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Lady Florence Cruise
27th December 2006
These photos were taken in Orford, Suffolk on Wednesday 27th December when we went on one of the daily restaurant cruises run by the
Lady Florence
. The cruises leave at 12:00 mid-day for a 3-hour sail both upstream and downstream on the Rivers Ore and Alde. Twelve passengers can be carried and a good lunch with impressive wines is served during the cruise. The weather was rather dull on our cruise (as it had been over the whole Christmas period), but the coastal scenary here is spectacular in any weather. Many interesting sea birds were seen, including the famous avocets which winter on Havergate Island (an RSPB reserve). The whole trip runs in sheltered waters and operates throughout the year. See the website for more information:-
www.lady-florence.co.uk
Sections on this Page:-
Lady Florence
Guinevere
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- 27th December 2006
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Lady Florence Cruise
27th December 2006
Lady Florence
Contact:-
07831 698 298
Website:-
www.lady-florence.co.uk
Lady Florence
is an ex-Admiralty motor fishing vessel (MFV) one of over 1000 built during World War II as supply boats. She is 50 ft long, 16ft 6' in beam, draws 6ft of water and weighs 35 tons net, 54 gross.
Lady Florence
sales from Orford Quay as a floating restaurant, and carries 12 passengers. She usually runs a morning Brunch Cruise at 9:30 followed by a Lunch Cruise at 12:00. Between April and August she also runs an evening Dinner Cruise at 16:00, whilst in September to mid-October a High Tea cruise runs at the same time. Each trip runs both upriver on the Alde and downstream to the sea on the Ore, whatever the weather and tides. Food is served in the comfortable deck saloon, which has a coal fired stove in winter. She gets booked up well in advance, so bookings should be made at: 07831 698 298
Lady Florence
was built in Poole during 1944, at Jake Bolson's yard where many
Bournemouth excursion boats
were built. She was launched as
MFV 766
, and served initially at Glasson Dock in Lancashire, then from 1947 out of Plymouth and then Portsmouth from 1955. In 1963 she transferred to the Sea Cadets at Midhurst Sussex, then Hove from 1969. In 1971 she went into private hands. There is a gap in the history from 1971 to 1977, in which year she was registered as a British Ship, named
Margaret Jane
, and was back at Glasson Dock. She was sold in 1983 to Geoffrey Ingram Smith of Woodbridge who renamed her
Lady Florence
and set up the river cruise business in Orford in 1984. He subsequently sold the business to Susan and John Haresnape in 1992, and they and sons Rhys and Craig continue to operate the Lady Florence business.
Lady Florence
cruises the Rivers Alde and Ore, one river which has two names. The river is tidal as far as Snape Bridge, but although very wide, it becomes too shallow for
Lady Florence
beyond Cob Island, two miles above Aldeburgh Yacht Club and Slaughden Quay.
More images of
Lady Florence
Lady Florence
arriving back at Orford Quay on 27th December 2006 after her morning Brunch Cruise.
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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The tide was exceotionally low and there was a delay before berthing was possible
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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On board
Lady Florence
on the 27th December 2006 lunch cruise.
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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The saloon on
Lady Florence
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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The wheelhouse on
Lady Florence
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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The wheelhouse on
Lady Florence
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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Guinevere
The isolated Orford Ness has been used by the military from 1913, when a large part of the Ness was taken over by the War Department. It was drained to form airfields for the Central Flying School’s Experimental Flying Section; and so began an intense seventy year period of military activity. Experiments during the First World War included those on parachutes, aerial photography, bomb and machine gun sights, the evaluation of aircraft and the development of camouflage. During the Second World War experimental work concentrated on bomb ballistics and firing trials. In the Cold War, tests relating to atomic weapons were undertaken in strange-looking '
pagodas
' which still remain.
The Ministry of Defence ran a number of ferries fron
Orford Quay
to
Orford Ness
, which in later years included the
Portree
of Caledonian SP Co. When the military pulled out,
Orford Ness
was handed to the
National Trust
in 1993 for protection. They maintain a small passenger ferry
Octavia
to take vistors across the River Ore. The National Trust ferry runs through the summer months only (Saturday's only in October). Some MOD buildings passed to the BBC for use by the BBC World Service. They have maintained a landing craft to transport vehicles across. In 2006 this landing craft is named
Guinevere
, and is very similar (but not identical) to
AWRE-No3
shown on my
Orford
page.
BBC ex-landing craft
Guinevere
These images were taken in near darkness at 3:30pm with very slow shutter speeds, and show the value of anti-shake digital cameras!
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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BBC ex-landing craft
Guinevere
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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BBC ex-landing craft
Guinevere
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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BBC ex-landing craft
Guinevere
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
Click to open larger image in new window
BBC ex-landing craft
Guinevere
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 27th December 2006
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