YnysMon

Having witnessed Purdey's sploosh I'm glad she's okay. She took an almighty leap and only just about fell short. Capable hands were there to help her our. She's a star.

We do. Very touched by a lot of posts on this thread.

I'll have to ask Dave, as I have no idea. Last year she used to be moored in the corner on the opposite side to the cafe.

That's okay Malcolm. It was an accident, so unexpected. Just our luck and could have happened on any of the possible routes. We now have a Cobb... largely due to my having drooled over the photos that Malcolm posted in July of roast pork and chicken done on his Cobb. The Cobb was my birthday present. I haven't used it on this trip yet as the spot we were moored in Beccles near the shop archway seemed awkward, and although Dave has said he's fine with us using it in the rear well of Tabitha I thought maybe Oulton Broad wasn't the place. Just as well really, as the aubergine and fete burgers I fried for Graham yesterday broke up in the pan. I had a rump steak. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. Yesterday (Thursday 11th) we started out from Beccles around 8am. Peter, on Water Rail, kindly followed us down the river, just in case we hit any issues as Tabitha hadn't been out on the river for some time. She was fine, and we got to Oulton Broad before 10. Broad Ambition and other boats that had crossed Breydon were already there and we were guided to moor on one of the last vacant spots on the outer pontoon. Unfortunately, somewhere between Beccles and Oulton Broad Graham put his back out, so we didn't socialise today as much as we'd hoped. After we'd had lunch I persuaded him to have a gentle walk around the park, which helped, and he was mobile enough to go across to Sean's for tea and cakes. We were taken across to Sean's on Kingfisher (immaculate!) and later had a demo of her hydraulically operated roof canopy (wish we had one of those on MS!). I must admit that both Graham and I had two cakes. (Well, it would have been rude not to! 😊) Seren was given a huge bowl of water. It was a very pleasant afternoon. We made our way back the the yacht Station around the perimeter of the Broad just as the powerboat racing was getting going. I should have been sensible and got a takeaway this evening, like most of the rest of the crews were doing, instead of cooking new potatoes and veg burgers/steak. I wish I'd bought less food in Lidl's. A few photos from today. Dawn at Beccles. We think Graham put his back out lifting Seren so that she could look out. Just arrived in Oulton Broad. Being taxi'd across on Kingfisher. On way back to the YS.

Good luck Ian. Hope the treatment works.

We arrived at Beccles rather later than planned yesterday (Wednesday 10th) having taken a detour en route to Malcolm's (Mouldy) place, NE of Thetford where we had coffee. The route that Malcolm advised us to take from there, joining the A47 to avoid the A11 roadworks, didn't quite work out as we hit stationary traffic which crawled along until we passed the site of an accident. I assume it was an accident anyway, there were lots of police cars and an ambulance blocking on carriageway. So, it must have been well after 1pm before we got to Beccles and then we did a Lidl shop and popped to the cashpoint in Tesco's before making our way to the Yacht Station. When we got there we met Peter (Grendel) who had cruised Water Rail down from Oulton Broad to Beccles earlier and was moored up next to Tabitha. We were able to park the car temporarily behind the disabled parking spaces to unload and then moved the car to the car park that's further down Fen Lane. I had intended to take Tabitha Rose for a short trial run this afternoon, but Peter told us we'd only just missed seeing Dave, and that Dave would return later with some crockery for us, so I didn't want to miss him a second time! We had a good nosey around the boat, plugged into shore power but couldn't work out how to plug in the small fridge, so I didn't unpack our food just yet. Instead we got a couple of baguettes from the Quayside cafe for a late lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in our picnic chairs in the shade and chatting with Peter. Dave turned up late afternoon with the crockery and sorted out the fridge...there had been a cable missing. We then unpacked our stuff and then walked up Ravensmere to Oakfired where we sat in the beer garden and shared a funghi pizza between us. Very nice it was too. By the time we got back to the boat the sun has set, so we got ready for bed. I managed to ask some fellow boaters for the toilet block code, so we were able to use those facilities. There is a loo compartment on Tabitha, but the sink is tiny. I'm glad that we'll be moored up further down later in the week as the only downside to where Tabitha is moored is that it's right next to the cafe block, opposite the gateway that leads to the cafe and other facilities, so once it was dark the lights of any cars that turned down Fen Lane shone right into the boat. Still, the traffic soon settled down and we had a peaceful night. Sorry about lack of photos. I didn't take any today.

Oh flip! I don’t have any bunting!

Yep, Saturday! I gather that’s the ‘official’ day. Though I think we’ll arrive on Friday and depart Sunday. Not having been before, I’m not sure what to expect.

That sounds just brilliant.

That's a bit unfair. I'm sure younger generations remember the people they used to admire as teens too. Even now there are people out there with talent. It's not just empty headed celebs. I lost interest in 'pop' music when I was about 15 (1975), then got reconnected when I start visiting Graham in Loughborough when he was at Uni there (1979-83). The Student Union there had a great line up of concerts. I remember going to see Hazel O'Connor, The Jam, Madness etc. Happy days.

We are due to travel to Beccles tomorrow as Dave (JanetAnne) has asked us to take Tabitha Rose from her home mooring in Beccles up to Oulton Broad on Thursday to meet up with the other woodies that are attending the wooden boat show. I see that slack at GY is predicted for just before 5am on Thursday. Does that mean that the fleet travelling down from the North will arrive at Oulton super early or are they intending to travel down to Oulton on Wednesday evening? Given I haven't helmed Tabitha before, and unfamiliar with how she handles, I'm slightly nervous of trying to do a first stern mooring on her in Oulton YS with an audience of very experienced Broadsmen Broadspersons. An early start from Beccles might be in order. Alternatively, I'll just have to swallow my pride if I mess up. Very much looking forward to meeting fellow forumites for the first time!

That's good to know. Thanks Ian.

I would recommend that you encourage your wife to gradually gain confidence with mooring up. After all, if I can do it (normally successfully) anyone can. It's unfortunate that, if one member of the team gets more experience and confidence with the mooring side of things, that can put the other member of the team off rather. The same thing has happened with me and Graham, nowadays I tend to do all the mooring and he looks after the ropes. When we had our first few hires, I was very conscious that he'd had a lot more experience with boats generally than I had done, so I made a point of gaining experience at mooring. Slightly overdone it rather, as Graham now doesn't want to do the mooring at all!

Kate…you have set me off on a complete ramble this evening. I’ve been wanting to explore that area of north Staffordshire for ages. I’ve done a lot of family research and whilst my paternal grandfather’s line stretches back to the beginning of church records in villages just south of Lichfield, the families that they married into are more scattered around Staffordshire, including some who lived in the villages NW of Burton, mainly Tutbury and Hanbury. My great grandmother’s line I’ve tracked back to Worcestershire, to villages not that far from where Graham’s ancestors lived (his maternal grandma’s line is pure Worcestershire). What’s interesting is that my family gradually moved over the course of three generations during the mid to late 19th C from Worcestershire to Staffordshire via Shropshire along places that are on the canal network. Social history come to life. Ooh..a few other interesting snippets confirmed in census records. Before her marriage, Graham’s Grandma worked as a porcelain worker for Royal Worcestershire (I’ve inherited some of her ceramics). A few generations before that most of the females living in Worcester were employed as glove makers. In the 19th C Worcester was known as a centre for glove making, just like Northampton was known for shoes and Luton for hats. Northampton and shoes…when I worked in Bletchley train station in the mid 80s, the fastest commuter train from Northampton to Euston was still referred to as ‘The Cobbler’. I said this would be a ramble!

You can definitely get a 50p coin in some of the cracks in our internal walls.

I think people with buzz saws just get carried away and are on a time constraint. Either that, or they are just mean. I’m trying my hardest to think the first theory is true.

About 18 months ago we contacted our insurers about some cracks in walls that were seriously worrying us. We had an extended period where movement was monitored then at the beginning of the year advised that the trees on our boundary were to blame for subsidence (our house backs onto what was a field hedge). Of course, by that time spring was on its way, so no tree cutting down was allowed. Finally, the tree surgeons (butchers) visited today and cut down everything within 20m of the house. That includes an Acer I had in a pot!!! See why I call them butchers!

I like the way that you could (potentially) moor up at the Norfolk Mead and enjoy a meal there rather than continue up to Coltishall Locks.However… a. we would probably need to be more affluent, b. I wouldn’t have anything suitable to wear with me on a Broads holiday anyway and c. seems against the grain of the relaxed Broads vibe.

The pub in Dilham. (Cross Keys?).

Either that, or they are going abroad.

Our first time hiring was the first week in July. The weather was perfect and we booked the same week for the following three years or so, and continued to have (mostly) good weather, apart from a couple of thunderstorms. Our latest jaunt on Moonlight Shadow was week before last, the week of the heatwave, so our July luck seems to be continuing. Last year we had a week in June, which wasn’t awful weather wise, but was gloomy and overcast most of the week. Not what you expect in summer anyway.

Well, we were very happy to be invited. Looking forward to meeting you and lots of other forumites at long last. We are arriving on Wednesday too. Hopefully that will give us an opportunity to take Tabitha Rose out for a short cruise from her mooring at Beccles to get the feel of her before we go up to Oulton Broad to meet the rest of the fleet on Thursday.

Sorry, I don’t have any details.

I must admit my attitude toward masks has changed a lot, having now had it. I used to feel anxious in areas where people weren't wearing masks, but am enjoying the freedom of not worrying about wearing one now that I've had a couple of negative tests.

Perhaps the ramping up of prices that happened last year is rebounding this year. I'm sure a lot of people are desperate to travel abroad again. I think some people are being priced out of a Broads holiday - or priced out of the boats they would like anyway. Not everyone is attracted to a holiday on the more reasonably priced boats.