Page published 30 August 2025
Monday 16 June 2025 - Passing through Irstead
This page continues the report of our two night cruise to Ludham Bridge and back to Wayford. You may wish to start from Part One.
We had started out on this part of the cruise from Neatishead at around midday and spotted a Muntjac deer as we made our way down Lime Kiln Dyke. We passed by the pontoons we had spent the night beside, going close enough to spot the sign that revealed that the boats moored there are part of the Nancy Oldfield Trust fleet. We now rejoin the journey as we leave Barton Broad and enter the River Ant.
It's around 12:15 as we leave Barton Broad and proceed towards Irstead Shoals.
A few minutes later we are passing one of those landmarks I can't resist photographing, "The Ice House"
The Gardens at How Hill
We arrive at the Broads Authority's How Hill moorings at 12:50 where we have a sandwich lunch aboard while listening to the One o' Clock News on Radio 4.
It's 14:00 and as we have plenty of time to get to Ludham Bridge, where we plan to have our evening meal at "The Dog", it seems a good idea to repeat a visit to the splendid gardens at How Hill, which we first saw in May 2014. I take a picture of the house as we leave the boat.
We walk back to Hathor's mooring and then up the roadway towards the house. Half way up I hope that this picture will come out better than it does. The tree ahead is splendid but the surrounding ones hide its full form.
At the top behind the house there's a gate on the left. You pass through that to get to the gardens.
Once through the gate you walk through woodland. I remember reading that it was planted at the time the house was built, in the early 1900s.
Some of the trees in part of the woodland have been felled. It opens the area t more sunlight and you can see how a different habitat is being formed.
Once through the woodland the How Hill Trust web site says you come to:
the "celebrated secret gardens", a series of inter-connected ponds and channels surrounded by raised peat beds. In spring these gardens are a tropical blaze of colour, as the various azaleas and rhododendrons come into flower."
Unfortunately, we were there a little late for the best of the promised colour that we had seen in our last visit.
It was not all bad, however. There were areas with rhododendrons in full bloom, and...
...the small areas of grass appeared recently mowed, while the boardwalks seemed redundant in such dry conditions.
It was a shame that the very dry and warm spring weather meant a number of the ponds were full of duckweed.
I was rather disappointed to find my shot of mating damsel flies had turned out rather out of focus.
With our tour of How Hill complete we returned through the wood and back down the wide track, returning to the boat just after 14:50.
We had a mug of tea before casting off and were approaching Neave's Mill at 15:15.
The Dog at Ludham Bridge
Once we reached the moorings at Ludham Bridge I seem to have had a spell when I failed to take any photographs. I didn't even take one of the food we ate. You could say it's a custom in our family members WhatsApp group to post photos of restaurant food. I even have had to resort to grabbing an image from the Geograph site to find one of the pub. But you can find some pictures I took at the pub in May Last Year which show it's dog friendly by nature as well as name.
©2023 JThomas
The best image I could find to illustrate The Dog Inn, where we had an early evening meal, was taken in October 2023. If you wonder why it looks so empty, that's because the pub only opens for summer trade and by October each year it's closed.
I suspect that the chief reason I took just one picture while at the pub was because we were distracted by the music, or should I say comedy? We'd finished eating when two guys appeared clutching guitar and bodhran. It seems they were expected or, at least, known to several of the people sitting in that half of the bar. It wasn't just that they played a variety of tunes, many of which were of Irish extraction, it was the introductions to the songs and the banter with the audience along with a stream of one liners that had us in stitches when we weren't joining in with the choruses, and verses, when we knew them.
The two guys who turned up to entertain the clientele at The Dog. They only played for an hour before adjourning to sit at the bar and chat to the landlord and his wife.
I got to know Lorraine, the landlady, more than 10 years ago when she ran a sign printing business in Stalham. It was she who provided the poster for my One Man Band and the graphics for Just 17, my SeaHawk. I don't recall playing at the Dog in my one man band days. I do remember, much more recently, dropping in and talking with Geoff, the landlord about finding a slot for Bar Room Blues to play at the pub, but we band members never managed to fix a date when we were all available.
Tuesday 17 June 2025 - The Homeward Journey
Before leaving the pub we learned that Pete would be returning the following week with his wife and various other people. That sounded as if it might be fun! Having got back to the boat we went to straight to bed as the plan was to rise early in order to be back in Stalham by around 09:30.
It was 06:44 and we had just cast off. I was hoping for a worthwhile shot by holding my phone through the open sun roof above my head and pointing in the general direction of aft.
By 07:12 we were motoring slow past mostly sleeping boats on the How Hill moorings.
Twenty minutes later we had reached Irstead and were passing the wonderful thatched house "Shoals Piece".
A little further along there was a boat moored at the village staithe.
Next we were crossing a very empty Barton Broad. With nothing to focus on you must forgive the green line with two shades of blue above and below.
Managing to resist a picture of Hunsett Mill I wait till the last half mile before Long Dyke to take my next picture.
Finally, a last picture before turning into Long Dyke. If you've been following my record of previous cruises you'll recognise the chalet just ahead - the one with the Roman Portico. It was taken at 08:20 so it was perfectly timed for our planned arrival in Stalham.
Next, read about our Singsong Trip made the following week.