She's 90 years' old, but she's every bit as beautiful today as she ever was.
Instructions in french on how the toilet works on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The pleasure wherry Ardea was built in 1927 at Leo Robinson's yard in Lowestoft, having been commissioned by local benefactor Howard Hollingsworth, millionaire co-founder of the department store Bourne and Hollingsworth in Oxford Street, London.
Launched in the presence of King George V, she remained on the Broads for 30 years before being used as a houseboat in Paris.
Ardea was abandoned for a while, then used as a charter vessel around the canals of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, until she returned to the Broads by lorry in 2005.
She was given an extensive restoration and is now owned by Andrew Scull, one of the trustees of Wherry Yacht Charter, and will be hired out to generate funds for the charity.
A clock with its key on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
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Her name comes from the Latin name for the heron family.
The stern and mast on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The plaque commemorating the export of teak used in the restoration, on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The galley on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
A shower and sink on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The dining table laid for dinner in the saloon, with the named directors chairs, on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The protected rail of a radiator on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The master cabin on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The plaque of where and when Ardea was built, on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
Original light switches on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The original bell on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The back of one of the named directors chairs in the saloon on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
Dinner places laid in the saloon, with the named directors chairs, on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
Dinner places laid in the saloon on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The mast pulley block on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
A winch on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
Chairman Andrew Scull, by the newly varnished mast on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
One of the pulley blocks on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The stern of the pleasure wherry, Ardea, 90-years-old this year, moored at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham, to be prepared for charter work in the future. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The stern of the pleasure wherry, Ardea, 90-years-old this year, moored at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham, to be prepared for charter work in the future. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The white painted bow and the chrome mud weights, on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The huge rudder on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The gaff jaws (leather covered Y shape) on the gaff (the long spar supporting the sail) resting on the roof of the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The pleasure wherry, Ardea, which will be 90-years-old this year, moored at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham, to be prepared for charter work in the future. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The mast lead counterweight and its space underneath to aid raising and lowering the mast, on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
Chairman Andrew Scull, in the saloon withe the dressed dining table, on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017
The mast pulley block, and the metal mast hoops for holding the sail, on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY
- Credit: Copyright: Archant 2017