Norfolkangler

I am not a boater so do not know what yard has what, however, is it worth a phone call to the Somerleyton or St Olaves Marinas as you will pass them on your voyage down to Gt Yarmouth.

I got swamped by very attractive girly staff and customers as per the norm. They all said they wanted to meet Purdey but I knew better They are only human after all griff

That means they will need a full complement of "ships Biscuits" for the hound. :)

They put two bat net crossings in the NDR at a huge additional cost as they had also done so on the Thetford Bypass. Are we to be led to believe that the bats follow this route over the road to avoid getting hit by a car!!!!!! Has anyone on here ever been unfortunate enough to actually hit a bat whilst driving at night? Whilst I totally agree with protecting the wildlife, I would also like to see some factual evidence to suggest that Bats will use the crossings. The larger picture for me would be the overrun on time and expense (as seems to be the normal nowadays) at the taxpayers expense. And YES as has been mentioned previously, as soon as the road is in, along comes even more housing. Funny really, that gets the go ahead with no issues or am I just being cynical.

Sadly your right, I guess we are jost old coggers.

As an old timer I totally agree with your frustration at the changes that have taken place not only at at Wroxham but several other places to.. Totally over developed and looks nothing like the broadland we once knew. When planning was granted, surely it could have been a lot more sympathetic to the area. All you now see at what they call the "Capital" of the Broads is modern multi coloured housing be it for residence or for Holiday rentals. What happened to the Thatch roofs that are synonymous with the old style Broadland. They could have at least kept the appearances in keeping with the area. I understand the need for a certain amount of development, but why has it all got to look ultra modern which in my opinion look totally out of place. I know I am probably out numbered, but I really did enjoy Broadland when it was "Wild" and no where near as commercialised as it is today.

Unfortunately, I did not see too much of a joint effort round my area. Yes, the responsible people were following the rules. It was mostly the younger people not giving a care in the world. We have a college just up the road, and they all just stood around in groups during breaks etc with No masks and no social distancing, Many used to walk the short distance down to the high street during lunchtime, again no masks and in groups not even giving the general public space. We had buses full of workers off to the Bernard Mathews factory each day that passed my house, packed with workers, none of whom (except the driver) had a mask on. I even phoned the Bus company to ask why they were exempt. They told me they were not exempt and it was the drivers duty to get every passenger to wear a mask. You could not blame him. He couldn't make them could he! Being classed as a key worker (I work offshore) having to drive to Aberdeen around 550 miles from my house as we were not allowed to use public transport was a right chore. The only good thing was that the roads were clear as most people locked down. Its surprising how quickly you tend to forget all these things until this topic came up. My wife and I consider ourselves fortunate in that we did not loose any loved ones during this period. My heart goes out to those that did, especially with the arrangements for funerals etc and the limited numbers. Lets hope we never have to go through anything like this again.

You are spot on Grace. Deplorable that there was one rule for us and another for, well lets just call them others.

As has been mentioned above, dogs are fine in pubs if well behaved, its the owners that have no control over them because they have spoilt them, and then just assume everyone loves them that spoils it for everyone. I say that as a dog (well 3 actually) owner myself. Same with children. If parents can't control their children, the pub is not the place for them. I love to see families out for a meal with nicely behaved children, but some folk just take them with then then just forget about them which is a shame.

Thank you Gracie. I, like yourself, just wish we could all get on. Broadland is a truly wonderful place for ALL to enjoy and more importantly RESPECT, no matter what your pursuit in it is. I will keep an eye out for any of you whilst I am out and about. If I am home I may well bring the Grandchildren down to Salhouse for the spring meet.

As Griff has said, we thought it rather selfish as there was so much room up the staithe to moor. We were surprised as one of the electric posts was free further down and would have expected them to go there. These were no hire boaters as the lady that went ashore knew her stuff with the ropes so we would consider them "seasoned" boaters. We are NOT saying that we as anglers have the same rights on the 24hr moorings as the boats, why do people feel they have to keep saying that? We always have and always will move to allow a boat to moor as per the BA signs request. We appreciate that unfortunately,not all anglers do. All I was trying to point out was the fact that if SOME boats show the sort of in consideration towards anglers, by mooring directly in front of them, as was the case, it does nothing to help the situation. I appreciate that as boaters, you have your favorite mooring positions, I as an angler have my favorite swims, but I do not expect to secure them each time I go so leave my options open.

Well we finished off the season at Neatishead staithe. I know it can get busy so leave this venue till late on. Sat there at the entrance on Monday and around the middle of the afternoon, a large boat comes along. Not an issue. Lines came out of the water for them to come in. There were only TWO other boats at the staithe, one half way down, the other at the end by the recycling bins. This particular boat decided to moor up dead opposite our spot at the entrance. Yes I know they had the right, but with only 2 other boats and 80% of the moorings available why choose to moor directly in front of where we were fishing.

Oops sorry NorfolkNog. didn't mean to hijack your excellent thread.

I'm with you Marshman. Its sad how its gone of late with all this Facestuff rubbish. I am sure there is a place for it if thats what floats your boat, but as you say missing out on opportunities for those who do not want to join. For the record, I did join a while back, got so fed up with all the junk etc getting sent, I soon left. (well I say soon, it is a real pain to get out of it)

I dont think its reliance on cash so much as getting rid of staff to save save money that has driven us down this road.

Can you still get "Cash Back" from supermarkets. Haven't done that in years but it used to be a thing.

This is Basil a couple of years ago. Hes 8 now.

Lets just hope they keep the character of this lovely old pub and not try to turn it into one of those " Over priced Wine Bars". It is, after all, as much a part of the Broads as the Broads themselves.

Did you ever get your boat? Love the Bull Terrier in your avatar. We have had Bullies for the last 40 odd years. Full of character.

Well it's quicker on the way back after sampling a pint or two of the ales on offer . They do a good selection of local ales in there. OK, may be a little longer than 10 mins but a good view of the cut and the river from the top of Haddiscoe bridge.

There's always Haddiscoe station as well. 10 Min walk from the Bell at St Olaves.

Back in my younger days, (when they actually did dredge) I could catch roach all day long at what they called Runham Swim. That's downstream of the "Hump" I can even remember catching roach, hybrids and bream at the Stracy Arms early season. I wouldn't even bother trying anywhere downstream of Acle nowadays and don't know anyone else local who would.

For me, as a child around 8 or 9 I used to stay with my Aunt, Uncle and 2 cousens for a week each summer holiday at Old Lakenham on the outskirts of Norwich. There was a lovely bit of old river running through referred to as the cock. It was a popular picnic area for the locals. The water was shallow and clear with a gravel bottom. This was covered with gudgeon and you could see them all with their heads into the flow. I had a handline with a size 16 hook that I would put a ball of bread paste on. A couple of shot got it down through the water to the gravel, less than a foot. No float or anything. I would wade out and stand in the water downstream of the fish (they never seemed to get spooked) throw my baited hook a few feet in front of me and watch as the gudgeon took the bait. A quick jerk of the line and the fish was on. If I was really lucky, every now and then, a dace or even a small roach would come along and then I would try my best to get a bait to it. Very occasionally I was successful and a dace or roach was caught. All proudly kept in a bucket of water to show off to whoever asked. That was me hooked (pardon the pun) and my first rod was a 5 ft Milbro fibreglass jobby. My gran got it for me out of her cigarette coupons (remember them!!!) I was made up. I bought an intrepid Black Prince reel out of my pocket money and a few bits and bobs and I was away. I used to cycle from my home in Gorleston to my local river (Waveny) and I remember my first real bream, around 3Lbs. This was from Somerleyton. Before the staithe was put in. Wild moorings then with eroded banks. Bread was all I used for bait at the time as I had no money for fancy maggots. Darent put a worm on from the garden as the place was alive with bootlace eels and almost certainly, they would swallow your hook never to be seen again. I also fished the cut at Haddiscoe leaving my bike under the bridge, but I preferred to walk up to the point where the cut met the river. (there was no St Olaves Marina in them days) Again wild riverbank which you had to make your own swim in the reeds. Well worth it though as I could catch Roach/Bream hybrids. I began to venture out taking my gear on the Bus to Martham or getting the train to Brundel. I would ask nicely a chap at Broomes shed if I could fish the river from their land and was never refused. (it pays to ask nicely). I would bike to Fisher Row (Oulton Dyke) on a Friday after school and join the many others for a night session. The place was alive with anglers back in the early 70s with Tilley lights in every swim, and the large shoals of bream would oblige. Sometimes you could hardly lift your net out. I began to spend all my money on tackle and get the latest gear. By now I had a motorbike so this opened up the system to me (all be it cold in the winter months). Every Sunday was spent fishing. Arghhh the good ole days, life seemed so simple then. I have never lost the bug. Obviously when the family came along, with money being tight etc it took a back seat but I would still try and get out now and again. I work away now, and when I am home me and my neighbor try to get out one day (or night) a week but with all the storms etc we have had this winter it has been difficult to say the least. My days of sitting in a howling gale or torrential rain are behind me now, and experience has taught me that rivers in flood (which they have been most of this winter) are not the best for catching fish. Wow, I have rambled on long enough. Hope I have not bored you all. Tight lines.

I did suggest that and then it all turned into a journey thing. I took it from that, that people were not interested in mooring at Gt yarmouth for whatever reason. As I mentioned earlier, not the most glamorous of mooring to stay at and the Tide does play a big part in all this.