Vaughan

And from Wikipedia just now, with a quote from the WHO : There are few reports of laboratory - confirmed cases who are truly asymptomatic and to date there has been no documented asymptomatic transmission. This does not exclude the possibility that it may occur. See what I mean, about the "dodgy dossier"?

Or as my father would have said : "please take back your golden bangle - my wrist is going green!"

Caveat emptor.

Already it is reported in this morning's papers that Boris has said the obligatory wearing of masks will probably go on until at least next summer. So I can't see a lot of Christmas shopping being done this year except on line. Even in whatever retail outlets might still be in business by then. It is also being suggested that rubber gloves will probably be next.

I think this gives a whole new meaning to the expression "face-less authority"! It used to be the hi-vis jacket, now it is the obligatory hiding of identity and interaction, behind a face covering. Does this remind you of the hijab? or worse, the burkha? I may as well stick my head up over the parapet on this, as I fear greatly for where this is taking us, in the long term, as a civilisation. In France (which incidentally has already banned the hijab and the burkha in public) the wearing of masks in "enclosed public spaces" has been enforced since last Monday. So for the first time, I have gone shopping in a face mask, since it is now the law and so I will abide by it. I see it as a humiliation and meek submission to a totalitarian authority which has not given valid reason for its actions. I see these masks as religious face coverings, as the literal meaning of religion is "what you personally believe in". But that should NOT become "what you are told to believe in". I realise that some members have strong personal health concerns about the virus and I do not criticise that for one moment, although I remain personally unconvinced by official figures which are so much in disagreement with each other that they have become no better than Tony Blair's "dodgy dossier". Nor do I have any respect left for "government policy" which changes every evening when some expert takes to a rostrum outside Downing Street. My big problem with this is, where does it end? When will we take off these masks and return to normal human gestures of communication (and mutual trust), or will we ever? Will this just become part of what is left of society? My young grandson is getting towards the age when he is going to want to start chasing girls. So how is he going to develop a relationship or even a good friendship, if he can't even see whether his sparkling conversation is putting a smile on her face? Even if she can hear him properly, behind his muzzle? I have every right to feel this way and to voice this opinion, since I am a citizen of what is supposed to be a free, democratic and "westernised" society. But I fear that these sort of impositions on daily human life (and there may yet be many more) are leading us down a road to subjugation to a "Far Eastern" totalitarianism.

That surprises me too. "In my day" the island was overgrown with carr and thick undergrowth until the Commissioners came along and cut it all down to the ground. There was angry reaction from the village but I was one of those who said no - leave it to grow for a couple of years and it will be a lovely mooring. Sure enough, it has been ever since. I have never heard of this being private. Rather, it is part of the original Womack Water, which had been allowed to grow over.

Don't tell me that is so as to allow "social distancing" between boats rounding a racing buoy? Out in the open air in the middle of Black Horse Broad???? Please tell me I am joking, otherwise I shall be ever more convinced that human society is coming clean off the rails.

Actually they are probably older than Point House itself. That building used to be the Santa Lucia hotel, which has now been converted into individual dwellings.

I have no sympathy whatever, in these present circumstances. with those Brit tourists who are silly enough to insist on finding themselves on some beach on the Costa Brava where, for all we know, they may have themselves contributed to the virus "spike". Did they really need to insist on their "right" for a foreign package holiday in times of such uncertainty?

Looks lovely from the river, doesn't it? What they don't show a photo of is the other side, which fronts straight onto the pavement of the A47 Yarmouth Rd! With nowhere at all to park unless you want to rent space elsewhere in the town, and walk back. What could be interesting, however, is that the property also owns a strip of land on the island adjacent, going right back to the railway line. At, least it always did, but this may have been previously sold. If so, no-one seems to have done anything with it!

Which may have been me. I am reminded that the show is not over until the fat lady sings. How long this show will run, we don't yet know. This winter and next spring may show a very different picture. That is, if previous recessions are a guide?

You are most condescending this morning John! I hope that means you are recovering well? Stalling depends on the speed that is set for the tick-over and also for the type of gearbox. A Hurth or a PRM goes into gear with a bit of a thump and stalling can happen if the engine has only just been started. I don't know many hire boats without a temperature gauge, even these days. A very basic bit of kit. Diesel engines are compression ignition and this means they run at higher temperatures than petrol. Pistons, when cold, are slightly oval in shape. They only become perfectly round when they are at designed temperature. Same goes for gudgeon pins and many other parts including bearing journals. Well, you did ask! Edited to include : That goes for valve clearances as well!

I have a horrible feeling those stick grenades were set off by pulling the knob on the end of the handle! Maybe the Vikings had a different type?

Technically, an engine must always be started and warmed up before leaving a mooring, because when cold, it could stall when changing gear. There is also the fact that a diesel engine must not be put under load until it is up to working temperature or this will cause irreversible damage. Every trial run, on every hire boat, on every yard on the Broads, includes the words "you must start the engine before casting off the mooring lines". It is also obvious that you do not stop the engine until the boat is properly moored to the bank. I don't know anything about this particular situation at Potter Heigham but I have often noticed that there seem to be a lot of people these days who are very quick to start waving their arms about, as soon as they see a boat coming!

As crab salad is a special treat, don't forget to compliment it with a special wine. I would choose a Pouilly Fumé, a Sancerre or a Chablis, well chilled. Or, if you can find it in UK shops, a Picpoul de Pinet.

Actually no but making a wash was definitely not approved of in places like Thorpe Green!

This is headline of the latest hoo-ha in the EDP this evening, where Broadsbeat are reported as saying that they have had a lot of complaints about speeding in Thorpe which detract them (sic) from their normal duties. They don't say who these young men are but I suppose the implication is that they are on day boats. CCTV footage has apparently been supplied by the Rushcutters pub. A pity (for them) that they seem keen to select their potential customers, in these hard times. Or is this perhaps more ammunition for the Norwich City Council (who claim, spuriously, to own the river Yare) to ban everything from the navigation that doesn't have to be rowed, or paddled? I just offer my own photographic evidence, from 1955, that speeding in Thorpe is nothing new!

You're showing your age John - or perhaps the age of your kit? Nowadays people would not appreciate the old WD (War Department) arrows, unless they had been obliged to use IZAL toilet paper with the arrow printed on each individual sheet!

When Wayford Bridge have crab salad on their lunch menu it is excellent. Also the Fisherman's Return at Winterton.

I very much agree with Marshman on this. Boating on the Broads is not the same thing as the Fastnet Race! All my life I have never owned a pair of leather soled shoes as I never know when I might suddenly have to step on a boat. On the other hand, most shoes coming from the usual retail outlets, with "injection moulded" soles, will give you a good grip on any deck. And they won't hurt the deck! In addition, they won't pick up all the gravel, mud and goose poop off the bank and spread it all over the inside of the boat!

In fairness, I don't think Alec Hampton's boats would have attracted the kind of market that you refer to!

This has perhaps expanded the subject a bit, but the big yards can't ignore them! You can't choose your customers in this business, especially not right now.

The M&GN was single track pretty well all the way to Birmingham! The engines were fitted with tablet catchers so that the tablet for each section could be exchanged at each signal box without the train having to stop. This meant that holiday expresses such as "The Leicester" could run all the way from Yarmouth Beach to Peterborough virtually non stop. In the end it closed as it was too expensive to run. It had been built cheaply with level crossings instead of road over bridges and staff costs were too high. It closed in 1959 (before the Beeching closures) and I have seen a ciné film of the last train from Yarmouth pulling into Potter Heigham. There is no trace at all of the station today, except the name "Station Rd" and if you stood where that photo was taken now, you would be flattened by a truck on the bypass!

That's a big subject! A good start would be to have a read of some of the threads in the forum history section.

Hear hear! This is no time at all to be going back to the days of "No lullaby for Broadland"! Cheap sensational press reporting was one of the main contributory factors to at least two big recessions on the Broads. Don't let's start all that again!