The Meanderers explore Norfolk

We decided to visit the wilds of Norfolk England for four days because Tony had never been there and it was Rogers home county . To keep costs down we chose glamping which Roger said he would never do again in April . Its April 2019.

When we arrived at West Runton  in Norfolk the first thing we did was walk down to the beach.

 The next day we visited Horsey wind pump . This picture shows a nice little thatched tea room close by. The blue line shows the level of the sea if ever the sea broke through the dunes like it did in 1953.

Horsey wind pump used for pumping water to dry out the land . Norfolk has got more windmills then the  Netherlands .

Tony and Steve wandering through the reed beds to get a shot of Horsey Mere the nearest broad to the sea. The broads were created by medieval peat digging.

We walked from Horsey wind pump across farmland to the dunes at Horsey gap were there were Grey seals.

After a wander further down the beach we came across a large number of Grey seals .

These two did not get on.

Lovely picture of Sandpipers

Our next visit was to Burgh Castle. This is the village church established in 900AD

Inside the church at Burgh Castle

Burgh castle is not a castle but a 2000 year old Roman fort with very imposing walls. Its job was to guard the estuary from invaders.

Extensive reed bed cover the former estuary at Burgh Castle

This tree stump is a remnant of the forest which grew here when the UK was joined to Europe before it flooded when the ice melted thousands of years ago. It was called Doggerland.

Sandpipers on Horsey beach . Norfolk has the greatest biodiversity of any English county.

After nature it was time for some history. This is Blickling Hall!

It is a Jacobean Hall built on the site of a Tudor hall which was the home of the unlucky Ann Boleyn.

Tony sets off the Hall in his nautical top.

Stephen studying the finer architectural points of Blickling Hall.

The next day  we hired a boat to explore some of the 150 miles of rivers and broads in Norfolk. We came across some strange looking holiday homes on the River Thurne.

Here we see Stephen concentrating on safe navigation.

Tony is slumming in the back while yawning because of his lack of sleep in the glamp.

Our destination was St Benets Abbey the only Abbey to escape the clutches of Henry V111. This is what the gatehouse used to look like.

This is the layout of the abbey although little is left.

The remains of the Gatehouse with Tony and Stephen going for award winning pictures. The brick construction is a later Georgian windmill.

Remains of the Abbey walls. The cross at the end marks the spot of a service held once a year. The wood for the cross was gifted from the Queens Sandringham Estate.

One of the  many windmills found on the broads as we returned to Potter Heigham.

Our final day meant a trip to Wells Next the sea with its huge beach, big skies and iconic beach huts.

Common seals at Wells

Close up of a Common seal which is prettier then a Grey seal

The beach at Wells with Tony and Stephen beachcombing

Nearby at Wells was the Peddars way an ancient trackway believed to mark the track of a Roman road.

In the afternoon we went to Felbrigg Hall which was first constructed in 1620.

The walled garden at Felbrigg Hall

Finally dinner at Cromer a Norfolk seaside resort and a walk on the pier as the sun set.