhere by land is not quite the same as arriving on the river. We digress ... already ...
Back in June we travelled up to Northumberland for a week in a lodge booked via Hoseasons. That's quite a long drive from here, about 5 1/2 hours plus stops. We stayed at Heathergate Boutique Holiday Park on the edge of Hexham. Very friendly owners, a great welcome, fantastic lodge ... would highly recommend if you're looking for anywhere in that area.
The weather was a very mixed bunch, and not all that warm but our lodge looked out across the countryside, fields of sheep, a few cows ... skies and clouds and wind and rain and sun ... we had it all. But oh yes ... the hills! Living in a fairly flat part of the country it was many years since I had been anywhere very far north ... and I had completely forgotten about hills ... you know, the kind where you have to take a low gear to drive up or to drive down. There were plenty of those. But the scenery was stunning.
More to come about where we went and the places we visited.
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Interesting post. I expect there are quite a few people who have wondered what life had in store for you next. You were a big part of helping those of us who knew nothing about the Broads and boating. But we watched your videos, informative and entertaining, and fell in love with the experience ourselves.
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Congratulations 🥂 So glad it all went well. 🥳
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Thank you so much Troyboy. Sounds like one we would enjoy as well. I really appreciate you remembering that I had asked. :)
Two Men And A Boat
in Broads Chat
Posted
I’ve discovered this channel and am part way through watching them too. Arabella looks a great boat and would allow us to hire on the south.
Interesting to see their video also from Hexham and Corbridge. They stayed on the same site as we did this year and visited some of the same places.