Cruising Times On The Norfolk Broads - A 'metro' Style Map

[catcouk]

Hello all.

When I first returned to the Broads as an adult, one of the helpful resources I found for estimated cruising times was a 'metro' style map of the Northern Broads. (Think of a London Underground style map if you like). I cannot for the life of me remember where I found it but I was disappointed I couldn't find a matching 'metro' map for the South. I also found it frustrating that it didn't cover all of the moorings. So I decided to make one (albeit using Word so it doesn't look any where near as nice as the proper TfL maps)...

After 6 years of work (over 5 holidays), careful recording of times on a clipboard, and a diligent use of a GPS speedometer whilst observing the speed limits, I have now produced a (hopefully) comprehensive 'metro' style map of cruising times. I hope that it would be useful to anyone who might want this information but I will certainly use it as a good reference guide if no one else will.

I have endeavoured to provide accurate cruise timings (for a motor cruiser travelling at the speed limit) from my own experiences (many of these have been checked and rechecked over subsequent years) but I would greatly value any feedback that forum members might like to give. In addition to this, I have aimed to provide some limited information about each mooring that might be of interest to boaters (any mistake spotting would also be great appreciated). There are some limitations...

Whilst I have tried to include all fixed moorings (including private dykes and marinas but not anywhere needing a rhond anchor), space requirements mean that it sometimes has been necessary to list only a few at a chosen location. I have to assume that, if someone is using a different mooring, I have chosen recogniseable enough locations that they could choose an alternate labelled one. Also, whilst I have used my own personal experience for the vast majority, I have not been able to cruise above Potter Heigham Old Bridge and have relied on averages from other sources so any information on the Upper Thurne could be wildly inaccurate (again, corrections would be warmly welcomed). Lastly, all times are roughly accurate to the nearest 5 minutes (except where a distance is obviously shorter).

The usual caveat of tides and wind may affect the times possible (and this is stated on the map) and my intent is to show the fastest a motor cruiser should be able to get from A to B (shame on anyone who beats that time due to speeding!). This could be especially useful if arriving at a mooring to find it full and considering where the next best option is.

I hope this will be of interest to members and would like to thank anyone for feedback in advance. If this is only of interest to me, I'm not sad for putting it together - I have very much enjoyed the project (yes, I am that dull!). I also worry that I have filled it with too much information and might consider moving the notes and key to a third page (but I was really trying to save paper too).

Attached, is the FIRST DRAFT that I have made available publicly. If anyone has a website or other space that would like to use this, please feel free to. Any and all comments (good and bad) are very much welcomed.

NorfolkBroadsMetroMap.pdf

[SwanR]

Wow! That looks amazing. Thank you so much for all your time and effort producing this. And for sharing it with us. 

[floydraser]

While I'm not experienced enough to offer detailed constructive criticism I can see that this has involved a lot of work, even if it was masquerading as fun.

Thank you for making it public and helping others. I hope more experienced people come forward to help you put a polish on it if needed. 56 downloads as I write so a few have noticed...

[NotDeadYet]

An amazing piece of love and effort! Makes my barely legible scribbles on well worn maps look even worse. I'll put it to the test next month. I think the other underground style map you mention was produced by Clive Ricko at HPC - pretty sure it's on this forum somewhere. Thanks and best wishes.

[Broads01]

Well done on this, I can see how much work has gone in to it. I haven't seen anything else similar and I can absolutely see the use of it.

I have a couple of suggestions. Firstly, it looks as if you've been determined to fit everything into 2 printable sheets of A4 and I think that makes everything look a little busy and squashed. You could allow yourself further pages and have 5, one for each main river or you could dispense with printing altogether and go for an online format. Secondly, I think it would benefit from more consistency in the layout in terms of placement of numbers and abbreviations. I like the idea of placing main river numbers on the right and dykes and Broads on the left but you also have some main river numbers on the left. I would put all main river numbers on the right and have one column for longer distances and one column for the breakdown. Abbreviations need to be to the right of the main word I think rather than a mix of left or right.

I hope that's helpful. I'm a software developer by trade so just offering a view from that perspective.

[catcouk]

1 hour ago, Broads01 said:

I have a couple of suggestions.

Thank you so much for the feedback and I completely agree.

A digital version would be far superior and more flexible but that is beyond my abilities (and I no longer have a website server). I may put the notes and key on a third page though. For my personal use, it shouldn't make a difference but may make it easier to read.

Putting the BA abbreviation first was a deliberate choice to help someone spot free moorings by quickly scanning down the list. I thought it was worth the visual horror to make that clearer but I guess I could have used a colour (like the red) to make it stand out differently?

The cruise times were supposed to be consistent but the various different side channels made it impossible. Putting the dykes on the right might make that a possibility but I wanted to try and keep the layout of the channels broadly accurate. I'm a bit stuck here on the design front.

I will certainly have to try the other ideas though. Thank you very much!

[Cheesey69]

Very clever!

Always the biggest problem is going to be information overload. I mean the best maps (and i use motorway marker posts map at work) have all the information at a glance.

I did one for personnel use where each river runs top to bottom, on its own page, and branches and Broads sort of plugged in either side also from top to bottom on the same page, so effectively one page for each river.

I even had a go at a london underground style map.

Getting it down to an easy to understand format, at a glance is the challenge. 

I came to the conclusion, for clarity, that only the main areas, turn offs and Broads needed times or distance.

But boy! that's a very good map you have knocked out and will be useful 

[oldgregg]

It's clear how much work has gone into this!

I think it has potential as an App (with the content available offline!) but I also think it does work well in paper form because a low-tech solution that has no dependency on devices is always good when boating.

A PDF that gets updated regularly is a much simpler thing to maintain than a website, App etc.

There are a few people on here with design and typesetting skills so you might find a GD willing to help with layout, spacing, colour contrast etc.

[ExSurveyor]

Printed out and laminated, thank you.

[catcouk]

I think for the print out form, the two page works well from a lot of practical viewpoints but for the sake of clarity, I might have to move to a three page design. Having said that, having the I formation on an offline app would surely be the best approach (a PDF was the closest solution I could come up with!).

[Gracie]

Wow! I have to say if I could read and understand a map, that would probably be the best damn map I couldn't read or understand 

A lot of work and a whole load of love has gone into this. Thank you so much

Grace x

[kpnut]

Wow, what a project. I can see why you were keen to get everywhere last week, double checking. 
I will print a copy off as my guests will find it fascinating. 

I spent the first year of my boat ownership recording timings to all moorings from my home mooring for the north, and from Great Yarmouth for the south. Between one mooring and another I deduct as appropriate. It’s stayed pretty accurate.
It’s a fun thing to do and I’m sure you have had fun doing this. Thankyou indeed. 

[catcouk]

12 minutes ago, kpnut said:

I spent the first year of my boat ownership recording timings to all moorings from my home mooring for the north, and from Great Yarmouth for the south. Between one mooring and another I deduct as appropriate. It’s stayed pretty accurate.

I'd love to know how my times compare with yours - hopefully pretty close!

[kpnut]

32 minutes ago, catcouk said:

I'd love to know how my times compare with yours - hopefully pretty close!

I’ll pick a few random ones and send you them. 

[grendel]

just a suggestion, i know that even more information might be difficult, but maybe the phone numbers for the yacht stations for checking mooring availability- bridge heights etc or even just for great Yarmouth?

[oldgregg]

5 hours ago, catcouk said:

Having said that, having the I formation on an offline app would surely be the best approach (a PDF was the closest solution I could come up with!).

It's the maintenance that will be a pain in the bottom with an App. Don't forget that you'll also need to pay Apple £79 a year to run a free App, and have a Mac running a currently supported version of macOS to build and upload it from.

An App requires a decent level of skill to get onto the store in the first place, and then it needs to be kept up to date. Fail to keep up with the maintenance required by Apple and Google, fixing bugs raised in reviews etc and it'll be pulled from the stores.

It's hard work, I can assure you. I look after nine of them, one of which has been number 1 paid app in the UK.

While a website is more likely to be hacked, a simple static site is much less of a risk and simpler for the average person to maintain and update. My personal opinion would be that the industry wants us to move more towards Apps for that very reason.

[catcouk]

I decided that it was better to refer navigational matters to an official source. Probably a good idea to give the Yarmouth YS number out or Broads Control.

[catcouk]

3 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

It's hard work, I can assure you. I look after nine of them, one of which has been number 1 paid app in the UK.

Well, not that I ever harboured an ambition to produce an app but you have completely put me off now! Still, a fascinating insight into the world of app making!

[catcouk]

For anyone interested, kpnut was kind enough to share a range of her cruising times. With a possible query about the Waveney between Breydon and St Olaves and the stretch above Beccles Old Bridge, we're very pleased with the comparison.

Can I just say a big thank you for the engagement and response. 110 downloads seems like this was a worthwhile thing to share. I'll wait a few more days for any other feedback and then I'll reload up an official version one. I've tried something different to keep the two page format but I might release a three page version too. However, if the information is broadly accurate, then anyone is welcome to use the information however they like!

[sdk]

5 hours ago, oldgregg said:

It's hard work, I can assure you. I look after nine of them, one of which has been number 1 paid app in the UK.

While a website is more likely to be hacked, a simple static site is much less of a risk and simpler for the average person to maintain and update.

 

5 hours ago, catcouk said:

Well, not that I ever harboured an ambition to produce an app but you have completely put me off now! Still, a fascinating insight into the world of app making!

That is quite a bit of doom and gloom.  Something like this is ideal for giving this sort of thing a go. You're not even handling any sort of personal information. Who cares, you're not going to learn if you don't even bother.

[TheQ]

A great piece of work, downloaded for printing later

Thanks.

 

[catcouk]

Okay folks. Many thanks to the 139 downloaders. I have made a few minor corrections and I am releasing the 2024 (version 1) of my Metro Map. This is my last attempt at keeping it to two pages - some colouring in certainly helped but I think some might still find that first page overload. My intent is also to provide a cruising time chart (like those seen in various publications) using these times. If you can think of any significant places that I should add, let me know. Hopefully, I've picked enough here to give a rough idea:

BURE:

Coltishall Common

Wroxham Bridge

Horning Staithe

Ranworth (Malthouse Broad)

Acle

Great Yarmouth (YS)

ANT

Dilham

Stalham

Ludham Bridge

THURNE

Womack Staithe

Potter Heigham

West Somerton

Horsey Mere

Hickling

YARE

Berney Arms

Reedham

Rockland St. Mary

Brundall Church

Brammerton

Norwich YS

CHET

Loddon

WAVENEY

Burgh Castle

St. Olaves

Somerleyton

Oulton Broad

Waveney River Centre

Beccles YS

Geldeston

 

Lastly, if you do find anything out of date or incorrect, please message me and I will issue an update when I am able to. Also, if anyone wants to share this anywhere else, please do.

NorfolkBroadsMetroMapV1.pdf

[SwanR]

A huge thanks for providing this. The level of detail has made it really useful. I’ve brought a copy with me and am referring to it all the time. 

[catcouk]

Er... so that was a much bigger job than I had really thought (didn't really think that through). I take my hat off to anyone who ever made a time chart - especially if they did it without the help of a computer!

I have completed the cruising times chart (based on my data) and make it publicly available for anyone to use as they see fit. You may need a magnifying glass due to the chart's size though...). Unlike others I have seen, it is not split between the Northern and Southern Broads so you can quickly look up transit times through Great Yarmouth. Also, the locations are all arranged alphabetically rather than geographically (so it can be used by someone unfamiliar with locations).

In terms of doing it... After I did a few manually, I realised that that was mere folly. If we realise a time is wrong, it will be a nightmare to update. So, I put all the times on a spreadsheet and calculated them from that data. If there is ever a cruising time correction/ update, it is just a matter of changing that value and the whole chart will update!

If anyone finds a mistake (as numbers and spreadsheet formulae were just rolling through my mind by the end), please do let me know. The longer the journey is, the larger the margin for error (based on my original point to point timings being rounded to roughly the nearest 5 minutes). Also, if you think a particular location should be added (not entirely sure how easy that would be), let me know and I'll consider it...

Either way, I hope this provides a useful reference guide for everyone. As before, please feel free to share as you see fit. Also, Coltishall to/from Norwich YS is the longest possible journey according to my data (just beating the equally length Coltishall to/from Geldeston).

NorfolkBroadsCruisingTimesChart.pdf