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The grass had been cut and a skip round the back looked promissing ,but still shut .Spoke to several people including the guy who sells pictures in the car park who said the pub could not get staff for the period ( the staff wanted board has now gone ) ,could be a reason , the fish shop has had a sign in the window for some time for an assistant .Shame as their is a stack of holiday makers about there at the present time and many I am sure would like a drink by the river I am sure.We went to eat in the Cafe next to the pub and can recommend the food and service ,Diane said the cake was the best around,the breakfast bap was very good too,as well as Ronaldos ice cream is sold.

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Suggestions have been made to the pubco about improving the place, but it has seemed unwilling to invest. It spent a lot when Darren moved in initially, but my guess is not nearly enough to introduce any charm to a few horribly square rooms.

If only it could be opened, Potter would be a much more worthwhile stopping point. But for many it is the end of the line and there is only so much time you can spend in Lathams (sorry, QD).

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Suggestions have been made to the pubco about improving the place, but it has seemed unwilling to invest.

Punch Taverns all over unfortunately. Next thing we know they will have flogged the site off to New River Retail and next thing we know it will be a Co Op convenience store. :cry:

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Punch Taverns all over unfortunately. Next thing we know they will have flogged the site off to New River Retail and next thing we know it will be a Co Op convenience store. :cry:

At least that would be competition for Latham's :smile: . Only kidding, but I do hate that place!

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Latham's is a must for any time spent on the Broads.

There is a lot of tat but occasionally there is a bargain, I bought a kidney shaped hardwood seat from there, I had been looking for one for ages, even paying for a carrier to pick it up for me and drop it off at work it worked out about £100 cheaper than any I had seen.

I often buy the disposable razor knifes and the like.

Regards

Alan

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Hardly ever visit the place, Alan. It is too much of a tip inside and out and the food bit is a joke, imho. Also what they stock this week they probably won't have next. Maybe it is different for us because we live here - I just don't see the attraction.

 

Cannot argue with the fact that they do sometimes have some bargains.

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There's a nice coffee shop near the bridge.

 

HW keep their yard looking really nice.

 

I think PH is a really nice place hidden by some tatty bits that could be fixed with a bit of pride (and admittedly some money).

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There's a nice coffee shop near the bridge.

 

HW keep their yard looking really nice.

 

I think PH is a really nice place hidden by some tatty bits that could be fixed with a bit of pride (and admittedly some money).

True :-). It is nicer away from the river, up around the church. Some smashing walks around the back of Hickling Broad

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Hmm. The draw of Potter in years gone by was Ken Latham(s) and the Bridge pub. 

 

QD Lathams is now no more an attraction than QD in North Walsham or Magdallen Street. 

 

The lack of a pub within sight of the river is a big detraction and the burger van is very expensive. 

 

The riverside bungalows are pretty as ever, but for me, the fact that Herbert Woods keeps a nice "ship" is no reason to not about turn if you can't get under the bridge. 

 

I live close by (not as close as Soundings) and rarely find a need to venture there. 

 

IT is a great shame. Potter Heigham was a childhood holiday haunt, but in my middle age, I can't see why. 

 

IT NEEDS THE PUB OPEN AND PUNCH NEEDS EXACTLY THAT. 

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Potter suffers from the same issue as Yarmouth, a popular tourist destination of the past that got complacent trading on its former glory. Dated tired buildings limited facilities, no money spent on updating and modernization just an expectation that people will keep coming to spend their money. Then as people slowly stop visiting heads go down into the sand as they wait for visitors to miraculously return.

 

Norfolk tourism as a whole could do with a good kick up the ass to raise its profile. 

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I actually think it is probably a missed opportunity - Potter and other places in Broadland. The focus nowadays seems to be on growth, building houses and encouraging new business onto business parks and the like. The planners want a slice of the "London" type cake these days - tourism just goes not cut it.

 

Mark, I hardly think Potter can be compared to Yarmouth in its day. The latter was a destination holiday resort with all that goes with it. Potter was just, well, Latham's, the pubs and the boatyard. Not much to do there at all - other than to sup a pint whilst in the queue for the bridge pilot :smile:

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The comparison was more to highlight the similar curve of degradation,  the two are vastly different in size but rely on the same industry.

 

Its not about building houses or shopping complexes in fact quite the opposite, its about tradition buildings complimented with a little subtle modern flare, the day of the retail high street has gone, now we need the curious, the bespoke and the hospitality, the 'cafe culture' but in the uk we cannot fill our streets with tables and chair's our climate does not cater for it, out door spaces with roofed shelters work here.

 

Give people a reason to visit destinations rather than just hoping they come, and more importantly give people reason to want to return, its easy to get one off custom, but repeat custom its what is needed for success. 

 

Going back to the Broadshaven, until it address' the lack of atmosphere mainly caused by its architecture I cannot seeing it ever working.

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I agree with the majority Potter Heigham is a nice stop but it really does need a well run good quality pub selling good beer and food.

if that happened other businesses would benefit because there would be a focal point.

Like many have said years ago Lathams was just that but not now

Improvements have been made by HW on there site but that is only really a draw for boat hire which again would benefit if the Broadshaven was open and providing that focal point

Ray

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Suggestions have been made to the pubco about improving the place, but it has seemed unwilling to invest. It spent a lot when Darren moved in initially, but my guess is not nearly enough to introduce any charm to a few horribly square rooms.

If only it could be opened, Potter would be a much more worthwhile stopping point. But for many it is the end of the line and there is only so much time you can spend in Lathams (sorry, QD).

 

I only went there once. I was disgusted to find that there was nowhere to wipe my feet as I came out :eek:

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There's a pub in Potter? I thought that was a working mans club...  :hardhat:  :hardhat:

 

Seriously though.. I have been in once and it wasn't for me.. I like oldy worldy pubs or well done modern ones. Sadly this one needs a serious amount of money spent on it.. Perhaps its a good spot for a harvester (Considering my Stacy arms harvester clearly isn't happening).. Or a really decent refit.. I do think there's a market here if it's done well and sells good food as there really is no where to eat there in the evening.. Fingers crossed (Needless to say good luck to the person who takes it over in the short term.. personally I wouldn't touch it unless it was refitted). 

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I wish I could be in Potter Heigham right now with camera in hand and take you around to show better than I can express in words the issues Potter Heigham has generally. As I can’t, you will have to make do with me typing a lot.

 

Potter Heigham is a very odd place yet charming.  As a new hirer you would no doubt have seen it on the map, read about its medieval bridge and ‘famous’ Latham’s store.  Indeed when you come to Potter Heigham by river up the Thurne, is initially delightful.

 

Open marshland gives way to the first of many riverside chalets which are eccentric but charming and you really have the feel that things will get even more interesting as you get closer to Potter Heigham bridge.  You then spot Herbert Woods tower, the large red roofs of the boatsheds and then – yes the bridge straight ahead – it all looks very interesting and inviting.

 

By the time you’ve moored you are aware this is a very different place compared to the likes of Horning or Wroxham.  It is also interesting the village down the road has not expanded closer to the river, and the only expansion in the area has been the chalets along the river away from the bridge.  Initially as I say, it has so much going for it but as you explore on foot past the pilot pick up point the first thing you notice is how shack like the buildings are.

 

The first, a fish shop come amusements – currently enjoying 0 out 5 rating for ‘scores on the doors’ sums up a case of doing things because you have to, not a passion o improve.   To your left the pretty hump back bridge - you walk over it and then see the  staithe area which does look welcoming complete with seats, then Herbert Woods who have invested countless thousands of pounds in their site and looks very impressive.  However having come over the bridge to your right is the Broads Haven – again more corrugated roofing, more ‘shack like’ appearances either gives the area charm or makes it feel run down depending on your view point.

 

The new Potter Tea Rooms look welcoming though (this sort of thing the Broads are crying out for in my opinion).

 

But as you pan over the road you see the burger van, a tackle shop it all looks very Spartan and you wonder what you can actually do here. You walk a little further and see to your right the Flour & Bean Café and Lathams - and that folks is it. 

 

You pop into Lathams its stuffy non-reconditioned air, poor flooring and chaotic floor layout make the store feel lost despite the sheer quantity of items the baskets are tiny, the trolleys a mess it feels forgotten and run down.   The fact is this old building needs a great deal of money spent on it, and I wonder how long QD Stores can hold out before they have to put their hands deep in their pockets – or let it go.

 

So you see the area - not just the Broads Haven - needs investment and a vision and I for one do not think you can do anything with the building that the pub currently occupies.  It needs demolishing and in its place something decent architecturally putting up – residential apartments upstairs, retail/restaurant space downstairs type thing.

 

Over the country people are just not going to pubs as they once did – but what they do still want is to be able to socialise in a group and eat and that is why chains like Zizzi, Ask, Nandos etc are popping up at a lot of locations and doing very well.  People know what they are going to be getting, trust the brand and like the price point.

 

I am not saying that opening a Zizzi at Potter Heigham is the key here (though I think this type of place would be great for Wroxham) but we need something of a ‘cross over’ between pub and formal restaurant – perhaps a ‘Bistro Bar’ that does breakfasts, lunch and dinner and opens till 11pm  serving wines, beers and speciality things like decent cocktails – thus people could come to Potter Heigham and STAY and have something to do – pop in for a drink or take the family out in the evening for a nice meal in modern comfortable surroundings.

 

Latham’s frankly needs to go in my opinion, or at least have a new building replace the existing one.  A Poundland perhaps, or even a food store like a small Co-Op where you can actually moor up and pop in for a proper shop with branded items, fresh fruit and vegetables, wines and beers etc – this would, along with the above Bistro idea compliment the Tea Rooms and help expand the possibilities for the area for the visitor.

 

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If we look at the Broads generally, today’s holiday maker is increasingly varied – many spending vast sums for their high end boats, or swish riverside accommodation and in order to get those people coming back – especially since the place is now branded as being a ‘National Park’  - it needs more than pubs.  It needs places to get decent coffee’s, places for nice meals, and more activities – even if it was a famers market to visit, craft fairs or the like something that celebrates Norfolk and the area.  It is no good having ever better accommodation attracting client’s who have money to spend and then finding the best they might expect in most locations is a pint and a burger.

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Understand that comment, but....IMHO Potter is crying out for a decent riverside pub,

 

 

cheers Iain.

Agree, but it is unlikely to get one any time soon, imho :-(

 

Robin, you have described the riverside pretty well but how much do you really know Potter. Did you know the larger portion of it sits the other side of the by-pass (once the railway line), where there is a very nice church, housing and where there was once yet another pub, the site of which has recently been developed into housing. This side of the village backs onto nice marshes and the back of Hickling Broad. It is very popular with walkers, cyclists, anglers and twitchers alike. That all sort of underlines my view that in the main this is a single interest forum when the Broads are much more than that - any development must take into account all interests and not just boats..please not just boats.

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To be honest I would hate to see a development of apartments and the like, Potter is a quaint and unique place and I for one would like to see it remain that way. Agreed it needs a face lift I would like to see a proper Broads pub open for food all day with a nice river garden for people to sit and have a drink, I fear apartments and retail outlets that would not look out of place on the Thames would change the character of the place and in my opinion not for the better, I love the place shacks and all

 

Grace

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