wherry yacht charter charitable trust

Wherry Yacht Charter

History of the trust.

Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust (WYCCT) takes care of the only surviving fleet of Norfolk wherries - Hathor , Olive , Norada and White Moth - and is the successor to the non-profit company Wherry Yacht Charter. You can read more about the wherries' history and current status here .

The Trust was established in 2002 to secure the future of the wherries and allow access to a wider range of funding opportunities. Its stated aims are to restore, maintain and preserve Hathor , Olive and Norada for public benefit, to foster skills related to these activities, and enable education on wherries' important historic and cultural importance in the Broads.

The original three wherries were acquired in 2004, following an award of £492,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards their purchase and restoration. In 2010 the HLF awarded a further £148,000 - however the entire award requires match funding at a ratio of approximately 2:1, that is, for every £2 raised and spent the Trust can claim £1 from the HLF money.

In 2012 the Trust acquired the use of White Moth for charter purposes, bringing a new source of much-needed income.

The Wherries

As well as finishing the living accommodation to a standard suitable for charter, the electrical, gas and other systems must all meet current safety regulations - which can be something of a challenge on a historic vessel! On the outside, one of the larger tasks has been to replace the linoleum on the deck and coach roof. She is now operational for day, weekend and weekly charters.

www.wherryyachtcharter.org

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WHERRY YACHT CHARTER CHARITABLE TRUST

Charity overview

Activities - how the charity spends its money.

(a) restore, maintain and preserve for the benefit of the public one or more examples of the Norfolk Wherry and in particular the wherries "Hathor", "Olive", and "Norada". (b) advance the education of the public concerning Norfolk Wherries and their historic and cultural role in the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads. (c) provide training in the skills necessary to restore, maintain and sail them.

Income and expenditure

Data for financial year ending 31 March 2023

5 Trustee(s)

75 Volunteer(s)

Employees with total benefits over £60,000

Fundraising, trustee payments, what, who, how, where.

• Education/training
• Arts/culture/heritage/science
• Environment/conservation/heritage
• The General Public/mankind
• Provides Human Resources
• Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space
• 19 February 2003: Standard registration
• WHERRY YACHT CHARTER TRUST (Previous name)
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures

Trustees are the people responsible for controlling the work, management and administration of the charity on behalf of its beneficiaries. Generally trustees are treasurer, chair, board member etc. The trustees are responsible for keeping this list up to date and can do this by updating their details as they happen through the online service

Financial history

Financial period end date, accounts and annual returns.

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Governing document

MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION DATED 3 OCT 2002, AS AMENDED BY SPECIAL RESOLUTION 3 MAR 2006 AND 14 DEC 2010.

Charitable objects

THE OBJECTS OF THE CHARITY ARE:- 3.1. TO RECOVER, RESTORE, MAINTAIN AND PRESERVE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC ONE OR MORE EXAMPLES OF THE NORFOLK WHERRY AND IN PARTICULAR THE WHERRIES "HATHOR," "OLIVE" AND "NORADA"; 3.2. TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC CONCERNING NORFOLK WHERRIES AND THEIR HISTORIC AND CULTURAL ROLE IN NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK BROADS AND TO PROVIDE TRAINING IN THE SKILLS NECESSARY TO RESTORE, MAINTAIN AND SAIL THEM ("THE OBJECTS")

Area of benefit

Contact information.

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The Wherry Yacht Charter Story (1950s-2019)

Peter grew up on the Norfolk Broads before starting his career on the railways at Wroxham Station. He later went on to teach at Cromer Secondary Modern School before collecting wherries. Peter is one of the founders of the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust.

Growing up on the Broads

I’ve lived in Wroxham since about 1950 when I was only seven years old, so it’s been very much part of my life. I’ve had the good fortune to live in a house that has a known river frontage as well and so I’ve know the river for a very long time. I was sent away to public school and so did not have a lot of contact with other youngsters in my area. If I could re-write history that’s one thing I would change but obviously one can’t. I still have lots of fond memories of my childhood and still live in the same house that I did as a child after inheriting it from my parents.

Sometimes people ask me when did you learn to sail and I’m afraid my answer is I wasn’t taught to sail or anything like that. My father had a sailing yacht and we had a little lugsail dinghy as a tender to it and I think he just let me go out in it. So I learnt to sail just by having a go basically.

Amazingly living by the river I actually, just a year or two before I left school, got interested in something miles away from the river. I got interested in railways and when I left school I went to work on the railway at Wroxham station. Initially it was meant to be only for a year and then I was going to go to university but that didn’t happen. Manchester is a long way away and it rained all the while and three weeks was more than enough, so I had a five-year career on the railways.

Working on the 1960s railways

I started as a booking clerk and I finished up as a relief station master. Unfortunately, I joined in 1961 which is exactly the same year as a certain Dr Richard Beeching joined and, although I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the railway and wouldn’t have changed it at all, it was the end of an era. The railways in 1961 were very similar to the railways in 1901, very little had changed. In 1965, when I left, closures were taking place left right and centre. It was a depressing industry to work in and many people in this area thought it was a dying industry as did the government I think.

Career as a teacher

After leaving the railways, because I had been involved in the local church and got persuaded to teach in Sunday school, I changed into that direction so I went into teaching.

I didn’t want to go away to college so I did my training at Keswick Hall between1965 to 1968. Most of the course was extremely boring but you had to do it to get your Certificate of Education which was enough for me to go and teach at Cromer Secondary Modern School as it was then. I had to pay for it myself because I was obviously a mature student then and had given up quite a reasonable salary at the time on the railways. So it was not an easy three years but I did it and started teaching which I thoroughly enjoyed. My main subject for teaching was Religious Studies.

I taught full time for 18 years. It got as far as 1986 when I had by then got involved with wherries and I couldn’t do both. So I then did another two years part time and then in 1988 I left although I maintained my links with the school at Cromer for another 20 years or so.

I do still come across a lot a of people that I used to teach and whenever somebody says ‘hello Sir’ or even sometimes ‘hello Mr Bower’, I immediately have to turn round and say ‘give me your name’ and I think almost certain then it was somebody I used to teach. It’s nice and lots of them have good memories of when they went on the Broads with me as well.

I was able to take pupils onto the Broads with me in the 60s/70s, when things were very different from now and education was a much wider field. It wasn’t just getting grade C’s in this that or the other that was the only thing that counted and because I took a less able group in their last two years at school we were able to do all sorts of things. Cromer High School was one of the first to send youngsters to How Hill, the newly established education centre, by a very forward looking education officer, Dr Lincoln Ralphs. From 1969, right through to 1983 every Christmas I took a group to How Hill for a week’s course and in later years took them there by wherry as well. And then of course How Hill shut in 1983 when the education people at the time decreed that it wasn’t viable. A new trust was formed, but we’ll come onto that later.

Working with wherries

I was interested in railways and one of the things I did in 1967 was to dismantle a signal box from Honing station and re-erect it in the garden here and we formed the Barton House Railway as well which is still running to this day.

So I was sort of into things old a bit but as far as wherries were concerned, apart from seeing from time to time the Albion, very possibly the Solace, it was very very rare to see any other wherries. Once in the early 60s from my bedroom window at the top of the house here, I looked down the garden and I saw this highly coloured wherry mast going past under sail. I rushed down the garden and saw Hathor in all her glory sailing past and ever regretted the fact that I didn’t take the camera down with me.

I began to think that in the same way that things on the railway were disappearing rapidly disappearing, so it was similar with the wherries. So in the early 70s, I scoured the Broads to see if there were any other wherries left, because there were several at that time still being used as houseboats and so on. I saw an advert in the EDP advertising for £500 the wherry Sundog for sale in 1974. I did actually go and see the person who was selling it. She was in a very poor state and he told me that she’d broken her back and she was leaking badly. But he was living on the wherry Olive and he said, ‘I’m thinking I might be selling her later in the year.’ Olive then was basically all complete with mast and sail, or looked as if it was complete. I’d actually gone down there to Tunstall Dyke near Acle by boat, spent the night on the boat, next morning went back to see him and did a deal and 10 days later, I came and collected Olive and brought it back to Barton House.

I had never sailed a wherry before and the first time I had ever set foot on a wherry was that night . She’d got an engine so we brought her home under power and then sort of learnt to sail her by trial and an awful lot of error. I could write a book on how not to sail a wherry and what can go wrong.

That December 1974, would’ve been the first occasion I would’ve taken kids up to How Hill by wherry, on Olive. They were very excited by it. Particularly one incident when we went out for a sail in the morning and the wind was quite calm. We sailed up to Barton Broad and back again. Then the wind got up a bit in the afternoon and the kids sort of said, ‘Oh can’t we go for a sail again?’ So we decided to go off in the other direction towards Ludham Bridge. And I was, as I said very green then, I misjudged it. We were roaring up with the wind behind us towards the bridge and I yelled at them to start getting the sail down and as they did it, the sail started to rip from top to bottom; it was an old canvas sail. Naturally, they stopped. I had to scream at them to carry on and the sail literally did rip in half and yeah, I threw them ashore, with a load of lines and we pulled up about 10 ft. short of the bridge, quite frightening. First of my many frightening episodes on wherries.

But it didn’t put them or me off. Nearly put me off when I found out the cost of a new sail and then a couple of years later the cost of a new mast. Olive is still at the bottom of the garden. This became the beginning of a second lifelong passion, the first being the railways.

Building the collection

The next step was realising that on a teacher’s salary I couldn’t afford to maintain Olive unless she generated a bit of income. So the idea was to do a bit of chartering work and we started off by doing weekends and then weekends grew into some weeks during the school holidays and so on. In the late 70s I was doing more and more weekends and then the real life changer was in the early 80s when I was approached by a certain Barney Matthews who owned the wherry yacht, Lady Edith as called then, the Norada. I had met him once before when I brought the Olive. He came along and told me I’d bought the wrong boat and I should’ve bought his. Barney was a wonderful person but a very strong character and I had to point out to him that having bought one wherry I certainly wasn’t in a position to buy another one.

Barney was a local man but he spent his life working overseas and when he finally retired in 1983, he decided not to sell Norada and he did her up. He then approached me about doing charter work and we teamed up in 1983. Got on like a house on fire most of the time except when we were having fearful arguments but as Barney would say ‘Ahh purely academic, purely academic.’ In 1984 rumour had it that Martham Boat Building and Development Company had the wherry Hathor for sale. Barney and I had a discussion which went something like ‘I hear Hathor’s for sale. Well, we better have it.’ We went over and saw Gordon Curtis who was running the yard and did a deal more or less straight away. And in December 1985, Hathor ended up at the bottom of the garden. So from one wherry, the Olive, to two wherries, the Lady Edith who we renamed Norada when she was 75 years old in the late 70s, and then we had Hathor as well.

The history of Hathor

Hathor is unique on the wherries on the Broads. If you haven’t been inside Hathor my explanation will be totally inadequate, you need to go and see her. She was built for the Colman family when two sisters Ethel and Helen Colman who decided in 1904, that they wanted a wherry built. They’d had a younger brother, Alan Colman, who suffered from tuberculosis and what they used to do in those days was to ship them off Egypt where they hoped the dry clean air of the south would prolong their life. So in 1897 the family embarked for Egypt and sadly Alan Colman’s health was not improving. His dying wish was to see something of the Nile. They embarked on one of the dahabeahs on the Nile, which happened to be called Hathor, Goddess of Love, Joy and everything else under the sun. But when Hathor was moored at Luxor in February 1897 sadly Alan Colman died at only 30 years old. The family were there and it had a profound effect on them. So when in 1904 the two sisters were thinking of having a wherry, they decided to do it in their brother’s memory and so they called it Hathor.

It was constructed by Halls of Reedham, one of the finest wherry builders on the Broads but they commissioned Edward Boardman who was their brother-in-law and a prominent Norwich architect, to design the interior with Egyptian hieroglyphics. He was also the architect of How Hill House. He sent one of his employees, Graham Cotman, who I believe was related to the artist Cotman, to the British Museum to sketch the subjects in the Egyptology section there which were turned into architectural drawings. The interior of Hathor is absolutely unique because of how she is decorated. She’s got sycamore panelling which is a light wood, inlaid with teak which is a much darker wood, and its full of symbols, lotus leaves in flower and bloom. It really is really something quite special.

She is still in good condition. It was her turn to be done up on a slipway this winter and Dean, a young man who is operations manager here and is a superb craftsman, has done a fantastic amount of work on her. The interior was specially done up four or five years ago and Steve Darke, another local boat builder, did a tremendous amount of work on it then. When people come aboard to have a look at her there’s a really sort of wow effect because it’s just different.

Creating the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust

Barney and I formed Wherry Yacht Charter, a business very much in inverted commas because businesses usually make money and I would say we made the bread but we never made the butter to go on it. When we got Hathor as well, we worked very closely with the Broads Authority, who gave us a terrific amount of support both financial and in terms of activities. We did lots of sailings in conjunction with the Broads Authority. When discussing with Diana Shipp, who was in charge very much of the tourism side of things and the chief executive Aitken Clark, we formulated the idea of forming a trust because both Barney and I wanted to ensure that the wherries would be there for future generations to enjoy. When Aitken Clark retired, during the 90s, he said that in his retirement he would like to maintain his involvement with the wherries and so the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust was set up in 2002, with the sole aim of taking the wherries and preserving them for future generations to enjoy.

So the ownership of the wherries was transferred to the charitable trust and then quite amazingly, from three wherries we went to four, with the wherry yacht White Moth, when the boat yard at Horning was sold up. Most of the boats went to Martham and of course Martham is the other side of Potter Heigham Bridge and so White Moth wouldn’t’ve been suitable for going there. One of our trustees, Andrew Scull very kindly bought her for the use of the Trust and with eventual aim that she would become part of the trust.

So we then had four wherries and the good thing then was that this was in a low period because Barney and I had basically run out of money. The trust hadn’t been formed then and so during the 2000s as each wherry came up for its survey, we just didn’t have the money to do it. In 2009 the last wherry to sail Hathor, was laid up from September 2009. So for a couple years we had no wherries in commission at all. The trust had been formed by then and we got a heritage lottery grant but obviously we had to rebuild our base before we could do any work. So when in about 2011 suddenly the idea of being able to have White Moth appeared and she was still in sailing condition, we could use her straight away, that was really good because we can then start to generate a bit of income. So then we had White Moth and then even more surprisingly by the same process, with Andrew Scull, we got the Ardea as well.

History of the Ardea

The Ardea was the last wherry to be built of any sort at all in 1927 and she was built for Howard Hollingsworth who owned the store Bourne and Hollingsworth. A very rich man who lived in Lowestoft and it’s said that he commissioned the Ardea to relieve the depression in the boat building industry. He had this huge wherry constructed: 65 ft. long, that’s much longer than any of ours, to be built of teak which is the most durable, most expensive wood you can imagine to build boats out of for his own private use. She was commissioned in 1927 and Mr Hollingsworth had a dinner for all those people who’d worked on her, all the men who’d worked on the boat yard and at the side of everybody’s plate was a golden sovereign which again would’ve been a considerable amount of money.

Mr Hollingsworth had her for about 10 years and then she had one or two other owners. She was still sailing in the early 1950s but then was used as a motorboat and a houseboat until Howard Dunkerley came along who was going to work in Paris and wanted somewhere for accommodation. He had noticed lots of boats moored on the Seine and thought, I’ll see if I can find one in Norfolk. He saw the Ardea, took her across to France in 1959 and used her as accommodation. She wasn’t under sail then at all, she still had an engine and so she lay near the Eiffel Tower.

The story is that the Ardea was bought by a manager of ladies of the night but it was not used for that purpose, it was used as somewhere for her ladies to go and rest or so we’re told but that was only literally for a year or so. Then she went completely downhill but she was spotted by a certain Philippe Rouff, a Parisian who had a lot of interest in the rivers and canals of France. He first saw her in about 1971 and then a few years later he saw her again in a totally derelict condition. She’d been impounded by the customs and was just deteriorating. Anyway he bought her and initially lived on her, commissioned her for charter work and for years during his ownership, she travelled all over France all over the waterways of Europe. Probably the most widely travelled wherry in existence.

Anyway, Mr Rouff had always got a plan of getting her back to sailing order but sadly, he hadn’t got the money to do it and in 2005, he put her up for sail when she was bought by Phillip Davies. Now Phillip Davies had previously bought the White Moth and also established the Norfolk Broads Yachting Company boatyard at Horning. He bought Ardea for his own use, brought her back to this country, spent an enormous sum of money on restoring her, restoring her to extremely high standards and enjoyed a few, very few years of use on her as a private boat. Sadly, he died way before his time in early 2010/2011 something like that. His widow used her for a year or two but she’d got young children and it was just too much of a handful. So she got in touch with Andrew Scull again and again he very generously bought the Ardea as well and so now we have five wherries at the bottom of the garden.

Skippering on the Wherries

I have skippered on these wherries since 1974. In the early days I had various people help me with sailing the wherries and when I did weekend trips the charter party were the crew. When we started to work with the Broads Authority, we established the whole basis of crewing. In the early days it was Broads Authority staff and then we got volunteers. The situation now is that under the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust we formed a friends organisation and from the friends organisation we have a pool of crew members, so if people want to crew they join the friends and then we do training into crewing and we do training for people to become skippers as well and that’s basically where we get our crew from. Always looking for new recruits as well.

I’m winding down a little bit with regards to skippering. It was very important that when we put the programme together for the wherries that we had an educational programme and we decided that the best place we could do that was at How Hill because now in its second life, How Hill trust was formed to establish How Hill as a residential educational centre. So we had Hathor and some of the other wherries up at How Hill for a few days doing visits for youngsters and so on and I thought that probably the best use of Hathor could be to have her at How Hill and allow people to have a look round her. Last year and again this year, we’ve had Hathor moored at How Hill from the beginning of May to the end of September and throughout that period she is there for people to come and look round. At least twice a week the school parties would come and stay at How Hill, they come aboard they have a look round, have a little demonstration of the mast being raised and lowered which they really like. We do some day cruises as well at How Hill and yes, I am still involved in doing some skippering at that but I’m not now doing longer trips on the other boats.

The future of the wherries and the Broads

The future of the wherries and Broads is a very difficult question. If we could gaze into crystal balls and see the answer, we would act differently perhaps. From my own point of view, I think we have established that the three wherry yachts Olive, Norada and White Moth are the most suitable for doing charters, doing day cruises and weekend cruises. They’ve all got small electric engines, they’ve all got counter sterns where people can sit at the back out of the way of the running of the boat and they’re ideally suited to that. Hathor I think, I would like the see her becoming part of the Broadland scene at How Hill. I think How Hill is so special, it’s somewhere people want to see the Broads and to see Hathor that’s an added bonus.

The Ardea is a little bit difficult because she is restored to such a high standard we don’t really want the whole world trampling all over her and in many ways we would like to develop luxury cruises on board her, particularly day cruises. We did a couple last year with all meals provided and that seemed to go down very well. I think that by dividing up the usage of our wherries that way we can move into the future.

As for the Broads in general, I think the future is basically good: certainly the holiday industry has picked up which is very important for the area. We have to balance conservation with recreation. I think the Broads Authority needs to be a little more positive towards more of the historical aspect, particularly with regards to the wherries. I know they’ve got a difficult task but I think the overall view has got to be preserving the Broads as much as possible for future generations to enjoy and that really does involve the quietness of the Broads, the peace and the tranquillity. Somewhere that people can go, enjoy and relax.

Peter Bower (b. 1943) talking to WISEArchive on 28 th February 2019 at Wroxham.

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Sailing a Wherry Boat on the Norfolk Broads

Mark bibby jackson chills out while sailing a wherry boat on the norfolk broads..

Mark Bibby Jackson chills out while sailing a wherry boat on the Norfolk Broads before having a go himself.

I am not a natural sailor. I was scarred for life by a boating experience as a teenager when a friend of my mother took her – and me – on a boating trip. I spent the weekend being barked at while sheltering from wind, rain and captain. So, quite how I came to be standing behind the tiller of a Norfolk Wherry on a Friday afternoon was beyond me.

The day had started pleasantly enough. We met on the wherry Ardea moored at Wroxham for some coffee and de-brief before our morning sail along the Norfolk Broads.

History of the Norfolk Wherries

The first thing to note about wherries is that these are no motorised pleasure boats chartered by unskilled drivers out for a day trip along the Broads. They are proper sailing boats and have to be hired along with a Wherry Trust specialist skipper and small crew, which makes it even more perplexing that I managed to get my hands on the tiller.

The original wherries were based on Keel boats, which in turn were based on a Viking design. The Keel boat design needed modification to also navigate the narrow, shallow waterways of Norfolk, under sail.

By the 1880s the first pleasure craft wherries were appearing on the now popular Norfolk Broads. The interiors were fitted out with all the latest Victorian and Edwardian luxuries for this very upscale holiday choice. By 1900 there were over 100 pleasure wherries on the Broads.

Stepping on board the Ardea, named after the Latin for heron, I am immediately taken by how luxurious it is. This is not the basic narrow boats I occasionally rode along while in my youth – normally crashing into locks.

Built for Hollingsworth of Bourne and Hollingsworth fame in 1927 in Lowestoft, the Ardea sailed up to Kiev and around Europe. The last pleasure craft wherry to be built, it once belonged to a Parisian madam and was used by her girls when ‘resting’. The most striking element of the lavish interior is the amazing amount of teak used. Clearly, no expense was spared. Rescued in 2005, she was brought back to Norfolk for renovation.

By 1927 the pleasure craft wherry had evolved into a wherry yacht which included a well for steering and a counter deck. There are only three of the at least fifteen originally built vessels remaining: Olive (1909), Norada (1912) and White Moth (1915).

Sailing a Wherry Boat Along the Norfolk Broads

Having assembled, we decamped to the White Moth upon which we sailed from Wroxham along the river Bure. Along the way we were passed by many a pleasure boat impervious to the 4mph speed limit. We laid back and watched the banks of the river pass us by while taking in the verdant views.

Stretching into neighbouring Suffolk, The Norfolk Broads are Britain’s largest protected wetland. The broads themselves are the vast manmade ponds were created by ancient peat digging . Eventually abandoned these had filled with water by the 14 th century, creating a perfect landscape for a vast range of wildlife, as well as sailing boats.

Almost immediately I settled into the natural flow of our journey. I am an advocate of slow travel, and sailing upon a wherry is nothing if not slow. Somehow all those niggling concerns that had kept you awake at night drift off with the current like debris from one of the pleasure boats. Time did not seem to stand still but go into reverse.

Taking the Tiller 

After an infinite while we entered Wroxham Broad. This is where local kids learn to sail in their small dinghies seemingly impervious to our vast vessel careering towards us, then veer off with the skill of Ben Ainslie. Fortunately for us our captain Dean Howard despite his tender years was an excellent navigator, and we passed safely to the bank of a small island when we had lunch, and a bit of fruitless otter spotting.

After lunch I was casually passing from the front of the boat to the rear – nautical terms are beyond me – when Dean asked if I wanted to have a go.

For a moment I stood paralysed. I had never driven a boat let alone sailed one, and judging by my driving skills around the M25 I am hardly a Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel. However, remembering the advice I give others while travelling I left my comfort zone and joined Dean in the pit, soon to have tiller in hand or rather back.

That was the first lesson I learned. Handling a tiller is something you had better do with your back, unless you wish to catch your fingers, which anyway should be feeding the rope. Fortunately for all of us, Howard fed the ropes while I backed the tiller.

The second thing I did wrong was to stand on the wrong side of the tiller – you should be on the same side as the sail. The third was to instinctively point the tiller in the direction Dean instructed us to go which had quite the opposite effect. Sailing at Paris for the 2024 Olympics looks a long way off for me.

However, instructed by Dean who demonstrated a patience that my mother’s friend had singularly lacked, I soon learned the rudiments of how to steer the boat, and most importantly how to avoid the little kids in their weaving dinghies.

Before long I even found myself enjoying the experience as Howard showed that a quivering of the sail indicated we should change direction, which necessitated I had to do more than just lean on the tiller. It really was quite physical, but exhilarating as you feel the wind in the sails and suddenly take off.

Eventually, I handed the tiller over to another of our group. Afterwards we swapped our sailing tales just like Shaw and Dreyfuss in Jaws .

An Egyptian Connection

Dean took over the tiller on the way back to Wroxham harbour for the end of our sailing on the Norfolk Broads, but not the conclusion of our trip.

A short drive took us to the grounds of How Hill , nearby which another wherry was berthed on the river Ant.

Hathor (1905) was built Ethel and Helen Colman, daughters of Jeremiah Colman (of mustard fame), as a memorial and pleasure craft following the death of their brother Alan from TB. He had passed away in Egypt following a fulfilled last wish to sail on the Nile to Luxor. As a result, Hathor, named for the goddess of love and joy, was designed on an Egyptian theme.

If anything Hathor is even more ornate than White Moth and Ardea. Each room has different Egyptian symbols such as papyrus and scarab. It is also remarkably light with the wood a mix of ewe, sycamore and inlaid with teak.

Sleeping 12 Hathor would make for a great weekend away on the Broads. Unfortunately, I had to return home to Essex after a wonderful day’s sailing. Still, there is always next time.

If you are planning to spend longer in the county of Nelson, you could always try Rewilding at Fritton Lake , or staying at Backwater on the Norfolk Broads .  

Norfolk Broads Boating Holidays with Natural Britain

Natural Britain works in partnership with the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust and offers two ways of experiencing the Norfolk wherries. You can book onto a regular ‘scheduled’ sailing; available most weekends (and some weekdays) between May and September for £49 per person per day. Or, for your own private skippered charter – for a day or several days, prices are £420 per day or £950 for a weekend. The wherries vary in size and specification and have a variety of cabins, saloons, toilets, simple showers and even a small piano on board most.

Natural Britain has a strong sustainability ethos, and the wherries conform to this, mainly powered by sail apart from when a novice like me loses the wind. There is no motor on the Hathor.

For details visit www.natural-britain.com/ sail-on-a-wherry-norfolk-broads .

Main image : Wherry yacht White Moth from Ardea supplied by Natural Britain.

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Mark Bibby Jackson

Before setting up Travel Begins at 40, Mark was the publisher of AsiaLIFE Cambodia and a freelance travel writer. When he is not packing and unpacking his travelling bag, Mark writes novels, including To Cook A Spider and Peppered Justice. He loves walking, eating, tasting beer, isolation and arthouse movies, as well as talking to strangers on planes, buses and trains whenever possible. Most at home when not at home.

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I took a sailing holiday – on one of Norfolk’s historic wherries

The elegant wooden boats that once cruised the Broads ferrying groceries – and George Formby – are once again carrying daytrippers

T here is a rightness about sailing a Norfolk wherry that leaves you feeling in harmony with the world. As a sustainable form of transport, a wooden boat being propelled across the water by the wind is about as low-carbon as you can get.

I must confess, though, I had never heard of a wherry before setting off on an overnight trip from Wroxham on the Norfolk Broads. Little wonder, as there are only eight of these traditional boats still sailing from a fleet of hundreds that once earned their living delivering goods around Britain’s waterways. Later, some of these trading vessels were converted into elegant cruisers such as the Ardea (Latin for heron), where I am to spend the night.

I descend the narrow staircase and am transported back to the elegance of the 1920s. The teak-lined cabins are a statement of style and true class. For a moment I have returned to an era when the Norfolk Broads were a destination for the wealthy and famous, a time when adventure and glamour were something to be sought amid the beauty of your own country, not by leaping on a plane to elsewhere.

A tiny piano occupies one corner and comfy armchairs are dotted around the saloon. I long for a period costume in which to sashay around sipping champagne from crystal glasses while listening to a tuxedoed pianist. The Ardea is a piece of living history and I wish to live it to the full.

Instead, I join the rest of my party up on deck and drink Norfolk gin and tonic as motor launches chug past, their temporary captains wrestling with the steering as they try to avoid the larger pleasure cruisers coming the opposite way.

We head out to dinner at the Fur and Feather in nearby Woodbastwick, where I enjoy a fine steak and an English whisky. It is night when we return. The Perseid meteor shower is reaching its peak. I lie back under a dark sky, watching shooting stars burn trails across the night. I sing Billy Bragg’s A New England , wishing on “space hardware” as a flotilla of swans sail by and bats flit above the water.

The next morning, as I doze in my comfortable cabin below the waterline, the swans are locked in battle up above. I can hear their feet paddling past as the water slaps against the hull of the boat. I think about the people who may have dozed here before me. It is rumoured that 1950s film star and ukulele player George Formby , who owned a riverside mansion close by, came to parties on board. Later on, the boat was owned by a Parisian madame who used it as a place of rest and recuperation for the women who worked in her brothel. I picture one of these girls lying with her stockinged feet against the cabin wall while she takes a break from a long shift.

After breakfast we transfer to another wherry, the 10-metre White Moth, built in 1915. Like all the wherries she has a chequered past, moving from luxury charter yacht to houseboat before being sunk in a dyke.

White Moth is one of five (of those remaining eight) vessels rescued by the Wherry Yacht Charter charitable trust, which restored the boats with the help of National Lottery Heritage Funding and now uses them for education and day trips as well as event and weekend charters. A team of enthusiastic volunteers help maintain and skipper the vessels.

Our skipper for the day on White Moth is Dean Howard, who began as one of several apprentices the trust recruited, recognising the need to enthuse and train younger people in sailing the boats if they were to survive.

We head out along the River Bure. Although some of the boats have electric engines, the trust prefers to travel by sail where possible. It makes a world of difference. As we leave the day trippers behind, there is only the creak of the ropes and the clink of brass cleats to be heard as we slip past banks tufted with the candyfloss flowers of hemp-agrimony. Dragonflies keep pace alongside and a heron takes off from a dead tree.

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We head across Wroxham Broad in full sail, sending children in dinghies giddying around us like whirligig beetles. Tourists on paddle steamers snap photos of us. We wave back regally. We know we look magnificent.

The boat tilts into the wind and we sway on deck in time to her decisions. It is as if the boat and the elements are communicating, and we humans are mere passengers. The moth wing of the sail, white as an oyster shell, bends to take the wind. Dean leans against the tiller, ropes running through both hands. I get the feeling he is in conversation with the boat, a constant dialogue of question and reply.

“Does each boat have its own personality?” I ask.

“They are all different to sail,” he says. “Would you like to try?”

I would. I climb down into the skipper’s well, and attempt to guide the tiller, while Dean operates the sails. He has made it look like light work but it is not. It takes weight to move the tiller, which is better operated with the hip or the back, leaving the hands free for the ropes. At 5ft 2in I can barely see over the deck, and stay alert to Dean’s instructions.

I look up into the rigging: the single mast is over 15 metres tall. Sun shines on mast hoops made from ash, and our red banner flies in the wind.

We stop for lunch in a secluded bay, a place of dark water and fallen trees. All is quiet as we eat, locked in the peace of this spot, and then a cry goes up: “Otter!”

I scramble across the deck, binoculars in hand, in time to see the curve of a back and a line of bubbles as the otter disappears. We chart its progress beneath the surface, fish leaping from the water in fear, a swan arching its wings and guiding its cygnet away. I wait, wishing, having never seen an otter. Beneath the black water, the otter eludes me again.

Later, as we slip past Wroxham Island and head back towards the Bure, Dean pulls open a little door in the well and produces a brass horn. He pipes to let boats in the main channel know we are coming.

As the super cruisers give way I feel a swell of pride to be on board. This boat belongs here, is built from this landscape by men who knew it intimately. It is part of the woods and water in a way the churning vessels bellowing clouds of diesel can never be. It is a privilege, for a short while at least, to spend time in its company.

The trip was provided by Natural Britain , who work in partnership with Wherry Yacht Charter charitable trust and offers two ways of experiencing Norfolk wherries: scheduled day sailings are available most weekends (and some weekdays) between May and September for £49pp . Private skippered charters , cost £420 a day or £950 for a weekend. The wherries vary in size and have a variety of cabins, saloons, toilets and simple showers. Most have a small piano . For details visit natural-britain.com/ sail-on-a-wherry-norfolk-broads

More ways to explore on water

Tall ship sailing, Scotland & Cornwall Bessie Ellen, built in 1904, is one of the UK’s last wooden ketches (two-masted sailing ships) still under sail. It is now used for sailing holidays in Scotland (10-day voyages in search of orcas around Skye and the Outer Hebrides) and Cornwall (three-day breaks in Helford, Fowey and Falmouth). From £495 for three nights, bessie-ellen.com

Coracle safari, Gloucestershire

Coracles – light, round, wooden one-person craft (pictured below) – were once a common sight on British rivers. Today, WWT Slimbridge offers short coracle safaris. The boats are notoriously unstable, but once mastered, paddlers can expect to see water voles, warblers and waterfowl. £10 a boat, wwt.org.uk

Electric narrowboats, Monmouthshire Castle Narrowboats has two eco-friendly electric boats to explore the 33-mile Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. Boats can cover 18 miles on a single charge, so don’t need a boost every day. From £1,145 for seven nights, sleeps four, castlenarrowboats.co.uk

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Wherry Yacht

Wherry Yacht Sailing Cruiser Hire

Wherry Yacht Charter operates, maintains and restores four of the eight surviving wherries on the Norfolk Broads. Wherry Yachts Olive (1909), Norada (1912) and White Moth (1915) are joined by Pleasure Wherry Hathor (1905). All income from chartering and public sailings goes towards their maintenance.

Watch this video to see what an enjoyable experience it is to sail aboard one of these glorious old ladies....

Our offerings include private charters and public sailings. Chartering (minimum 1 day's hire) allows up to 12 day passengers, with overnight berths for 10. We supply bed linen. Holiday charters are offered on a fully skippered, self-catering basis, between Easter and October subject to availability. We can tailor charters for holiday, corporate and educational customers, and can also offer shore-based educational activities. Please contact us with your requirements and we will do our best to fulfil them!

On public sailings, individual spaces are bookable on scheduled itineraries ranging from a couple of hours to a whole day. Our experienced skippers are joined by knowledgable volunteer crew members to transport you along the river in Edwardian style, and tell you something of the operation and history of these boats as you go. Our one-way sailings include return land transport to complete your day. We offer complimentary hot and cold drinks and invite you to bring a picnic for longer sailings; where itineraries allow we will moor up for lunch.

Within certain events we also offer short sailings that do not require pre-booking. Some sailings in conjunction with third parties offer you the chance to visit other attractions such as Fairhaven Woodland & Water Gardens or St Benet's Abbey.

Our fleet's status:

Norada and White Moth are available for private charter and also operate a limited number of public sailings.

Olive is externally restored and in sailing order, but work is ongoing on her interior to allow day sailings and overnight charters. We anticipate she will be ready before the close of the 2013 season.

Hathor eturned in 2015 after extensive restoration, reuniting the original WYC fleet. A celebratory relaunch weekend at How Hill saw five wherries sail together on the Ant for the first time in perhaps a century. She is currently used for scheduled sailings and educational activities only.

Ardea  is our newest arrival, and like White Moth is privately owned but with charter rights assigned to WYC. Her unusual history involves time in Paris as a houseboat. She arrived at our wherry base in 2015, is in sailing order, and we look forward to developing our corporate offering with her. She will not usually operate holiday charters or public sailings, but may do from time to time. A higher price for these sailings reflects her infrequent appearance and more luxurious accommodation.

Please see our website for full details of our boats and activities, or contact us to request a brochure.

We also welcome anyone who wishes to join us as a Friend. From £15 per year, membership supports the future of the wherries, and offers an exclusive quarterly newsletter, members' events, early access to public bookings, and opportunities to learn to crew or act as a visitor guide on these wonderful vessels. Contact us for details.

Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust is a registered charity, number 1096073

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Lyn Hughes | 18 August 2022

The old-fashioned way: exploring the norfolk broads by wherry boat.

The wherry boats of Norfolk had their day and almost passed into history; now they’re bringing old-fashioned pleasure cruising back to the Broads...

Y o u can just imagine the parties that were held here,” said Andrew Scull as I gazed around in wonder at the saloon of the Ardea, its teak-panelled walls so highly varnished that I could almost see my reflection. A small piano sat invitingly in the corner, and a wall-mounted brass ship’s bell was just crying out to be used. 

The Ardea dates back to 1927 and was the last of  Norfolk ’s pleasure wherries to be built. I could just picture elegant women in flapper dresses pouting and posing in this very spot, perhaps spending the night here as I was about to. Oh, the stories that the Ardea could tell. 

Andrew is her owner, and also chairman of the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust (WYCCT). He filled me in on the history of Norfolk’s historic sailing crafts, designed to navigate the network of shallow rivers and lakes that make up the 300sq km area known as the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads.

Wherries date back to the early 17th century, when they were used as trading craft to ferry cargo across the area. They were made redundant when the railways reached this part of the UK, but when the Victorians discovered the Broads as a leisure destination at the turn of the 20th century, some wherries were converted into pleasure craft; others were purpose-built for the task. The Ardea was the last of the pleasure wherries to hit the water. 

Today there are only eight wherries left in existence, of which five are managed by the WYCCT. They are used for day sails and charters, to pay for their restoration and upkeep, and also to spread the word on this unique historic craft.

Learning the wherry way

Joined by some other guests, we drank Norfolk gin and tonic while Andrew told colourful tales of Ardea’s history. In 1947, she had been bought by Lady Flora Conway-Cutcliffe, who, according to the craft’s former skipper, hosted wild weekends on her with a host of celebrities in tow. Film star and ukulele virtuoso George Formby, who had fallen deeply in love with this part of the world and had even bought a house here, was known to be a regular. 

the Albion was originally built for a firm of Bungay maltsters, and her first job was hauling coal – now she carries visitors (Alamy)

The Hathor lies moored on the River Ant by How Hill (Alamy)

In the late 1950s, after a couple more changes of ownership, the Ardea was taken to Paris to be used as a houseboat. By the mid 1960s, she had been bought by a Parisian madame and was being used by her “girls” for somewhere to rest. She   was then owned by a Frenchman for nearly 40 years and used as a charter vessel around the canals of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, before being brought back to Norfolk in 2005 and restored to her former glory. 

It was a warm August evening, so after dinner at a local pub, we headed back to the Ardea and sat on her roof. A few swans and ducks had milled around the boat earlier in the evening, but now a bevy of swans was gliding by – I lost count after 40 or so. I then realised that they were following a kayak that had stopped further up to throw out food for them. 

It was then time to lie back on the sloping roof and look to the skies. The Perseid meteor shower was already at its peak, and shooting stars were leaving trails across the heavens. With little light pollution, and the only sound that of lapping water, we each sank into a spellbound reverie.

The Hathor (Wherry Yacht Charter)

Reluctantly deciding it was time for bed, I slept well in my wood-panelled state room, which was like a museum piece with its brass fittings, original wardrobe and cupboard. A hatch at one end would have been used for passing through drinks. A slightly raised area may have been where a cot lay, or a dog bed. 

Setting sail

After breakfast, we transferred to a yacht wherry, the White Moth. Dating back to 1915, she would have been built with racing in mind, and was the last yacht wherry to take to the water. After a chequered history of mixed fortunes – as a charter, a houseboat, being sunk and then neglected – she was restored to her former glory in the late 1980s. 

We headed off along the River Bure, and skipper Dean Howard instructed two of our party to get on the winch at the bow of the boat and wind until the sail was raised. We all smiled at the sight of the large white sail standing proud as Dean tacked along the river.  

Our route was lined with holiday homes and desirable houses, most with characteristic thatched roofs made from local reeds. We even passed the mansion that belonged to the late George Formby. Pleasure boats went by, some with smiling passengers waving at us or taking a photograph; one or two impatiently tried to pass us despite the 4mph limit. Then the banks on each side got wilder and more natural, and we started to see herons, butterflies, wildflowers and dragonflies rather than other boats. 

Swans gliding past (Wherry Yacht Charter)

Interior of the Hathor (Wherry Yacht Charter)

Sailing on the Hathor (Wherry Yacht Charter)

We turned onto Wroxham Broad, a lively wind blowing across its vast expanse. While people refer to the whole area as the Broads, a broad is the name given to the shallow lakes that pepper the area. It was finally proved in the 1960s that these were man-made rather than naturally occuring, and that they began as pits that had been dug for peat to provide fuel during medieval times.

In one area, dozens of children were having dinghy sailing lessons. In the distance, we could see another wherry, the privately-owned Solace. I found myself nodding to her. Dean manoeuvred the White Moth around the broad, using the wind to give us a taste of her speed under sail, and I marvelled at his handling of her as he stood braced against the tiller and seemed to be part of the wherry itself. 

We headed to one side of the Broad and stopped for lunch in a secluded spot. As we munched on sandwiches, I kept watching the water between a fallen tree and the bank, curious at the ripples. A shape arced into view and I grabbed my binoculars. It was an otter, presumably fishing, and we all traced its progress for a while as the fish in its path jumped out of the water in an effort to get away. 

The lost art of quanting (Wherry Yacht Charter)

We headed back to base but my weekend of wherries wasn’t yet over as I drove a few miles to How Hill, site of an educational trust and where another very special pleasure wherry was based for the summer. Dating back to 1905, the Hathor, named after the Egyptian goddess of love and beauty, was commissioned by the Colman family (of mustard fame). I hadn’t read up on her before my visit and, on boarding, I was startled by her dazzling interior, her sycamore-panelled walls embellished with Egyptian hieroglyphs formed by the use of inlaid teak. 

The Hathor had been built in memory of Alan Colman, son of Jeremiah Colman, an MP and owner of the family company. In 1897, suffering from tuberculosis, he went to Egypt in an attempt to improve his health. The family chartered a dahabiyah, a traditional sailing barge, for a Nile cruise from Cairo to Luxor. 

Alan sadly passed away a few days afterwards but his sisters, knowing how much he had loved the dahabiyah journey, commissioned the Hathor a few years later. Its interior was designed by prominent architect Edward Boardman, who married into the Colman family and lived in How Hill House, its Egyptian-themed symbols and fittings copied from originals on display in the British museum. 

That night, I dreamt of young Alan Colman and his Nile cruise. And then the dream morphed into a sparkling party aboard the Ardea. I don't think I was in a flapper dress, but I will certainly make more of an effort to look the part next time I have the privilege of staying on her. 

Top wildlife to spot

(Shutterstock)

You’ll hear one long before you ever see it. The bittern (or “butterbump” as it’s known in Norfolk) has a sonic-boom of a mating call, which can be heard up to 2km away (March–June).

Chinese water deer

This tiny, shy deer was brought to the UK in the 19th century. Today it is faring better in the British wilds than back in its native Asia. It hides among the tall plants and is a powerful swimmer when required.  

Swallowtail

The pale-yellow and black swallowtail is one of the UK’s most exotic butterflies, yet it’s increasingly rare since the 19th century. Look out for them flitting around the milkweed blooms.  

Otters were in danger of disappearing from the Broads in the 1970s. Habitat loss threatened their very existence. Now they’re thriving and can be spotted on riverbanks across the area.

You can see how streamlined the White Moth is when compared with the larger Ardea (Wherry Yacht Charter)

About the trip

Wherry Yacht Charter   offers a programme of day sailings and also private charters. The season for both is May to September but trips depend on skipper and crew availability. Up to ten passengers can be taken on day sailings. The wherries are offered on a self-catering basis and facilities include a fully equipped galley with hob, oven and fridge, a toilet, washbasins and a shower (White Moth only). Each saloon provides both daytime living space and four berths, and features a yacht piano. For overnight charters you need to provide  your own bedding. 

The Hathor  is in residence at How Hill  for the summer (June to September), with staffed viewings from 10am to 5pm whenever volunteers are available and if she is not in use for sailing. Please contact the Trust to confirm availability if you are making a special trip. Viewings are always free, but donations are more than appreciated.

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Restaurant-Yacht Chaika

Ratings and reviews, location and contact.

Pleasantly surprised, service is good so is the food. Great selection of Fusion food, a mixture of Italian, Japanese, European, Asian etc. A pleasantly nice dining experience, highly recommended, a must try!

Thank you for your feedback and invite you to have lunch or dinner again aboard the ship in an atmosphere of high standards of yacht hospitality.

everything was perfect - the food, the service, the desserts were the best, nice atmosphere and the location - magical

Best food, best view in Moscow. absolutely faultless from arrival to finish. Best risotto i had for many years absolutely perfectly cooked. The view on Ukrainian hotel and the white house by night is amazing

Had to wait for the food for 1.5 hours and then another 20 minutes for the check. Finally called for the manager and he offered... a 10% discount as a compensation. Simply pathetic! The food is mediocre at best. Not bad per se, but one... would expect something better considering the prices. There are many places to eat in area that are much better. Avoid this one at all costs. More

Hello, Alexander Your comment is extremely important for us, thank you a lot for it. We are terribly sorry for your time that you`ve spent waiting your order and we have already taken actions to improve quality of our service and it would be realy... More

Food is very expensive,very pretentious, doesn't worth that money. Portions are very small. We ordered ravioli and there were 4! Four raviolis! For almost 15 euros. Then we asked to bring us dessert menu but nothing, they didn't even bothered, so we payed and left... without dessert. Very poor service for that price. More

This is a very good restaurant. The food is really good, maybe the best in Moscow. The service is also good. The view from the restaurant is great. The prices are very high.

I often visit this restaurant and must say it’s one of the best in Moscow in terms of quality and service. Staff really try hard to make sure that you are happy and satisfied. Customer service is a huge problem in Moscow but Chaika sets... a great example for others in the industry! Food is delicious and the menu has lots of options for everyone! Atmosphere is great and view is beautiful on the embankment. Special thanks to German & Oleg! More

Thank you for your feedback! Again aboard the yacht restaurant "Chaika" in accordance with the high standards of yacht hospitality.

Highly recommended, great location in the city center of Moscow with a superb atmosphere. Too many menu choices, though all delicious!

Thx a lot for your review! We are looking forward to see you in our restaurants.

Visited this lovely restaurant with a friend of mine. It was relaxingly warm August evening - so the place on the river seemed like a good idea. We came quite early and the restaurant was not full. The hostesses kindly offered several places to sit... and we chose to sit on the sofas. We had some wine, which was good. We struggled a bit when deciding about the food as few options (scallops) were not available. Fish on ice on display did not look very fresh. To be honest it was an unusually hot August and it is probably understandable that some see food options were not available. However, we did manage to order something and sat waiting and looking onto the river. My long-legged friend struggled sitting at the low sofa and the manager noticed that, offering as a very good, proper table beside the open window. It was nice touch and I was very pleased by their polite observations and immediate reaction to solve the problem. Food was quite good and presentation was perfect. Perhaps I can something about the food, but 1 visit is not enough to criticize or make a definitive opinion. Overall, quality place, which of course, does not come cheap. I would recommend this restaurant without hesitation. More

Good afternoon! Thank you for your detailed feedback! We are looking forward to seeing you again, we are sure that you will be delighted with our dishes!

I've been here several times during two business trip in Moscow. The overall quality for both service and food is absolutely top-notch, plus the location is very unique.

Hello! Thank you for your feedback! We are looking forward to visiting again!

Located on a boat at Krasnopresenskaya River Bank this 5 Star Restaurant transforms into a party location due to multiple groups hosting events. Impressive wine selection, Asian and European kitchen...

Thx a lot! We are waiting for you!

It is a nice place to gather specially at the lounge The service and staff very good I like the river view The food is almost like all restaurants in Russia they serve different cuisine. Staring Russian appetizer till Asian dishes Presentation and taste amazing... I consider it overpriced little bit More

Good location. Nice views. Good choice of food and drinks. European and Asian menu. Nice service. Pricey enough.

Had a large group dinner here. Food was above average and service quite good. The real attraction is the view of Moscow from the river on a nice night. Great place for a larger group dinner. More

Hello, John We are really pleased by reading that you and your friends were satisfied by our service, client`s experience is the highest value for us. We will be happy to see you again, come and enjoy some new dishes from our chef and nice... More

The luxurious atmosphere of this place, the view and the location make it quite outstanding. We had dinner here with friends and the dishes were amazing, accompanied by a chilled bottle of Chablis, it really made me feel as if it was a part of... the classic Russian movie. More

RESTAURANT-YACHT CHAIKA, Moscow - Presnensky - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

• Service: 4.5
• Atmosphere: 4.5