A little river crossing on the Yare.

The Thorpe Ferry began before the war, taking country folk across the river to catch the train at Whitlingham Halt into Norwich - a station long since closed under Beeching.

From the late 1940s through the 60s, the ferryman was Bert "Nobby" Clarke - a little fella with a big heart who lived in a bungalow on the Thorpe bank. A few pence got you across to the concrete quay opposite; ring the bell on the Whitlingham side and up he'd pop, cigarette hanging from his mouth.

Nobby was more than a ferryman. He was a shallow-water diver, a boatyard hand, a safety boat for the Norwich Frostbite Sailing Club, and a much-loved entertainer - appearing at river events on his pedal-powered water cycle Nutty Slack (now in the Museum of the Broads at Stalham), or floating downriver in a barrel. During Norwich City's famous '59 cup run he turned up at Carrow Road as a canary mascot, dressed head-to-toe in yellow and green.

In 2022, Stephen Ellingham resurrected the crossing through the Thorpe Ferry Community Interest Company, with help from Broads Authority sustainable funding and a generous private donation. The boat now has a newly installed diesel engine - a four-minute glide across the Yare. When the river is quiet, you'll still find Stephen out there with his water dog, collecting litter as he goes.

History drawn in part from Derek James's piece in the Eastern Daily Press (2014) and Steve Silk's book The Wherryman's Way.