Upcoming events this year

We have lots of events to tempt you this year, and will be making an appearance at various local events with an information stall and merchandise where possible. As well as the listings here, you will find these events on a handy calendar below.

Main events
23rd May - afternoon tea at Stody Lodge Gardens. These beautiful rhododendron and azalea gardens are only open on Sundays in May each year, and each open day offers tea and cake served by, and in aid of, a local charity. We are lucky enough to have been offered the 23rd May and will be there with teapots at the ready and plenty of delicious home made cakes to tempt you! So please come and join us, enjoy the gardens and the tea, and help us to raise some much-needed funds. The gardens are open 2-5pm, admission is £4.50 with children under 12 free. Admission charges go to Stody and we benefit from the tea and cake sales.

First Sundays of each month, May-September - guided walks along Wherryman's Way. Planned for Surlingham, Rockland, Loddon, Reedham and Berney Arms - full details coming very soon. Distances of 5-7 miles at an easy pace, each walk will start around 10am and include a pub at the end.

Stalls
17th April - Wymondham St George's Day event, 1.30-5.
1st-3rd May - Ludham Church arts & crafts event, 10-5 daily.
20th June - model boat displays, Museum of the Broads, Stalham, 10.30-4.
1st-8th August - Ludham Church (as part of Open Churches Week) 10-5 daily, and fete (8th), 2.30-4.30.
20th-22nd August - Vintage Wooden Boat Association National Rally, Beccles quay, 12-5 Fri, 10-5 Sat, 10-12 Sun.
12th September - Window on Aylsham event, historical activites and stalls plus a talk from Matthew Rice, Aylsham Town Hall and surrounds, 2-5.
25t September - street collection, Roy's of Wroxham (food hall).

Events still to be confirmed
June - Friends' event: visit to a local attraction, followed by optional pub lunch.
July, National Parks Week - event with the Norfolk Wherry Trust.
Late August/Sept - another Friends' event.
4th-5th September - Great Yarmouth Maritme Festival, South Quay. (The festival is on, our partcipation is TBC.)
October - quiz and supper, Wroxham.
November, January and February - archive film shows in conjunction with te East Anglian Film Archive. Venues to be confirmed but we are looking at Norwich, Beccles and Holt.

Work continues on the boat base

At the beginning of 2009 we embarked on an ambitious fundraising exercise to ensure sufficient funds were in place to commence phase two of the base building work, including dredging, piling, quay heading and replacement of workshops and sheds. Our target was £100,000, so with HLF match funding of 38.5% this meant securing approximately £72,200 ourselves. We achieved this as follows: The Wherry Tour was very successful with donations, merchandise and sailings income totalling £25,000. The crew’s volunteer time allowed us to draw down £20,000 from the HLF in 'non-cash' contributions. We received further donations of £22,000 and offers of loans from two Friends, allowing work to begin as planned.

So far (February 2010), two sheds and an important covered work area have been replaced, the boat basin has been dredged, and piling and quay heading are continuing. The boat shelter and workshop are now being replaced, and the old slipway has been removed and fabrication begun on the new steelwork. work is scheduled for completion in mid 2010.

Photo competition winners announced

Following a late flurry of entries for our photo competition, the results are now available. Thank you to all who entered. Look out for some of the images on merchandise in 2010. We also hope to display entries alongside some of our information stalls (see above), space permitting.

2009 tour concludes

On July 25th Hathor left Wroxham on the last leg of her 2009 tour - she returned on September 17th to a warm welcome from more than 80 well-wishers attending her Farewell Dinner at the Hotel Wroxham. Guests enjoyed a three-course meal, music from some talented local musicians, and were invited to join in an unexpected musical tribute courtesy of crew member Charles Bartram, after which glasses were raised to Hathor to wish her a swift return. Skipper Peter Bower spoke about this year's tour as well as some aspects of Hathor's history, and trustee Jane Bryant concluded with thanks to Peter, crew and other volunteers, Friends and supporters, and the event's organiser Pauline Simpson. A raffle was also held and raised over £350, in addition to over £400 from the dinner itself, with further donations still to be counted. It was a chance for all of us to mark the occasion, and also focus on the need to continue our hard work in order to restore the base and complete the work on Olive and Norada before we can then bring Hathor back into sailing order. On 18th September, without undue ceremony, Hathor was quietly quanted back to base at Barton House.

Royal Norfolk Show

Thanks to the fine folk who brew Wherry Bitter, Woodforde's, we had a presence at the Royal Norfolk Show for the first time in 2009. We were able to gather donations and talk to show visitors to try and recruit more Friends. We really appreciate this support from Woodforde's and hope to do more with them in the future.

Friends' Chairman goes the distance to support the wherries

On 28th June, chairman of the WYCCT Friends' Committee, Katy Walters, raised sponsorship for the Trust by completing a half-Ironman distance triathlon. The event consisted of a 1.9km lake swim, a 92km bike and a 21km run, and despite bike problems and scorching heat, Katy completed it in 7:00:32, raising over £600 in the process. She said: "It was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done, but the thought of all the support I had from friends and family really kept me going. Immediately afterwards I thought 'never again', but soon enough I found myself thinking that if I did another one I could surely get a faster time!" Read the pre-race article in the Evening News.

Olive's centenary

In June, wherry yacht Olive's centenary was marked with a low-key occasion at WYCCT's Wroxham base involving four members of the family of her original builder, Ernest Collins. Read the full article from the Eastern Daily Press.

Raise a glass to Hathor!

You'd better be quick to enjoy a very limited edition from Blackfriars Brewery: 'Hathor Bitter'. The beer was launched at the Great Yarmouth Beer and Cider Festival. Kindly sponsored by the Wherry Lines, a donation will be made to WYCCT for every bottle sold! We had some reserved just for members - but it is now sold out.