Norfolk broads

[JumbleDuck]

Ah yes, Great Yarmouth.

I stayed, for work, in the weirdest hotel I have ever encountered. Breakfast was precisely four items which had to be ordered the day before and the bar opened from 5.55 to 6.15pm only. It was perfectly comfortable, but lacked only a Spanish waiter.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I'd need to find a slipway ...

There is a list at Slipways and launching points

 

[Greemble]

I think there may be a couple at Oulton Broad, but I was told there be dragons, so I've not dared venture to those parts.

There are a couple of places in Oulton Broad - The dragons tend to stay in Lowestoft and seldom come near the water.

The Wherry Hotel has a pleasant bar and overnight moorings. They also have a live webcam, if you want to have a look.
Or there's the Commodore, but their moorings are only while you're in the pub - Rather nice food, too.

There's also the Oulton Broad Yacht Station where you'll find most of the hire boats & visitors.

Oulton Broad also has a public (free) slipway, but you will have difficulty in finding somewhere to leave your trailer.
There is a car park, but it is very open.

Alternatively, the Broadlands Park and Marina can provide accommodation and serve as a base to explore by car, hiring day boats in various locations on the Northern & Southern Broads.

If you can get to the Locks Inn by boat, I'd recommend it - few places are so out of the way - and even fewer are owned & run by the local community.

 

[Mike+]

Thanks everyone for the great replies, lots of places to start researching etc

Just for a couple of point of clarity,
I don't plan to sail, hence no mast - 2 young (9mo & 3yr) children's happiness doesn't last long if one or both parents are preoccupied with operating the boat, especially in a new place without much space and other boats around. That'll be for when they're older. Actual sailing trips with the kids so far are limited to a 1hr trip each way to an icecream shop.
The boat draws 0.3m with the keel up, plus whatever the outboard is
We wouldn't stay on the boat - just days trips

Overall its a good point that doing a day hire might be the best option, for a single day it'll be a similar cost anyway having now seen the toll. I'll still do a bit of research and then if we return and plan for multiple days then taking our boat could be a good option.

Thanks again for all the replies, very helpful

 

[sgr143]

For an amusing briefing on sailing on the Broads (OK, 60 years ago, but it's still a good read), try Michael Green's "The Art of Coarse Sailing".

 

[LittleSister]

day hire . . . 'll be a similar cost anyway having now seen the toll.

Funny that, it's almost as if . . .

 

[JumbleDuck]

For an amusing briefing on sailing on the Broads (OK, 60 years ago, but it's still a good read), try Michael Green's "The Art of Coarse Sailing".

And how! The Unpleasantness at Potter Heigham!

 

[mjcoon]

Thanks everyone for the great replies, lots of places to start researching etc

The OP's constraints due to the youth of his kids is fully understandable.

So these video clips from my recent holiday, taken near St. Benet's Abbey on the river Bure, are not really of much relevance to him. I offer them more as nostalgia for the other contributors that have put recollections in this thread.

VID20210723112642.mp4
<VID20210723112642.mp4>

VID20210723112715.mp4
<VID20210723112715.mp4>

VID20210723113118.mp4
<VID20210723113118.mp4>

VID20210723113204.mp4
<VID20210723113204.mp4>

WoodAvensSorting.mp4 (less duckling action than in the original)
<WoodAvensSorting.mp4>

VID20210723114052.mp4
<VID20210723114052.mp4>

 

[johnalison]

And how! The Unpleasantness at Potter Heigham!

I can only remember the bit where he describes his indecision about whether to take in a reef, until he sees a seagull flying past - backwards.

 

[Gilesferr]

I you go north of Potter bridge there tend to be less power boats as they can't get under the old bridge.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

And how! The Unpleasantness at Potter Heigham!

Could I just correct the way you have pronounced "Heigham" as "Hi Am"

You got Potter correct but the proper Norfolk way for Heigham is Heeem... .

This was made clear to me in around 1973 . I was from South Essex trying to sell stuff to the store at Potter Heigham in Norfolk. After I got it right I could do no wrong. It then became clear that I should learn a lot more about these things .

It was a delight driving a car on the Acle Straight to Gt Yarmouth only seeing a series of only the tops of masts and sails gracefully bowling a long in a sea of meadowland and cows.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Could I just correct the way you have pronounced "Heigham" as "Hi Am"

You got that from a web posting?

 

[LONG_KEELER]

You got that from a web posting?

Some have got it and some haven't.

 

[mjcoon]

Some have got it and some haven't.

Years ago we were on a Med flotilla run by a leader with a broad Norfolk accent. We were particularly taken with his pronunciation of "tarpn lift"...

 

[JumbleDuck]

Some have got it and some haven't.

And some have got six of them. They normally come from Norfolk.

 

[johnalison]

Could I just correct the way you have pronounced "Heigham" as "Hi Am"

You got Potter correct but the proper Norfolk way for Heigham is Heeem... .

This was made clear to me in around 1973 . I was from South Essex trying to sell stuff to the store at Potter Heigham in Norfolk. After I got it right I could do no wrong. It then became clear that I should learn a lot more about these things .

It was a delight driving a car on the Acle Straight to Gt Yarmouth only seeing a series of only the tops of masts and sails gracefully bowling a long in a sea of meadowland and cows.

I have to confess that I have never heard Heeem even though my family have sailed the Broads since the ‘30s. I must ask my Norfolk SiL.

Seeing a sail in a field when driving up to the Broads was always a delight. Sixpence was on offer for the first one to spot a sail.

 

[LittleSister]

Speaking of sails in the landscape, another feature of the Broads is the many windmills (or wind-pumps if you prefer) which once drained the adjacent marshes (which are below river level).

Many of the windmills are now gone, many are derelict or have been converted to e.g. holiday homes, but a few have been maintained or refurbished and still have sails.

Next to some of the old or pre-existing windmills is the pump house for the steam engine driven pumps that replaced them.

Next to those is the pump house for the electric pumps which in turn replaced the steam driven ones.

As you drive across the Broads you can often see in the distance the 3 modern land-based wind generators (small by modern standards) just outside the Broads 'national park' near Martham, and the small offshore wind farm (one of the UK's first, I think) at Scroby Sands, just off Great Yarmouth.

Amusing to think that those wind generators may well be powering the electric pumps on the Broads that ultimately replaced the windmills that once stood (or may still stand) immediately adjacent to them. (Is there a 'wind miles' or 'electron miles' equivalent to food miles?)

 

[Greemble]

Could I just correct the way you have pronounced "Heigham" as "Hi Am"

You got Potter correct but the proper Norfolk way for Heigham is Heeem...

Update:
Probably due to the influx of "furrinas" (i.e. anyone from south of the River Bure and/or west of Wroxham), the pronunciation has mellowed over the years.
Potter is still fair game for any recognisable soundings of the word, but Heigham is now closer to "Hayum".

I you go north of Potter bridge there tend to be fewer power boats as they can't get under the old bridge.

This is very true - and there are some small boats for hire on Hickling Broad or on the river, just to the north of Potter Heigham.

Edit: Just to be clear on pronunciations, should you need it.
Not too far from the north part of the Broads, on the North East Norfolk coast, there is the village of Happisburgh with a lighthouse that is open to the public.
Anyone that's sailed along that part of the North Sea will know it well.

The village pronunciation "Hazeburra"

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Edit: Just to be clear on pronunciations, should you need it.
Not too far from the north part of the Broads, on the North East Norfolk coast, there is the village of Happisburgh with a lighthouse that is open to the public.
Anyone that's sailed along that part of the North Sea will know it well.

The village pronunciation "Hazeburra"

The family have a summer place in Mundesley which the locals call "Munsly" .
There are some place names on the Broads which are great to just enjoy saying.

My favourite is "Womac Staithe". Staithe is very common on the Broads which probably
means a dock of some kind. The word doesn't seem to have travelled much from Norfolk/Suffolk.

 

[JumbleDuck]

My favourite is "Womac Staithe". Staithe is very common on the Broads which probably
means a dock of some kind. The word doesn't seem to have travelled much from Norfolk/Suffolk.

You've prompted me to look it up in the OED. Seems to be an anglo-saxon word

formerly used in a lot of places but now confined to areas with strong Germanic/anglo-saxon influence, like East Anglia and the North-East