Springer’s Retreat On The Rivers

[kpnut]

I arrived onboard yesterday afternoon after a somewhat uncomfortable journey from my daughter’s. I’d picked up yet another sickness bug from looking after the youngster. Just about recovered well enough to drive and now I’ve had a solid 10 hours sleep I’m feeling much better, moored at How Hill. 

Looking forward to the meet at the weekend. Hopefully fully relaxing this year.

Last year, I was worried about Finlay eating that stick on the Thursday and certainly not being himself all weekend till it finally came out on the Monday. With a call to the emergency vet early on the Sunday morning after he’d had two bouts of sickness during the night and a walk round Salhouse in pyjamas, wellies and raincoat in the early hours. That was also the weekend I was due to become a Nana, that also happened on the Monday. I do remember having to have a plan B for the meet as I had Helen, Graham and Harry, Pozzick and Seren as guests on board. 

So I’ve ordered a noneventful trip this time, please🤞🤞🤞

A walk up the secret garden (in the rain) and extended for a good long walk with the dog is planned today and then slowly making my way along to Salhouse by tomorrow sometime. 

[CambridgeCabby]

We did toot and wave when we passed you at How’s Hill 

[JanetAnne]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

 

Last year, I was worried about Finlay eating that stick on the Thursday and certainly not being himself all weekend till it finally came out on the Monday. With a call to the emergency vet early on the Sunday morning after he’d had two bouts of sickness during the night and a walk round Salhouse in pyjamas, wellies and raincoat.....

🤞🤞🤞

Finlay in pyjamas, wellies and raincoat?

Piccys please! 

[NorfolkNog]

How long are you out for KP? 

[kpnut]

4 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

We did toot and wave when we passed you at How’s Hill 

I was probably still snuggled up in bed. Mind you I opened the curtains at 6.30 to watch the world go by. Sorry I missed you, but thanks. See you tomorrow. 

[kpnut]

4 hours ago, JanetAnne said:

Finlay in pyjamas, wellies and raincoat?

Piccys please! 

Ha ha.
Failed last year, could try this time round. He does have a couple of boots in case of injury, and a coat to say cosy in the saloon in winter nights, so I’d just need to borrow Desmond’s jimjams off Mermaid, but he’s not attending. 

[kpnut]

2 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

How long are you out for KP? 

Till 29th. All being well towards the end, I’m introducing the 5yr old grandson of a boaty friend of mine to the delights of time on a boat. I’ve just bought him a colouring book and pencils from Lathams in case of a rainy spell. And I’ve got an i-spy book of water birds onboard which I found at Hickling NWT the other week.
Grandma says ‘no electronics’. I agree!

[NorfolkNog]

Nice one  start 'em young 😀 will keep a look out and give you a wave 

[Norfolkangler]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

Grandma says ‘no electronics’. I agree!

I am sure there will be more than enough to keep his mind off electronics. When he returns ashore, he can impress everyone with his new found identification skills.

[kpnut]

1 hour ago, NorfolkNog said:

will keep a look out and give you a wave 

What boat are you on this time?

[Gracie]

2 hours ago, kpnut said:

Till 29th. All being well towards the end, I’m introducing the 5yr old grandson of a boaty friend of mine to the delights of time on a boat. I’ve just bought him a colouring book and pencils from Lathams in case of a rainy spell. And I’ve got an i-spy book of water birds onboard which I found at Hickling NWT the other week.
Grandma says ‘no electronics’. I agree!

That's exactly what I have done with my children when on holiday. I think as a result they love the great outdoors and our wonderful wild life. I allow some screen time otherwise I might become the most hated mum on the planet   

It's funny how things are now, I saw a photo today of parents from decades ago with about ten children, the caption that went with the pic "I wonder what people did in the old days with no social media, laptops and smartphones" 

I hope your little guest enjoys his time afloat

Grace x

[kpnut]

I was taken on holiday when about 10 to Brittany in France. Much to my dismay, my dad had brought a project for us to do - measuring the diameter of lichens on the standing stones at Carnac to date the stones. We just wanted to go to a creperie!

But is it any wonder that 30 years later I then studied for my OU degree in biology and geology? Thanks in retrospect, dad. 

[NorfolkNog]

6 hours ago, kpnut said:

What boat are you on this time?

Hi KP, sorry on Tower Bridge 

[kpnut]

It certainly is a misty morning. One of those you just feel sure the sun will burn off at some point. 🤞🤞

I’ll be leaving PH shortly to make my way along to Salhouse. I might even be able to make myself useful helping put up the gazebo if I time it wrong - oops right. 

[NeilB]

3 hours ago, kpnut said:

It certainly is a misty morning. One of those you just feel sure the sun will burn off at some point. 🤞🤞

I’ll be leaving PH shortly to make my way along to Salhouse. I might even be able to make myself useful helping put up the gazebo if I time it wrong - oops right. 

Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you!

[kpnut]

18 hours ago, NeilB said:

Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you!

I did get to help, along with plenty of other folk. What a beast! 

Spent an enjoyable afternoon and evening in sociable company and being entertained by the antics of the three dogs. Thankyou all. And looking forward to the day’s events. 

[kpnut]

The end of a lovely day among fellow minded folk. Thanks to NeilB for letting me hitch a lift on Rambling Rosie for the cinc, I thought cruising with someone else would be more sociable than driving on my own. And thanks to Nigel for a great quiz, something for everyone there, to Bluebell for agreeing to me my quiz buddy, and to Simon for all the organising of the weekend of course and to Grendel for baking bread. 
And then thanks to everyone else for just ‘being’ and contributing to a very relaxing day. 
Biker and I agreed he needs a second boat, just to store everything he needs on board!

[kpnut]

And then we all woke to the most glorious morning, and it’s stayed like that all day. 
With the gazebo packed, litter check done, breakfasts eaten, we all went our separate ways, with at least three of us heading through Wroxham bridge now it seems to have finally opened itself for traffic over the past few days. 
I went through with the board saying 6’9” and I’ve been through with 2 or 3” less, but having not been through all winter, it felt tighter than I remembered. 
I think I appreciated the cruise up to Coltishall more than most trips, being deprived of the enjoyment all winter. Once at Coltishall Common, I quickly made the decision to stop there rather than going up to the lock, mainly ‘cos I couldn’t be bothered to use the rhond anchors-how lazy is that? 
Water Rail soon passed me on the way up to the lock and later, Karizma moored up next to me. Cody and Finlay made their re-aquaintance, having only said their goodbyes earlier in the morning. 

[kpnut]

I found a new walk this afternoon. I followed the footpath from opposite the Kings Head, onto the lane and up past the little hamlet /part of Coltishall called St James. There are some lovely old buildings up there. 

Up onto the Bure Valley Railway path where we aimed to not get mown down by cyclists, or conversely not trip them up with a wandering dog in their path. 

I stopped for a rest at the railway station as I realised I’m still a bit short of energy after my sickness bug on Monday. 
Then on up to the bridge by Little Hautbois Hall where I waited for the train to pass under the bridge. This photo makes the train look like a little model railway scene. 

I was intending to then walk down next to the river but having walked that path many times, I went on to and over the next road bridge, (not sure which of the bridges is actually Mayton bridge but that’s the location I’m talking about for anyone interested enough in my wanderings to look at a map) and took a left turn onto a big wide farm track.

This follows parallel to the river but across the flood wash meadow.

It was a lovely route; sometimes track, sometimes path as it passed through a bit of carr and eventually I popped back into civilisation behind the churchyard of All Saints Church at Horstead.

The church was open so we had a little look in. It was lovely and cool for Finlay. Two kneelers caught my eye. 

The road took me down to the crossroads by the Recruiting Sargeant. It seems I should have gone in to find the Nogs.
I wandered along to the lock and took a photo of Water Rail for Grendel. The little boat looked really snug in the shade jnder the trees (posted in Water Rail’s thread). 
I can report that the lovely line of beech trees along the river bank up from the lock managed very well without us over the winter. They look beautiful. 

With another stop to look in Coltishall church, which I felt is more plain than Horstead church, but comparing the photos, I think that impression might be wrong  

I found myself outside the icecream van on the Common. With a walk of about 5 miles, I think I deserved my treat. There are plenty of shorter versions of this walk that still take in the track from Mayton bridge back down to Horstead church. 

[Roy]

Hi Kate mayton bridge is the one over the main river shortly followed by another little old bridge over another dyke as you walk away from the railway line.

there is a small area of parking and the area is popular with canoes and paddle boarding now. 
 

like the picture of number 6 I used to drive her when I was 10 don’t think health and safety would allow that now ! I did have an adult on the footplate with me incase anybody thought a 10 years old was solely driving it. 

[dom]

3 minutes ago, Roy said:

Hi Kate mayton bridge is the one over the main river shortly followed by another little old bridge over another dyke as you walk away from the railway line.

The two bridges are actually both called Mayton Bridge. The old one is supposed to be the original course of the river.

5 minutes ago, Roy said:

there is a small area of parking and the area is popular with canoes and paddle boarding now.

It was always a very popular spot for canoeing, swimming and fishing. We used to visit pretty regularly when I was young and the river was like a chalk stream - crystal clear, fairly fast flowing and just a little weed on a gravel bottom. I stopped off there last year and was dismayed to see the state of the water these days.

[kpnut]

1 hour ago, Roy said:

like the picture of number 6 I used to drive her when I was 10 don’t think health and safety would allow that now ! I did have an adult on the footplate with me incase anybody thought a 10 years old was solely driving it. 

I thought of you as I took the photo Roy and hoped you’d see it. 
 

1 hour ago, dom said:

The two bridges are actually both called Mayton Bridge. The old one is supposed to be the original course of the river.

That explains why the name on the map is plonked right inbetween the two. 
 

It still is busy with canoeists etc. Every time I walk down there, that pull in car park area is chocker. 

[kpnut]

1 hour ago, dom said:

crystal clear, fairly fast flowing and just a little weed on a gravel bottom

Still fast flowing, but silty bottom, most likely thanks to runoff from over cultivated fields. 

[dom]

40 minutes ago, kpnut said:

Still fast flowing, but silty bottom, most likely thanks to runoff from over cultivated fields. 

I'm very pro-farming, but it's very sad to see and possibly the clearest example I've seen of the harm we're doing. It really surprised me as downstream sections are, in general, clearer than they used to be.

There is actually something more akin to a real chalk stream nearby, where we used to catch (and release) native crayfish by placing jam jars in the stream. I daren't go and look at that, as I suspect it's fared even worse, if not from farming, then from signal crayfish.

[jpd]

8 hours ago, kpnut said:

Still fast flowing, but silty bottom, most likely thanks to runoff from over cultivated fields. 

Interesting comment. I doubt any farmers will over cultivate their fields. Apart from being a waste of time, margins are getting really tight with high fuel and machinery costs, not just initial purchase but maintenance costs are very high on some equipment.