I reckon the average speed was around 2 mph. No it wasn't a throw back to the early days of the motor car but a day on the Wherry Albion on the Norfolk Broads.
We drove to Ludham and then it was all aboard. There were only about 12 of us there and, unless you wanted to sit round a table in the hold, you had to sit round the outside of the vessel.
So it was very relaxing. We all know how coincidences come up but they were aplenty on this Wherry. Firstly we found some people who used to live in Hethersett and then we found somebody who we knew well from many years ago who now lives in Jersey and then I came across somebody I used to work with almost 50 years ago.
At first I couldn't remember her but then the fogs of time lifted and I did and so the memories came flooding back.
We got as far as Ranworth Broad and that took half a day. There we had a picnic lunch, an ice cream and walked to the church hoping to get a cup of tea in the tea rooms which it said were open. It also said they were open on the window but they certainly weren't. This led to one of my pet topics - how too much is expected of volunteers.
The tea rooms at Ranworth Church are run by volunteers but there just aren't enough of them. I'm certain that the lack of volunteers in many areas are due to the number of hoops they have to jump through, the number of course they have to go on, the number of health and safety rules they have to observe and a general feeling of "I really don't have to do this."
I have found this in my own life where I have got to the point on a number of occasions of pulling away from something because I just can't be bothered to go through all those hoops.
It was a nice relaxing day on the Norfolk Broads and I hope you enjoy some of my photographs. I will also put them on my You Tube channel shortly.
So what of the Wherry? The wherries began life in the 17th century and by the late 19th century had evolved into the ideal cargo vessels for local waterways. The wherries could sail close to the wind, pop under low bridges once the mast was hauled down. They could be operated by a crew of just two - ours had three. As road and rail transport became more reliable and efficient, wherries became redundant and most were abandoned, sunk or broken up which was a tremendous shame from a historic point of view.
The Wherry Albion was built by William Brighton on the banks of Lake Lothing near Lowestoft in 1898. She cost £455 and today she is the oldest trading wherry afloat. Albion was commissioned by Bungay Maltsters WD and AE Walker. In the early 1930s she was sold to the General Steam Navigation Company and re-named The Plane. She traded on the river around Norwich until the Second World War. During the war she was used by the Colman factory in Norwich. She was left to fall into disrepair until the Norfolk Wherry Trust was set-up in 1949.
Albion returned to her original name and was repaired and made her maiden voyage for The Trust in October 1949. For several years Albion continued as a trading vessel but when this became uneconomic it was suggested she should carry passengers. The hold was fitted out with accommodation for 12 people.
By the 1960s The Albion had deteriorated again but a public appeal raised funds to repair her yet again. Now she is regularly kept up to scratch with a custom made repair shed and winter cover in Ludham. Other Norfolk wherries include Hathor and Maud.
We received many waves (of the hand variety and not sea) and admiring looks as we sailed along the Broads. I couldn't help but think about one of my favourite books. I love Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome and re-read it not long ago. That book is set in the Lake District but Coot Club is set on the Norfolk Broads.