For W (Walk) in Norfolk, I ended up discovering a really lovely circular route. I’d been looking at my OS map before we went up there and noticed that lots of people had marked this walk as one of their favourites around the Broads, so I thought, right, let’s give that one a go and dragged Lou and Thomas along with me.
The walk starts at Horsey Windpump, an old wind-powered mill built in the early 1900s (around 1912–1915). It sits just inland from the sea near Horsey. The windmill itself is a National Trust property, and you can have a little wander around before you set off.
From there, the route forms a circular walk of about four or five miles. You leave the windmill and head out through these lovely, quite ancient-feeling meadows towards the sea. Eventually, you reach Horsey Gap, which is famous for its seals – and we did, indeed, see them.
If you hit that stretch of the Norfolk coast at the right time, it’s pretty spectacular. There can be a huge number of seals hauled out on the beach. They’re quite smelly, they look a bit grumpy, and if you get too close they definitely start to look a bit anxious – which is usually the point at which you instinctively take a step back.
After the coastal section, the walk turns back inland and eventually passes Horsey Mere. On the map, the route runs right alongside this stretch of water, and I had imagined sweeping views across the Broad. In reality, we spent a good chunk of the walk following the edge of the mere with a solid wall of hedging and shrubbery between us and the water. We couldn’t see a thing – not a glimpse – for about a quarter of the route.
It was still a pleasant walk in its own right, but knowing there was a beautiful Broad just on the other side of all that vegetation was slightly frustrating. I don’t think Lou or Thomas could have cared less, to be honest, but it niggled me.
Minor grumbles aside, though, it’s a cracking walk: windmill, meadows, sea, seals, and big Norfolk skies
MAP