Springer’s Retreat On The Rivers

[kpnut]

35 minutes ago, ExSurveyor said:

The forecast is not bad for next week. Possibly some rain on Wednesday and thursday but high 20sall week, allegedly.🤞

I hope time has now slowed down nicely for you with your long stretch on the boat ticking along steadily. Good weather always helps the feeling of never ending summer, so even more 🤞🤞🤞from me. 

[ExSurveyor]

It seems like we have been here for ages but it has only been 10 days.

I have bimbled around doing various jobs for a few hours most days. Had a couple of days lost to a bad head. Two more jobs to finish and then feet up. We are going back home next weekend to pick up all four grandchildren for the week. We then have four weeks of messing about on the river.

Enjoy your time out and about.

[Gracie]

You are going to need that four weeks after having four grandchildren aboard  Hope your head is better

Have a great time Kate, look forward to your write ups as usual

Grace x

 

[Mouldy]

11 hours ago, ExSurveyor said:

The forecast is not bad for next week. Possibly some rain on Wednesday and thursday but high 20sall week, allegedly.🤞

We’re due back up on Friday afternoon for the weekend, so make the most of it!  I’m sure it’ll be wet and windy then.

[MargeandParge]

Once you cast off the time whizzes by .

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[kpnut]

10 hours ago, Mouldy said:

I’m sure it’ll be wet and windy then.

Nooo. 

[kpnut]

I managed to cast off this late afternoon after a journey from Burton on Trent. As I passed Cambridge in the A14, I suddenly remembered I was meant to stopping in at my sister’s to collect a fender she’d found washed up on a beach in Scotland last week.
So moving quickly over to take the Histon exit which was fast approaching in half a mile, and a stop down Histon Rd to see how to get to her house, I found it was literally three streets away; what a stroke of luck. I’ve never been to hers from that direction before. 

I arrived in time to go food shopping and was down on the river by 4.30pm in beautiful calm conditions. 

Mooring at Paddy’s Lane, Finlay had a well deserved walk and a run round the green. The cherry plum tree that had such a good crop last year has no fruit on it this year. No harvest later in the year for me then!

There was a kingfisher on this boat, but it flew off as I approached - thanks Finlay!!!

[YnysMon]

Our plum tree seems to only produce fruit in quantity every other year. This is one of those years, so I need to get into jam/chutney mode! We’re going away later this week though, so that might mess up my plans. 

[kpnut]

11 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Our plum tree seems to only produce fruit in quantity every other year. This is one of those years, so I need to get into jam/chutney mode! We’re going away later this week though, so that might mess up my plans. 

Mine too, although it’s a ‘low’ year there’ll still be more than we can keep up with. I’m not sure we’ve eaten all last years frozen ones yet. 
I’m hoping mine aren’t ready till my return, otherwise Tony’ll have extra work! 
It looks a bumper year for apples and pears. And I’m really happy with how my cider apples trees, now in their third growing season are coming on. I’m training them as espaliers. 

[dom]

15 hours ago, kpnut said:

Pennygate always makes me smile. It's obviously de rigueur to own a Dory if you live in Barton Turf.

11 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Our plum tree seems to only produce fruit in quantity every other year. This is one of those years

Mine produced loads but, unfortunately, they went rapidly from unripe to mildewed because we've had so much rain, so I barely got to harvest any.

 

[kpnut]

I’ve had my sugar fix today. I found a cherry tree along the bridleway between Fritton Lane and Horsefen Rd in Ludham. I had to shake the tree as they were too high for me to pick. Lovely. 

I delivered my piece of Formica to LBBY on my way past. George is going to roll it onto the new ply pelmets for me to collect next time I’m here. When I arrived at Womack dyke, the ranger was strimming plus another was on the ride-on mower. The mooring is a nice three or four mower pass width now with some more behind it shortened. He was having problems with the brushcutter getting tangled with reed. 
And although they told me that officially they mustn’t cut the path up to the end of the tarmaced lane by Hunters, (council responsibility) they might leave the mower on by mistake! They did.
The path the other way, round the riverbank, is still in a sorry state even though I was told by NCC the second cut had begun a couple of weeks ago. 
I had a nice walk along the track from Hunters instead, ending up on Fritton Lane and back along that bridleway. The hedge veg stall near the Horsefen Rd junction had a nice selection of tomatoes for £1, eggs at £1.30 a half dozen and some potatoes. 
There’s a nice breeze while I sit under the trees on Womack staithe. 
 

[CambridgeCabby]

I may pinch your spot tomorrow on the dyke 

[kpnut]

You’d be most welcome, but I think you might arrive before I leave. I’m intending on having a walk first. 
If this morning is anything to go by though, the dyke will be empty all morning. Even now, 3.15pm) there’s plenty of space. Expect they’ll fill once the new hirers leave HW though. 

[kpnut]

This week, one of my ‘jobs’ is to jot down things to do with a newly walking and very active 15 month old on board. My daughter and family are using the boat at the end of August.

So my notes (not including walks which are taken as read) for Womack are -

Swimming pool - accessible by foot from either moorings at the end of Fritton Lane. Expensive for just a family of three mind you at £32/hr, but if anyone fancied a dip while on holiday, it’s bookable in advance. You do get the full hour as it doesn’t include the time to get changed before and after. I won’t put contact details as I don’t want to plug businesses as such, having never been myself. But go on Google maps and find the leisure facility marked at the end of Fritton Lane. You can walk to it on the bridleway from the top end of Horsefen Rd, so no need to walk on the main road. 

Children’s play area - up Catfield Rd up by the primary school.

And for a harassed parent - the new massage therapy place on Womack staithe. 
 

For Barton Turf - nice stroll round the green with a pond dipping platform (own net/tray required) and plenty of space to run around.
White Horse at Neatishead is also easily walkable. 

[CambridgeCabby]

Children’s play area Salhouse broad , plus a paddle/swim 

[vanessan]

4 hours ago, dom said:

Pennygate always makes me smile. It's obviously de rigueur to own a Dory if you live in Barton Turf.

Surely it’s Barton Turf not Pennygate? 

[dom]

57 minutes ago, vanessan said:

Surely it’s Barton Turf not Pennygate? 

It always was, and continues to be Pennygate to me and anyone I know with historic connections to the local area.

The move to call it Barton Turf seems to be relatively recent - possibly as recent as post millenium. I presume there's politics at play and Barton Turf & Irstead parish council probably want to establish a full claim to it. It may be why BT&IPC don't allow overnight mooring with an honesty box, which I've commented a few times on here would seem to be a better situation than the current one.

[vanessan]

I have yet to find ‘Pennygate Staithe anywhere on a ‘historic’ map. Admittedly I have heard/seen it mentioned before but I wonder how much is due to the Bart Turf sign as you enter the village. I believe it to be a finger post underneath the Barton Turf wording, one finger pointing to the Staithe and the other to Pennygate, the next hamlet along the road. 
Having said all that, we know the area in question and the BA Staithe mooring itself is a sad loss. 

[dom]

2 hours ago, vanessan said:

I have yet to find ‘Pennygate Staithe anywhere on a ‘historic’ map. Admittedly I have heard/seen it mentioned before but I wonder how much is due to the Bart Turf sign as you enter the village. I believe it to be a finger post underneath the Barton Turf wording, one finger pointing to the Staithe and the other to Pennygate, the next hamlet along the road.

You won't find Wroxham Staithe or Salhouse Little Broad on historic maps either, but I can assure you they're also valid place names.

I don't buy the sign theory. I grew up in the area, had a girlfriend in Barton Turf at one time, and spent my youth around people who had roots in the area going back centuries. Everyone called it Pennygate Staithe. The sign only originates from the coronation in '53.

If you look at old maps, what's now known as Barton Turf was historically Barton Common, so it's illogical to think it'd be called Barton Turf Staithe then. Barton Turf proper used to be where St.Michael and All Angels is on Church Road. Pennygate was larger than it is now, so it's not unreasonable to think that the staithe was originally used predominantly by people from Pennygate.

10 or 15 years ago, all the signage stated Pennygate, but it's been slowly replaced. I suspect there's probably an easement on the staithe for residents of Pennygate or similar and someone is trying to slowly make it disappear.

 

[vanessan]

All sounds a bit like Ranworth/Malthouse and Surlingham/Bargate, no doubt there are many others with ‘dual nationality’. As a local, I’m sure you are right in your thinking. 

[kpnut]

On 29/07/2024 at 15:45, CambridgeCabby said:

Children’s play area Salhouse broad , plus a paddle/swim 

Yep,got that one. Wouldn’t let her go in the water there though, it’s revolting!

[kpnut]

My friend Cath arrived on the bus as planned after parking up at my mooring. A walk down to the dyke moorings landed her straight in the middle of her holiday on the river. 

We had another walk round the same route as yesterday in the ‘cool’ of the morning. It was certainly hotter outside than in at 9am. 

A quick chat to one of my neighbours from Stalham who’d moored up next to me and then we left, hopefully timing it right to venture through Horning during the regatta lunch recess. Yes, we made it with no obstacles. 

Wroxham bridge was on 6’6” or so. We did have a big queue of chaos as one hire boat was on the pilots’ staithe, one waiting, us behind him, with a dayboat that decided to overtake to moor up on the left to give his boat back, blocking the bridge in the process, a pair of canoeists playing in the water directly under the bridge and the pilot trying to get a boat through to this side. Ah yes, and then as I was manoeuvring another dayboat started leaving the quay in front of me. 

We moored on the very quiet viaduct moorings for lunch in blazing heat then carried on up the Bure, mainly to get some airflow through the boat. Castle staithe was rammed with youngsters having a whale of a time, Belaugh parish mooring looked inviting but we continued to our main goal of Coltishall lock, and shade from a tree. 

It did look great fun at the mill pool,

the walk up across the lock and through the line of beech trees to the bridge was lovely as always, and Finlay is now completely zonked out from a water training session. The swans who decided to investigate weren’t very impressed. They had started off way up by the lock. 

 

Oops!

Another wonderful day all round. 

[Lulu]

That tail never stops wagging.  He’s adorable x

[Broads01]

Pleased to hear boats actually getting through Wroxham once again, the bridge has had Potter Heigham tendencies for quite a while. 

[kpnut]

30 minutes ago, Broads01 said:

Pleased to hear boats actually getting through Wroxham once again, the bridge has had Potter Heigham tendencies for quite a while.

Got to get back yet 😂