With 75 years of helping visitors to the explore the Norfolk Broads, we at Richardson’s were delighted to receive an e-mail from one of our guests, a lovely lady named Mary Spencer.

Mary shared with us her Norfolk Broads diary, featuring some beautiful paintings alongside her entries. Created during her holiday with us on board Crystal Horizon last October, Mary’s diary makes for a lovely read and we wanted to share it with all of our guests, too!

Encouraged by her husband, Tony, Mary took inspiration from a book her husband had acquired called “A Week on the Broads” which was written in 1880 by three men on a boat in the Broads, writing diary entries each day as well as painted pictures to accompany.
Mary created her diary in watercolour inside of an A5 sketchbook, painting the pictures from photos she took daily on her mobile phone.

Click here to view / download the A5 sketchbook!

Mary and Tony live on the Isle of Bute in Scotland, and first visited the Broads in 1974 with their youth club. Since then, the couple have visited many times since their marriage in 1976, bringing their children, grandchildren and best friends along for the journey.

“You can see time change in the boats and the style of life jackets,” Mary says. “We have used Richardson’s continuously for so many years and always enjoyed your service.”

A big thank you to Mary for sharing her lovely painted diary with us – we hope you all enjoy taking a look through the pages, too!