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Hello from Vaughan

Vaughan

By Vaughan
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Vaughan

Vaughan

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Some of you know me, from the long debate on Thorpe Island. I have a personal interest as my parents were Cmdr and Mrs Ashby of Hearts Cruisers and they brought me up on the old gunboat, Morning Flight. I went on to have my own little yard at Womack until selling in the awful recession of the early 80's. I ran a yard on the Thames for a few years and have just finished 20 years running hire bases on the French canals. I have now retired and we live near Carcassonne, close to the Canal du Midi and in the heart of the vineyards of the Minervois. And people ask why we don't come back to Norfolk!

But if you have known the Broads as I have you never lose your passion for them. To the forum, I can offer wonderful memories, and historical fact, on the boat business of the 50s, 60s and 70s. Anything after that, you will have to tell ME! I am also pretty good at identifying hire boats by name and yard, in old photos.

Look forward to chatting with you.

Vaughan.

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riyadhcrew

riyadhcrew

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Welcome to the forum Vaughan. It sounds like you live in an idilic place, but I agree that the broads is something special. I have cruised in the Med, Scotland, Holland and all around Indonesia but I still like my fix on the broads. The two girls in my avatar are my daughters who make up the Riyadh Crew.

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BroadScot

BroadScot

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Thorpe Green is still one of my favourite moorings....traffic and all!:naughty: I hired from Hearts throughout the 90's when it was ran by Richos. I do though remember the older Hearts boats in the early 70's.

I remember the Womack yard, was one of the boats called Caribou? Or a name like that.

I am sure all the members will look forward to your input on the Forum, Vaughan.

xmas6Iain.

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SPEEDTRIPLE

SPEEDTRIPLE

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8 hours ago, BroadScot said:

Thorpe Green is still one of my favourite moorings....traffic and all!:naughty: I hired from Hearts throughout the 90's when it was ran by Richos. I do though remember the older Hearts boats in the early 70's.

I remember the Womack yard, was one of the boats called Caribou? Or a name like that.

I am sure all the members will look forward to your input on the Forum, Vaughan.

xmas6Iain.

Hi Vaughn, and welcome from me too. I love mooring at Womack water, and Ludham is a great little place too. Which yard did you run, was it the one Iain mentions above, which i think was called Ludham Marine, whose boats were all named after breeds of deer, such as Ibex, Kudu, New Impala etc, or was  it Womack boats, who`s boats i seem to recall had names of Knights of the round table, eg Sir Lancelot, Sir Bedivere, and Sir Tristram?.

 

 

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JennyMorgan

JennyMorgan

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I remember those knight's names being used at Knights Creek in Oulton Broad during the 50's & 60's. If I remember correctly Sir Lancelot was a double ender and ugly as sin! 

Just checked Craig's List, Sir Lancelot was not a double ender but a slightly later boat of more traditional Broads hire-boat appearance. I do remember her being built though. Old man Knights used screws rather than nails and roves when planking up. He'd bash the screws in with a hammer & then tighten with a screw driver. He'd always be chewing on a wad of putty, a piece of which he'd 'thumb-off' to fill the hole made by the screw before moving onto the next one. Amazing character!

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Vaughan

Vaughan

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Thank you all very much for your kind good wishes. I hope I deserve them!

Neil, please give my very best to Pam and Chris Clarke. We had a lot of fun in those days! Carol, I have been absent for a while as the computer blew up. The new one won't accept the scanner, but I hope to be back "on the air" in the New Year.

My yard at Womack was called Womack Cruisers and used to be Womack Boats, where we had a bungalow with a shop on the front. The boats were not the same as those in Knights Creek. I came out of the Army in 1975, bought the yard and named the boats after the LSL.s of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary that I had served on for 6 years in the Royal Corps of Transport (maritime). You may remember Sir Galahad, which got sunk in the Falklands. She was one of my favourite ships. The only other one was Sir Garnet which, of course, was the wherry in the famous books "Coot Club" and "The Big Six".

We used to moor the Albion on the front for her winter maintenance, before the shed was built for her at Hunters. The yard's not there any more as we had to close it in the recession and build 3 houses on the site, which is just where the dyke enters Womack Water. In those days the brand new BA were handing out section 52 agreements like concert tickets. As long as you were closing a boatyard, you could build what you liked. A decade later, of course, it was "Oh, where have all the boatyards gone?" And the service infrastructure that went with them.

Broadscot, you are thinking of Ludham Marine, which is down at the far end of Womack Water. They had boats called "New Impala" which were, shall we say, rather older than their photos in the brochure which were taken when they were brand new! I was down there one Saturday picking up a sailing dinghy when the hirer for one of these arrived at the yard. He got out of his Range Rover, stood looking at this poor old boat sitting in the dyke with a pool of oil around it and said "******* ****! What are the Old Impalas like then?"

Thanks again for your welcome and Happy Christmas to you all!

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Dan

Dan

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Hi Vaughan

Good to see you posting here.

You gave me lots of great info when I set up the Hearts Cruisers website some years back.

I remember Aquamarine, and have often tried (unsuccessfully) to figure out/picture exactly where their yard was when I have been on holiday on the Thames.  Do you have any photos? 

It's a shame the Thames has lost so many fair size hirefleets.  Benson, Maidlline & Ferryline being the last of the bigger ones to give it up, and the waterway is much poorer for it in my mind.

We picked up a Consul from you at San Gilles around 2004.  We enjoyed the handover but I suspect if I had known your Hearts connections it would have been a very long handover for you!

Best wishes

Dan

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NeilB

NeilB

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Aquamarine had a basin on the right hand bank heading downstream just before Staines Bridge, there's a footbridge over the entrance.  Bit tight to get into in a strong steam.

The basin is still shown on Google maps.

It is a shame about the lack of hire fleets on the Thames compared to 20/30 years ago, you would think with the amount of history and attractions along it's length it would be more popular. 

 

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Dan

Dan

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Thanks Neil

Is this the place?

Never really looked big enough to me for the number of boats they had, but there does look to be a lot of late 90s-ish office developments close by, which could be right & what stop me picturing it as a hirebase in my mind!?

Dan

aquamarine.jpg

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NeilB

NeilB

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Yes, it was part of an office development and that looks like the location.  Vaughan will know for sure but I think having a boatyard in that location was a prerequisite to obtaining planning permission for the offices.

The moored some boats on the bank outside the basin as well, but not many.

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Vaughan

Vaughan

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Yes, you are both right. What you see is only half of the basin - it got filled in when the boatyard closed. To get planning permission for the whole site they had to have a boatyard, as there was already one on the site. There was also a scout hut which had to be incorporated. The developer is an old friend of mine from Norfolk and he asked me to run it. I knew it would only be for 3 years, to get round the planning conditions, so I chatted up Keith Gregory of Crown Blue Line, and went to work for him in France. Still here now!

By the way Dan, what happened to the Hearts website? Can't seem to find it now.

All the best, Vaughan. 

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sos247

sos247

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Hi Vaughan!

To the forum and the ' Save the Island ' subject..........I must just say having the historic :-)  & boating knowledge of Vaughan on here will be invaluable!

Vaughan, i just have a feeling you will be very busy on this forum now, especially with the current Save the Island situation! 

Anyway good to hear you are enjoying retirement. I do like France and Ive just been invited to Arcachon again, and i do love this place! . We do also have an open invite to Italy, so if health is good we could be traveling next year!!

Just for interest do you know the current differences of the UK's hire fleets compared to the French & German fleets etc. Obviously P&H & Crown (both Norfolk companies)  played an important part setting up the hire industry in Europe, so it would be interesting to know the boat numbers etc (if available) Obviously, Norfolk fleets are in fast decline, plus the riverside businesses are also disappearing, so it would be good to know your views.

I must just say I believe I first met Vaughan at a Duffields event day? (Over 30yrs ago) and then at Crown Cruisers when I was involved with Nannidiesel, so there shouldn't be to much you don't  know about the differences between the European hire fleets!

I guess the main difficulty is what we all suffer with, and thats just trying to remember things!!!

All the best 

Jason Hatch 

 

 

 

 

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LizG

LizG

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There are several Facebook groups that also discuss important broadland topics including the Hoveton Great Broad subject. You might feel Facebook is not for you but I only signed up because I was alerted to Jamie Campbell's amazing archive of broadland  photos which he was sharing with everyone.

Liz 

Ps Jason has helped me bring Water Rail back to life so I am so grateful and didn't know he knew you as well :)

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Vaughan

Vaughan

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Hi Liz, 

You are another one who has popped out from behind a nickname! I am amazed at all the old friends I am talking to on here, sometimes without realising.

Thank you so much for that lovely photo of Percivals on another thread. When I can get my scanner working again I must post a few myself. I am not a Facebook person I am afraid. It took me a long time to join on here. It is the only forum I have ever found where people don't descend into personal abuse, and instead give considered opinions.

All the best and good to talk to you!

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