Day
Eight: Walk / Wildlife watching
– Salhouse & Cockshoot Broads / Conservation in action
While predominantly an area of freshwater, the
Broads National Park extends to the coast at Horsey, providing an
opportunity for an undemanding walk around this intriguing area,
viewing the only community of seals living in the Norfolk Broads! Our
suggestions will take you to Horsey, the site of several extensive
flooding episodes in the twentieth century, for a circular walk of
approximately 8 miles around the varied landscape of the area; the
opportunity to view the large community of seals living along this
part of the coast; a climb up Horsey Mill providing striking views
over Horsey Mere; lunch at a traditional Norfolk pub; followed by
an afternoon visit to Waxham Barn, a restored barn now housing a
museum of local life.
Cost Guide: ££
the Norfolk Broads offer a unique landscape within the
UK, but they do not manage and maintain themselves. This day is
designed to show you two completely different approaches to the
conservation and sustainable management of the Norfolk Broads. Our
suggestions will take you on a tour of Salhouse Broad; to lunch at
a local pub, home to one of the UK’s best known independent
breweries; followed by an afternoon spent exploring Cockshoot
Broad and the Bure Marshes nature reserve.
Our recommended itinerary is as follows:
| • |
Drive to Salhouse Broad car park, situated on a
minor road off the B1140 between Acle and Wroxham |
| • |
Privately owned, Salhouse
Broad was created not through peat digging as the other
Broads were, but by sand and gravel abstraction. It has an
active group of Friends who help to manage the Broad and
organise a programme of events throughout the summer
months to encourage visitors to enjoy the varied bird life
around the area. The Broad is home to the only pair of
Australian black swans living in the Norfolk Broads |
| • |
There are a variety of
habitats; oak woodland, wet alder carr woodland, marshy
sedge beds, sandy heath, grassland and open water, all of
which you pass through as you walk from the car park down
through the woods to the Broad’s edge |
| • |
This is an all-season
delight, with bluebells and lesser celandines in the
Spring, peacock butterflies and banded demoiselle
damselflies in the Summer, hawthorn, holly, parasol
mushrooms and inkcaps in the Autumn, with wildfowl
sheltering on the Broad in the Winter |
| • |
You can enjoy refreshment from the ice cream boat
plying its trade around this part of the Norfolk Broads, and perhaps take
the Water Taxi which runs Sunday to Thursday from Easter to
mid-September across to Hoveton Great Broad Nature Trail, not
accessible from land, a true wilderness within the Broads National
Park |
| • |
Make your way to the Fur & Feather Inn at
Woodbastwick for lunch, turning left out of the Broad car park.
Attached to the Woodforde’s Brewery, this iconic Norfolk inn
serves great beer and food in a picturesque setting. With a
regularly changing menu offering a combination of classic and more
imaginative dishes, including an innovative selection for
vegetarians, there is bound to be something for everyone! |
| • |
The Brewery Shop is also
worth a visit after lunch, selling the full range of
Woodforde’s beers in bottles and boxes, in addition to a
range of gifts and local produce. You can even arrange a
tour of the brewery |
| • |
Continue through the
village of Woodbastwick, turning left at the junction of
the road to the marshes and Cockshoot Broad, as the ‘main’
road continues sharply right towards Ranworth |
|
|
 |
| • |
Proceed slowly down the
lane through the Bure Marshes to the river looking out for
wildlife as you go, bearing in mind that this road floods
easily and may be wet. This is a popular spot to sit and
watch the busy river traffic pass by, but if you follow
the boardwalk to Cockshoot Broad you will enter a
different world – one of peace and tranquillity
overlooking a Broad closed to boat traffic and as a result
recovering to represent a haven for wildlife |
| • |
Around one metre of mud
was pumped out following its damming off, and within three
months, seeds which had lain dormant at the bottom of the
Broad for decades started to shoot, and the water became
clear again |
| • |
You can expect to see a wide variety of
insect and bird life along the boardwalk and from the bird
hide overlooking the Broad, including herons, marsh
harriers, several species of duck, dragonflies and
butterflies |
Useful Norfolk Broads Contacts
Below you will find suggestions for accommodation, activities, attractions,
food & drink and shopping. All useful
contacts while visiting the Norfolk Broads.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sutton Staithe Hotel
Sutton Staithe Hotel is located yards from the River Ant in the heart of the Norfolk Broads. The Hotel boasts thirteen fully en-suite letting rooms all with internet access and Satellite television. Special offers can be found on our website.
|
|
Linda H. Matthews Artist
Working artists studio & gallery, in the beautiful northern broads. Paintings & gifts from Lindas work. Also offering structured painting courses and private tuition, for individuals & groups, with an experienced tutor & art materials for sale
|
|
Blickling Hall, Garden & Park
Magnificent Jacobean house with garden and park. Famed for its long gallery, fine tapestries, paintings and rare books. Parkland, lakeside walks and sunken garden. Reputedly home to the headless ghost of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIIIs second queen.
|
|
White Horse Inn
Traditional Norfolk pub, serving several real ales and tasty home made food
|
|
Linda H. Matthews Artist
Working artists studio & gallery, in the beautiful northern broads. Paintings & gifts from Lindas work. Also offering structured painting courses and private tuition, for individuals & groups, with an experienced tutor & art materials for sale
|
|
|
; grid reference TG319150
