The voyage to revive city's ancient trade route

Those days might be long gone, but a group of adventurers have done their bit to revive this ancient trade route.

Henry Chamberlain and his crew have sailed their boat - laden with a cargo of local produce - all the way from the north Norfolk coast, by sea and by river, into the heart of Norwich.

The group - from a boat charter company called Coastal Exploration Company - made the winding 100-mile trip, just 35 miles by road, from Wells via Great Yarmouth in just 20 hours.

Their voyage was to deliver a cargo of goods to the Jarrold department store and was designed to promote alternative forms of freight transport.

The team from the Coastal Exploration Company arrive by boat at Pulls Ferry as they deliver local produce from Wells to Jarrold in Norwich (Image: Archant 2022)

The crew of four sailors on 30ft whelk boat Salford set off from Wells at 3.30am on Thursday, April 28 before spending the night at The Reedcutter, at Cantley, on the Yare.

They then came into Pulls Ferry at around 11.30am on Friday, April 29.

Crew aboard the Salford en route Norwich from Wells (Image: Supplied by Henry Chamberlain)

Once the boat was moored, they then transported their cargo of Norfolk produce - including apple juice, honey and wine - on the last leg up to the department store in the city centre.

Nick Stokes, Coastal Exploration Company chief skipper, unloads one of the boxes to fellow skipper Colin Howell as they arrive at Pulls Ferry (Image: Archant 2022)

Henry said: "Even 50 years ago, wherries would have been operating across our river systems and delivering cargo under sail.

"I think it may get to the point where fuel prices go up, and with the environmental challenges we have, it's increasingly something we should be looking at."

Coastal Exploration Company founder Henry Chamberlain unloading the local produce at Pulls Ferry for Jarrold (Image: Archant 2022)

He added: "The global supply chain presents amazing advantages and opportunities for us, but there's so much we can do locally to reduce transportation pollution.

"If you look along the coast, all you can see is wind farms. I can't quite work out why we're not applying the same mentality to transportation as well.

"It's an even more efficient way of converting wind power into useful energy.

The Salford journeyed from Wells to Norwich via Great Yarmouth in just 20 hours - powered purely by sail (Image: Supplied by Henry Chamberlain)

"It was interesting coming through the Broads as lots of people came down to the banks and followed us on social media.

"A lot of people recognise the value of our waterways."

Henry hopes that after this pilot journey, bringing goods from the coast to the city - and vice versa - will become more commercially viable.

"We're really lucky," he said.

The crew was carrying a load of Norfolk produce bound for Jarrold in Norwich (Image: Supplied by Henry Chamberlain)

"Norfolk's waterways are amazing resource that a lot of other counties don't have.

"Hopefully this exposure will give us enough energy to keep doing it on a regular basis."

John Adams, Jarrold managing director said: "The Coastal Exploration Company has conveyed a valuable message about sustainable trading routes through this journey from Wells and through the cargo of highly sustainable local produce."

Jarrold managing director John Adams (Image: James Rouse Photography)