Stracey Arms Shop & Cafe

[Movic]

Spent last weekend up on the Broads and had an overnight at Stracey Arms . Those of you who know the area may have noticed that the shop ,cafe and associated farm animals have been up for sale for the past two years. Every time i visited in the past the lovely lady and owner tells me that this deal and that deal has fallen through.

This time however, she tells me the deal is done contracts signed and the new owner takes over in June. The current owner has been there for over 30 years ! I am sure we all would like to wish them well in their retirement.

Apparently the new owner is lady by the name of Dawn, and not planning to change too much in the first year. the current owner will help for a few days a week to get them off the ground.

As for the windmill a lottery grant is being applied for to aid in its restoration and a new car park of the A47 to attract visitors. All looking good for the future at Stracey, just a pity the old pub was never returned to its former glory.

 

[Poppy]

5 hours ago, Movic said:

 just a pity the old pub was never returned to its former glory.

 

Glory?  GLORY?   Glory HOLE more like!

[Movic]

agreed wasn't the best pub in the world. Just a pity someone couldn't make a decent pup/restaurant from it 

[Cheesey]

Sort of first and last stop for us.

Due to late tides this year, I was surprised to see many running for Acle in rapidly dying light as I watched in near deserted silence.

Kind have got the feeling many wont pay for overnight mooring and that may doom new owner.

[JennyMorgan]

Personally I glad that there is a change of owner, rare for me but I really did not like the previous owners. Good luck to the new owner. 

[Wonderwall]

11 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Personally I glad that there is a change of owner, rare for me but I really did not like the previous owners. Good luck to the new owner. 

I was there last year , and whom I assumed to be father and daughter owners were both very chatty and pleasant. 

Shop and surrondings were very nice but it wasn't exactly doing a roaring trade. Hard to imagine how one could make a living at it. Shame there is no pub any longer but it really is stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Broads01]

I like a stop at Stracey. I hope the goats are staying, they chase around after you and are hilarious!

[neilp1962]

It is in the middle of nowhere that's true, but it's the most perfect start/end point for people crossing north/south. I can't believe there isn't a thriving business there. Acle Bridge and Stokesby, and also Great Yarmouth get absolutely swamped but a few minutes away from Stokesby there are safe moorings and until recently somewhere to stop and have a meal and a drink.

I know this thread is about the cafe but the entire length of brilliant mooring is underused. I think maybe the previous tenants of the pub (Tapas, whatever) didn't try hard enough, last time we stopped (2013) the place looked a dump and when we asked if we could have a drink outside prior to coming back to eat later we were refused. They wouldn't allow drinks outside .... in the height of summer .... by the side of a river. Fancy that! They lost that business and also the food business later because I was annoyed, It was their business I suppose.

I said to my wife that if the place was mine I would tidy it up, get some tables outside, have a BBQ night a couple of times a week and try to attract some people in. Moorings are becoming rarer, any broads business that has so many potential customers going past without stopping, when their customers options are getting less and less, is doing something badly wrong. Now it's gone forever, is the cafe enough to get people to stop or will they use Acle and Stokesby instead? Ask me when I'm at the bar at the Stokesby Ferry next month.

The attached photo sums up that place for me, it looked haunted. What a waste of a brilliant spot.

[JennyMorgan]

Being asked for a mooring fee by someone who was not actually entitled to demand it did rather jaundice my view of the place! I wonder what moorings the new owner has actually bought?

My family and I loved it as the Yankee Diner. It used to be absolutely stacked during the summer but nevertheless still went under. Quite liked it as a Tapas Bar too and always stopped off when passing. Not sure that I will be using it as a temple though!

[SweetKingfisher1]

I must say we love mooring at Stracey and yes there is no where to eat, so we would ensure we have food to eat on the boat. As for paying to moor there is ok with us, is it still £3 over night? One thing with the moorings at Stracey, you will always found a space to moor there . If you moor up at Acle north side of the river bank, then if I am correct, you pay for the moorings in the Bridge Shop.

Best wishes go out to the old owner of Stracey and  to the new lady / owner of Stracey. 

We will check Stracey out in September .

Regards

Marina  

 

[Chelsea14Ian]

For me the Yankee diner was not for me and I thought better suited in Norwich.We tried the Tapas not long before they left waited  a long time for food to arrive even though  there was only about 6/8 people  there,and the food was poor.As far as I understand  the moorings are split between  the cafe,shop and the Temple.I don't mind paying for the night.

 

[JennyMorgan]

I wouldn't have minded paying the owner of the moorings that I was moored on.

[SweetKingfisher1]

What Ian was saying. The so called Tapas bar was rubbish. Food, service and the so called owner could not run a restaurant. 

As for the moorings, give me Stracey over Acle any day .

Regards

Marina  

[Warp]

I know this sounds daft but I honestly think that if they painted the walls white instead of the naked brick they would have got more passing trade?

 

[ranworthbreeze]

I emailed Carol (Broadland Memories) earlier this evening. Like many of you we have been coming to the Broads for a number of years but certainly not as many as some of our veterans who have been visiting the Broads since childhood.

I was interested in seeing a picture of the Stracey Arms pre the 60's when the current building replaced the original, I looked on Carols website and saw many of interesting pictures of pubs in the 20's & 30's such as the Swan Inn and the Ferry Inn at Horning together with  other great pictures of the era.

If you have access to any pictures of the old Stracey Arms which was licenced well before the Stracey Mill was built (or that is my understanding) please post a picture on this thread.

Regards

Alan

[trambo]

I don't think i have stopped over here since the 70s, Stokesby is so close. Remember the pub for two reasons. It reminded me of a church club, at least the type we had up in Liverpool and secondly they had had a arcade machine that played electronic ping-pong. State of the art! 

Not much changed today at the moorings except lack of signage in the 70s. You can just make out an end of speed limit sign, yes you could go full throttle all the way to Stokesby. The boat is Navigator II from Brooms.

Fred

[addicted]

14 hours ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

For me the Yankee diner was not for me and I thought better suited in Norwich.We tried the Tapas not long before they left waited  a long time for food to arrive even though  there was only about 6/8 people  there,and the food was poor.As far as I understand  the moorings are split between  the cafe,shop and the Temple.I don't mind paying for the night.

 

When we moored there a few years ago, the lady who owned it  told us that she had bought all the moorings up to and including the then defunct restaurant.

She was having a little difficulty getting some people to pay and in that case said she would not hesitate to call the river police, who she said were very helpful.  Personally I think £3.00 an entirely acceptable amount to pay  and furthermore she did a very passable breakfast at a very reasonable cost.

regards,

Carole

[AdnamsGirl]

I don't have any photographs of the original Stracey Arms pub myself, but hopefully the link below will work and take you to a photo of it on the Picture Norfolk website.

https://norfolk.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/PICNOR/BIBENQ/16098539/2205727,8?FMT=IMG

And another

https://norfolk.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/PICNOR/BIBENQ/16098539/2211494,11?FMT=IMG&IMGNUM=1

Actually ... comparing those two photographs, they don't look like the same building? The second image was taken by an Acle photographer, so is almost certainly the right Stracey Arms.

Carol

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Carol,

Thank you so much for spending your time on the research for pictures of the old pub, maybe if they had just extended the original pub in the 60's it might still be there and operating as a pub.

Regards

Alan 

[Mark]

We have always found the owners very helpful and as has been mentioned make a great brekkie and always attentive with the tea and toast  top up requirements. It comes into its own (for us) on a late crossing.   You know you are going to get a mooring no worries, and it makes for an earlier  break  especially  if coming direct from Brundall.  Can eat on board late knowing that you get the breakfast first thing next day, and other than the A47 which eventually just fades out into back ground noise as the dark  tightens its grip in the Summer , its pretty peaceful. The menagerie is also a nice quirky touch other than the Goose poop. It is sometimes tempting to continue on,  but Stokesby always likely to be full by that time of evening , and Acle potentially too. so let the others rush and we,ll enjoy the peace thats left behind. 

 

[Chelsea14Ian]

When the Tapas bar went up for sale it was advertised in the EDP as The bar Restaurant,car park,grounds and moorings.It did pass my mind to take it on.It is clear there is some Confusion on owner ship of the moorings,but I am sure that the moorings would be split between the what was the pub and the shop.

Ian

[kfurbank]

The land registry never lies!!!!

[Movic]

The Lady of the shop tells me that the current owner of the old pub building is a Doctor who has turned it into a temple,Sikh  I believe ? . Apparently they meet once a month on a Monday and when he brought the place he had absolutely no idea the river was there !!!!!! What was he looking at ?

Various applications were made prior to his purchase, including premier inn, Witherspoon and MacDonald;s all of which were refused planning permission. why who knows.

I agree that i would much prefer to pay for a mooring there , than risk it at Acle or Stokesby. Kids love the animals too.

  

[JennyMorgan]

There appear to be many theories and stories concerning Stracey, some of which can be taken with a pinch of salt.The rights and wrongs regarding the moorings have previously been discussed in depth but one thing is for sure, as Keith has already written.

2 hours ago, kfurbank said:

The land registry never lies!!!!

 

[JennyMorgan]

Previous discussion here:

It'll save us repeating ourselves!