A Norfolk walk including the River Yare, more snow and wooden birds

Last Saturday we joined the usual suspects for a walk in a lovely part of Norfolk.


The walk was a 5.4 mile stroll centred on the village of Claxton. We started from Rockland St. Mary, walking along a short cut leading to Rockland Broad. This looked very canal-like, with its concrete edging.


You don't get too many signs like this on the canals, though!


A typical Broads cruiser motored past ...


... while we walked part of the Wherryman's Way along the River Yare. (The river flows into the sea at Great Yarmouth.)


Despite temperatures hitting 20˚C earlier in the week, there seemed to be snow lingering on some roofs.


Or perhaps it was the previous day's hail, concentrated to look like snow.


In the centre of Claxton a tree had been receiving the attentions of a wood carver...


... commemorating the London 2012 Olympics by incorporating the interlocking rings into the village name...


... overseen by an owl ...


... and a swift.


St. Andrew's Church was very simple inside.


It retained the box pews for the lord of the manor and his family.


At last, the daffodils were out.


The last leg of the walk took us across a ploughed field with a well-defined path.


An excellent walk - thanks Tony and Helen - and I'm glad it didn't rain. I'd forgotten to bring my coat!

The Wherryman's Way book and blog

A few weeks ago I spotted a book on a desk at work entitled The Wherryman's Way with an enticing aerial photograph of the River Yare and what looks like The Wood's End pub at Bramerton. And then I noticed the name of the author. Steve Silk has been a colleague for at least ten years. I had no idea he was writing a book. And then, a couple of days ago, Brian of NB Harnser alerted me to Steve's blog. Again, I didn't know he had a blog.


I haven't read the book, so I can't offer a review, but Brian speaks well of it, having received it for his birthday.

On the other hand, I can recommend the blog. In a post from earlier this month, headed "When the Bure had locks", Steve writes about the Aylsham Navigation, and the disastrous flood of 1912. This swept away many locks and bridges, destroying the navigation. There's much of interest here, especially if you have a connection with Norfolk or the Broads.

Here's an extract:

THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY of the 1912 floods might still be more than 18 months away, but it’s already got some people thinking. Among all the loss of life and damage, the floods also brought an end to the Aylsham Navigation on the River Bure. Long forgotten, this waterway dated back to 1779. It meant that the people of Coltishall, Horstead, Hautbois, Oxnead, Burgh and Aylsham were all connected by river to Great Yarmouth for the first time – a huge boon when it came to getting cargo in and their produce out. Essentially – as a new website says – the navigation was a series of locks designed to get around pre-existing Mill streams. It mostly used the River Bure for its 9.5 miles but it did include some canal cuts. But all that was pre-flood: 

“When the flood came on August 26th 1912 all of the locks and some of the bridges (including the one pictured between Coltishall and Horstead) were washed out. The navigation was already in decline as the coming of the railways in the 1880's had dramatically cut the trade. After the flood the Navigation was never re-opened. Trading wherries caught upstream were abandoned with the exception of the Zulu which was man-hauled around the obstructions to gain her freedom.”

Steve explains that he "pinched" the painting from the website of a group which wants to raise the profile of the Aylsham Navigation as the centenary of the flood approaches.

Jan and I walked part of the Wherryman's Way, in the rain, just over a year ago (write-up here). So perhaps I should buy the book, and complete the walk - "Norfolk's long distance footpath" according to the cover (what about Peddar's Way, then? Or Boudicca's Way?)

Duck race, and how rubbish my camera is in the rain

My last post was pathetic. In order to readdress the balance - in terms of length, anyway - I'll tell you about the walk we went on today. It was a five mile circular walk from Bramerton Woods End by the River Yare near Norwich. In the rain. Well, it didn't rain all the time: a downpour at the beginning and another shower towards the end. About half-way through we came to the Ferry House pub at Surlingham - no, we didn't call in - and the sight of an apparent duck race on the river.


Here they are, approaching the finishing post, and the winner takes it by several lengths.


If you click on the photos you'll see how poor they are. Yes, you can see without clicking, I know.

My photos are rubbish, and I think it's because of the rain. Not getting in the works, but fooling the auto focus. (Oh yes, it must have rained half-way, too!) Most of my photos are out of focus because rain drops in the air near the camera make it think that's where the subject is. I wish I could control the focus myself! Of course, I could on a proper DSLR, as I used to on my SLR, but the compact is just so convenient to have always with me. Can you get compact digital cameras which give you manual focus?

This is from earlier in the walk. It might have been quite nice had it been in focus.


OK, that's enough for this post. I promised my fellow walkers a photo of some of them here, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow!

Just time for a boat shot: this looked a bit like the cratch of a narrowboat as it approached, but it turned out to be an angler speeding along. If it had been a narrowboat I'd have said it was sinking.


By the way, Blogger has been a trial today. On my blog's "home page" there was no "sign in" box at the top. Eventually I tried going to www.blogger.com and found myself able to create a post. Now I'll see if I can publish this.

Not yet, I get this: "Could not contact Blogger.com. Saving and publishing may fail. Retrying..."