Norfolk Broads
"The
part on beach was fabulous, I had the whole beach to myself with
the sea crashing in and the smell of salt in the air. Quite a
perfect start to the week."
Carol
Newman,
Wensum Group
Start point:
Horsey Mill car park in Horsey village
Map:
OS Explorer 40 (grid ref: 457223)
buy/hire
Accommodation:
B&Bs,
self-catering
Distance: 7km/4.5 miles
Time:
2.5
hours
Terrain: Easy
Last checked:
5 Sept 2007
Introduction
The mysterious land of reed beds, marram grass and rippling sand dunes which is the Norfolk Broads was once referred to as the Devil’s Country because of its open wildness.
Today that wildness is treasured as a virtue and can be savoured to the full on a walk from the lovely village of Horsey, now in the care of the National Trust. It includes a bracing walk along Horsey’s unspoiled sandy beach.
Life in and around Horsey is inevitably dominated by the sea. Its most attractive landmark, Horsey Mill, was built as a water pump to drain low-lying farmland. It was overwhelmed by the floods of 1938, when only a hundred acres of the the parish were left above water. The mill was restored in 1958 and is now open to the public from April and October.
Reed cutting is still a necessity to keep the fenland healthy and is an important industry. Even the beautiful Anglo-Saxon church in Horsey is thatched. On this walk, you pass reed beds bordering Horsey Mere, a haven for wildlife such as the otter and marsh harrier. If you are lucky, you might even hear the distant boom of a bittern. For the superstitious, a legend persists that small children drowned in Horsey Mere on the 13 June can still be heard wailing there on that night each year.
Route Description
- From Horsey Mill car park turn right along the waterway. Keep to the main path, ignoring a footbridge 200 yards after the waterway enters Horsey Mere.
- Three hundred yards later, the path turns right to a marker pole and footbridge. Cross here and walk diagonally across a field to another marker pole and footbridge. Follow the path as it bears right alongside Waxham New Cut for half a mile to Brograve Windmill. The mill leans to one side and legend has it this is because the devil tried, unsuccessfully, to blow it down.
- Turn right and keep to the right of the next two fields. The path bends left in front of trees. Straight after the trees end take the footbridge on the right and walk by more trees to a house. Emerge onto a surfaced lane, turn right and then left onto a track. This soon narrows to a path and leads into a field. At the far side there is a T-junction with electricity poles to the right. Turn left here.
- At the road, turn right and take a track on the left after 120 yards. Walk through dunes onto the beach and turn right. After three quarters of a mile, ignore steps up to the sea wall and take instead an entrance to the wall lined with concrete. Follow a track between fences leading inland.
- After half a mile, by a gate, you are back in the open. Go right onto the road past red brick houses and a pub. Join the B1159 as you approach Horsey village, following signposts for Horsey Mill.
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Led walks in Norfolk