SwanR

Although we have booked our favourite Swancraft boat for next year through Richardson's, we do love the southern side of the Broads and haven't found a suitable replacement boat from any of the hiring yards left. So not sure what we will do after next summer as we don't feel inclined to want to waste time crossing Breydon when we only come for four to seven days.

It has been extended yes, and there's a decent path along the moorings.

Beautiful photos - you certainly got some lovely days afloat. My guess for that last photo would be Brundall Church Fen?

Beautiful photos. We always enjoy mooring at Beccles and I agree about that stretch of the Waveney - always such a joy.

Lovely photos - it has certainly turned into a beautiful sunny day. We're not really that far from various parts of the River Lea but it's not somewhere I know. Should put this on my list for somewhere else to visit. Can you walk very far by the river?

Works for me. It says "Everything" next to the icon on Safari on a Mac. Thanks Alan. And pleased to report that overnight Emoticons are now also back to having the correct button and the Link button is correct as well.

Morning All, We have hired both Swan Reflection 1 and 2 and didn't notice any particular engine noise in either. Both boats are very economical and easy to steer. We hired Brinks Sonnet one year and found that much harder to keep in a straight line. If you find my holiday tale from June on SR2 I think I mentioned how much fuel we used (or didn't use!) at the end. We've booked this boat already with Richardson's for June next year and will be interested to see whether we feel they have kept it to the same high standard as Swancraft.

Peter Pan's has changed no end over the years. My sister and I always used to go on the same ride which was still there when I took my own children down there many years on. I'll see what I can do to check it out the next time we get down there.

Haven't been out along the pier for years. It's on my list and I remarked to hubby today that I'm waiting for spring now as you can get quite a chilly breeze along the front there. Southend holds many fond memories for me as my dad used to take a day off every August just to take my mum, my sister and myself down to Southend from London on the train back in the late 60s / early 70s. We always ate in one of the little seafront places at Westcliff and then went into Peter Pan's Playground before catching the train home again. Grace I have to admit that I can't wear high heels at all so stilettos ... not a chance. But I may have danced round my handbag a few times back in the discos of the late 70s.

Loving seeing your photos. Interesting to see all the smoke billowing out of the factory chimney at Cantley. You mentioned two Broom-type cruisers creating quite a bow wave. I spotted two large cruisers that appeared to be together coming into OBYS one afternoon this week on the webcam, keeping up quite a speed and creating quite a wash as far as one could see.

Should I mention that two months today is

Ah well in which case on this occasion I will use the fact that I was born in North London as my excuse! I've lived in Essex for longer than the years growing up as a Londoner but I will always claim not to be an Essex Girl.

Aha ... so now I know what the stone obelisk is - thank you Charlie. http://www.southendtimeline.com/crowstone.htm We usually stay more along the Westcliff side and I'm not sure I've ever even noticed this before.

... well more accurately it was the Thames Estuary! Given it was such a nice morning and we had the extra hour to use, hubby and I drove down to Chalkwell which is just outside Southend. There's a long flat promenade there and for once the tide was in which makes a huge difference to how it looks. There were a lot of people out jogging, out walking their dogs, and generally quite a bit of activity - something of a community feel to the place. Thought I would post up a few photos. It wasn't the beauty of Norfolk but it was by the water and there were some boats.

I agree about the judges Geoff and actually I think Craig is the fairest and most consistent. He may have become something of a pantomime villain but you can see that what he says means a lot to the contestants. As for the Apprentice, yes, I watch that one as well. But I think they need to find a new boss if they are going to keep the show going. The tasks are too much the same every year and maybe a change of top man or woman would put them in a different industry and generate different ideas.

Having read some reviews I can tell I wasn't paying attention as Anita was actually third on tonight not first as i wrote earlier ... these shows are so long while there are so many contestants!

Love love love this programme ... have been a fan for a few years now. I think that Jay and Aliona were underscored tonight. And Kevin always does great choreography so I enjoyed his jive with Kelly. Anita did a really good routine as well which I think got a bit lost through being the first dance of tonight's show. Best performance of the evening? Tommy Blaize on vocals. That man has such a lovely voice. When he's singing I sometimes forget to watch the dancers.

Great photos Geoff and very interesting write up. I happened to see this on tv during the week. There's a house swap programme in the afternoons called Home From Home. One day this week it was a couple from Repps-with-Bastwick swapping with a couple from Malvern. Whilst in Malvern the visitors did the Morgan factory visit and got to take one of the cars out. The other couple visiting Norfolk took a day boat up under Potter Heigham Bridge and really enjoyed it. I think it was Wednesday's episode if anyone wants to find it on iPlayer.

I wish we could settle on one thing or the other and leave the clocks alone. It has been very dark in the mornings this week which was fine for sleeping in given I was on leave. But Monday when I go back to work it will be dark when I leave. Some days I walk home but no more taking the shortcut up the footpaths now until the spring. Do you change the clocks over there as well Eric or do we become one hour less or further apart from you?

Hi Bryan, I had the same problem with the second video this morning when playing it on YouTube - yes, I was watching my own video. I refreshed the page and it played fine. I tried to post just the url for you to go to away from the forum but it just inserts the video again - too clever for it's own good this technology lark sometimes. Hopefully if you give it another go it will work. As for the action cam, I have no idea what it was. We picked it up from Maplin's electronics site a couple of years ago for about £60. It was going to be a Christmas present for our son to use on his helmet when he's riding his bike but someone else also bought him one so we kept hold of it. It's only an HD 720p which might be why the quality hasn't come out as well as the second video which is 1080p from hubby's SLR camera. I have enjoyed playing around with the footage we took so I'm thinking of either upgrading my own camera or buying a camcorder. But so many cameras and smartphones can take video footage now that I'm not sure whether camcorders are becoming outdated. Quite apart from the fact that it's one more thing to pack and carry around, and one more thing to take the charger for!

Grace thank you so much for your kind comments. I had a lot of fun putting the videos together and I'm glad you enjoyed them. Charlie my hubby is a Brentwood boy as well, and likes Simon and Garfunkel, so I shall have to pass that snippet of information on to him.

Welcome Kris. Hoping to get up to Wayford Bridge next year and will hopefully be able to pop in and say hello.

So having apparently found this to be so straightforward I was going to edit my post above but I don't seem to have an edit option now. Edited this post as the option is there. Strange ...

Ok so I'm going to try to post in the videos that I have uploaded on YouTube and see if it works. Haven't done this since the forum software was upgraded so not too sure on the process but here goes. The first one was taken with a little action cam on the bow of the boat so the quality isn't as good as other films but the second one was filmed by hubby on his SLR camera and then edited by me - this one came out better. Took me ages to decide what music to put with them!