Vaughan

I fear the short answer would be no. Roger Wood has it but it took him an awful battle to get it. And then largely because the Hart family had lived there for 100 years before him, so they could hardly refuse, in the end. Since then they have not allowed him legal access to a trunk road, in planning law (by closing off the public staithe) and were even going to remove his post-box from the Green. I am afraid Thorpe Parish (now Town) Council have a very long history of automatic and deliberate resistance to anything that happens on Harts Island. I rather doubt, somewhat, that any of that blinkered attitude has changed.

I don't want to fall out with you and if you want to wear that, on a launch, you are welcome. I just hope you don't get fined a large amount of money, as you could be if someone objects. I suppose Flag Etiquette is something else that is fading into history these days. The Blue Ensign (un-defaced) is the most senior after the White Ensign of the RN and may only be worn by British Registered vessels whose owner holds an Admiralty Warrant, usually as an officer in the RNR or (ex) RNVR. It's entirely up to you, old chap but please don't think that I, for one, "should be happy" to see you doing it.

Looking back over the years of Strictly, I would have loved to have been bullied by Ola Jordan. Bring it on!!

I thoroughly agree with you there!

Nothing much on here this morning, so I thought I would vent my spleen about the imminent self - destruction of Strictly. I haven't bothered to follow all the detail but it seems the latest press feeding time, is to troll back though old footage to try and prove that yet another "celebrity" was bullied. The question I have not seen asked is this : Why don't they also look back on the footage (live on air) of what these celebs said about their pro partners on the night when they got voted off the competition? "I would just like to thank my wonderful partner for all he has done to get me here". "I have never met such a wonderful, kind and considerate man." "I know that I have made a friend for life." "I could never have got so far on this wonderful journey without him". "Strictly has been a wonderful experience for me". Kissy, kissy, kissy. Well, they all gush this stuff, don't they? Every single one of them. So why complain now, sometimes many years later? Let me guess - avarice and naked hypocrisy. I think what has gone wrong with Strictly is obvious. It was conceived by Brucie, as a kind of Generation Game with sequins, where contestants are expected to learn a complicated skill from scratch and we all have a good laugh at the mistakes they (naturally) make. It was Bruce's show; he made it happen and it was indeed, very funny and gripping family entertainment. But Bruce has gone now, and what are we left with? The fun and the humour has gone with him. The two lady presenters have become so wooden that they just read exactly the same formula of words off the autocue, every single week. I think by now, I could recite it by heart, like prayers in Church. So it is just left to the judges to try and have fun and make a few jokes, with more or less success. For the dancers, what used to be fun has morphed into a very serious, professional style dance competition where we are supposed to be amazed at how someone who has "never danced before" can be taught to achieve such amazing standards in just a few days. And how do the instructors actually do that? With what amounts to a list of increasingly unknown and rather boring TV presenters or "stars" of some Soap or other? By getting them into a hired gymnasium and yelling at them for hours until they get it right! How else do we seriously think they do it?? This is what happens in military "boot camps" and it works! And we all know what they say in the Army : If you haven't got a sense of humour, you shouldn't have joined.

It's such a shame really, to think that up until the 70s, the Eastern Daily Press was considered the best and most respected provincial newspaper in the country. Renowned for its totally factual reporting of events, with no sensation or speculation added. They can't prove it now, as records were destroyed by bombing in WW2 but the paper is said to have reported the sinking of the Titanic in a single column, on an inside page, headed : NORFOLK MAN DROWNS AT SEA. Another of its famous headlines, during the war, was : MONTGOMERY FLIES BACK TO FRONT.

I hope your Admiralty Warrant to wear it, on a British registered vessel, has arrived as well?

Is that a Spitfire? My first thought was a Boulton and Paul Defiant.

But maybe you came home with "a piece of paper"?

On hire fleets, we shy away from Sikaflex and any other tubes of sealant that have "adhesive" written on them, as they are a glue as well as a sealant. All very well until the window glass gets broken and you want to remove the frame to replace it. With Sikaflex, you can't. You are literally - stuck with it! As Doug says, linseed putty is good, until it eventually dries out rock hard. The secret with windows, is that the sealant must be supple, and stay supple. There is a lot of movement in a GRP boat, especially if you happen to ram it into the bank! If you look at the aluminium frames on a GRP boat, the window glass is held in by what appears to be an insert, made of hard rubber. This is actually a two part mastic product called RALLY-BONDITE which is mixed 50:50 and then applied to the frame a bit like Polyfilla, where it will then set into a hard rubber material. If you only use one part of Rally-Bondite (either part will do) it makes an excellent sealant for the frames as it is very supple, nice and sticky, but it never goes off, as you have not mixed the two parts. All of Crown Cruisers were built like this and so were Connoisseur, in later years. It comes in 2.5 litre tubs and we got it from Seaglaze, or Trend Aluminium. I believe Peachments supplied it to us as well. If you know a local boatyard that is also a builder, they might have some they can sell you. It is the best solution!

I went under those bridges in a ship, back in the 70s. Bit of a story, that was . . .

The BBC Norfolk News website has an article about the new extension to the RSPB reserve at Lakenheath Fen, where a large area of normal farmland was recently acquired to create an area of artificial wetland. This, according to the reserve manager, has been welcomed by marsh harriers. The birds, which are of conservation concern, are breeding elsewhere on the reserve and have found the new habitat a rich source of prey. Marsh harriers are known for their spectacular "sky dancing" courtship routines, in which the males need to show they are able and willing to pass food to the female. Now there's a lot more vegetation there's a lot more prey items for the marsh harriers to go after, a lot more mammals like voles, water voles and young hares. Hang on a minute?? I seem to remember that the new Herring Bridge in Lowestoft had to be delayed by months, owing to the need to re-locate a vole burrow? So it would seem that a peaceful life for "Ratty" in Norfolk these days, is a bit of a Postcode Lottery. Either your protected status is to be respected by being graciously re-housed regardless of expense : or only a few miles away you are taken up from an artificial wetland by a high-end predator with no natural enemies and tossed around the sky in a prolonged aerobatic display before being eaten. Why is it that the RSPB seem to insist on buggering about with nature? I am reminded of my good friend Andrew Lees, of Friends Of The Earth; who saved the Halvergate Marshes and whose epitaph is carved on his grave : "Who will speak for the butterflies?"

I really only have to quote from the first line of the first paragraph : The Broads Authority has been working with local partners . . . That says it all, for me. As the old saying goes - when in doubt, form a committee. 1.3. Identifying who benefits from a vibrant and inviting site and what resources are available to achieve our vision. Which is followed by : 1.4. The funding required to achieve our vision exceeds current revenue budgets. Which translates as ; we can't afford it in the first place. Now where have we heard this sort of stuff before? Oh yes, Acle marshes. 2.2. Now more than ever, it is important to encourage sustainable travel. The park offers the opportunity of multi modal travel with connections to the railway station. 3.5. This type of agreement builds stronger communities and encourages people to become active in their local landscapes. So who writes all this squit? Do you have to have a degree in it? And what is multi-modal travel? Don't tell me - yet another cycle path. I think I can read between the lines on this one : They landed themselves with a 99 year lease and 20 years in, they find they can't afford to honour the obligations that they obviously didn't see coming. They admit that they would need a budget of £300,000 over 5 years, just to honour their commitment. So how do we get out of this? Let's announce it as a new and vibrant project involving all sorts of "collaborative partners" and put it up for funding. Then we can always say we were ready to turn it into a multi modal fairyland hub, but no-one else was interested. And so what has become of "our vision" since March 2021? At the risk of a pun, it has been kicked into the long grass.

The EDP website this morning says the Haven Bridge is finally going to open to traffic. Can't tell you what the article says as they think I am going to want to pay for the privilege of their journalism. Dream on!

I hope I am not drifting off the tread here but that lovely image that Dave has created, of old Ted Dean, sitting under the brand new boat, posing for the camera, evokes very fond memories for me. Very ghostly, in fact. If Ted were here today to see that, he could tell you some stories! When my father bought Hearts in 1946, all the staff that he took on had all served through the War, most of them in the Navy, and so he ran the yard much like a ship. Ted had been a deck hand in the Merchant Navy and had had three ships torpedoed under him, but somehow survived and served again. He finished the War as the bosun on a cargo ship. Father employed him as the "Ship's Husband". This was an old term, in the Navy as well as the Merch, for the man who looked after the deck. Ensured all the cordage was in good order; gangways were rigged; fenders were in place and ships boats were well maintained. At Hearts, he did the rigging on the two yachts, sorted out all the sailing and rowing dinghies, checked all the mooring ropes and deck gear and changed the flags when necessary. He spliced all the wires and sewed the cringles into the sails. In his spare time he got in a dinghy and touched up the paintwork on the hulls. As a young boy I learned all this from him, until I took over responsibility for the two yachts myself. When I went to naval college at Pangbourne, age 13, I didn't dare tell the imposing Warrant Officer who taught seamanship, that I could already do an eye splice behind my back. Taught by Ted Dean. The Panellists were Isobel Barnet, Cyril Fletcher, Polly Elwys and Gilbert Harding. All famous commentators and narrators of their day. Chairman was Eamonn Andrews.