We waited to meet up with Sonny Amis on another hot and sunny day and agreed for some more dredging to be done and silt reclaimed and for the hire of a barge for building work. To the Wroxham Riverside Café for lunch and to see Nigel Royall about wherry restoration only to learn of bad news. To Norwich for a new exhaust and four tyres and then home, to Daniel and for Debbie's parents evening
The last day of our short break but we still had a few things to do in Norfolk before we went home. A nice early start again on another hot and sunny day and we used Heronshaw to get bathed and dressed. I then wanted to see Sonny Amis and we had to wait on for him to come later. He and I discussed the problem and came to a good compromise. He would get a little more dredging done around the new dyke now that it was dried out a bit and then do a day's dredging opposite my lawn to get a fair pile built up there for spreading when it dried out. These efforts would cost £40 and £140 respectively. Then he would lend me one of his barges for the two-month period of my construction and only ask for £10-£20 for the trouble.
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He would also arrange for some help to bring the barge back and fro and help with the loading of it with timber at Horning Staithe, charging the rate for the time of the two men. Come next winter (when there would be a foot more water for the draft of a barge loaded with dredgings) we would try to organise some serious dredging of Ropes Hill Dyke when I would still be able to accept more spoil on my land. All this agreed, I let him go and then checked with his men that they had been briefed accordingly before the family loaded up the Range Rover and set off first for Wroxham. We had a nice lunch at the Riverside Cafe, despite the heat, and I took the chance of popping over to see Nigel Royall to talk about wherries in general and the Lord Roberts in particular.
He was very helpful and keen but imparted the sad news that, in his view, there was not a clinker-built wooden trading wherry about that could be restored. The Lord Roberts was now so rotten that he felt that every timber would have to be replaced even if it would be possible to raise it again. He thought that the best hope of the Norfolk Broads seeing a traditionally shaped trading wherry again was to raise and restore one of the iron wherries that were still in reasonable condition. His choice would be the Uranus, a craft of some 55ft by 14-15ft presently sunk in Surlingham Broad. He knew of another stranded in the May & Gurney yard by the raising of banks and new road foundations.
Back to the car to find Diana furious at my delaying her and then on to Norwich where we got the new exhaust and front tyres fitted at Fast-Fit. The journey home to find Daniel there waiting for us, him still not having had his alternator fixed. There were no telephone messages or letters for me which seems strange. At least my latest retirement seems to be taken seriously. Debbie's parents' evening in the Saloon of Kimbolton Castle was the next reason to rush. The message was that she was still working very hard in all subjects, but her classmates seem to be catching her up - particularly in the science subjects. Tired to bed to await tomorrow before getting things organised.