Turnoar

So, fantasy boatyard league: Waxham. Pocket cruisers, sailing yachts and aft cockpit cruisers, all wood and circa 25’ or less. Seasedge, Mistsedge, Fogsedge, Reedsedge, Broadsedge, Meresedge.... not sure if I can fit any more in! Cutsedge Cruisers.

Sorry to hear your sad news MM, could start with your local council or the citizens advice. In instances where people die without having made arrangements the council may deal with it and recoup the costs from the estate later. When the death is registered that will either inform others by due process or provide what is needed to help inform others. It sounds as if other than her son there is no one else to step up and to that end I tip my hat to you, can’t be or indeed have been, an easy situation. Looking to the future you have your Nyx chapter to focus on and I wish you all the best for both now and then.

My first thoughts on this were on your bike... but actually that’s playing into their aim but in any case I prefer to travel by push bike so I’ve snookered myself. But no I would snooker them by going for an Amphicar converted to electric. No doubt there is a green agenda, carbon zero, neutral, net.... it’s been 20 years now and I’m never sure of the target! But I think an electric Amphicar should not be banned from an NP and might tick more than one box?

On a more positive note I think I read that the Iron Duke at North Denes is being saved for some alternative use. Now I know nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, or maybe it is, so many of that era have gone, even if not a pub it’s nice to save the building as before you know it they’ve all gone and all people do is remember... for a while at least, except when the memory dies with them.

Dinghy Show is still on, not in London and you can’t meet up but free virtual event so they’ve got things covired.

Robin, really enjoying your posts. My grandfather spent his entire working life at Woods from apprentice to foreman in charge retiring in the 70s so this would have been built under his watch. Many regular hire customers became life long friends typically retiring to the area and some of them bought ex hire boats when they were sold off. Said customers would decide what class of boat they’d like to buy and would have the one built of the best timber reserved for them based on his knowledge. I wonder if the surviving Crown of Light is also tanalised larch? Your comment on the dining table made me smile, my grandparents had a mahogany dinIng table which ended up gathering dust in a shed, ended up as a transom in a Norfolk Dingy.

Sounds like RPI at Horsford for tuning. All the car graveyards seemed to be out that way! Handy if you own a TVR or an old Range Rover.

Can we do the other Hundred stream while we’re aboat it and establish a northern relief link to the sea? Saves bypassing ‘that bridge’ eh albeit the rise and fall would probably be an issue... on second thoughts keep it the way it is.

Thanks for that link Grendel, pleasing to see that the situation might not be getting worse, at least not everywhere, fingers crossed for an improving outlook as I’m sure we all hope for ASAP.

Agreed re the Lud’ites, notwithstanding the choice of a sleepy marshland location off probably the quietest A road in the country putting the emergency services and others at risk is not on. Equally and digenerating a bit we now seem to have a split tier 4 system where different rules apply viz London you can’t go to primary school, rest of the tier you must/ should... unless you’re in Brighton or the Headteacher feels like it. Now, I hear London hospitals won’t be able to cope, I also hear of Essex pushing out patients to Norfolk... so what happens when the Norfolk lot get sick, air ambulance to an oil rig? The much talked about new strain which was the basis of closing schools in London is apparently here in Norfolk according to Edp quoting a local scientist. How Its got here I can only wonder... Cromer minor injuries unit is closing so staff can help out with Covid instead, right thing to do but careful if diying. People needing cancer treatment are being delayed and may die anyway as a direct consequence. I trust all the flights in and out of Heathrow etc. to USA India Kenya France Russia etc. today are essential eg freight or passenger flights for life saving operations. Back to new normal tomorrow, with our bubble of at least 50 assuming all single parents and teachers, no careers or keyworkers... probably over 100 then. I hope I’m wrong but I suspect things will get worse before they get better.

That’s the dualling of lines between Hoveton and North Walsham potentially out of the window then; the previous MP was campaigning for it to make a half hourly ‘Norwich every 30’ service. Unless the freight use can warrant it, at present the gas condensate tanker units haul North towards Cromer after exiting the yard and at some point reverse direction and head back South toward Stowmarket destination past from whence it came. I could see the cuts being 1 in 2 on rural lines, after the hash up of the Stadler trains introduction I gave up using the train altogether, sad but missing an important meeting once, making the mistake of waiting for the next train following cancellation only to get minutes notice of the next train being cancelled... it was bye bye Abyellio and I haven’t looked back. Even after Covid what with the white collar equivalent of the industrial revolution commuters could be a rare species next year and I doubt on the previous scale.

Could take a while to go down. Hopefully the rain has passed now and the wind can assist with drying out. Noticed Coltishall was over the quay heading yesterday too.

I remembered a few months back I happened upon the The Bearded Explorer on youtube, a 'rural' explorer, and there is an interesting tour of Medlers scrapyard at Hevingham before it was cleared for development. Now, Christmas quiz time, can anyone id the broads cruiser from about 3 mins into the vid, the track mark deck, fridge, sink and engine seem to have faired better than the hull. Quite how it ended up there in the first place is baffling. The video is titled 'I Explore An Abandoned Scrap Yard And Found Some Rare Classic Cars!!' Enjoy and looking forward to ideas on what it was.

Road still closed, abandoned cars gone, tide still in! Luckily the station underpass is higher and drier and I could wheel my bike through via the overflow car park. Lot of standing water in the fields, could be problems again tomorrow, good job we’re in lockdown.

Second Christmas, they still settle in Ian!

Are there still such things as ditches in Ditchingham.... strikes me after driving Wednesday evening that it’s about time we dug some, the section of the B1145 I was on was like a river. The road drains haven’t been sucked since the fall which isn’t helping matters outside my front gate. The roads are puddling pools these days!

I can remember the TIR badges on lorry’s way back. Ought to be edited now to add ED on the end because that’s how the drivers must be feeling!

Wow, I just checked out the arrivals and departures boards for Heathrow.... who are uk.gov trying to kid that Tier 4 is serious? The virus is simply not being contained. Does anybody know why airline passengers are seemingly exempt?

My fear exactly, I hope they’ve not come to Norfolk, it’s bad enough without a further strain in the mix. Judging by the pubs I biked past today which were open trade is slow unless the customers all walk there. I fear for the livelihoods of the staff, managers, owners as well as the mental health of people on their own who find their family in the community. The problem needs containing and that means everybody and every form of travel locked down!

Tier 4 was announced with a bit of billowing from London last night... I see parts of the rest of Europe and indeed the world are refusing our planes. So, you can leave tier 4 to go somewhere else so long as it’s not tier 321 on our doorstep... but the mugs will have you if you dare darken their runways. Not really lockdown though is it especially if the planes have passengers on the return journey. Again.... come on uk.gov wake up. If we have to suffer lockdown let’s make it effective and do what we say, we don’t want to lose another year of our lives.

And yes, JM is spot on also, fossil-sailcloth is a perfectly good hybrid arrangement, and you never know it may catch on with the punters!

You’re spot on Paul, the only thing I would add to the sentence below is “again” somewhere probably after time. It seems after 40 plus years since the Enfield 8000 the limitations of electric cars haven’t changed... that said if anyone has got one tucked up in a barn I am interested! Along with an electric microlight, North Sea ferry (not diesel electric though), rail locomotive that doesn’t need a pantograph (again not diesel electric). Now, I know some of you may be thinking I’m a bit of a dinosaur but no I’m not and yes please I’d like one of those too. The commercial success story in all of this is probably the electric broads day boat as the capacity suits the desired output.

Can you tow with electric, a caravan or sailing dinghy eg, and if you have the aircon, radio, satnav on for the trip to Cornwall how many days will it take to get there.... struggling to see consumer take up with so many pitfalls. Oh and if it’s winter what with heated seats demisters, space heating. Think I’ll stick with the push bike and train and rent a cottage with the saving lol

Wow. Can’t wait to see one of those in the flesh. Bit beyond my budget and licence limit I expect. At the equivalent price of the, say, Honda c90 or 125 cub, the range seems to be about 50 miles electric compared to 200 petrol although the one Grendel pointed out seems a bit better. Id have to charge everyday going to Norwich and back. I guess these could end up being a rarity in years to come like the Enfield 8000. Milk floats are now commanding nearly 10k for a wreck and 20k in cream top condition! I think the classic car conversion route could work well given the much lighter weight though I’m not sure how it works regulation wise, vintage voltage tv has got me thinking an electric 2cv could be in order for retirement if fossil fuel has been phased out...

New cars maybe. Not seen an electric equivalent of the motor bike, only the bicycle. Old cars will still be doing the rounds I expect....