vaughans posts of memories of thorpe and the broads.

[ranworthbreeze]

18 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

I think he realised that I was standing there thinking "My God, what have I taken on?" as he simply said "Well, the only way we are going to get all this done is to make a start somewhere". With that he put his pipe back in his mouth, picked up his toolbox, walked onto the nearest boat and got on with it! There have been several times, later in my life, when I have been starting a new project, or a new boat base and I have always done well to remember that advice from John - don't  stand there thinking of all the insurmountable problems : just make a start.

Hi Vaughan,

That the problem these days too much talk and little if no action. Feasibility studies, action plans and long drawn out debates have turned most of us into talkers rather than doers.

Regards

Alan 

[VetChugger]

Really fascinating viewing, thanks very much. "Princess Of Hearts" looks very similar in design to the Ripplecraft boats such as my all time favourite, "Broadland Lapwing".

I really do wonder why the likes of Richardsons and BB or Faircraft can't build a GRP craft similar in design to either of these magnificent boats. Bet these would get under Potter occasionally!

Found a photo of "King Of Hearts" among my files!

[BroadAmbition]

John Lane - YES!  He was a very good friend of our family.  Great guy and then some, he had the MBE I seem to remember for services to the tourist industry.  He and My dad used to go sit in a corner of the Maltsters and have a chat regular.  He gave me good advice before I joined the RN.  He was a sort of an 'Uncle' figure to me and Bro, he knew all of our crews, but more importantly we were fortunate to have known him.  He used to tell us some fantastic funny stories of incidents at the staithe during his time of running the place.  I will have photo's of him up in our loft somewhere or other.

Griff

[Vaughan]

It's worth having a look at the history section, now that we have some time on our hands.  There are all sorts of good things hidden away in here!

I said yesterday that I would tell some stories about what the operation at Jenners was like and I see that I have told the history of it in the first page of this thread, so it stops me repeating myself - for once!  The first two pages have a lot of other good stories of those days, so I hope you enjoy them, even if you had read them earlier.  Notice that "thread drift" is nothing new!    I don't seem to have told the stories of how the yard actually ran, and the things that went wrong, so I will tell a few now!

Before I start I wish to say that I never tell Porky Pies on this forum. There are enough stories of the Broads to tell, without having to invent them! So best to start at the beginning . . . .

David Millbank bought Hearts in 1966 and first took it over in 1967, when he was also buying the hire fleets of a lot of yards in Wroxham and elsewhere, so in the autumn I was given the job of getting my friends together and delivering the boats to Thorpe, which amounted to being given free Broads holidays, every weekend!  On the Saturday we would do all the logistics of leaving cars in the right places and getting the boats prepared and running, usually about 10 boats at time.  By the time we got all assembled, we got as far as Acle Bridge on the first night, often getting there in the full dark.  And the next morning across Breydon early, followed by a pub crawl up the Yare!  It was the 60s, we were all young, about 18 or 19 and we had our girlfriends with us.  On cabin cruisers.  It reminds me of Peter Sellers :

"Now tell me headmaster, how do you segregate the sexes?"

"Well if you must know, I go round with a crowbar and I prise them apart!"

Actually, I have friends from those weekends, who went on to be married, and are still married now.   I remember one time when we just got to Coldham Hall before closing time at 1400, with 7 boats, but there was only one mooring space left on the quay.  So without a word or a signal between us, we formed line astern, turned round into the tide and moored alongside one by one in a long "trot", like wartime MTBs mooring in Gosport.  The boat at the outer end of the trot was the River Inspector's launch.  Jack Hunt had a "nose" for these occasions and had turned up to make sure we were behaving ourselves.  Which meant accepting our offers for him to join us for a drink in the pub!  As he was moored on the end of the trot, we couldn't leave the pub before he did, and Harry Last didn't close on Sunday afternoons!

We did about 4 weekends that year, and another 5 the following autumn, as David bought more boats.  I have the very happiest memories of those weekends.

Perhaps that's enough of a story for now and I haven't even got to the running of the boatyard yet!  I will tell a few more after lunch.

Hope you are enjoying your day!    

 

 

 

[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

"Well if you must know, I go round with a crowbar and I prise them apart!"

Surely no need to have worried, rampant brewer's droop generally saw to that! 

[Lulu]

What a wonderful thread. I hadnt come across this before. Please keep the stories coming, a precious archive :) 

[lakesailor]

what a great thread, fantastic stories.

[Vaughan]

I have been getting together a selection of some of the many photos of places I have been to on the French canals and rivers in the last 25 years, with the idea of posting them for the interest of members while we are stuck at home.

In view of the blinkered attitudes to the French, displayed by several members on another, serious thread I now don't know how they would be received, so I am glad I didn't. I wouldn't want them to invite similar comments.

I am afraid this has left me with no taste for continuing stories about the old days at Jenners either, for the time being.

Please excuse me. I am making this comment here, as at least it is my own thread.

[BroadAmbition]

Vaughan - My view ain't blinkered I was there! - Many times, sorry if my real life experiences don't agree with your experiences - It is just how it is / was.

As for seeing photo's of the french canals and rivers - Love too please

Old days stories / photo's of Jenners - Hardly related to france - I was enjoying reading about your experiences and very welcome it was too

Griff

 

[Ray]

56 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

I am afraid this has left me with no taste for continuing stories about the old days at Jenners either, for the time being.

I hope the taste soon returns Vaughan, I know I'm not the only one that enjoys reading, learning and laughing about those days that we missed but which prove a wonderful escape from today's problems 

[grendel]

I agree any pictures of boats on water can only be good. what was it they used to say in Fawlty Towers - Dont mention the war.

 

[Meantime]

Vaughan, We need more, not less distractions from the Corona threads. I'm sure your pictures and continued memories will be well received. Everywhere you look on the web it is only about one subject. Threads such as this are such a welcome break from it all.

[Poppy]

2 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Vaughan - My view ain't blinkered I was there! - Many times, sorry if my real life experiences don't agree with your experiences - It is just how it is / was.

 

Griff

 

And hasbeen for centuries

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Jack_Tar(2).htm

[MotorBoater]

Vaughan, it seems to me you are one of a few who are uniquely placed to describe the highs and lows of ordinary life on both sides of the (English !) Channel, from a recent historical perspective. How about it then ?

We can't be that bad, I believe even Macron lived here for a time.

[Vaughan]

17 hours ago, MotorBoater said:

Vaughan, it seems to me you are one of a few who are uniquely placed to describe the highs and lows of ordinary life on both sides of the (English !) Channel, from a recent historical perspective. How about it then ?

Thank you for that, but I can't help help thinking this is what I have been doing for a few years on this forum?  I have always "chipped in" with a few anecdotes of life here in the Midi and comparisons between boat hiring here and in Norfolk, where I have felt they might be of interest.  Little did I realise that there must have been members who were just muttering "bloody Frogs" under their breath, all the while.

I also know that I am on social media, where innate bigotry and latent racism seem to be the norm, even though this one used to be called the Friendly Forum.  So I will keep France to myself in future.  I seem to appreciate it - and know it - rather better than some others.

The small comment I made on the other thread was not to say France is better than England : it was just to try and point up areas where the approach to the virus may be different in the two countries, based on my own experience of living here during the lockdown and which I had hoped, might be of interest.

[grendel]

Vaughan, as you say, it is social media, everyone has opinions, and as with the rest of social media, it is a very few that express those opinions in an adverse manner, and this spoils things for the vast majority when those with interesting stories to tell shy off because of the criticism of those few.

I am sure that there are folks out there who have had bad experiences, and also folks with good experiences, both tend to colour future attitudes towards that experience.

[Tearose]

Changing the subject a bit. Hello! This is my first post, and I'm here because I Googled my boat to see if anything new turned up. It did, and was delighted to be directed to this forum and that man again, Vaughan Ashby! Nine years ago I bought the Three of Hearts, now called Tea Rose and Vaughan was tremendously generous in supplying me with archive photos and information. We've not met yet, but last year we came close to reuniting him with "The Three". Gales scuppered that attempt, but it will happen I'm sure. Vaughan, thank you again for your help and your encouragement. 

With luck we will be posting photos of a reunion soon, and when it happens there will be some action shots of Vaughan back at the helm. When was the last time you sailed her Vaughan? 

[Turnoar]

Welcome to the forum Tearose! Hopefully the sailing season won’t be a write off but in any case can you at least germinate some seeds under the “greenhouse”!

[Tearose]

The greenhouse! I remember you telling me about it at a lady yacht club dinner. We've called it that ever since.

[Turnoar]

Well remembered, be interesting to hear tales of her Hearts hire life, obviously a comfortable yacht, hope Vaughan draws alongside to share that chapter of her ownership with us.

[Tearose]

Absolutely. I've loved reading this thread. I cheered like a school boy when I caught a glimpse of her in Vaughan's cine film.

[pastboating]

As a relative new member to this forum although I have visited many times in the past can I just say how much I have always enjoyed Vaughan's posts, always interesting and educational. It is vital for future generations that his type of contributions are retained.

[Vaughan]

Well, well!

 

A warm welcome to the forum from me to Tearose and to David, her custodian!

 

She first appears on Hearts booking charts in 1949 and was first hired out on the 25th June.  I believe this photo was taken in that year.  When my parents bought her she was called "Jane" and I seem to remember David and I worked out that she had been built by E.C.Smith, in Wroxham?  Yachts never let as well as cruisers and she would normally do around 19 weeks.  Which nowadays, I suppose, would be thought of as a good season!  In 1958, she did 27 weeks!

 

In this photo you get a view of the "greenhouse" on the cabin top!  In the original photo, the hirers had the topping lift up far too tight, so it was airbrushed out before it went into Blakes brochure.  Notice the clinker built pram dinghy, which were always hired out with yachts in those days.

When did I last sail her?   It would have been about 1970, when I joined the Army.  When did I first sail her? I suppose you could say she taught me how to sail.  Father made me responsible for the two yachts whenever I was home from school and I think I was 13 when I gave my first trial run to her customers.  In fact, over all the years, I only have one trade qualification.  I am a "time served" painter and yacht rigger.

I am very much looking forward to seeing her again, hopefully in October and I am sorry we missed our meeting last year.  I still have a box stowed in our camper van, with a present for her. A little bit of her old equipment, which I hope you might enjoy!

[Tearose]

Aha! Hello Vaughan. Doesn't she look wonderful, thank you for those. I've never seen the airbrushed version, I've definitely got the one you sent me with the topping lift on. I shall look forward to you reuniting Tearose with this original item from her Hearts days. Very intriguing! 

So, it really is some time since you've sailed her, hopefully as you say this year will sort that out. We'll have some good photos to upload here I'm sure. 

Can you remember there being a fire on board whilst she was with you? We've uncovered some significant damage to the bulkhead next to where the Stuart Turner engine used to sit. It was behind some cladding. 

[Vaughan]

1 hour ago, Tearose said:

Can you remember there being a fire on board whilst she was with you? We've uncovered some significant damage to the bulkhead next to where the Stuart Turner engine used to sit. It was behind some cladding.

I don't remember it in our days, but it wouldn't surprise me!  Those little petrol engines were horrendously dangerous.

One of my nephews showed me in his garden shed last year, where he is actually restoring the Stuart Turner engine that came from the Three of Hearts.  How he acquired it, I don't know!