I’m not done talking about Otters yet

Alan – our resident otter spotter - has been keenly watching our resident otter family these last few nights. This week he even managed to catch Mrs Otter on camera before she took cover. There she is look, on the rudder of the barge.

Mr Otter, mean time, was fishing off the bow of Alan’s barge.

We're just like the Wind in the Willows, but with otters.

A bevy of otters

Guess what I saw last week? Yep, otters. Not one, or two (or even three) but four of the critters!

Right in front of my very self in the river and in the marina, I watched them feeding on fish (not pike of course!) and playing in the water. This is unprecedented as far as I know - meaning that Waveney River Centre is an excellent place to see this most enigmatic of river mammal.

My flippers were too slippery for me to get a picture (and my slippers too flippery), but they looked just like this stock picture that I found on tinterweb.

Five facts you otter know:

1. The European otter (Lutra Lutra)  is part of the family Mustelidae which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers and wolverines
2. Otters were almost extinct in the UK by the 1970s - mostly due to toxic pesticides and hunting
3. Otters must eat 15% of their body weight a day to survive.
4. Tarka The Otter was voted 98th in Channel 4's poll of the 100 Greatest Family Films
5. Illegal setting of crayfish traps can kill otters, so please don't do that

Thank you to our intrepid wildlife expert Carl Chapman for pointing them out to me. You can find out more about otters here.

Historic ferry service to re-open

I'm going to be a ferryfish! Someone told me that there used to be a ferry connecting Waveney River Centre to Carlton Marshes and I couldn't resist reviving it so that everyone can have a lovely long walk.

Apparently my team have joined forces with Suffolk Wildlife Trust to restore and promote the pedestrian ferry service from Burgh St Peter to the Carlton Marshes nature reserve -  and the Angles Way long-distance footpath.

Eddie's Ternpike ferry will run on-demand throughout the year – full details are on our website. It launches ofishally next Easter - but we'll be doing trial crossings throughout the winter subject to tide & weather conditions.

In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, the ferry was the easiest way for south Norfolk villagers to walk or cycle to Lowestoft’s fish market, turning a 17 mile journey via Beccles bridge into a more manageable 5 miles. The post-war explosion in car ownership meant that the ferry fell into disuse in the 1950s - but today there is a new generation of walkers and cyclists keen to explore the Broads at a more leisurely pace.

I interviewed James Knight of Waveney River Centre to get the low down, and he said that our customers have been asking where they can go for a walk alongside the river, or how they can get to the Carlton Marshes nature reserve which is directly opposite our Park. They’ve been disappointed to discover that it’s a 26 mile round-trip by car - but now it's just a 2 minute hop across the river! Apparently we've found the original river inlet and steel piling where the ferry landed on the Suffolk side - and Charlie Swan from Oulton Broad has even found the old bell which was used to call the ferryman! Evidently it had found its way to the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville.

I also had a quick yarn with Julian Roughton, Chief Executive at Suffolk Wildlife Trust, who said “we're delighted at the restoration of this ferry service by Waveney River Centre. Carlton Marshes is a great place to enjoy the wonderful landscape and wildlife of the Broads  and  now the ferry will offer walkers on the Angles Way the opportunity of a pub lunch at the Waveney Inn as well as a hearty walk”.

Local landowner Tony West remembers seeing the old ferry as a lad, but never used it. He said he'd rung the bell a few times though! Naughty boy.

Tourism Award Finalists Redux

Not content with being a triple winner at last years’s EDP Tourism in Norfolk Awards, my team have reached the final few again :-)

We’re finalists in 3 out of the 12 categories – for Best Holiday Park, Sustainable Tourism and Best Broads Holiday Experience – and the winners will be announced on Friday 18th at Holiday Inn Norwich North.

Peter Waters, editor of the EDP, was one of the judges handed the tough task of picking the best of what Norfolk has to offer.

He said: “The importance of tourism and hospitality to the local economy has never been greater and the quality of our finalists shows that we have a first-rate offering.

“From the Broads to the Brecks, from bucket and spade breaks to genteel north Norfolk and the shopping, culture and heritage of our jewel in the crown city, we have something for everyone, and that’s very much reflected in the EDP Tourism Awards for 2011.

“The competition has been fierce, with so many outstanding businesses to choose from, and that shows the vibrancy of a local industry that we must never take for granted.”

It looks like my boys & girls are up against some pretty high profile competitors, so make sure you wish us lots of luck.

Dragonfly Predator World

Carl's new Dragonfly Walk along the river wall has been very popular. A few weeks ago I spotted a splendid female Southern Hawker, kind of hawking up and down the footpath. This baby has big ‘headlight’ patches behind her eyes that make her instantly recognisable. If you're a dragonfly expert like me that is. 

Last month a Hobby called in and feasted on a few of the dragonflies before moving on southward. Way to go Hobby! Hobbies are birds of prey at the top of the food chain - just like pikes. They're very sleek & agile birds that breed here in summer but move to South Africa to winter following the swallows upon which they also feed. Yum.

A tour of my home

Eddie's history - lesson 2

It's changed a bit, hasn't it. I think this is about 1930s but please feel free to prove me wrong.