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Just off the top of peoples heads, how many wherries are there still in existance?. I know of Albion (who does`nt?), and Hathor, and there`s the Wherry Yachts, Maud, Olive, and White Moth. Are there any others still around that can still be recognised as Wherries?.  I remember years back when Martham boats had Hathor as a houseboat, and they also had "Bramble", but i don`t know what happened to her, anyone know?.

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Ardea, Maud & Norada spring to mind. Eight wherries still afloat.

 

Marshman is Mr Wherry so I stand to be corrected but I think that Maud & Albion are the only two wherries built for trading, the remainder were/are all built as pleasure wherries. 

 

Ardea is a teak built wherry but like Albion she is a Suffolk rather than a Norfolk wherry. Ardea was, for a number of years, a 'knocking' ship in Paris.

 

http://www.wherryyachtcharter.org/wherries.php

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Pete - love that picture of Ethel!!! Proper good 'ol wherry picture that!!!

 

Speedtriple  -  two trading wherries left Albion and Maud with the latter still in private ownership. Albion is carvel and Maud clinker.

 

Three wherry yachts - Olive Norada and White Moth all built with the counter stern

 

Hathor, Ardea and Solace are purpose built wherries on traditional lines and with a wherry like hull ( if there is one!! ) and with accommodation.

 

The 3 wherry yachts plus Hathor are looked after by the Wherry Yacht Charter at Wroxham 

 

Ardea and Solace remain in private ownership  for the time being.

 

Bramble unfortunately is no more - after being a floating houseboat at Martham i think she was used ashore there as well but I believe was lost in a fire sometime in the '80's

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Pete - love that picture of Ethel!!! Proper good 'ol wherry picture that!!!

 

Speedtriple  -  two trading wherries left Albion and Maud with the latter still in private ownership. Albion is carvel and Maud clinker.

 

Three wherry yachts - Olive Norada and White Moth all built with the counter stern

 

Hathor, Ardea and Solace are purpose built wherries on traditional lines and with a wherry like hull ( if there is one!! ) and with accommodation.

 

The 3 wherry yachts plus Hathor are looked after by the Wherry Yacht Charter at Wroxham 

 

Ardea and Solace remain in private ownership  for the time being.

 

Bramble unfortunately is no more - after being a floating houseboat at Martham i think she was used ashore there as well but I believe was lost in a fire sometime in the '80's

 

Hi Marshman, thanks for that.

 

Question,

Obviously Albion is a trading wherry, and White Moth and Olive are Wherry Yachts, but what were Hathor and variants like her, are they purpose built "pleasure wherries", or just conversions of trading wherries?

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Back in the mid 90s (20 years ago :eek: :eek: , a coleague at work loaned me a book called "The Norfolk Wherry", which had some excellent photos and stories about the wherries, their work, and their crews. I did have a search on the net to see if i could still get it, as it was quite an old book, but to no avail.  Has anybody else heard of this book, or does anybody have a copy, or know where i could get one?.

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Back in the mid 90s (20 years ago :eek: :eek: , a coleague at work loaned me a book called "The Norfolk Wherry", which had some excellent photos and stories about the wherries, their work, and their crews. I did have a search on the net to see if i could still get it, as it was quite an old book, but to no avail.  Has anybody else heard of this book, or does anybody have a copy, or know where i could get one?.

I have a copy!

 

Have a peep on E-Bay for Black Sailed Traders, far more informative book.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=Black+sailed+Traders&_from=R40%7CR40&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313&_nkw=Black+sailed+Traders&_sacat=0

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Speedtriple - Hathor, Solace, and Ardea were all purpose built like that and not converted from trading boats - or so I recall without checking.  If you think about, the life of a trading wherry was especially hard and I doubt they were treated with love and affection - they were after all working craft.  Both Hathor and Solace were built just after the turn of the century around 1903/5 whilst if I recall correctly Ardea was quite a bit later around 1927 or so.

 

As PW rightly says, Black Sail Trader is probably the best one to get and not too difficult to find. Very informative and with useful lists of all the later wherries in particular.

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Thanks Marshman, what i particularly liked abiout it were some of the photo`s were of the canalised sections which are no longer navigable. It`s surprising to see in the pictures, the upper Bure, and the North Walsham and dilham canal being so wide and open. Nowadays, these waterways are virtually streams surrounded by trees.

 

The broads landscape has changed so much in the last 80-100 years.

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  • 1 year later...

I find a lot of old paintings of wherries are very accurate, and yours is excellent.

The rigging of the halyard is exact, as well as the set of the sails, with one wherry on a beam reach while the other is close hauled. I wouldn't have gone as far down to leeward on the bend, as that. Maybe that was just to "balance" the picture!

The mast head colours appear to be black, with a white band, in which case she was owned by Crisp, of Beccles.

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