The Broads June 2012

We had a holiday on the Norfolk Broads in 2011 and enjoyed it a lot so decided to go again in 2012. This time we went for 11 days (starting on June 11th) and were accompanied by Julies parents. We hired a boat called Sunray 2 from Richardsons yard in Stalham

Sunray 2 a well appointed boat from Richardsons

The journey up to Stalham had been made in fairly bad weather with quite a bit of rain, however as soon as we arrived the rain cleared up and we saw very little rain for the next 11 days. This was quite amazing as the rest of the country seemed to have nothing but heavy rain! There's a Tesco's near to the boat yard and we got some last minute provisions before going on to load the boat. We made our way down the River Ant and across Barton Broad. Our first brief stop was for a cup of tea at How Hill (we were to visit here later in the holiday to have a proper look round). Continuing on to the River Bure we noticed, whilst passing St Bennet's Abbey, that it was shrouded in scaffolding.

St Bennet's Abbey under repair.

We all had a go at driving and Julie had lost none of the skill she acquired the year before.

Julie at the wheel.

There was no room on the Stokesby mooring so we spent the night at Upton Dyke. Whilst there we made the walk up to the Pub and found that it was closed for food on a Monday! At least this meant that we didn't have to pay for the mooring as there was no one to collect the money :-)

On the 12th June we made an early start in order to get through Great Yarmouth when the tide was at the correct level. It's important to keep to the channel through Yarmouth and the boat we were following almost turned on the wrong side of the marker post, this would have almost certainly meant that he would have run aground, luckily he corrected himself at the last minute. The crossing of Breydon Water went well and we were soon on the River Yar. Julies mum had her first go at driving the boat and did well

We journeyed on past Reedham and the Reedham Chain Ferry

Reedham Chain Ferry

We had hoped to moor at Thorpe Green near Norwich so that we could have a meal at The Rush Cutters but our boat was 7 feet tall and the bridges that gave access to the moorings were only 6 feet 6 inches. Norwich was interesting but had a number of low bridges and navigation was a bit stressful. There were some moorings at the Yacht Station but they cost £12 a night which seems rather a lot for what could have been a rather noisy position. The river through Norwich was surrounded by newish flats and old warehouses. 

Lots of new building by the river in Norwich

We moored for the night at Whitlingham Country Park and had a pleasant walk round the park. The Broad there is used for all sorts of water sports.

On Wednesday 13th June we travelled back down the River Yar. The sun was out and we had the boat roof back to fully enjoy the lovely weather. We wanted to moor at Reedham to take on water but was a bit concerned after our near disaster there last year. There was a good space available and we went for it. Julie took the front rope and we made sure that we were approaching against the tide. The "Harbour Master" was there to take the rope from Julie and the mooring went well. We were also hoping to visit the shop that was up the hill but were told that this had closed. The Pub sold milk etc. but was not the cheapest place to get provisions! Departing from Reedham also went well and we felt that we had laid the ghost of our previous problems with the fast running tide etc. at Reedham. We travelled on along the Haddiscoe New Cut to join the River Waveney and eventually went onto Beccles. Once again a 6' 6" bridge would halt our progress. The moorings in Beccles were very busy and part was near a noisy road so we decided to head back down river to Worlingham Staithe. We spent a peaceful night there and heard our first Cuckoo, a sound that we were to hear virtually every day from then on.

On Thursday 14th June we sailed back across Breydon water and successfully turned into the River Bure and passing some dredging work arrived at Stokesby. The weather was once again beautiful. We found that you could moor up till 17:00 for free on the moorings past the pub. We bought some provision at the little shop, had a meal at the pub and decided to come back another day to sample the tea shop. We moored for the night at Boundary Farm taking a walk to Thurne Village where there was a very nice pub and a tiny shop.We also discovered that you could moor in Thurne Dyke for either £4 or £3.50 depending on which side you moored. It was very narrow though and turning whilst not impossible would be difficult. 

Friday the 15th June was Julie's mum's 70th birthday, she had her cards and then we set off towards Stalham to get a toilet pumpout and to top up with £25 worth of diesel. After leaving the boat yard we passed through a bit of a storm with thunder and lightning. The weather soon cleared and we moored at Ludham Bridge where there are shops, cafe and a pub (the pub is a few hundred yards walk away). We went to the pub to celebrate the birthday. It was still early when we got back to the boat so we had a look at South Walsham Broad 

Some of the attractive houses on South Walsham Broad.

We moored for the night at Thurne Mouth. We discovered that the walk to Thurne village was quite short from this mooring.

Saturday 16th June was our Wedding anniversary and we were looking forward to finding somewhere nice to have a meal later. We had a cruise up the River Bure as far as Wroxham. Places like Horning have some beautiful houses on the banks of the river.

The stretch of river from Horning to Wroxham is very busy with all types of pleasure craft. There are some fairly large boats that are often crowded with waving holiday makers.

One of the novelties up near Wroxham Broad is an Ice cream boat that sells some very tasty ice creams. We stopped and took advantage of this. 

Perhaps rather strangely we saw some Stag Parties on the river....

We moored for the night at South Walsham Broad where we walked to the village (one and half miles) to the pub for a very nice but rather expensive meal. A lovely end to a delightful day. 

On Sunday 17th June we decided to head down the Bure to Stokesby where we had a lunch in the cafe that is part of the shop. After that we went further down to Starcey Mill where there was a shop and a number of very friendly animals. We topped up our water but had to pay for the the privilege here.

We moored for the night once again at Boundary Farm.

Monday 18th June saw us go to How Hill where we had a look in the preserved Eel Catchers cottage ..

We were very pleased with the performance of the boat throughout the holiday and found it very comfortable too..

Sunray moored at How Hill.

We then moved on towards Dilham but a low bridge had us turning round to to have alook at Barton Broad and Barton Turf. We then returned to moor over night at Thurne Mouth.

On Tuesday 19th June we had a ride to Potter Heigham. On the way we went towards Ludham and moored at Womack Water. We walked to Ludham and found both Womack Water and Ludham very pretty places and Ludham had a good shop.

A cottage in Ludham

Potter Heigham is famous for it's low bridge  and this holiday the water level was too high for us to venture through it...

Potter Heighams infamous low bridge.

We didn't think that we were going to find any moorings at Potter Heigham but just as we were about to leave someone left and we were able to take their place. We had a good look round the shops and bought some fish and chips to eat on the boat, very nice they were too!After lunch we went back down the river to visit St Bennet's Abbey. As mentioned earlier this was covered with scaffolding and we couldn't really see it too well. We moored over night at Fleet Dyke and were treated to a wonderful display of flying by a barn owl.

On the 20th June we had clear blue skies and marvelous weather. We stopped at Salhouse Broad, filled up with water and enjoyed another ice cream from the ice cream man in a boat. We moved up towards Wroxham seeing masses of Ducks Geese and large passenger boats....

A Wherry on Wroxham Broad.

Julie took some great wild life pictures including this Heron

The weather didn't start too well on Thursday 21st June but cheered up later. We set off down to Stokesby and had lunch in the cafe. After this we travelled back to Stalham to pack our bags get ready to hand the boat back on the Friday morning. We had a late afternoon walk into Stalham village which is a nice busy little market town.

Another splendid holiday with great scenery and wonderful wild life, what a pity that we couldn't find a Kingfisher for Julie to see, maybe we'll have to go back again before too long?

Great Yarmouth and Norfolk Broads 24th May 2012

Despite lovely weather there was plenty of room on the beach

It was a lovely day and we decided that it was time that we visited the seaside. Whichever seaside you visit from where we live it will be a fair old journey. Great Yarmouth may not be everyone's cup of tea as some people find it a bit brash but we like it for the odd day out. As we will be hiring a boat on the Norfolk Broads in the next few weeks we also took the opportunity to visit the boat yard and ask a few questions The actual boat that will have was out on hire but the yard still had some great looking boats on display....

One of the splendid hire boats at Richardson's yard Stalham.

Although it was a normal school day there did appear to be quite a few children with their parents in Yarmouth, maybe they had found the recent change in weather irresistible. I must admit that we find the arcades quite an attraction although if we spend as much as 50p all day I'd be surprised. On our favourite machines are those that push 2p's off shelves, it's amazing how long you can make a small amount last!

Julie remembers going on the Snail ride as a child and we always go to have a look to see if it's still there. So far yet another generation of kids seem to be getting just as much enjoyment from it......

The off shore (a far better place for them than being a blot on some country scene!) wind farm is clearly seen from Yarmouth with the two Piers giving the best views...

The Britannia Pier is home to a number of summer shows, unfortunately they all seem to only be on in the height of mid summer when we are elsewhere.

The donkey rides are as popular as ever...

After a fun day out in the sun we stopped at the Rushcutters, a pub at Thorpe, on the outskirts of Norwich, for a very nice meal....

A great ending to a great day!

Matlock Bath 17/5/2012

The busy centre of Matlock Bath

A this time of the year we are usually busy visiting a number of events like the Rushden Transport Cavalcade and the Stoke Goldington Steam Rally but sadly this year there was so much rain in April 2012 that these events were cancelled. Anyway we decided that it was time that we had a day out and decided to visit Matlock Bath in the Peak District.

Warm springs were discovered in1698 and a Bath House was built, to this day tourist are attracted to the area and there are a number of 'modern' tourist attractions. The main street always reminds me of the seaside as the buildings are virtually all on one side with a river on the other. Amusement arcades stand shoulder to shoulder with museums. Another thing that is noticeable is the vast numbers of motorcyclist that seem to be attracted to the area (presumably by the challenging roads) and there are a number of shops catering for their needs.

Another long time feature of Matlock Bath has been the petrifying well where objects can be left in the waters to be covered in a hard crust of limestone. We were looking forward to making use of the cable car to visit the Heights of Abraham. This is a self contained park on top of a hill of the same name. The park contains a former lead minewhich is open to the public and a cliffside cafe. There is a fabulous view across the river Derwent to High Tor, a sheer cliff, this is popular with climbers and walkers.

It looks like a head for heights is needed but in fact it's not too bad.

 It's worth noting that the cable cars don't run in high winds (just as well!!) and so it can be worth ringing ahead to make sure that the system is open On the ride up there are some lovely views of the river valley so don't forget a camera and possibly some binoculars. The cars travel 568m (621 yards) long and climb 169m (185 yards).

Once at the top there are a number of exhibitions to visit and the tour of the Masson Cavern. This is an old lead mine that takes you deep under the hill side. To be totally honest this wasn't quite as spectacular as some other caverns I have visited but still well worth seeing and climbing the 170 odd steps that link the caverns. Like most caverns of this nature the floor can be a bit damp and steep to sensible shoes are a good idea. Despite there being lots of steps the guides take it all at a leisurely pace and most people won't find it too difficult.

Steps certainly feature strongly in the walk round the caverns!

There are some lighting effects but these fall a bit short of amazing.

What is turly spectacular is the view across the Derwent Valley and in particular Riber castle is impressive. This was built in the mid 19th century and sits high on a hill, it was built by John Smedley, a local textile manufacturer. Smedly built it to live in and made it of local stone. His wife lived in it until her death and it later became a boys school, this ended in the 1930's. It later became an animal park but there was controversy about the treatment of the animals and that closed in 2000.It's now in a state of disrepair but there is talk of it being converted into apartments.

Riber Castle across the valley.

Apart from the amazing views and the exhibitions at the Heights of Abraham there is a very nice cafe. It has a terrace with more v iews and it's very clean and modern.

There's no doubt that Matlock Bath is very interesting place to visit and with it's abundance of places to eat and unusual shops, amusement arcades and spectacular views there's something for virtually everyone. Without doubt we will be going back.

Sywell Air Museum April 2012

On Easter Saturday April 7th 2012 we visited Sywell Airfield to see the re-opening of the museum on the edge of the airfield.

Sywell Aviation Museum is open from Easter Saturday to the end of September every Saturday, Sunday and also on Bank Holidays between 10:30 and 16:30. Entrance is free but donations are welcome. The picture above shows one of the recovered aero engines that are housed in the museum.

Some of the exhibits, like the war time kitchen above, are behind glass which does make photography a bit difficult. However it is really interesting to see how households looked in the 40's. Some of the brand names are still in use today but may have long since disappeared.

Above is another reconstruction in the museum which shows the inside of a typical Anderson Shelter. Many gardens had these air raid shelters installed.

A new exhibit for this year is the Fordson tractor seen above. It was bought by Brookland Aviation in 1938 for use as an aircraft tug during the war and after. The bonnet still has the sign writing saying that it belonged to Brooklands Aviation.

Outside were a number of military vehicles including this rather interestingly sign written jeep.

Also outside were a number of 'really' vintage flying machines.

If any of you get the chance to visit the museum I'm sure that you find it most enjoyable and educational. Also on the airfield is a very pleasant cafe known as the Pilots Mess.