Springer’s Retreat On The Rivers

[grendel]

I am lucky, with a the centre cleat, and b the rhond anchors in the step to get out of the cockpit, so everything can be got to easily even if its a last minute decision, that and i always bring all of the ropes to the centre cockpit when I cast off.

[kpnut]

1 minute ago, Vaughan said:

If you are fitting a cleat, make sure it has a thick pad of wood, about a foot square if possible, to bolt through under the deck, and glass it in.  The pad can also be made of plywood, laminated to be about an inch thick.  There is a surprising amount of strain on a centre cleat, especially when a boat comes past making a wash.

Also make sure that the fixing bolts which hold the superstructure mould onto the hull, are in good order in this area.

Thanks Vaughan. I did have a look under the bow to see how the cleat was fixed there and sure enough, as you say, a thick piece of wood is there. 
 

I do wish, when I had the galley out and the new fuel tank fitted  behind on the port side, that I’d thought about access for a centre clear then. Too late now. 

[kpnut]

It’s no wonder the water’s so high.

Look at the pressure, nothing to push the water down! 

[kpnut]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

If you are fitting a cleat

Well I must confess I won’t be doing the job myself. Much as I’d like to, I have no skills.
I could blame that on us girls not being allowed to do woodwork, electronics, metalwork or technical drawing at school, but I suppose I have had plenty of chances through adult life to learn. Problem with having a husband who just does everything round the house, apart from decorating, I’ve just left him to it. Now it’s coming back to bite me!

Drilling holes through the GRP through of my pride and joy and making it all strong enough and watertight again is beyond my head being able to convince the rest of me to have a go. 
But knowing what needs to be done helps me ask the right questions and get it done correctly. 
I’m better with basic things in the engine, less scary. 

[PaulN]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

Well I must confess I won’t be doing the job myself. Much as I’d like to, I have no skills.
I could blame that on us girls not being allowed to do woodwork, electronics, metalwork or technical drawing at school

The same reason I let my wife do all the cooking, having been deprived in the 50's and 60's of domestic science lessons. (Mind you, that was a bit of luck).

[kpnut]

The day did continue with heavy rain showers on and off and with the wind dying right down, then starting up again. 

I spent the morning inside, seemed to be online on this forum for a lot of it, oops. I did get the tea cooked for tomorrow night when I have my sister arriving. 
 

We walked to Ranworth in the afternoon. The quickest way is actually along the lanes rather than through the fields. That suited me for us to not get too muddied up today. The walk takes about 50 minutes from the moorings here to Malthouse broad. 
We stopped in at South Walsham church as I can’t remember visiting before. I rather liked it, quite plain but in a good state of repair. 

I do like their Christmas tree-rather premature though!

Maybe it stays there all year round?

The roads were surprisingly lacking in floods, I waded through one by the south walsham broad carpark, and another as I turned from South Walsham into Ranworth lane/road. 
The Ranworth moorings had seven boats on and it looked very peaceful.

The Granary cafe/restaurant was open (board says wed to sun for the winter) but I chose the Maltsters as I haven’t been in for a long while. The log fire was very welcoming and the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. The fish chowder is to be recommended. Very tasty indeed. And for once, I had a glass of beer rather than cider, choosing one of my favourites in Black Sheep. 
Realising it might be dark by the time I got back to the boat, I reluctantly left the warmth of the pub and it promptly started raining on me as I set off back up the hill. It rained all the way back and has continued through most of the evening. The wind is blowing from the SW rather than SE so we are getting buffeted a bit more than last night, but again, it comes and goes.

[YnysMon]

Glad to hear The Granary is open some days this winter. Anyone know if they are dog friendly?

[FairTmiddlin]

14 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Glad to hear The Granary is open some days this winter. Anyone know if they are dog friendly?

Not according to Tripadvisor

[kpnut]

16 hours ago, kpnut said:

The Granary cafe/restaurant was open (board says wed to sun for the winter)

I might have given you the wrong info. The board does indeed say that, but I think it might mean just in the evening. 
I’ll go in and ask later as it is shut at the moment. 
And I’ll ask about dogs too. 

[kpnut]

I now have all the info on the Granary restaurant. 
Open on Fri and Sat evenings, food served 5.30 - 9. And Sunday from 12.00 (?, might have been 12.30) till 6. 

No dogs inside summer or winter. 

It’s a ‘reduced winter menu’, 

4 starters - tomato soup, scotch egg, scallops or prawn cocktail. 
£6.95 - £10.50

6 mains - sea bass, steak, burger, vegan burger, chickpea curry, chicken in creamy sauce. £16.50 - £26.50

4 desserts. And 3 children’s mains. 

The board outside is still the wrong info, I let them know it’s causing confusion. Also that the Facebook page says it opens at 8.30am every day. 

Looks cosy, but I think I prefer the ambience of a pub. Each to their own I suppose. 

Your reporter on the spot signing off!
 

[kpnut]

And they have a website that I couldn’t find this morning. The menus are on there. 
www.the granaryranworth.com

What I wasn’t told is that what I’ve just said applies till early dec, then it changes to a Christmas menu. And that the Sunday menu is different to the Fri/sat menu. 

Best look at the website. 
Neither the website nor the Facebook page have any opening time info. What I read about 8,30 opening was on trip adviser. 

[kpnut]

Friday 3rd November.

It was certainly a more unsettled night down fleet dyke, must have been courtesy of the direction change of the wind. The morning dawned nice and bright, still windy, the forecast said about 20mph. 

I only had a short, but very enjoyable cruise down to Ranworth in the sunshine. I had my choice of moorings so went in the taxi rank. The side dyke is noticeably wider with no boats in it!

What I forgot is that the water hose only just reaches my waterfill point on that mooring. I should have gone further up to fill and then move down. 
It’s been a lovely day and I’ve got the dog towels dry as well as the floor mats.

I have a fun weekend coming up with my sister arriving tonight. We’re off to North Walsham tomorrow for a ‘come and sing’ day at the church; we’re singing the Fauré Requiem with Norfolk Camerata. Hopefully our voices will hold out. My son sent me a YouTube recording and score to follow to try to learn it a bit. The Latin is non comprehensible, but I have enough past experience of singing stuff like this that I remember the pronounciations, even I have no idea what it means. 

So with her arrival tonight, I cleaned the boat inside and out before setting off down the lane to Woodbastwick. Yet another church to have a look in.

I found the memorial plaques to various Cators.

No matter they might own half the area I’ve been led to believe, perhaps they’ve put some money into the church as it did seem rather posh. It has a nice roof. 

And this notice in the porch was interesting -

Here he is, I wonder what he’s doing?

After a short break in the pub, I walked back via Panxworth, finding myself in the middle of a shoot as I walked down Hulver Road. Birds were flying over the road with guns going off either side, so I was rather relieved to reach the ‘gun bus’ and stand and talk to someone instead of wondering if I was going to survive the walk. I’ve always thought you shouldn’t run a drive across a public thoroughfare. Good thing neither Finlay or I are phased by the guns. But for the rest of the walk back, Finlay was totally switched on and a bit of a pain as he was so keyed up. 

There is a shortage of footpaths round here, hence walking on the lanes. I found two notices at the ends of promising looking tracks, marked on the map as ‘other road, drive or track’ saying that under the Highways  Act 20?? there was no public right of way. 
My other musing followed on from my observation the other day of so many stubble fields. I had speculated that they were perhaps left unsown till the spring due to wet ground over winter, but of course, it’ll also be for the shooting potential. 

[YnysMon]

That singalong sounds fun. Love the Fabre Requiem, but only had the opportunity to sing it once, at an OU music course summer school (back in the day when there were scummier schools). The trouble with Latin is that the the choirs I sing with insist that we use consistent pronunciation, which is all well and good, except I have been getting very muddled this term as the OU choir have had a programme of Handel and Haydn, so German Latin, whereas the for the concert last month with the other choir we went for the Italian conventions in a programme of a Capella early music from England, Spain and France and modern English and ‘Baltic’ music. It’s bad enough coping with the music never mind the pronunciation!

I would have been terrified by that shoot. Good thing you know about such things.

By the way, Harry, Alec and I have spent the evening playing Christmas music at band, including ‘It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas’, Driving home for Christmas’, ‘I wish it could be Christmas everyday’, Merry Christmas Everyone’ ‘When a child is born’, etc. 

I’m now thoroughly Christmassy.   At least until tomorrow.
 

 

[kpnut]

That last photo above is of the forge at Woodbastwick. Just along the road from the brewery towards the village green. He does make some very lovely wrought ironwork decorative things. 

[kpnut]

The ‘come and sing’ day in North Walsham was very worthwhile taking part in. Very glad that I went. We both really enjoyed the challenge of sightreading with a choir that had a good standard. I did have to spend the break times bashing out the part in the piano for a few of us. 
If I do ever achieve my aim of moving down to Norfolk, if I end up in the north broads area I think I’ll join their choir. They were extremely welcoming. 

[YnysMon]

Sounds like you had a good time Kate. I’ve always been shy of turning up to such events, it’s great that you had a warm welcome. 

[kpnut]

On 05/11/2023 at 06:57, YnysMon said:

I’ve always been shy of turning up to such events, it’s great that you had a warm welcome. 

You ought to go to one Helen, although you sing regularly anyway. I must admit my voice was a bit ‘tight’ to start with. 
 

[kpnut]

Sunday 5th November. 
A nice leisurely start after our hard work yesterday. We cruised along to Womack staithe in the sunshine, for a very thorough pump out, before mooring up at Thurne dyke for lunch at the Lion. They had a ‘small bite’ roast on offer, we both chose beef and it was excellent. Not so small mind you! Certainly enough for me. 
It was windy turning at the end of the dyke and windy getting off the mooring. I don’t often moor up there, and usually stay at the river end of the dyke, so wondering if it’s always windy down there. 
The grass wasn’t too soggy considering all the rain and high water. The mooring rings were covered with water but that was as far as it went. 
And then back to Ranworth to let Sheila pick up her car and get off home. 

I’m very annoyed with myself to have missed the showing if the northern lights last night. I read about them too late. Maybe tonight🤞

[NorfolkNog]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

so wondering if it’s always windy down there. 

I've tended to find that. The wind always seems to blow from the North bank which was always the 'pub' side although I think they have taken over the farm side too. Mooring on that bank in a strong cross wind without the aid of bow thrusters can be a bit of a challenge (been there..... etc) 

[Broads01]

Yes turning at the end is OK but a bit of a faff. I tend to reverse out so I don't have to bother turning even if I'm part way down the dyke.

[kpnut]

2 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

Mooring on that bank in a strong cross wind without the aid of bow thrusters can be a bit of a challenge (been there..... etc) 

The main difficulty at the moment with this very high overtopping water is that where it’s windy it sort of blows the boat right up onto the quay heading, or that is certainly what it feels like. I keep thinking I’m going to end up impaled on a mooring post!

[kpnut]

2 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Yes turning at the end is OK but a bit of a faff. I tend to reverse out so I don't have to bother turning even if I'm part way down the dyke.

I wouldn’t dare reversing down if there were boats moored either side. At least, not without someone else on board to tell me what’s going on. The short distance of Nestishead is bad enough. 

[NorfolkNog]

I have reversed out but it's tricky if it's windy. I agree with Simon, turning at the end is not ideal. What we try to do is turn the boat on the ropes as soon as we moor up which makes it easier to get out later if the dyke gets full.

 

 

[kpnut]

31 minutes ago, NorfolkNog said:

What we try to do is turn the boat on the ropes as soon as we moor up which makes it easier to get out later if the dyke gets full

That’s a good idea. 
 

What I forgot to mention was that the little pump house/sluice at thd pub end of the moorings, just as the grass finishes, was foaming at the mouth 😄, looked like water was coming out from under the door, and there was a little geyser coming out of a hole next to the edge of the quay. It was very funny and I should have taken a photo. 

[kpnut]

Monday 6th November.

I wasn’t expecting the day to be so beautiful. I do look at the forecast, but often then promptly forget the information  again. I do know it’s meant to be wet again on Wednesday. 

We had another wander round the Ranworth lanes first thing. I have two ‘normal’ morning walks -  

up the hill, round the bend down into the dip and back along Common Road to the path that gives glimpses of South Walsham Broad and comes out at the far end of the lane leading back to the Granary stores and the staithe. 

And up the hill, turning right along Priory Road, turning left at the far end up to Panxworth tower and then taking the footpath/track to the left soon after. That snakes round the back of someone’s garden and across a meadow, eventually coming out in the dip of the road leading back to the hill. I then either follow the road back or join onto the previous walk along the track of Common Road. 

But I’ve done neither during this stay as I felt both would be extremely muddy. Not that it matters really as Finlay gets a swim before re-boarding anyway. 

I used up my electric by hoovering and giving the boat a blast with the electric heater before setting off. I had actually intended to turn right into the river and go to Boundary Farm, but completely forgot and found myself headed in the Horning direction and the sunshine. Horning church mooring and Cockshoot moorings were both flooded, but there was a nice space on the parish moorings in the village, so that was my home for the rest of the day. 

The ferry inn carpark is still completely awash and I could have taken a photo of their sheds/garages at the back of the carpark. The water is up as far as the shed door handle, so that must be about halfway up the door. There were lights on in the pub, so maybe it was open??? From the river, you could certainly tie up on the dayboat bit right outside and not get your feet wet. That bit of quay is much higher than either side. Their terrace area was fairly dry.

What struck me as I cruised along is that a number of riverside properties have not been touched at all by the water. They are the ones with high quay headings, while others’ gardens are completely underwater up to their deckings etc - the ones with an inadequate height quay heading. If I were a property owner, that would be the first thing I’d address to help myself from further flooding. But I know it’s very costly. 

We had a shortish walk up to the crossroads at Ropes Hill, that are being dug up for a gas main with 4 way lights in operation, across to the footpath where Finlay could run to his heart’s content on the stubble field. I was going to continue along the lane past the radar museum and make a circle of it, but he had so much exercise on that field I felt no need to go further. 
We dropped back down into the village and I walked past the house that has the books for sale in the summer. A sign said they’d made over £2500 for charity this year. Wow!

This morning I’ll wander along to Horning Pleasurecraft and take a photo of the mooring for you Helen, so you know what to expect on your arrival on Friday.