Breydon and Beyond

THIS blog started life as a means of publicising my book, so in some ways it’s a little bit strange to plug someone else’s. But here goes anyway because Sheila Hutchinson has just published her ninth. Sheila specialises in detailed histories of out-of-the-way places. Her first was on the hamlet of Berney Arms where she grew up. Over the last ten years or so she has also chronicled The Halvergate Fleet, Burgh Castle and Haddiscoe Island. Each one has been a labour of love with her husband Paul. A local, she sits down and draws the stories from the old timers, while Paul does the research and checks the records. She held her book launch at The Ship in Reedham today. And it was great to see so many people with such a love of the area and its history – from wherry skippers to Breydon birders. Her latest book covers a wider brief than usual – the Yare from Breydon Water right up to Trowse. In other words much of it is Wherryman’s Way territory. It’s as good a read as ever, well worth the £9. …..Just make sure you buy my book too, if only to see the piece I’ve written on her remarkable contribution to east Norfolk’s local history.

Wherryman's Ferries - they keep coming

MAKE that 14 other ferries across the Wensum and Yare (see previous posts). Admittedly this is rather sad, but a close look at Bryant's 1826 Map of Norfolk reveals "Raveningham Foot Ferry" connecting Reedham and Raveningham just upstream from where the New Cut would be built a few years later. The second is simply labelled "Foot Ferry" and it seems to have been close-ish to Polkey's Mill - mid-way between Reedham and the Berney Arms. Raveningham is understandable, certainly Reedham was heavily populated and there was at least a mill at Raveningham. But the second one is in the middle of nowhere, by anyone's standards. Who on earth would have wanted to cross the river there?
Bryant's map isn't online to my knowledge. But an even earlier Norfolk map by Faden is. It's got lots of good detail, but sadly neither of these ferries gets a mention.

* Photo-wise we'll have to settle for a view from Reedham, looking out across the Yare to what used to be called Raveningham Marshes but is now called Norton Marshes.

Give this website a try

LITERARY Norfolk is a great website getting better all the time. It's written by the poet Cameron Self and you can home in on either people or locations. You won't get a more thorough summary of Reedham's literary claims to fame for example than this. And away from the Yare he leads you down lots of interesting Flickr byways too. Deserted churches, the Norfolk dialect even The Singing Postman, this site has got the lot. And the skull? Well it belonged to Sir Thomas Browne. There's a good bit on him too.

Hathor on tour

ROLL UP for the Hathor farewell tour, about to enter its second week on the Yare.
The restored pleasure wherry has been doing the rounds of the Broads this summer prior to an extensive re-fit which will see her confined to quarters for some years. She spends this weekend at Yarmouth before sailing down to Loddon and then returning via Reedham and Berney Arms. (Full itinerary below.) This picture shows a wherryman engaged in the back-breaking work of quanting at Loddon Staithe during a previous visit in 2006. It is amazing that such a huge vessel can make it down such a narrow and winding river like the Chet. Wherrymen - ancient and modern - earned their keep.

Monday 7th YARMOUTH YACHT STATION 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 8th LODDON 1pm - 6pm
Wednesday 9th LODDON 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10th REEDHAM FERRY 11am - 7.30pm
Friday 11th REEDHAM QUAY 11.30am - 6pm
Saturday 12th BERNEY ARMS 11am - 5pm
Sunday 13th BERNEY ARMS 11am - 5.30pm

Wherryman's Way: what's your favourite stretch?

HUMPTY Dumpty brewery partner Stephen George has been in touch. It turns out he and his family have become big fans of the Wherryman's Way over the last few years. For him the best bit is the stretch between Loddon and Reedham. "I love walking over those country lanes coming down to the ferry," he writes.
Which got me thinking. What's your favourite spot? Breydon Water, Wheatfen or maybe the newly-restored Hardley Mill? For me, the best places also happen to be the most inaccessible. All those windmills in the middle of nowhere between Reedham and the Berney Arms for example. Or The Slaughters, hidden until Rockland Broad until low tide. But having toyed with the ruins of St Saviour's Church and all that history bound up in Reedham Ferry, I'm plumping for Hardley Flood (pictured). It's stunningly beautiful, especially at dusk, and yet there's never anyone else there.

Humpty Dumpty had a great walk

EVER thought of the Wherryman's Way as one long pub crawl? No, me neither. But those nice chaps at the Humpty Dumpty Brewery in Reedham think otherwise. Read their take on the walk here.