By road it would take about an hour and a quarter to travel from Fosdyke in Lincolnshire to Wells-next-the-Sea. But for centuries cargo would arrive by boat. And a group of adventurers are hoping to revive some of our ancient coastal trading routes.
In the spring, Wells-based Coastal Exploration Company, which operates sustainable sailing trips on traditional vessels designed to reconnect people with the Norfolk coast's nature and heritage, teamed up with Eric's Fish and Chips to deliver a cargo of potatoes to their Thornham restaurant using free wind energy.
Henry Chamberlain, a former Royal Marines officer and founder of the Coastal Exploration Company, says, that the idea was inspired by European companies who run schooners - two-masted cargo vessels powered by sail - across the Atlantic, bringing coffee and other goods to the European markets. Another influence is New Dawn Traders, which is a broker of sail cargo, based in Cornwall which advocates for buying local goods, buying goods that we only really need and delivering cargo sustainably under sail.
'I fell in love with this idea of sailing cargo and wanted to run a coastal version in Norfolk - after all, King's Lynn was an important port in the Hanseatic League of traders, and has the last remaining Hanseatic warehouse dating from the 14 century,' says Henry. 'Also, I love the adventure and positive environmental impact.
'The larger container ships are significant users of crude oil and polluters - so sail cargo is also a reminder that a lot of the stuff shipped around the world is not really needed and causes such a negative environmental impact.
'I love the challenge of sailing without an engine and having an excuse to work the North Sea.'
The Coastal Exploration Company and Eric Snaith, executive chef owner of Titchwell Manor and Eric's Fish and Chips, are kindred spirits.
Eric's Fish and Chips at Thornham was recently voted the best fish and chip shop in Norfolk and one of the top five in the UK by the National Federation of Fish Friers. At that restaurant and his other outlets, Eric has sustainability at the front of his mind. He works with local suppliers and carefully chooses his ingredients, such as Brancaster mussels from his friends Cyril and Ben Southerland.
And it was fitting that Lincolnshire was the start of the journey as Eric was born in Boston and his mother, Margaret, grew up on a farm not far from Fosdyke.
He says: 'I remember my mum's stories of picking potatoes on Amber Hill, her family fenland farm not far from Boston, every summer from when she was about eight years old. So I jumped at the chance to be involved in this traditional transportation of potatoes across the Wash from near where I grew up to where I now have the restaurant.'
Another intention for the voyage was to showcase Victorious, which has just been refurbished.
'Eric’s Fish and Chips wanted to deliver potatoes from a Lincolnshire farm to their fish and chip shop in Thornham.so that a diesel truck did not need to make the delivery,' says Henry.
'We also had the mayor of Holt, Sarah Tribe, and Hannah Wesseley from Sheringham Salt ordering goods sustainably for their travel lodgings.'
Starting out from Fosdyke, where Victorious is moored, on day one they sailed across the middle of the Wash to King's Lynn. Then on day two the route hugged the coast via Hunstanton, Thornham, Scolt Head and finally into Wells. The land leg of the journey was completed using an electric powered van, the Fiat E-Scudo.
The Tulip potatoes for Eric's Fish and Chips were loaded onto the boat at Fosdyke and the crew picked up Tropic Coffee, Sandringham Apple Juice and Norfolk Natural Living sustainable beauty products at Lynn. Tulip and Sandringham Apple Juice made a donation to Sheringham Foodbank and the coffee crossed the Atlantic on a schooner before being roasted by Tropic Coffee in Lynn.
On the return leg, Burn Valley Vineyard at North Creake shipped their wine from Wells back to Fosdyke for David Parkinson at the Ship Inn.
As Henry explains, the trip had been in the planning for a couple of years.
'Two years ago we ran a similar type of sail for Jarrolds in Norwich on our smaller vessel, a whelker, so it has taken two years from then waiting for our new larger vessel to be ready and plan the trip.'
Victorious was built in King’s Lynn in 1923 by the Worfolk boat yard and she was specifically designed to work the Wash with narrow bows and a wide midsection so that she can tack up the creeks then sit on the sandbanks in the Wash at low tide.
'The fishermen would have jumped onto the sand banks at low tide , raked up the cockles then shovelled them into the boat. The next tide would allow them to float off the sand bank and return to Wells,' explains Henry.
Victorious was rescued from Boal Quay in Lynn in the 1980s - she had sunk and the tide was running through her.
'She was then sold to a man in Cornwall who did not maintain her and she just about sunk again. We rescued her in 2020 and then refurbished her - we had to completely rebuild her, which took three years,' says Henry.
For this voyage there was a a skipper and two crew.
'The idea in the future is to take four clients to help with working the boat and loading the cargo,' says Henry.
Day one, from Fosdyke to Lynn, took 12 hours.
'We left on the morning tide and then used the evening tide to enter Lynn,' says Henry. 'We had strong northerly winds, which made the sail very demanding as the seas build and funnel into the Wash with larger waves. We had everybody on deck pulling lines and two people on the tiller. She took the seas really well and we immediately knew we had the best boat for Norfolk's seas - we reached speeds of 10 knots.
'It is a fantastic approach to sailing as you have to think and work with nature and the tides - exhilarating when you know you are harnessing the natural power of the wind and tide as we have done for centuries. Victorious was designed by King's Lynn fishermen to do this as efficiently as possible and in 2024, almost 100 years later, we are doing the same. These skills are relevant again as we face the climate crisis and possible supply chain challenges with oil,' he continues.
'We are using natural forces and the tide - completely in tune with our natural world. We use minimal diesel and it is even greener than using an electric engine. But it also enables us and our clients to slow down and connect with nature, away from the modern fast moving world.
''The highlight was sailing fast and with ease knowing the last time Victorious was working under sail was probably in the 1930s , but also that she was useful and working again. A piece of incredible King's Lynn maritime history.'
Henry says that he hopes that it was the first of many cargo voyages.
'We would like to build the amount of cargo we ship, run the trips more often and expand the route into more Norfolk ports like Great Yarmouth, Wisbech and Norwich.
'We want to work with more Norfolk brands - Norfolk Natural Living, Tropic Coffee, Burn Valley and Sandringham Apple Juice also shipped with us, but we would like to expand where we go and how often. More people are getting behind sustainable approaches to how things are produced and transported and we want to be part of it and take the lead in Norfolk.
'We need more sustainable tourism in Norfolk, accessing the sea and our beautiful coast without using large amounts of diesel. And it allows us to reinvigorate our old ports, staithes and harbours - imagine Victorious unloading and loading cargo in the Purfleet - wouldn’t that be fantastic for King's Lynn?' he says.
coastalexplorationcompany.co.uk
