NorfolkNog

This was mentioned on Coldham Hall's Twitter feed - they tweeted it was/is a Dutch flotilla

Amazing! Wonder if it goes under Potter Heigham Bridge

Here you go, nicked this from Twitter

Thanks Mark, just seen this on Twitter too. Apart from a Greene King they look to have some decent beers on including a Tipples I spotted Looks well worth a visit if you're in the area

Its certainly been a while, it was there in mid December when we last visited. I didin't think too much of it at the time as I assumed that it was just there for the winter. The Doris was moored at the Yacht station a couple of years ago too.

Hiya Maxine And a very warm welcome from me too Welcome aboard!

Looks like the original Rapide, later sister ship to Swan Royale which we hired for many years. I believe Alphacraft used to advertise their entire fleet at any one time with a premium price tag so if they got a good offer they would be happy to sell. I suspect most yards would be open to offers if the price is right

I do believe Herby Woods will offer a discount on a dayboat if you are hiring from them. However if I've not been able to get through the Bridge I've hired an electric day boat from Phoenix fleet, highly recommended

I'll second that. They also hire in winter (or used to). Had heating too We stayed in an apartment a few years ago and hired a dayboat from Fineway pretty much every day. Excellent service too from Steve, not sure if he's still involved.

The Potter bridge Twitter feed reported seven feet one inch today. Incredible. Now's the time to sneak through!

If you do decide to go down the vinyl route you could try Lorraine at the Dog Inn - signs and printing is her 'day' job

Please don't worry Alistairr - all hire boats have a plate at the helm giving the air draught, all bridges have a height gauge so it should be fairly easy to avoid a prang by simply checking the 2 figures. Should be simple. I think often the problem is that some people simply follow the boat in front thinking if he can get through so can I. They forget of course that different boats have different air draughts. If it's any consolation I've been hiring on the Broads for 40 years and not hit a bridge yet (touch wood)

The unpainted bit is at the Breydon side so I wonder if it was actually going South to North??????

Hi Carol Many thanks for the update. People have been most generous and I am really glad that you can go ahead with the new software and hopefully a new PC as well! Do please keep us posted, I look forward to seeing the new site as it develops. Talking of which if I can help with testing or with anything else please let me know.

Aw, thanks folks. It will mean a lot to Carol, much appreciated.

Hi All As you all know Carol does a fantastic job of running the Broadland Memories site and has created an invaluable and fascinating record of days gone by on the Norfolk Broads. I know that many of you enjoy the wealth of information that is available there. Carol has enjoyed generous support in terms of gifts or loans of films, photographs and general memorabilia as well as generous IT support. However she does devote many hours of unpaid time to maintain the website. The situation has now arisen that Carol needs to seriously upgrade both software and hardware to maintain the site and to ensure that it is compatible with a rapidly changing environment in terms of mobile phones, tablets and so on. In addition Carol does purchase some of the material, particularly films and photo collections from ebay and the like and this can be very expensive. Again this funding has come entirely from Carol’s own pocket in the past. Carol is very reluctant to ask for help and is only doing so as a last resort. Therefore I would like to ask you to consider making a small donation by clicking the donate button on the blog and on Carol’s main site. http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/blog/ This matter has been discussed on a previous thread Griff has made an extremely generous offer for which Carol is touched and most grateful. However perhaps the ideal would be if a few folks could consider making a small individual donation rather than placing the burden on one or two individuals. One suggestion is to think on the lines of the price of a pint or a magazine. It would not cost a great deal and if a few of us could do that on an occasional or even better a regular basis I’m sure that Carol would be most grateful. I would like to stress that I personally have no financial interest in Broadland Memories and I also know that any donations will be used entirely to support the site and ensure it goes from strength to strength so that we and future generations can enjoy this valuable resource. I have just made a small donation myself and it really is very easy. Please help if you can. Thank you very much

Wow! Fabulous boot, I'm impressed. Will keep a look out

I'll keep a look out Iain, which boot are you on?

Thanks Iain and Grace, we are back with Swancraft in mid May so hopefully should be slightly less Quiet and Peaceful 5 Should be able to get on line much better as Swancraft have the Jabba the Hut system which gives much more reliable coverage. Looking forward to it already.

Hi Grace, glad you liked the pics. Very nice boat, ideal for two and handles very well. Suffering withdrawal symptoms too but we did have a couple of nights in Norwich which eased the pain a little bit!

Re the Stracey Arms (ex Tapas) we had a look as we passed last week. The building was deserted and looking a bit run down. No sign of life but there was no for Sale or to Let signs that I could see, although it may well be advertised somewhere. Shame because it is on what must be one of the busiest roads in Norfolk.

Next young Grace asked for a couple of pictures of the boat (Freedom of Light) so just for you Grace, here they are!

Hi All Right, I’ve got back home and have mangled to upload the camera so I can reply on a couple of things. I’ve uploaded the Wayford Bridge gage photo and looking at it full size it is probably not quite eight feet but must be seven nine I would guess. Hard to say as the exposed bit is usually underwater so you cant read the markings!

As of last week the Stracey was very much closed and looking a bit neglected. Have some photos I can post later. Latest info I heard on the Nelson is that the folks who have the recruiting sergeant and Ship have taken the lease on it. I also heard from a reliable source that the Berney has been sold.

Hi Iain Levels had gone up again by Saturday but Potter was still showing six feet. Earlier in the week Wroxham was just over seven three and Wayford must have been nearly eight feet - it was so low we nearly touched the bottom going through :-o I think someone had definitely pulled the plug out. There was more water on Jon's rud than in the river >