Springer’s Retreat On The Rivers

[Roy]

Thanks for posting your journey on the broads with walks it’s been most interesting reading . 

Going back to Salhouse village it’s a lovely village quite a long village if you had carried on the road where the cafe is you would have passed lots of lovely houses/ gardens and the village hall which is the old school where my mum went to school! 

Beyond that is the pub at the top of the village the bell I always pop in as it’s a charming little pub and my granddad used to cut the bowling green which is sadly not there anymore. 

Roy 

[kpnut]

Thanks Roy. I think because it’s slightly further from the moorings than many other places, it gets missed a bit. It sounds like you have happy memories from there with relatives involved in the community. You are right about the gardens. We saw some lovely ones, especially now the roses are out. 

[kpnut]

5 hours ago, YnysMon said:

I’m glad we have bought into syndicate, as we wanted more time on the rivers than we could afford when hiring. However,   we don’t think we would be able to afford to maintain our own boat. Though I do envy the amount of time you have on the rivers. 

I thought about the syndicate route but didn’t have the confidence of potentially trashing a boat belonging to others too!

Not sure I can afford a boat either to be honest, but just taking it slowly and ‘making do’ where necessary, thinking of it as slightly more comfortable than camping. 
The time on the rivers is the major bonus. I’m lucky to be retired with a husband who, although he doesn’t share my passion for ‘roughing it’ on the boat, doesn’t mind manning the fort at home while I’m here. I came in every month last year, had Ranworth staithe to myself in December during storm Barra, New Years Eve at Womack watching fireworks over the water from the churchyard, experienced Hickling area in March when completely deserted and peaceful, and many other special times. 
But I do also spend quite a bit of my time on diy, either on my home mooring, or preferably as part of a trip downriver. Maybe that’ll get less as I get the boat how I want. 
Your boat time can be 100% holiday. Swings and roundabouts I suppose. 

[SwanR]

That’s a very balanced view Kate. 

Have a lovely day wherever it takes you in this beautiful summer sunshine. 

[kpnut]

Saturday 11th June.
The morning comprised a trip downriver from Acle to Stracey Arms. We’re hoping to view the wind pump now it’s had its cap replaced, but it hasn’t been fully commissioned yet, so we plumped for a coffee in the cafe and intro to goats for Finlay. He or they weren’t bothered, in fact I doubt Finlay even noticed they weren’t dogs!

 

The Mill House Farm moorings in the photo - as described yesterday, peaceful and well kept. The quay headings have rubber rubbing strakes all the way down too, but I did notice the quay is VERY low and the posts very short. 
 

Now at the entrance to Thurne Dyke for lunch, quite a windy spot. A day boat came in beside us, but the ropes were so short they wouldn’t reach the posts, so I lent rhond anchorage for their lunch stop. And then a hire boat joined us, first timers making a good job of the windy conditions. 
 

 

Is this anything to do with you Grendel???

 

Forgot to mention we passed an eel catcher on our way downriver yesterday, near Oby Dyke. He landed a net that looked quite full to my amateur eyes. 
 

 

 

 

 

[Troyboy]

Mill House Farm moorings looked a nice alternative to Acle Bridge. I walked past them last month when we moored at Acle. I thought that it would be a great place to Moor. Good for the dog, 10 minutes walk from the Bridge Inn. Very peaceful. 

[grendel]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

Is this anything to do with you Grendel???

unfortunately not, just a mere coincidence 

[kpnut]

I chatted to the folk on board. It belongs to the boss of a tech firm who allows staff to book it out. It’s all electric. 
I didn’t like to ask if it was for sale for you!!!

[kpnut]

So to this afternoons activity and thoughts. 
We decided to stay put and pay our money at Thurne Dyke rather than moving to Womack as ‘planned’ ( in the loosest sense). 2 reasons-we’ve never moored here before overnight or done any walks from here ( although later I remembered I’d done the riverbank to P.H.last winter). And we have both walked many of the Ludham area walks numerous times. 
Mooring pricing is a bit unusual. If you pay before 6pm up at the pub to stay over, it’s £7.50. If you pay after 6pm, meaning they have to come down and collect it, it’s £10. So that means if you come after collection time and wander up to the pub to pay, you’re effectively paying for a collection service you don’t receive. Not that I would ever be bothered to negotiate, it’s  what it is to be honest!

We duly paid at the pub and set off round the village footpaths with the aim of ending up down Staithe Road by the wind energy museum at the end of the P.H. Chalets. Plan was then to walk to the bridge and then back along the riverbank to Thurne. I can’t describe the route through the Thurne footpaths as too many junctions etc and too many alternatives to lengthen or shorten, but somehow we managed to go too far on a path and ended up coming out by some allotments and a pretty cottage at Bastwick and down a lane to the main A149.

Pleased to say there is a super path/cycle path along the side of the road into Potter. A sit down on the bench in front of the pilots office gave us ringside seats for the boats going through the bridge. Then all the way back along the river to Thurne. Straightforward I thought, but from the end of the chalets all the way back to Thurne was extremely overgrown.

 

I don’t know who’s responsible for maintaining public footpaths along the river, but am very surprised to see it like this as it’s the Weavers Way. The footpath between Fleet Dyke entrance and halfway to Thurne mouth was in a similar state a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps it’s to do with ‘No mow May’?  But I did notice the paths behind the newly cut fishermens’ patches downstream of Oby and on the north bank of the Thurne were cut. 
How we didn’t end up with any stinging nettle stings, seeing as both of us were wearing shorts, I don’t know, but maybe the nettles were Fen Nettle which we learnt yesterday have fewer stinging hairs. Very grateful to them anyway, for not attacking us!

We learnt a new word on the internet yesterday too, to ‘traike’, so that’s what we were doing in the last bit of our walk - to trudge wearily!

I was very surprised to check my mileage. It was only 4.5 miles, took 2.5 hours with the obligatory stops to talk to dog walkers and allotment holders!

I would certainly recommend some of the walks round the lanes and fields of Thurne, but maybe not the riverbank unless you know it’s been seen to. 
 

Cauliflower cheese for tea, rather more odd than usual as made with oat milk and some form of soya ‘cheese’ which wouldn’t melt, as Judith has to keep off lactose. Now enjoying the evening sunshine and warmth as the wind seems to have dropped a bit. 

[kpnut]

Can anyone tell me how to reduce the size, as in MB, of my photos on an iPhone as uploading them and inserting them is gobbling up data. They average about 4MB, but Judith’s were only measuring in KB. Thanks. 

[YnysMon]

If I recall correctly, what I do is right click on the file of the photo, select edit from the menu then on the menu bar at the top select resize. I generally resize to 20%. Let me know if that works.

[YnysMon]

P.s. I save my resized photos to a temporary folder for that particular day, so when I want to upload the photos I can just go to that folder and do a select all option. 

[YnysMon]

16 minutes ago, kpnut said:

Cauliflower cheese for tea, rather more odd than usual as made with oat milk and some form of soya ‘cheese’ which wouldn’t melt, as Judith has to keep off lactose.

Hmm. I’ve recently switched from using soya milk to oat milk…because I think using a milk that relies on soya beans generally grown in the America’s isn’t that sustainable compared to using oats that can be grown here. However, I’ve noticed that doing a bechamel sauce using oat milk is a bit tricky. It seems to turn out more runny than using soya milk. I will add more flour next time. 

Also, I’ve found that using a tablespoon of nutritious yeast or a teaspoon of marmite in the ‘cheese’ sauce is better than using ‘pretend cheese’. I do use the ‘cheese’ on the top though. 

[kpnut]

I like the marmite idea, will try that and tell Jude too. I don’t like the idea of using soya either. I got told by the medics at the drugs trial clinic I do trials for that it affects oestrogen/fsh levels. 
One carton of oat milk, barista version, was nice and thick, the other , original, was really runny. Even after shaking it up well. 
 

I tried the resizing, but how do I do a right click on the iphone? I might have to wait till I put them onto my pc once home, when I’ll be able to do it. 
When I clicked on Edit on the right hand side of a chosen photo, it only allowed me to alter the contrast, brilliance etc etc  

 

[SwanR]

I’ve been doing a bit of searching. You can’t resize an image in Photos. You either need a 3rd party app or you can use the Shortcuts app you get on an iPhone or can find in the App Store. This website describes how to use it but I haven’t tried it myself. 

https://convergeddevices.net/how-to-resize-an-image-on-iphone/

[kpnut]

Will try that Jean, thanks. I’ll do it when I get home though, when I’m back in Wi-Fi. 

[kpnut]

Plan today is Womack for a pump out and a wander, then How Hill for more wandering!

[BrundallNavy]

1 hour ago, kpnut said:

Plan today is Womack for a pump out and a wander, then How Hill for more wandering!

We had one there last week and they seem to have put the price up now £20. 

[ranworthbreeze]

36 minutes ago, BrundallNavy said:

We had one there last week and they seem to have put the price up now £20. 

Still £20 for two pump out at Boulters

 

[BrundallNavy]

6 minutes ago, ranworthbreeze said:

Still £20 for two pump out at Boulters

 

It’s our go to place except when it’s windy. 

[YnysMon]

15 hours ago, kpnut said:

 

I tried the resizing, but how do I do a right click on the iphone? I might have to wait till I put them onto my pc once home, when I’ll be able to do it. 
When I clicked on Edit on the right hand side of a chosen photo, it only allowed me to alter the contrast, brilliance etc etc  

Sorry, I don’t tend to post that many photos from my smart phone as I have a very cheap package with limited data. I save them up until I get home, load everything from different cameras/phones onto my laptop and then open them up from my browser. For our last trip I had loads of photos to select from as I got my sun to share his with me. 

[kpnut]

7 hours ago, YnysMon said:

I have a very cheap package with limited data. I

Mines like that too. At least I presume it’s quite cheap. £6 a month for 4GB and unlimited calls and texts, not that I send many of them. 
 

No pump out at Womack as Dave said its closed on Sundays. He apologised cos i’d rung yesterday and was told on the phone it’d be open. 
So we’re hoping for the best. I doubt it needed doing, just that Jude was paying before she goes home on Tuesday. 
I often try to plan trips to go into Boulters towards the end. 
 

While at Womack we had a wander for an hour, 1.5 miles. At the top of Horsefen Road, where it joins the road to PH, there’s a footpath that goes more or less parallel to the road. There’s also another hedgeveg stall with potatoes and eggs today. After a few fields, turn left on the lane, up to and across the road continuing on the lane and it bears round to the left to come parallel to the road again back to Ludham. At the junction at the end you have numerous choices, but they all lead back into Ludham. (Actually, the right hand lane might go to Catfield) We chose left, then bear right and it comes out past Throwers store. A nice little walk on quiet lanes, just enough for a bit of exercise. 
I didn’t see the board for the Portuguese tart lady, is she still baking?

On to How Hill. The rivers were certainly busier this lunchtime than I’ve seen for a long while, but funnily enough when we arrived at Womack at about 10am there was plenty of space and when we left at 12 it was only half full. I’d have thought it’d be more popular on a Sunday lunchtime in June. 
 

Arriving at How Hill, I thought we were going to be out of luck, but saw a fairly tight spot and was concentrating so much I failed to notice I was coming in in front of the couple we’d moored next to at Salhouse the other day. We had a good chat, then time for some food and a real exploration this pm. 
I wanted to see if there is a path running along the riverbank behind Jonny Crowes Staithe and the wild mooring a bit further upstream. After a nice wander along past the boat shed and the 2 pumps on the newly ‘done up’ path, it skirts round the reedbeds, goes over a little bridge and ends up on a rather muddy track. We turned left instead of following the footpath sign to the right as I was sure we’d get to Jonny Crowes by doing that. A few mins later and we were there and it was free! I nearly ran all the way back to the boat to bring her round but thought better of it!!

A small pathway then led us up the riverbank to the next mooring and I’m sure you could walk to the next mooring up too, but with shorts and crocks on, thought it would wait for a welly and trouser day. So now, I’ve opened up a new way to enjoy How Hill by knowing I can moor there and access the ice cream in the eelcatchers cottage. 
In fact, as we continued on our walk, I also realised how near Ludham is from How Hill across the fields. 
Retracing our steps to the track, and following it as it turns into a lane, we turned right at a t junction marked How Hill. This lane comes back down the western side of Cromes Broad although you can’t see it, just like you can’t see the eastern side from the track. That was a bit disappointing. 
This lane would take you straight back to How Hill, but we turned left down a really well maintained footpath. Finlay sat very nicely to the whistle as two young deer shot out from the field right in front of him-pleased with that as he was quite a way, maybe 50 yards, in front of me!

There’s a good view along this path over to Ludham church. You can just see it in this photo. 
Where the path arrived at the lane, turn right to get back to How Hill or go diagonally over the field in front to you to extend the walk to emerge past the downstream end of the How Hill moorings. I won’t describe that as this has gone on long enough as it is. 
We followed the lane back to How Hill with a detour to the secret garden. Rhododendrons and azaleas are over but still plenty of colour. 

3.5 miles, 2 hours for those interested in a slightly different walk to the norm. 

Tea of veg curry to round off the warm day, along with a glass of cider. Bit midgy here tonight! All entrances/exits closed!!! And the cuckoo has been cuckoo if. Which reminds me of what I heard yesterday on our way back from PH to Thurne. A cuckoo started in one key, cuck then coo a third down, as normal. Then another started one key up. So the two were slightly out of time with each other so we got what sounded like church bells as their two songs intertwined. Most melodious I thought!

[kpnut]

Oh, and there was a plane over the How Hill area all afternoon doing aerobatics, circles, twists, dives etc. My stomach wanted to rebel just watching. 

[YnysMon]

We’ve walked to Ludham village and back from How Hill too…several years ago when we were on a couple of Hunter’s Yard boats. We moored up at How Hill following a rather tricky sail down the Ant. It’s indelibly marked in my memory as Graham and I got stuck in a tree just north of How Hill. The wind the following morning wasn’t in the direction that we’d hoped to help us sail on, so we went on a lovely walk instead. 

Tale here:

Actually, I think that was one of the first tales I posted, and there aren’t many photos as I hadn’t yet worked that out!

On the other hand, I’ve just remembered that I added a link in at the end of that post to a rather atmospheric YouTube video of the Broads that fleetingly captured our two boys doing a double quant through Meadow Dyke against the wind. 

[kpnut]

That was a wonderful read, Helen. Diolch yn fawr. 
I would be scared rigid in a sailing boat. Your description of the interior was fascinating, excellent use of space.