When it comes to planning a group outing, you’ll have so many options. Bowling, meals, and the pub are sure to keep everyone entertained. But you’ve done all of that before, right? What if instead you could take in the beauty of a national park when getting the gang together?
Rather than stepping inside, why not step on board one of our passenger boats? Taking in the wildlife whilst in comfort, you’re sure to enjoy something new.
What are the benefits of a group booking on the Broads?
Unlike a restaurant, our passenger boats will transport you through beautiful surroundings. Each furnished with tables and a bar, everyone is sure to be pleased.
With live and entertaining commentary, your group will explore the very best parts of the Broads in style.
At Broads Tours we offer a 10% discount for groups made up of more than 15 people.
In winter, you also have the option of making your trip a little festive. Open to groups of 30 or more, mulled wine and mince pies can be provided for a small additional cost.
If you think the Broads would be the perfect place for your next group booking, get in touch with us today.
Broads Tours is delighted to have expanded its premises by purchasing a large new boat shed and land adjoining our existing site. The modern building provides a designated facility that’s helping us to carry out our day boat winter maintenance work more efficiently.
Company director Barbara Greasley said: “We are working hard on winter maintenance to ensure that our whole fleet of day and trip boats look better than ever for the 2019 season. Each and every boat will be craned out, brought into our boatsheds and fully restored. As you can imagine this involves an awful lot of sanding, painting and polishing!
“Having the new boatshed has provided a designated facility to work on batches of up to 10 day boats plus a day cruiser at a time. It has also created more room to work on our large trip boats who previously had to share their working space with some of the day boats.”
All four of our double decker trip boats will also have had a makeover by next season. We have already added new-look paddles to our paddle steamer – the Vintage Broadsman – ready for our sell-out Santa cruises that start this weekend. Not only have we temporarily transformed the boat into Santa’s grotto but we have also done lots of varnishing, painting and engineering work so that it looks great for Christmas and beyond!
With additional shed space this year we are now able to work on both the Belle of the Broads and Cordon Rouge at the same time. We are currently painting the boats so they look fab for next season.
The biggest job so far has been sanding the top and back deck of the Cordon Rouge down to its original metal before it can be repainted.
Skipper Tom said: “The paint wasn’t lasting on the top and back deck of the Cordon Rouge. In order to solve this we decided to take the decks back to the original metal – for probably the first time since the boat was launched in 1987.”
“It was a really hard job and took us a week and a half working on our hands and knees with grinders and sanders. There was eight to ten layers of paint to remove in some places!”
Another very important task has been preparing our trip boats for their out of water safety inspection with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). We are pleased to say that all three of the boats that we have had inspected so far have passed.
From January onwards we will be working on an exciting project to transform the Queen of the Broads trip boat. Last year we gave the top deck of the boat a great new look and plan to make the bottom deck just as good this season. Work begins on the project in January – so watch this space for more information!
We look forward to showing you all our hard work next year!
Hiring a day boat, if you have never been out on the water, can be the perfect way to get a feel for it and decide if a holiday meandering and exploring the waterways would suit you.
If you would like to get a true vibe for the area, be sure to hire your day boat for a full day. The extra time enables you to travel a good way from our base in Wroxham and enjoy a stop for a picnic, or even for lunch in a waterside pub. You may even have time to enjoy a scenic walk around one of the nearby Broadland villages or to visit an interesting nature trail.
Planning a trip to the Broads National Park
So, you’ve visited us a few times and sampled the magic of the Broads National Park with one of our day boats, but now it’s time to take being captain to the next level and at your own pace, by enjoying a holiday in the Broads National Park.
A day boat offers you the perfect chance to get out on the water and explore the Broads for a few hours, or even a full day – but even at top speed there is only so much you can take in. Booking a holiday on the Norfolk Broads, allows you to slow the pace down and do some true exploring.
The first consideration is deciding what kind of holiday suits you, would you prefer to have a stable base, such as a waterside cottage or travel along the water on a holiday boat? Maybe you could have the best of both worlds and combine the two, starting your holiday in a cottage on the water’s edge and completing it with a week on the water itself.
Why choose the Broads for your first boating holiday?
The Broads National Park is the perfect place to get to grips with boating, the waterways are easy and very safe to navigate without any troublesome locks.
If you book your boating holiday with our sister company, Norfolk Broads Direct, their experienced skippers will take the time to explain the controls of your boat and how to manoeuvre it. They won’t expect you to leave until you are 100% comfortable to do so, so any last-minute nerves can be eased before setting sail on your exciting holiday.
Holidays in the Broads National Park are great for the entire family, even your four-legged friend can come along for the ride!
Relaxation like no other. A boating holiday gives you the chance to truly take a step away from the stress of day to day life – enjoy exploring natural beauty, spotting wildlife and alfresco dining.
If you think a holiday in the Broads National Park could be for you, head over to Norfolk Broads Direct now to check our remaining availability for 2018/19 or call us on 01603 782207.
We are delighted to be celebrating 30 years of our most iconic trip boat – The Vintage Broadsman which was launched on Spring Bank Holiday 1988 and has delighted hundreds of thousands of passengers over the years.
Director Barbara Greasley said: “The Vintage Broadsman is everyone’s favourite trip boat and one of the most photographed boats on the Broads.
“Over the years countless passengers have enjoyed a trip aboard the boat and we have been thrilled to host many special events on her. These range from Boogie Nights and Jazz evenings to themed Easter Cruises and the ever-popular Santa Cruises.”
As the Vintage Broadsman turns 30 we chart the history of a very special boat.
The Vintage Broadsman (and the Cordon Rouge trip boat that we fitted out a year earlier) were a revolutionary new concept for Broads Tours in the late 1980s – replacing the traditional single decker boats of old with a more spacious double-decker experience to really entertain on.
The Vintage Broadsman was commissioned by the previous owners of Broads Tours, Len and Hazel Funnell, and designed and fitted from a steel hull by our engineers and boat builders in the winter of 1987/88. This was a challenging but exciting time at Broads Tours – which many of our long-standing members of staff remember fondly today.
From the outset taking delivery of the steel hull for the Vintage Broadsman in December 1987 was quite an adventure. “The hull of the Vintage Broadsman was delivered by lorry from Wakefield and craned in at the docks at Great Yarmouth because there was nowhere closer to Wroxham that was strong enough to take its weight at that time,” explained our Fleet Manager Pat Tubby.
“The boat was craned in on a Sunday and had to be left overnight on the visiting boat’s moorings. The problem was that the Port Authority wouldn’t allow visiting boats to be left unattended overnight on the moorings, so two of our staff had to sit in a van on the quay by the hull all night long,” he continued.
“The following morning the hull was towed up through Great Yarmouth Yacht Station by two tugboats to Acle Bridge. The hulls were then towed from Acle to to one of Broads Tours’ old premises on Church Road, in Wroxham on the Tuesday,” Pat explained.
At that time none of our boatsheds were big enough to fit the Vintage Broadsman inside them, therefore the Broadsman had to be fitted out on the water, meaning that our team of engineers and boatbuilders had to brave a very cold winter outside. “The weather that year was so bad that we had to put tilts over the top of the steel hull of the Vintage Broadsman to stop the snow from getting in,” explained one of our longest serving engineers, Steve Andrews.
Steve said that despite the weather, he enjoyed helping to build the Vintage Broadsman. “The project was led by our head engineer Mick. It was something a bit different to working on a hire cruiser and made you think a lot more because of the size of the boat. It was particularly interesting installing the cable throttle and gears on such a long boat because they had to run all the way from the wheelhouse to the stern of the boat,” he said.
But much of the work was also a laborious task, “I can remember spending a lot of time drilling holes through the metal work to take the woodwork to attach the ceiling. That was pretty hard work, particularly in the freezing conditions,” he said.
We still have the original copy of The Vintage Broadsman’s plans and, if you look carefully at the picture below, she seems to have been named the Swordsman rather than the Vintage Broadsman!
Another of our long serving boat builders, Steve Hayne, remembers building the Vintage Broadsman (and Cordon Rouge a year earlier) as a revolutionary time for Broads Tours.
“The double decker trip boats were the biggest boats we had built at Broads Tours and completely different to the traditional single decker boats that we had used for generations before – so it was something special to be involved in,” he said.
“It was an exciting time of change in the trip boat business. The double decker boats moved the idea of an escorted river trip to a completely new dimension. On busy days people were squashed on our old single decker boats like commuters on a bus at rush hour. The double decker boats offered a more spacious, enjoyable experience. Passengers suddenly had the freedom to walk around the boat – so they could enjoy the view from the top deck, get a drink at the bar and use a proper toilet.”
“For the first time we also had the space to really entertain on a boat so we could host bigger functions and have bands and discos,” Steve added.
The Vintage Broadsman’s maiden voyage was on Spring Bank Holiday 1988 and she was an instant hit with passengers and skippers alike.
One of our skippers Patrick Wright remembers seeing the Vintage Broadsman for the first time. “I saw the Vintage Broadsman when she was brand new and had a full guided tour from her first skipper” Patrick said. “I really loved her and was offered a job as a relief skipper! Unfortunately, it took a long time to drive to Wroxham from my home in Loddon in those days so I reluctantly declined the job,” he explained.
But Patrick eventually took the helm 12 years later, when he was able to reach Wroxham far more easily due to a new road being built. “In the year 2000 I joined Broads Tours as a relief skipper for the Vintage Broadsman. My first solo trip on her was at night and I returned to Wroxham at 11pm in the dark. Not being familiar with Wroxham at the time, I turned into the wrong dyke at the end of the trip and had to reverse back on to the river!” Fortunately, the rest of Patrick’s trips have been much more successful and he has loved driving her over many years.
The Vintage Broadsman has been skippered by James Ellis since 2005, who said “I feel proud to be the skipper of a boat which is such an iconic sight with so much history. I feel a real connection to the Vintage Broadsman having been her skipper for 13 years. Long may this continue.”
We are so excited to have received an award at the annual British Coach Tourism Awards ceremony last week. These awards are organised by Diversified Communications UK and are hosted by Group Tourism & Travel Magazine.
The fantastic ceremony took place at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham where the awards were presented by Angela Rippon CBE.
Our category, River and Inland Cruise Operator, was sponsored by Eastons, a very prestigious local coach company. We were up against some incredible operators, MBNA Thames Clippers, Sabrina Boat, Stuart Line Cruises, Trent River Cruises and Ullswater Steamers. We were therefore so surprised and delighted to have been named the winners!
Throughout the year we carry many coach parties and groups. We offer very generous group discounts and have a free coach park on site which is very close to our boarding points. If you would like to bring your coach party or group to explore the beautiful Broads National Park then check out more information here.
