kpnut

I never knew you could get a shed of those dimensions. You must have some willpower to have done so well with your weight management. Hats off to you.

It was quite funny really, just logistically a bit of a panic. But I do know that without my slightly better knowledge of the village, Julie wouldn’t have made it to that bus. It seems parts of ‘British Business UK’ aren’t using common sense any more. Putting technology (eg use of apps, q codes, no-one to speak to etc) in place without thinking of the practical consequences. In this case, a lack of joined up thinking leading to the message not being changed for all parties involved.

Oh Ian, life certainly throws more than your fair share at you. Keep positive and similar to what Jean said, an enforced rest might be a blessing in disguise.

2of us went for a walk to explore St Benets and then down the concrete track and left along the lane to the Dog Inn, having a look into Ken’s Veg shed as we passed. I really regretted not bring my money to buy a punnet of cherries. Then back down the permissive path starting opposite the lay-by. The wind certainly took its time to die down in the evening/night but it was a peaceful enough night and again we woke to a lovely morning. Monday 17th July We’ve had early rises these last few days and have benefited from glorious sunshine. It reminds me why I keep promising myself I’ll get up earlier when on my own, only to promptly decide not to. I was treated to a nice cup of tea before getting up, and after breakfast we walked along the causeway towards Ludham Bridge for a leg stretch. A beautiful cruise along to Hoveton Great Broad nature trail followed, with the river still being very quiet, I think, for the time of year. We then crossed into Salhouse Broad and mudweighted for lunch before moving over to the moorings, keeping an eye on the ever darkening clouds and rumbles of thunder. We then had a rather eventful hour or so, linking up with the 5b bus to Norwich railway station from the village. On the way, the heavens opened to a hailstorm (ow) and then heavy rain. The bus timetable still says the Bell, rather than the Stag. if I hadn’t been there, my friends said they’d have been going on a search for another pub. Secondly, there are two bus stops, opposite and adjacent but the printed timetables at each stop are identical and don’t say which stop you need for Norwich. I worked out it was the adjacent one needed and then checked the bus company website for any updates etc, meaning to just find out how far away the bus was. There was a service update posted that said the bus stop was out of action, and there was a temporary one on Mill Road, by Mill Close. So Google maps helped me locate that. We set off for that stop, only to see the bus behind us taking its normal route and sailing past the bus stop we were originally standing at. Realising what the bus was about to do, (3 sides of a square in essence), I had to leg it to the top of Mill Road to hunt for the bus stop on Norwich Road. I managed to get there in time, stop the bus and ask him to wait for my friend who couldn’t run as she had a rucsac on her back. He moved the bus further up towards the junction to give her less distance to walk, causing a minor traffic jam in the process. The driver told me he’d only just been told to go back to his normal route. The company ought to have removed their service update at the same time. I tried ringing the office, but got a nice answerphone message saying I could email with feedback. Not much use for the poor sod who might be trying to catch the next bus! We got rained on just as we arrived back at the mooring, but since then it’s been beautiful blue sky again. Typical early July weather.

It didn’t seem to be closed for very long in the end. Was it closed yesterday when it was a great deal more windy? Have fun down south Simon. 2wks afloat is a good long spell.

Oh blow Malcolm. I’m so distracted with others on board! Yes we were heading down to Stracey Arms for a coffee and make our acquaintance with the peacock chicks etc. Neil B passed us, I just about noticed him at about Upton dyke before he went past. We would have bumped into each other at Womack as I was heading that way to fill with water, but stopped off at Bridgecraft instead seeing as there was a big gap to negotiate in the wind, which doesn’t seem to have eased off as much as I thought it was meant to today. And then back to moor for the night at St Benet’s so we can be off on a dog walk. I did read, on our return up towards Acle, that Breydon Water is closed to hire craft today, so perhaps that’s why it was so, so quiet down that way this morning.

Saturday 15th July After heavy rain till evening yesterday, we woke to a beautiful morning. We had a quick walk down the boardwalk to the birdhide where at least I saw some wildfowl on the broad for a change, albeit only swans and mallards. Strangely no youngsters of either species. We were away for 7am and had the river to ourselves for ages, apart from a duck who joined us on the stretch between Horning church mooring and Ranworth dam. I’m convinced it’s the same duck as came on our roof and peered down through the sunroof a couple of weeks ago as the behaviour was exactly the same. A very learned, and very successful behaviour by the looks of it. Not many folk were around as we went through Ludham bridge. We followed Ruby up river but at a far enough distance away that the occupants probably didn’t clock us. Finlay’s ears pricked up when I mentioned dog Delilah’s name though! At some point I passed Troyboy and waved, but I only know that for definite ‘cos he’s told me (!). Rambling Rosie also came down past us and we exchanged a quick hello. We were moored at Stalham in good time for filling with water, doing the hoovering and having breakfast prior to Judith’s arrival and once she was unpacked and on board we were away again for about 10.30am. I was keen to be away pronto as the wind had already picked up considerably from earlier and my aim was the shelter of Fleet dyke. We did have a 40 minute stop at How Hill for a dog run and look in the cottage and wherry Hathor and the ice cream purchase to be stored for later. I confirmed with the ranger running the electric eel trip that the photo I’d scanned into my phone from a trip I did in 1979 was indeed him! Getting off the mooring proved more difficult than I’d like, with us being blown quite strongly upstream by the wind. Thinking about how I should have done that differently, that will be stored in my head for the future. We arrived at the first wild mooring on Fleet dyke and once moored, appreciated just how hunkered down into the bank we were, so we’ve had a peaceful night with the strong wind (forecast said average 45-50mph) certainly going on longer than forecast. After a latish lunch we set off on our walk round the marsh to Upton and back to Pilson Green. I think Finlay was grateful for a long walk. Sunny and dry all afternoon with none of the expected rain arriving. We did pass a few branches down. Passing both sets of EA moorings I got a bit distracted talking to folk I am acquainted with so the 2Js had a bit of a wait when they got back to the boat, waiting for me to turn up with the key. They’d enjoyed sitting on the stern out of the wind watching the river go by.

Friday 14th July cont. Coltishall lock was empty when I arrived and I spent a bit of time with Finlay on some water training. Time soon came round to walk up to the bus stop where my friend Julie alighted after a successful but long journey from Hertfordshire. Tube into London, train to Norwich and bus to Coltishall. Very straightforward but with long waits between changes with public transport not knitting together well. So 5 hrs total. As she arrived at 2pm, the rain started and it got heavier as time went on. Bridge clearance, 2 hours before low tide was 6’10”. Because of the rain making things rather gloomy we got as far as Cockshoot dyke before I called it a day at a bit past 6pm. We were one of only three boats which seemed rather odd, but by 8.30pm it had filled up, with space for a couple more overnight. I wonder why hireboaters were leaving if so late to moor up, all coming from the Horning direction soI presume newly released. Maybe handovers are later than they used to be.

I think I recall but wish it registered in my mind better as I went past. I had known you were on that boat as I told Catherine last week to keep an eye out for you. Hope you’ve had a good time out. Has Vera got on ok?

Sorry not to have made it Steve. Even if I’d been on my own and could have joined in, the signal at cockshoot dyke where I’m moored is virtually non existent. Maybe we’ll pass each other over the weekend and put a face to a name after all this time spending Friday nights together!!!!!!

How did I miss you? I think I’m half asleep at the moment! And Jean, hope your day out is panning out well. We’ll be going through the bridge at about 4pm so might see you towards Wroxham if you have the boat out till then.

Ooh, Catherine never told me about that stopping point! Hope little’un wasn’t too noisy.

Friday 14th July The day has arrived to welcome a very old friend on board. In fact, there’ll be three of us for the weekend as my main boat buddy, who I used to hire with, is also coming. We’ve known each other since childhood and were all very active members of our local young farmers club back in the day, so probably spent about 16 hours a day together when not at work/school. My mission is to pootle up to Coltishall Lock to meet Julie off the bus from Norwich. Meeting her there allows the best intro to the Broads I can think of, with a cruise all the way back down to the vicinity of the Ant for an overnight wild mooring stop. She’ll get the beautiful stretch from coltishall to Wroxham, the bridge to go under (fingers crossed!), the big houses etc of The Bure, then the experience of a wild mooring. With only three days holiday, that will start it off nicely. Both our husbands have known each other even longer than we’ve been friends (they used to rightly say YFC was a good marriage bureau😂) but even that bond doesn’t seem to have encouraged them to tag along. Hermits???? Their loss!

That’s what this forum is all about for me Roy, feeling part of a community when spending nearly half my year on the boat. Thursday 13th I had a date with Wroxham Bridge at low tide, which wasn’t till 5pm. After taking the boat round to kingfisher quay at Richardson’s for a pump out (always an excellent job done) off I went and arrived under the bridge exactly on time. It was 6’10” which is ample for me. I only hope I’ve judged it right to get back under the following late afternoon, with a wet day forecast. I had the pick of the moorings at the viaduct so tried to moor where there would be the least gnats on this rather damp, humid evening!

We must be showing our age!

Ha ha, I wasn’t going to recount this from last night, but now you’ve mentioned gooseberry gin I will. I borrowed my neighbour’s drill and a few other bits and bobs yesterday afternoon and his boat diy buddy also wired up my 12v lamp that I was converting from 240. So we had a bit of a session last night as a thanks. First my gooseberry gin, then raspberry vodka and blackcurrant gin. Mopped up with cheese and biscuits. I won’t believe him if he says he doesn’t drink again! Re icecream - I still think the gooseberry has the edge of their flavours. Really ‘fresh’ tasting. Rhubarb and ginger is my second favourite. Like you Turnoar, I’m going to make some. My gosegogs will be ready to harvest when I get home after this trip.

Wednesday 12th July Another quiet night (8 hours this time) and an pre breakfast walk for me and Finlay. We took our time leaving Neatishead, being one of the last to leave. We arrived back at Stalham soon after, waving to Mouldy as he made his way down the Ant, the car was packed (looked a bit of a jigsaw to get everything in) while I took the baby for a walk, and we then installed a tall shelving cabinet that Tony had made me at home. As usual, when I’d taken the measurements I’d forgotten about actually getting the thing in, so we did have to do a quick modification involving a saw! I’m very chuffed with myself for then borrowing next door’s drill and securing the unit in place, utilising the curtain pelmet and a block of wood behind it to clamp it tight. Tony had made me a bar with suction pads to attach to the back to hold it against the Formica and they worked a treat too. So a Christmas present of a drill is in the cards. It was sad to see the family leave after some lunch, but I had a lot to do to clean the boat, do the washing and shopping and get it ready for the next part of the trip.

Tuesday 11th July I fell into step with the holidaymakers. I had a good walk round the ‘short’ version of Upton marsh before the others stirred. Up to the end of Fleet Dyke, along the Bure to the pumping station, down the track to Marsh Rd, across the field footpath to the corner of Kingfisher Lane, along past the staithe and back to the moorings. Breakfast was underway when I got back and we later set off for Neatishead. Having my granddaughter on board certainly made me focus far more on her rather than the river. I could have been anywhere really! I enjoyed having a chauffeur. Neatishead was quiet when we arrived and we moored on the first on the right so we could use the bench etc. I gave the new parents a break by taking littl’un for a walk with the pram along to Gayes Staithe, up to the entrance to Barton Broad boardwalk and back along to Neatishead itself. Not one murmur. Then it was my turn to take the kayak out. It’s a whitewater kayak and very light on the bow, so took a bit of controlling but I soon got used to it. It was interesting going down a couple of little dykes you can’t take a boat down and I got a different perspective of the boats at Gayes staithe, being up close and personal with their hulls. I was treated to a meal at the White Horse, rounding off a lovely relaxing day.

Gooseberry icecream due in next week🙂, according to the Big Shop at Womack staithe. Monday 10th July The start of my next trip and one I was really looking forward to. I was in Wroxham for a dog leg stretch by late morning. Coming back to the carpark from the viaduct moorings I met Roy from our forum who stopped me as he’d recognised Finlay. We had a nice chat, great to meet you Roy. I’d gone up to the viaduct moorings to take a photo of how quiet it was, courtesy of the high water level meaning not much was getting through the bridge. I dropped my car off at my mooring and got the bus down to Ludham to meet Catherine and family (husband and 7 week old baby). They’ve been out for a 12 day trip. It seems the boat had been spotted by Mouldy and Norfolk Lady is in one of Catherine’s photos Malcolm. After an icecream we moved off to have a look at Potter Heigham bridge, just for interest, and finally moored up on one of the Fleet Dyke wild moorings. At 7 wks old, the baby is just beginning to sleep longer through the night, so we had a good 6 hours, although it was extremely humid that night.

I had an interesting conversation with my son in law while he was driving the boat. As we came up towards Richardson’s where the river splits to go to Stalham staithe, he was within the speed limit according to his GPS. I asked that when he forked left he slowed down as some berth holders were saying some boats go too fast. I was surprised that his reaction was ‘ I’m within the speed limit so if people are affected, they need to ask the authorities to reduce the speed limit’. I replied that we could just reduce our speed ourselves to be polite, but he didn’t get that. He was doing nothing wrong, but I was surprised by the point of view that it’s within the rule so it’s ok, rather than thinking of others as well.

Part of the work done by LBBY on Springer’s Retreat was lining out the bathroom and putting in the new shower. I chose a Mira Atom EV Thermostatic bar with ‘water saving’ of some sort and 4 flow patterns in the head. I got it on offer from Screwfix or Toolstation, can’t remember which. The pressure provided by my jabsco water pump parmax 2.9) is wonderful. The shower is designed to work down to 0.1bar. The space for the shower is 570mm x 510mm x 1800mm high, but by increasing the ‘footprint’ of the curtain rail on the ceiling up to 800mm x 560mm, the shower feels so much larger. The curtain is no where near a wet body!!! And it stays where you put it at the bottom so all the water still drains where it should. The height of the bar is no issue ie doesn’t get in the way, and having the riser rail over towards the corner doesn’t compromise the water flow or shower head height. The mixer taps had been over the other side of the room, well away from the shower cubicle itself. So it was a matter of shutting the curtain, turning on the taps, adjusting by fiddling each tap, getting in to the shower, hoping the temperature didn’t change, and if it did, or to turn off the water, having to lean over the room dripping water everywhere. Hope that helps someone’s decision-making.

I agree Simon. I rarely experience the things that are seen on various video channels. If/when I do, it can shock, but I use it as a learning session; how would I have done something differently. I have no idea how boaters in the past behaved, but I get the impression there were far more boats around so the potential for incidents must have been quite high. All my times hiring have been recently and I would have loved to be given a tin of varnish/paint in case of incident. I would love the idea the boatyard cared. I do remember being asked in 2018 to wash the decks down each day of my hire. I did it religiously. This enormous list of boatyards, how was there enough business for them all? I suppose that’s why there fewer yards operating now, which is a shame as the history/character of the Broads must have altered. Much like the rest of ‘life’.

I’ve heard back from Norfolk county council about the Upton marshes/fleet dyke/opposite st Benets path. Someone got there before me and reported it and it’s in hand. I’ll look later this week. For whatever else I think about no mow may, one thing’s for sure. There’s enough long grass on the marshes etc without needing a tiny bit more for wildlife right on the footpath but a real setback for humans. I’m very much for making space for wildlife but within the realms of what is needed and what is practical.

Norfolk county council, as I suspect many other councils have cut back on maintenance as you say Andrew. That doesn’t take away their legal obligation to maintain public rights of way, be they roads or footpaths. Deterring tourists is a very shortsighted policy for the area and the relevant business/tourism groups should be pushing the council too. Discouraging anyone from accessing the outside environment is very shortsighted, although I don’t think the councils’ remit is particularly to preserve the health of the nation! They wouldn’t shut swimming pools and leisure centres if that were the case. Why do we get so many decisions wrong in this country? Fire brigade rather than prevention! Further to my reporting of various path issues, I’ve only had a response to one so far. To say it wasn’t bad enough to fit the criteria. I now need to ask what the criteria are. I’m hoping by not hearing about the others, that they’ve been assessed and in the process of being dealt with. I’ll see over the next few weeks. Last year, after reporting at about the same time, (June), by late August the paths had been mown. Better late than never!

I was looking forward to this quiz. But last minute guest turned up after a problem with his car. That’s three weeks in a row I think I’ve missed now. And I have guests on the boat next Friday too. ‘See’ you all soon!