The London Traveler

I need to apologise straight away to our North American readers. I am, I suppose, a Norfolk Broad – born and bred a Norfolk girl.

But what we call ‘the Broads‘ you would call lakes, rivers, reedbeds. These expanses of water were made by medieval monks digging out peat in the low lying landscape, to use as fuel. When the peat diggings filled with water – hey presto, Norfolk Broads.

Now, Norfolk is not an easy day trip from London. Norwich, the county capital, is less than two hours from London by train, but to get to the Broads you’ll need to take further transport to Wroxham, Acle, Reedham  or Yarmouth. And even then, many of the Broads are hidden unless you have your own transport – or walk.

This Bank Holiday weekend I chose to walk from Great Yarmouth  to Norwich along the Wherryman’s Way. It’s a terrific walk – all the varieties of local landscape in one big hike of about 35 miles. Take two days over it, staying somewhere like Loddon,  a charming markt town, and you’ll have the next best thing to a detox.

• Big skies - this is for the most part flat landscape, with mud flats, reed beds, huge views. The cloudscapes can be tremendous; sunrise and sunset sometimes melancholy, sometimes lurid.
• Green lanes – in the hillier, gentle landscape near Loddon, you’ll pass green lanes with fine ancient trees and hedges on both sides. One of the woods was full of bluebells, reflecting a blue haze under the trees.
• Ancient churches – the church at Heckingham goes all the way back to the Normans; a simple, peaceful whitewashed interior and a thatched roof give it a rural charm you’ll not find everywhere, and it’s usually open.
• Wildlife - a Muntjac deer bounded away from me as I passed a wood at twilight. A heron on a fence post regarded me sullenly before lazily flapping away across the river. You’ll hear birdsong everywhere – plaintive waterbirds’ cries or the chatter of wood birds.
• Pubs. One of the best, the Berney Arms, is the most remote pub on the walk – out in the middle of nowhere, though it does have its own railway station! Try Humpty Dumpty Brewery’s Golden Gorse or Little Sharpie. Many other real ale pubs line the route.
•  Flat walking! Okay, if you’re looking for mountains this is not for you. But if you’re getting into training, or want to get fit without busting your hamstrings, it’s a great path to start out on.

I’d highly recommend the Broads as a weekend visit from London. There really is nowhere else quite like this landscape. Even though it was a bank holiday, I didn’t see all that many people on my way – many of the backroads were quite deserted – and although you’re never more than half an hour from a village, the countryside often felt incredibly remote and still.

Photo credit: Russell Smith on Flickr

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