Along the Norfolk Coast Path
1 June 2000: Holme next the Sea to Burnham Overy Staithe, 13 miles
First, through the dunes (top picture in sidebar) to Thornham.
They bear an unusual sign concerning local wildlife (pictured left).
The path then diverts inland which at least permits a wider view of the coast.
From Brancaster, a wild stretch looks out to Scolt Head Island between the Burnhams Deepdale and Overy Staithe,
where we stayed overnight. This is Nelson country.
Horatio Nelson, the hero of Trafalgar and with Drake England's greatest naval hero,
was born just inland at another of the Burnhams, Burnham Thorpe.
2 June 2000: Burnham Overy Staithe to Cley, 17 miles
A tremendously varied walk that shows off this great coastline to best effect.
Any number of highlights: along the beach of Holkham Bay, backed by pine dunes (picture 2); the small town of Wells next the Sea;
the salt marshes around Stiffkey; the busy little tourist village of Blakeney;
the final sea wall walk from there to Cley, looking out to the shingle spit of Blakeney Point.
Social history note: it is difficult for those in the local low-wage economy to buy houses,
as prices have been forced up by those looking for a second home.
Perhaps in Blakeney this is no recent thing; a housing association specifically for locals still exists (see left picture).
The relative lack of humanity's traces make this a great area for other fauna,
with seal colonies around Blakeney Point (ferries from Morston as well as Blakeney)
and bird life in abundance - see Dave's birding notes,
made across the three days but principally this section.
3 June 2000: Cley to Cromer, 13 miles
To the highest point of Norfolk! All of 105 metres (346 feet).
But first, some of the most arduous walking in southern Britain - seems strange to say, for a three mile coastal stretch.
But this is the notorious shingle beach from the coastguard lookout at Cley to Weybourne Hope (picture 3).
You can choose whether to walk on the bank or the beach - I chose the former, Dave the latter -
it's still like walking in porridge, sucking back your boots. And all the while, the hypnotic roar of surf breaking on stone.
The low cliffs to the small resort of Sheringham are something of a relief.
From here to Cromer, the path runs inland, much through woods, to the high point viewpoint.
Signs hereabouts warn of adders, Britain's only poisonous snake.
Cromer is a good end point; a Victorian resort that still has great character,
including one of the most famous pleasure piers in England (pictured left) - as distinctive a finish as one could wish.
Accommodation
In Burnham Overy Staithe we stayed at the Domville guest house, which seems to be no longer listed.
However our hotel in Cley, the George,
is very much still up and running.
Birder's notes
Dave is a keem ornithologist, and he has contributed these notes of some of the species seen along the coast.
Thanks to Ash Midcalf for permission to use his scans of the mid 19th century work of Yorkshire vicar Rev Francis Orpen Morris,
catalogued on birdcheck.co.uk
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