Before the coming of the railways -- or even tarmaced roads -- the wherry was the main mode of transport on the rivers of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads. The story of their demise is sad, but not entirely gloomy.

They were barges with a distinctive, almost square shaped, gaff sails with strong echoes of the Viking longboat. The influence of these Scandinavian raiders is redolent all along the east coast, both in the place names, such as "staithe", meaning quay, and in the local dialect, so it's a fair bet the wherry sail can trace it's provenance back that far.

The shape of the sail is particularly effective on the broads, where in tree lined sections of the river every tiny gust of wind has to be husbanded.

They were perfectly suited to the shallow rivers and broads, being flat bottomed and broad of beam. In order to navigate swiftly under the bridges, the masts were hinged at the bottom and counterbalanced with a 1 1/2 ton lead weight. This allowed the mast to be quickly lowered and raised again.

With a good wind the wherry was a very fast vessel, capable of sailing close to the wind. However, when the wind was from the wrong direction or -- occasionally, on this flat coastal region -- when it stopped completely, the boats had to be "quanted".

Quanting, is similar to punting on the river. But this is a wherry: not a light punt you would take on the river for a lazy afternoon picnic. A wherry quant is a very heavy, very sturdy pole about 24 feet (7.3 metres) long which was dug into the river bed at the bow of the boat. It would then be necessary to walk the entire length of the vessel pushing hard against the pole in order to move it on.

No space was wasted on the wherries and they would make a trip to, say, Norwich, up the River Bure, laden with reeds for thatching and return equally laden with coal, grain, timber and even horse manure to spread on the fields.

With the coming of the railways, demand for the transport of goods by wherry declined sharply. Fortunately, the railways brought salvation for the wherry, in the form of tourists. So the shrewder owners, quickly converted their vessels to carry passengers, rather than merchandise.

Initially wherries were still in demand for transport around areas not served by the new railways. However, even these were overtaken, eventually, as the roads throughout the area were improved to cater for the even new method of transport - the car and the lorry.

So low was the regard for wherries by the 1960s, several were sunk in Ranworth Broad simply to form a breakwater for the protection of the river bank. Twenty years on, that grave mistake had been recognized and one of the clinker built vessels, Maude, was raised again and, after restoration taking nearly twenty years, she entered the 21st century fully restored and now sails the broads along with her sister ship, the Albion.

The Albion, is unique among the original working wherries, being carvel built, where the boards are not overlapped, as with the more usual clinker built vessels. The advantage of the carvel build is the greater speed obtained from the lower resistance of the smooth hull.

If you visit the broads in the summer, you may chance to see the three younger wherries. These are called "pleasure wherries" because they were built from the keel up to be pleasure vessels, not workhorses. Consequently, they are splendid, almost artistic creations in rich dark brown mahogany and teak, which forms a beautiful contrast with the pristine white of their hulls.

The most luxurious of these is the Hathor, which was built in 1905 for Ethel and Helen, the daughters of Jeremiah Coleman, who made his money in nearby Norwich from Coleman's Mustard. To this day, the local football team have bright yellow shirts and are known as the "Canaries", in recognition of the wealth this industry brought to the area.

Hathor's decor -- in keeping with the fashion at the time -- has an Egyptian theme, with the luxurious interior paneled in pale sycamore wood with Egyptian symbols inlaid in contrasting brown teak wood. This vessel is now owned by Wherry Yacht Charter.

For a few weeks in high summer, Hathor is chartered and sailed by the Broads Authority along with two other pleasure wherries, Norada and Olive. They stop at various points, to allow members of the public to enjoy a short trip on these magnificent vessels.

Copyright 2007 John Edward and Norfolk Broads Explorer