Getting up close and personal with a 90-year-old wherry, the Ardea of the Norfolk Broads

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 (Image: 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 (Image: Archant)

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 (Image: 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 (Image: Archant)

The galley on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: Archant)

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 (Image: 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 (Image: Archant)

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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: Archant)

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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: Archant)

A winch on the 90-year-old pleasure wherry Ardea at the Wherry Yacht Charter site at Wroxham. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: 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 (Image: Copyright: Archant 2017)