The Norfolk Broads In 1991

[LondonRascal]

It is not unusual that old 16mm film gets converted and shared by a family on You Tube of their past holidays, but what is very rare is finding how it was for the likes of me - in the 1990's when I was on the water.

I found a very well made (and long at over 2 hours) film of a family holiday taken in 1991.  A lot has changed and equally a lot has not.  Makes for fascinating viewing from the start with the take over and trial run to the southern rivers and Breydon up tot Wroxham and beyond.  I am sure there will be a number of people on this Forum who will enjoy this and strike a chord with their own memories of Broads boating in the 1990's.

 

[TheQ]

For a fraction of a second, I think one of my old boats and possibly me are in Shot  at HSC,   I certainly recognise a few of the boats in shot there as some are still there... unfortunately the camera operator was waving it around a bit at the time.

 

an interesting video thanks

[vanessan]

No hanging around for the Wroxham bridge pilot in those days! 

[Mondeoman]

Did I see Wroxham bridge height was 7ft 9?

[Chelsea14Ian]

The start of the vid a Alpha 29,which  I think was firefly, went past.

[webntweb]

2 hours ago, Mondeoman said:

Did I see Wroxham bridge height was 7ft 9?

Looks like slightly over 8ft on this one.

[WherryNice]

Brilliant, very much my era of Broads discovery were the late 80's and 90's, parents borrowed a family friends boat on numerous occasions, days out on the same with the owners, a week on a house boat in Horning(Silver Birches?)with Dads sailing boat, two proper hires(Santa Dominica in 93 and Princess of Light 2 in 94) then finally the folks purchased their own cruiser in '95, Dragonfly 2, a Seacrete South Wind 26.......the rest as they......waffle blah etc

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[lakesailor]

Great video takes me back to my discovery of the broads as a teenager on family holidays

[troutman62]

23 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

It is not unusual that old 16mm film gets converted and shared by a family on You Tube of their past holidays, but what is very rare is finding how it was for the likes of me - in the 1990's when I was on the water.

I found a very well made (and long at over 2 hours) film of a family holiday taken in 1991.  A lot has changed and equally a lot has not.  Makes for fascinating viewing from the start with the take over and trial run to the southern rivers and Breydon up tot Wroxham and beyond.  I am sure there will be a number of people on this Forum who will enjoy this and strike a chord with their own memories of Broads boating in the 1990's.

 

Very nice indeed. A refreshing change from films of ducks and the cameraman posing ad nauseam for incessant selfies. The seventies up to the nineties were the best broads years for me it brought to mind the poem "Land of lost content" by A E Housman.

[grendel]

In am still only 45 minutes into the film, it was a busy day yesterday, I will probably catch up a bit more tonight. but looking good so far - Ships Boys Blog 

[tjg1677]

Havent managed to catch the name of the boat yet but that is filmed aboard an Alphacraft 42' lowliner, one of the sister boats to the one I now own. Mine was built about the same time as this video as BB  Brink of Day. Nice to see one in action on film........

[deebee29]

25 minutes ago, tjg1677 said:

Havent managed to catch the name of the boat yet but that is filmed aboard an Alphacraft 42' lowliner, one of the sister boats to the one I now own. Mine was built about the same time as this video as BB  Brink of Day. Nice to see one in action on film........

Hi Trev

The boat name is Challenger, don't know what yard it's from.

We'll be out on another of these boats in a couple of weeks time (Swan Rapide) 

Although not everyone's choice the style and layout suits our needs perfectly.... can't wait.

[LondonRascal]

The boat they are on is from the former Brunall yard of Fen Craft and is called Fen Challenger.

She was featured in the 1991 London Boat Show in the January of that year, so the people on her in the video were on the latest and newest most luxurious craft of their time and must of been among the first to hire her. Here is a photo from the brochure I have from 1992.

[Broads01]

Thanks for the tip Robin, I'll enjoy that. I remember Fen Challenger and Fencraft very well. One of the many hire yards down the dyke where only Silverline remain. 

[Wyndham]

Was that £9-50 per night at Yarmouth in 1991? Can't believe how busy it was. ( I am new to the broads you see)

[Broads01]

I still haven't had chance to watch the film but the brochure pic is very reminiscent of a different time. There Fencraft are in 1992 with their brand new boats and Challenger having been to the boat show. I recall though by around 2004-5 they'd very much lost their way with a reduced fleet and some damming reviews about the state of the boats. I think that grey colour scheme didn't do them any favours (unfortunately the ex-Fencraft Pacific Dawn is still stuck with it) and they stopped hiring soon after. Whether or not they continued in business I don't know. 

[Captain]

I am not sure what happened to Fencraft however Challenger wasn't at the 1991 boat show, it was Rapide from Alpha craft of the same design, I remember going to see it, very striking and modern at the time although plush inside Alphas own boats in the 80's and 90's were in some ways basic with gas catalytic heaters I remember some of the 2 berths even had manual bilge pumps using a hand pump. Rapide had an electric bilge pump but still retained the gas heaters, seemed out of place in a boat show boat particularly when my first hire boat Glenmore built in 1965 had warm air.

Neil

[Broads01]

Captain, you've just taken me back in time 20 years. The only time I ever hired from Alpha Craft was 1997. It was a recently built boat called Mustang, a 29 foot forward steer (not to be confused with the dual steer that layer took the Mustang name). You've reminded me it had a manual bilge pump. Oh what joy. 

[Malanka]

Beware there are speedos in this video.

 

Many thanks Robin 1991 had me and Fiona on the water on Silver Jubillee for her first Broads experience third week in July and it was a scorcher of a holiday too. We never looked back after our first holiday together so thank you for reminding me.

 

M