Category: News

With Easter just around the corner and our daily timetable due to start on 24 March we thought that you might like to know what we have been getting up to in the winter months.

Everybody’s favourite passenger boat, the Vintage Broadsman, is having a larger bar fitted.  Anybody who has ever joined us for one of our popular Boogie or Jazz evenings or has been a guest at a private charter will know just how ‘cosy’ it was for our crew behind the bar.  With these improvements it will certainly be easier for us to serve your favourite tipple!

The Belle of the Broads has had a makeover too – having been repainted in a new midnight blue colour – and been fitted with a much larger, easy access upstairs toilet. This is a real improvement for the new season. We have also fitted a smart new stainless steel access gate for the wheelchair lift plus an improved winch on the anchor.

A big talking point is that the figure head on the Cordon Rouge – affectionately known as Doris – is sporting a new look ginger hairdo having been painted along with the rest of the boat!

The Queen of the Broads is also looking spick and span having been painted and fitted with a new railing and UPV door.  Earlier this winter we added a new heating and air conditioning system to the boat, which has made it much cosier in this cold weather and will hopefully make the boat more comfortable on hot sunny days.

Our fleet of day boats are being painted so they look great for the new season.

Our electric day launches are also having their engines refitted, which were removed for safe storage over winter.

We are all so excited to be one of only 86 visitor attractions in England to have been awarded a Visit England special accolade!  We have just received the Best Told Story 2017 award.

All of our passenger boat skippers do a fantastic job bringing the Story of the Broads alive for our visitors via their wonderful commentaries.

The accolades are awarded based on the score that attractions achieve during their visit by a VisitEngland assessor.  We were assessed as a Visit England Quality Assured Tour on 26^th May 2017.  The assessor took a trip on the Queen of the Broads.  Overall, we scored 90% which is fantastic.  What is even more rewarding is that we scored 97% for the actual tour, 100% for cleanliness and 100% for our wonderful staff!

To find out more about the Visit England accolades please see the Visit England website here https://www.visitbritain.org/visitengland-announces-winners-attractions-accolades

Take a look at our full report here!

Visit England Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme 2017

Ever wondered what we do at Broads Tours during the quieter winter months?  Well we lay down our summer whites, don our overalls and get out the paint brush for lots of maintenance work.  And this year we hope to make our boats and cottages better than ever.

We have already installed a fantastic new heating and air conditioning system to the Queen of the Broads trip boat that will enable us to offer more winter trips and increased comfort on hot summer days. Click here to find out more about the Queen of the Broads

Another  big improvement that you will notice next season is that we are installing an enlarged, easy access toilet in the upstairs saloon of the Belle of the Broads.  This will be far more comfortable to use, particularly for those of limited mobility.

We are sure you will raise a glass to another big change that is set to happen in early 2018 – enlarging the bar area of the Vintage Broadsman.  We decided to increase the bar capacity to give an even better experience on our  popular boogie and jazz nights as well as private charters when the bar can get quite busy.

Before any of that work can happen the Vintage Broadsman is being prepared as a wonderful festive grotto for our ever popular Santa Cruises – which sold out more than two weeks ago.  Everyone is looking forward to welcoming Santa!

All the trip boats will be given a fresh lick of paint where necessary and the Belle of the Broads is also having its roof sealed.

Keeping our day boats in tip top condition is another priority and they are being sanded and painted, including treating the decks with non-slip paint.  Some of the canopies are being replaced too.

We look  forward to showing you all our hard work next season!

Broads Tours has installed a new heating and air conditioning system on their largest Broads river trip boat –  The Queen of the Broads – which will enable them to offer more river trips in the winter as well as increased comfort on hot summer days.

This is the first time that Broads Tours has installed a combined heating and air conditioning system on one of the trip boats and the move offers a really exciting opportunity to deliver a more diverse range of tours throughout the year. The Vintage Broadsman and the Cordon Rouge already have very effective heating systems in place for the colder days.

Broads Tours director Barbara Greasley said: “I’m delighted that we have had the new heating and air conditioning unit fitted, which will mean that we can extend our season to provide more trips in the winter.

“For the last few years we have been hosting coach parties for mulled mine and mince pie boat trips while their customers have been on a turkey and tinsel holidays, which have proved very popular.  This gave us the confidence that there is a demand for trips throughout the year and we decided to install the heating  and air conditioning system to both the top and bottom saloon so that passengers can enjoy the tips in more comfort.”

While Broads Tours is mainly catering for coach parties this winter they have bigger plans for the future.  “We are hoping to offer the public a regular timetable of Christmas and winter trips in the 2018/2019 season,” Barbara revealed.

“The Broads is certainly a magical place through the winter season. It attracts a huge range of winter migratory birds and the quieter waterways also mean that many shyer species, like otters, are more likely to come out into the open and be spotted by passengers.  Now that we have heating on the Queen of the Broads we may be able to take more people out to see this wonderful winter wildlife,” Barbara added.

Underlying Broads Tours flexible approach to business, Barbara has  thrown down the gauntlet to regular passengers.  “We would welcome any feedback from customers about the kind of trips they would like,” she said.

Broads Tours is also looking ahead to February half term when they will be offering a regular timetable of “Kids Go FREE” with paying adults river trips and the new heating system will make this much more cosy at that time of year.

The regular river trip timetable will also start earlier next  year on Saturday 24^th March 2018, due to an early Easter holiday.

If you have any ideas for winter boat trips please e-mail info@broads.co.uk or call 01603 782 207

To learn more about winter wildlife spotted visit our nature blog click here

Thirty members of staff at Norfolk Broads Direct and Broads Tours were trained in the use of three new throw bags that have been installed at our boatyard as part of the RNLIs new Waterside Community Responder scheme.  The training, which was delivered by RNLI personnel from Happisburgh lifeboat station, means that we are now even better prepared to help people if they get into difficulty in the water.

Broads Tours have been issued with three of potentially life-saving throw bags, which can be thrown out to anyone who has fallen into the water  while hanging on to a safety line.  The casualty can then be pulled in to the water’s edge using the line.

Broads Tours and Norfolk Broads director Barbara Greasley, said: “Safety is paramount for our staff and customers. We want everyone to enjoy this beautiful area in safety.

“The training was a really good opportunity to learn about the new life staving apparatus.

“We also wanted to get involved to help the RNLI raise awareness of their Respect The Water campaign, which helps people to know what to do if someone falls unexpectedly into cold water.

“I would like to encourage other waterside businesses to get involved in the Waterside Community responder scheme so that we have as many throw bags and trained staff around the broads as possible.”

Broads Tours Skipper Tobi Radcliff said: “We got our staff, including those involved in cleaning and housekeeping, some boat builders, other skippers, and day boat staff, to undergo training to use throw bags effectively.

“We want visitors to feel safe but also to acknowledge the risks involved and respect the water.

“I have known of cases when a member of the public has gone in the water, and we’ve had to help and rescue them.

To find out more about the RNLIs Respect the Water Campaign, including what to do if you fall into cold water and how to help others visit https://www.respectthewater.com/

Any waterside businesses who would like the free training and equipment from the RNLI should visit https://rnli.org/pages/throw-bag-training