New Hire Boats For 2022

[Vaughan]

6 minutes ago, ScrumpyCheddar said:

I’m sorry to say this is downward slope of there hire boat side.. Personally I can see it going as well as there repair side and the whole site being turned into upmarket riverside residential area with moorings.. 

Which, one wonders, is maybe what they are aiming at, in the long term.

[Andrewcook]

AndyG mate having breakfast at Southend and plenty of competition on what one to go to for Price and what's on the Breakfast Menu. On the Broads not much of choice as they are far apart but at Wroxham called the Wherry Restaurants where the day. Boats are at the Bridge with very good plate sizes Breakfast and reasonable Breakfast price, not Forty Quid for Two bleeding hell.

[Chelsea14Ian]

46 minutes ago, andyg said:

40 quid for breakfast for 2. How on earth did they come up with that. We often eat breakfast along the seafront here in Southend. Thoses that know the area I mean up by the cliffs, about a dozen cafes all in a row with great views out over the Thames to Kent. Even with the ridiculous parking fees it doesn't come to nowhere near 40 quid. From what I remember of this pub it's not in a fantastic location and all you can see is the marina and the odd train passing. Well good luck with that one..

When it was the Yare,it had a good customer base.Okay the food for me was a bit average, but we would  often go there.Will be interesting to see what food and drink is there.If I was to pay £40 for two breakfast  it would have to be a lot better then what they have on offer.

[marshman]

Nothing new then there but it will be very expensive to build on that site and the BA will insist on a yard ( of sorts!!! ) remaining!

To be honest although they continue to asset strip, my guess is that they would have to move it on at some stage as i guess it would take a huge amount of deep piling to build brick houses - each one having to have a raft. Not sure the market is there for such expensive homes on that site yet- its hardly an outstandingly attractive area!

[jeffbroadslover]

If you think of a figure, double it and put a £  sign in front of it all you have to do then is advertise it in London and sit back and wait for the "O K Yah" crowd to see the advert. !!!!!!!

Jeff

[Chelsea14Ian]

Living and working  in London nearly all my life.Thats not entirely true.For sure some parts of London yes but for most of London no.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

I have no idea, since I have only "darkened their door" on two occasions.  The first was when it turned out they were doing a wedding reception and so "normal" customers were out of the question.

The second time, I came in and asked for a drink at the bar and to see the lunch menu.  I was made so totally unwelcome by the "P.R." or whoever she thought she was, that I simply walked away.

I am cruising the Broads on my boat.  If I want to stop for lunch, I want good old pub food and a pint or two.  Who remembers Patsy Dashwood's home cooked fish pie in the Buck in Thorpe, or her steak and ale pie?

If I want a heavily priced gourmet experience, I will take my twin engined flybridge Broom to the Waterside Inn at Bray, where I will expect to pay whatever it might cost.

 

 

I would take a guess that your first experiance might happen there infrequently rather than on a regular basis so perhaps purely bad luck with your timing and I myself have always experianced a warm welcome from Lee and the staff there  but understand that others have not for whatever reason, the most common being people demanding rather than asking.

I must agree The Waterside Inn, Bray with its Al La Carte menu is indeed a very nice place in a nice setting having eaten there many a time with clients and I am pretty sure that with enough notice and a thick wallet you could book the entire dining area for a wedding reception there as well.

[rightsaidfred]

Living in London and used to London prices and understanding the principal of overheads involved in running any business my general opinion is that Broads pubs with a couple of exceptions are grossly overpriced with very poor menus and quality staff (mostly teanagers) and this applies pre covid, they have become to complacent relying on the passing holiday trade rather than developing customer loyalty.

Fred

[FlyingFortress]

30 minutes ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

I would take a guess that your first experiance might happen there infrequently rather than on a regular basis so perhaps purely bad luck with your timing and I myself have always experianced a warm welcome from Lee and the staff there  but understand that others have not for whatever reason, the most common being people demanding rather than asking.

I must agree The Waterside Inn, Bray with its Al La Carte menu is indeed a very nice place in a nice setting having eaten there many a time with clients and I am pretty sure that with enough notice and a thick wallet you could book the entire dining area for a wedding reception there as well.

Must say that as a recently returning customer of Waters Edge I have been hugely impressed by both the ambiance and quality of the food and welcome.

It used to be a regular stop when were moored at Brundall and it was Bramerton Woods End.

Hadn't been there for a number of years until we gave it a whirl last year. Yes it is a pricey place but sometimes it's worth paying for something a bit special.  What grinds my gears is somewhere that charges restaurant prices for pub grub.

Very similar feelings about The Norfolk Mead also excellent.

Waters Edge is definitely on our hit list when on The Yare and will be re visiting in September for the second time this year.

[Vaughan]

15 minutes ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

I myself have always experianced a warm welcome from Lee and the staff there  but understand that others have not for whatever reason, the most common being people demanding rather than asking.

That puts me in my place then, doesn't it?  I shall remain out of the way in future, on The Common moorings and make myself a sandwich.  I know I am not the only one, even on this forum, to have walked in there to such a frigid and rather snobbish reception that I have preferred not to bother.

The point you missed - or simply looked down on - is that the Woods End is a traditional, very old and famous riverside pub that owes its existence to the brickworks that existed right beside it and the wherry trade that came to it as a result. What they now call Bramerton Common was the brickworks quay heading!  In just the same way as Coldham Hall, Surlingham Ferry, Berney Arms, the Duke's Head at Somerleyton and many others.  You name them!  The Yare at Brundall was another.

If they couldn't handle normal passing trade just because of a wedding reception then they shouldn't be running a riverside pub business.  Just ask my dear friend Peter Tallowin, who ran a roaring trade in that pub for many years in the 70s and 80s and whose father Gilly, was the famous landlord of the New Inn at Horning.  I also remember Dick Chance, his predecessor at the Woods End and a good friend of Harry Last at Coldham.

As my father's son, I did a lot of my growing up in those pubs.  If they are now simply to be superseded by an up-market exclusive bijou experience for those who think paying through the nose means class, I find that quite lamentable.

 

[FlyingFortress]

29 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

That puts me in my place then, doesn't it?  I shall remain out of the way in future, on The Common moorings and make myself a sandwich.  I know I am not the only one, even on this forum, to have walked in there to such a frigid and rather snobbish reception that I have preferred not to bother.

The point you missed - or simply looked down on - is that the Woods End is a traditional, very old and famous riverside pub that owes its existence to the brickworks that existed right beside it and the wherry trade that came to it as a result. What they now call Bramerton Common was the brickworks quay heading!  In just the same way as Coldham Hall, Surlingham Ferry, Berney Arms, the Duke's Head at Somerleyton and many others.  You name them!  The Yare at Brundall was another.

If they couldn't handle normal passing trade just because of a wedding reception then they shouldn't be running a riverside pub business.  Just ask my dear friend Peter Tallowin, who ran a roaring trade in that pub for many years in the 70s and 80s and whose father Gilly, was the famous landlord of the New Inn at Horning.  I also remember Dick Chance, his predecessor at the Woods End and a good friend of Harry Last at Coldham.

As my father's son, I did a lot of my growing up in those pubs.  If they are now simply to be superseded by an up-market exclusive bijou experience for those who think paying through the nose means class, I find that quite lamentable.

 

Can only relate my own experiences of both BWE and WE. Welcoming and great quality as WE and a good pub as BWE. Spent many happy hours there in our early boating days.

 

It's a good many years since we moored at Brundall, we even had a wooden boat then, not for any great love of tradition but because it was all we could afford. Yes there was a time when wooden boats were considerably cheaper than Plastic Fantastic.

Can't remember any working Wherrymen in there.

Do remember coasters going through my village though so that should give an indication of the timeline 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

4 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

That puts me in my place then, doesn't it?  I shall remain out of the way in future, on The Common moorings and make myself a sandwich.  I know I am not the only one, even on this forum, to have walked in there to such a frigid and rather snobbish reception that I have preferred not to bother.

The point you missed - or simply looked down on - is that the Woods End is a traditional, very old and famous riverside pub that owes its existence to the brickworks that existed right beside it and the wherry trade that came to it as a result. What they now call Bramerton Common was the brickworks quay heading!  In just the same way as Coldham Hall, Surlingham Ferry, Berney Arms, the Duke's Head at Somerleyton and many others.  You name them!  The Yare at Brundall was another.

If they couldn't handle normal passing trade just because of a wedding reception then they shouldn't be running a riverside pub business.  Just ask my dear friend Peter Tallowin, who ran a roaring trade in that pub for many years in the 70s and 80s and whose father Gilly, was the famous landlord of the New Inn at Horning.  I also remember Dick Chance, his predecessor at the Woods End and a good friend of Harry Last at Coldham.

As my father's son, I did a lot of my growing up in those pubs.  If they are now simply to be superseded by an up-market exclusive bijou experience for those who think paying through the nose means class, I find that quite lamentable.

 

Vaughan, I replied as I see it based on my experiance so nothing I wrote puts anybody in their place nor do I look down on anybody or anything, indeed those that know me in real life I would hope would tell you that I am not that sort of man. In the first draft I did say that many feel the same as you do about the place but reading back I see that I then edited that out and now wishing I hadnt!

On the subject of points being simply missed. Yes the Woods End, now called Waters Edge by the way, was a different pub way back and may have had a traditional feel but for whatever reason it was sold and the new owners made it something different than what it was. This happens a lot as is it happening right now to the Yare (White Heron).

Now to say if they couldnt handle normal passing trade and a wedding reception at the same time then the owners shouldnt be running a riverside pub is quite frankly astounding much like your insistance to name drop at every opportunity!

You have a nice day now.

[rightsaidfred]

Sadly with a few exceptions pubs are no longer pubs, the pub co's advertise them as an investment/business opportunity and that is all most tenants see them as, the old days of mein host rarely exist now most wouldn't know the name of the tenant let alone meet or share a pint with them.

Fred 

[ScrumpyCheddar]

Not been to the WATERSEDGE for 3 years now .. But have to say always had a friendly welcoming and the owner helped us moored up.. Perhaps he had seen my driving and wanted to protect his moorings 🤣🤣🤣🤣 The food was lovely there.  
 

[Vaughan]

1 hour ago, FlyingFortress said:

Can't remember any working Wherrymen in there.

Funny you should say that.  It was in the Woods End, one lunchtime in about 1972, that I joined the Norfolk Wherry Trust.  It was in September and I was sailing the River Cruiser "Evening Flight", back to Thorpe at the end of the season.  The Albion was on the moorings which were full, so we moored alongside her and spent a rather long lunchtime session at the bar with Ewan Anderson, the skipper, and her crew, which included Dougie Blewitt, the chairman and several members of the committee.

By the time we all cast off our moorings again, Ewan had signed me up as a member and from there, after several years and another story for another time, I became the chairman of the Trust (and a wherryman) myself.

1 hour ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

much like your insistance to name drop at every opportunity!

Excuse me, am I dropping names again?

Or am I trying to explain that for those of us who know and respect the traditions and history of the Broads (and its pubs) these things mean a lot more than just another fancy menu, which excludes those who are cruising on the rivers but not prepared to be "fleeced" while they are at it?

[OldBerkshireBoy]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

Or am I trying to explain that for those of us who know and respect the traditions and history of the Broads (and its pubs) these things mean a lot more than just another fancy menu, which excludes those who are cruising on the rivers but not prepared to be "fleeced" while they are at it?

I give up!!!!

[FlyingFortress]

Didn't think Wherries were still working in 1972 but then it was a bit before my time.

By 1972 I would have thought that Diesel powered Coasters would have been the norm .

Ready to be corrected.

 

[YnysMon]

2 hours ago, Vaughan said:

By the time we all cast off our moorings again, Ewan had signed me up as a member and from there, after several years and another story for another time, I became the chairman of the Trust (and a wherryman) myself.

We’ll, I’m very glad that people have signed up and done so much to preserve the last few wherries, and that people continue to give up their time freely to ensure the heritage isn’t lost. 

[Meantime]

9 hours ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

Understand what you say however you cant fault the food there or can you?

No I cannot fault the food there and whilst I understand that Lee is not everyone's cup of tea, he has always looked after us and given absolutely no cause to complain. There is a place for fine dining along the Broads, I don't want it everywhere, in the same way there is a place for pile it high and sell it cheap and sometimes that suits as well, but again I don't want it everywhere. The Yare generally has a pretty good mix with plenty in between.

I have to say that many people rate The Surlingham Ferry and I can see the appeal, however if out on the boat for a week, even one meal of those proportions puts me off. The quality looks great and I keep aiming to get there to eat, but the timing never seems to work out. As much as I get value for money, I also hate waste and would need to go there hungry which would generally mean not during a week of excess on the boat.

[FlyingFortress]

Agree with you Meanime

[Meantime]

4 minutes ago, FlyingFortress said:

Agree with you Meanime

Hey you forgot my T 

[FlyingFortress]

 

Oops

Soz 

T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Meantime]

9 hours ago, Vaughan said:

Just ask my dear friend Peter Tallowin, who ran a roaring trade in that pub for many years in the 70s and 80s and whose father Gilly, was the famous landlord of the New Inn at Horning.  I also remember Dick Chance, his predecessor at the Woods End and a good friend of Harry Last at Coldham.

As my father's son, I did a lot of my growing up in those pubs.  If they are now simply to be superseded by an up-market exclusive bijou experience for those who think paying through the nose means class, I find that quite lamentable.

I think there are very few pubs that have anywhere near the roaring trade they had in the 70's and 80's. Times have changed, costs have gone up, people drink less in pubs.

I've just seen an advert for The Ship at South Walsham. Up for rent £2,500 per calendar month. A quiet village and quite a trot from the moorings. It has 40 covers. Would have to be some very expensive meals and pints to make that pay. Cannot see the low markup high turnover model working there, then again not sure the villagers want a gastro pub either.

If Colchester Inns couldn't make it pay then I'm not sure it has a future until someone can get the freehold and cut out the middle man. 

[FlyingFortress]

Its a shame Colchester Inns could not make that place work.

If they can't then I suspect no one can

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vaughan]

12 hours ago, FlyingFortress said:

Didn't think Wherries were still working in 1972 but then it was a bit before my time.

By 1972 I would have thought that Diesel powered Coasters would have been the norm .

Ready to be corrected.

Well I realise we have gone rather a long way off the subject  (what was the subject, by the way?)  but an un-necessary post like that makes me think of all the people who have left this forum in the last couple of years and used to contribute  so much of their memories and experience, for the enjoyment and interest of all members.  When did we last see a contribution in the history section?  Maybe, like me, they just got frustrated by having their posts deliberately dissected and demeaned in the tiniest and most irrelevant detail.