A massive thank you to Riverside Rentals  for their continuing support and recent donation  to help us with our work to keep the Broads special.   Given the very challenging times and closure of the tourism sector for much of 2020 and into 2021, their support is really humbling.  We are very grateful.

Hall Farm Cottages, based at Ludham, are one of the founding business supporters of Love the Broads, and have again donated an amazing sum to help with our important work.   Given that this fantastic holiday accommodation provider was closed for much of 2020 we are so grateful to Hannah and her customers, many of them less able, for their kindness.  Good luck for 2021, Hannah.

We are delighted that a new play area funded by a grant from Love the Broads has been launched at a snowy Salhouse Broad in February 2021.

A grant of £2,000 was awarded to the Friends of Salhouse Broad towards creating an exciting bespoke natural play space for everyone to enjoy. The new play area will encourage children and families to engage with the stunning natural woodland adjacent to the Broad and within The Broads National Park. It will widen the offer to both local residents and families visiting the area, encouraging them to visit at any time of the year and to stay for longer.

CAP.Co, a local, Broads-based company who are international leaders in the field of creating adventurous, playful, educational spaces, were commissioned to deliver this project.

Thank you to The Galley, Horning and all your amazing customers for the fabulous donation of £55 from 5p for each afternoon tea sold and 10p for each plastic bag.   This is amazing given the little time that you were able to be open during 2020 and we are so grateful.  Your donation will help with our important work to ensure that the Broads National Park remains special.

Good luck with your fabulous afternoon teas available for collection over Easter 2021 too.  Sound yummy!

A massive thank you to NORFOLK BROADS DIRECT and its amazing CUSTOMERS who have donated £1,000 towards  keeping the Broads National Park special and helping wildlife, the environment and education.  A fantastic amount particularly in these very challenging times.  We are so grateful.

Small grants are available so  – APPLY NOW

GREAT NEWS – GRANT APPLICATIONS NOW WELCOME

Despite the COVID-19 national emergency and our generous business partners being closed for many months, we are delighted to confirm that we are still receiving donations from tourism businesses and members and are now in a position to offer small grants for exciting projects.

APPLY HERE NOW

Our grateful thanks to the amazing tourism business partners and their customers who continue to provide donations to help our important work to keep the Broads special – even in these challenging times.  These recent donations, and those of our generous Members, have enabled us to be in a position to offer small grants to exciting projects now.   We could not do this without you.

It is with great sadness that we recently learnt of the death of Bryan Read.  Bryan was a founding trustee of the Broads Trust with a great love of the Broads. He was born into a Norfolk family, his mother was a Colman and his grandmother was a Boardman, so it is hardly surprising that he was closely involved in so many aspects of the Broads.

His father ran Read’s Mills at Beccles and became a Commissioner with the Gt. Yarmouth Port & Haven Commissioners due to the majority of the grain being carried by river and being imported via the Port of Gt. Yarmouth.   Read’s Mills moved to Norwich in the Thirties and in 1963 Bryan took over the running of the Mills upon the death of his father and so became a Port & Haven Commissioner in his place.   Reads also had a mill at Horstead, at the head of the navigation, which burnt down in January 1963.

The family own a bungalow at Horning and are involved with many boating activities. They owned the River Cruiser Harrier and White Boat Scarce Copper among others and Bryan raced a Star class dingy at Wroxham.

Being a River Commissioner, Bryan was involved with many organisations around the Broads and the setting up of Trusts to preserve a number of Broads’ activities and facilities.   He was also played a major role in the creation of the Broads Authority to deal with the many problems of running the waterways and navigations.

When the future of How Hill was in doubt, Bryan persuaded Norwich Union to step in and secure the future of the property to continue its valuable educational role.   Similarly, he worked hard with the EDP to help raise funds to secure the Hunter Fleet so that it was preserved as a traditional boatyard and vintage fleet of sailing craft.   In addition, Bryan was involved in the Norfolk Windmills Trust.

Bryan was passionate about the Broads and became heavily involved in the controversy of the Broads not being a full National Park. He served on the Council for National Parks and was particularly pleased when the Broads was eventually recognised as part of the Family of National Parks.

Bryan was a long serving member and President of the Broads Society and in 2005 he worked with two colleagues from the Society, Major Nick Barne and Peter Howe, to set up a new charity – The Broads Trust. The aim of the charity was to raise money to support projects around the Broads for conservation, education, enhancement of the natural environment and the improvement of the navigation. He acted as Treasurer until very recently and saw the work of the charity grow to be a force for good, which it now is, with the development of the Love the Broads project.

There is no doubt that Bryan’s contribution to so many aspects of the Broads over his long life will be sadly missed but he leaves a lasting legacy for all to see.  Bryan and Sheila, his wife who sadly died in 2018, had a large family and were so proud of  his 4 children and countless grand and great grand children.

Bryan was well respected and liked by all that knew him.

You can hear Bryan speaking of his family’s history and passion for the Broads – see link:

https://soundcloud.com/wisearchive/our-family-and-the-broads

(Peter Howe, Trustee of  the Broads Trust, presenting a cheque to Nicola Hems, Curator, and Robert Paul, Chairman of the Museum of the Broads Trustees on the Marsh Harrier)

We are delighted to be able to present a cheque for £1,300 to The Museum of the Broads for a new 12 volt electrical system and self-contained 12 volt charging system for their fabulous boat, Marsh Harrier.   This new equipment will enable the lift to be used without detriment to the normal running of the boat and creating access for  those passengers less able to negotiate the boarding steps.

The new 12 volt system, like the existing 48 volt system, will be charged using electricity generated by the Museum’s own solar panels.

The grant was agreed by the Broads Trust Trustees early in 2020 but was delayed due to Covid.  We wish all passengers on the Marsh Harrier a wonderful experience on the Broads.

Love the Broads would like to thank Judy Roberts and the many friends of Phil Green who have kindly set up a Just Giving donation page in his memory.  Sadly, Phil recently passed away.

We understand that Phil spent many holidays on the Norfolk Broads as a child and as an adult with his family.  More recently, he decided to start a new chapter of his life here on The Broads.  Tragically, Phil’s life was cut short not long after he’d moved into his beautiful new home on the River Ant.  Judy says “It would have been the perfect spot for him to grow old, with fishing, boating, walking, birdwatching and much more, on his doorstep”.

We can assure Judy and all of his friends that their kind donations in Phil’s memory will be used to help to ensure that the Broads remains special now and into the future.

All of the projects that Love the Broads has supported can be found on the projects page.

Thank  you very much.   As a result of your kindness, Phil’s memory will live on in the Broads.

4TH JULY will soon be here and we wish all our tourism business supporters lots of luck as they re-open and welcome customers again. Looking forward to seeing you all soon. A massive thank you to you and your amazing customers for your donations of over £50,000 which has funded nearly 40 fantastic projects in the Broads National Park helping wildlife, education and the visitor experience. (pub image Julian Claxton)