Discovering the Wherry Hathor

How Hill is one of those places which once entered is never quite forgotten. It has the feel of another world as you walk across the freshly clipped grass towards Toad Hole Cottage.

The ground slopes gently down to the River Ant and as you wind down the little garden path beside the chocolate-box Toad Hole Cottage, emerging through the trees you come face to face with the mighty and magnificent wherry Hathor.

Moored at How Hill, the wherry Hathor is awe-inducing. She seems all at once perfectly at home in her surroundings and at the same time otherworldly. This is probably because this wherry, though an archetypal boat of the Broads, was not designed for work but instead for pleasure and has a history every bit as colourful as that mast gleaming in the sun.

Rewind back to the year 1897 and to a place far distant from the Broads National Park. The Colman family are on holiday in Egypt on account of the health of Alan Colman who is there on doctor’s orders due to a condition of the lungs. The family have hired a boat upon the Nile and are captivated by the antiquities that they visit. Black-and-white family photographs reveal fez-wearing tour guides, and the Colman sisters sat upon donkeys side-saddle outside half-ruined monuments.

Sadly the dry desert sun could not save Alan from his condition and he passed away in Luxor, Egypt. When the family returned they wanted to celebrate his life with a boat that was inspired by the magnificent Egypt, which Alan had so loved during his time there. They decided to commission a pleasure wherry and to name it after the very vessel they had sailed while on the Nile: Hathor.

Inside, the wherry Hathor is a warren of beautifully polished wood and inlay hieroglyphics, with a unique Arts and Crafts oil lamp featuring serpents' heads hanging from the saloon ceiling. Large windows and lofty headroom gives the wherry a feel of opulence below deck. The surface woodwork is predominantly sycamore polished to a near glow, and inlaid lotus flowers of teak decorate the cabins, while dyed sycamore characterises the saloon. It oozes bygone glamour and is a subtle nod to the imagery they must have encountered in far off Egypt.

Now, having passed through many eras, Hathor finds herself moored at this staithe again, within sight of the big house at How Hill, which is closely associated with the Colman family, still coloured as she always was in the reds and greens that pay tribute to a son and brother who could never return.

Today, members of the passionate team at Wherry Yacht Charter maintain her and assist members of the public to admire this magnificent vessel. 

Hathor will be cruising from How Hill on 30 May, 17 June, with more dates throughout the summer months. You can also find out about joining the volunteers at Wherry Yacht Charter.