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| Page Views: 1,680 Last Visit to United Kingdom: - | The Norfolk Broads by steventilly - last update: Apr 27, 2000 |
The Galley Slave swabs the decks at Wroxham - keep that boat shipshape! |
Some lucky man's house near Wroxham... |
Salhouse Salhouse broad is a popular spot. With its gently sloping, grassy bank it is a great place for kids to play and to have a picnic - I love picnics, have you noticed! In the summer an "Ice Cream Boat" travels between the cruisers selling it's wares. That's it in the picture. |
As with many broads villages, the village is a short walk from the staithe, but worth the effort. Picturesque and with a good pub. |
Horning Horning is one of the major boating centres, with many boatyards and marinas. The village extends along the river and has a couple of shops, post office, three pubs (this photo is of one of them) and a tea room. We like to stop here when we're passing, though it can be hard to find a mooring. |
Most of the mooring is on the opposite bank to the village and you have to cross the river by the ferry or in your dingy, if you have one. There are some quaint old cottages in the village, like this one. |
There are lots and lots of beautiful houses and mills by the river at Horning. here is one of the most distinctive, you'll find it on many a postcard. |
Here's another of the lovely mills at Horning. |
This paddle boat cruises out from Horning. Well OK, it's not the Mississippi! |
Ranworth The thing you notice most as you approach Ranworth is the church. It's tower dominates the skyline, and the view from the top is fantastic. It's a bit of climb, though, up ladders and is not for the unfit or faint hearted! |
The Norfolk Broads lie, naturally, in the county of Norfolk, although the southern broads do extend a little way into Suffolk.
They are unique (at least in Britain) because they are man made. In the middle ages, man cut peat to use as fuel and building material and the pits produced by this cutting covered fairly large areas and extended a few meters deep. Over time, due to water seepage and flooding, these pits filled with water to produce man made lakes, though this was never the intention. It is these lakes that are the actual 'broads'. Later the broads were joined to the nearby rivers by cutting canals, or 'dykes'.
Nowadays, the Norfolk Broads consists of several actual 'broads' connected by a variety of rivers and dykes. It is this system as a whole that is usually referred to as 'The Norfolk Broads' |
St. Benets St. Benets Abbey used to stand on this site, though very little remains of it. It's a great place to moor up (yes, picnics again), especially overnight. Being well away from a town/village, there is no light pollution and the stars at night look fantastic. |
The tower was not part of the Abbey, but was a Mill built from the ruins stones. |
Sunset is a lovely, peaceful time on the river... |
Stokesby Stokesby is a very pretty village with the added bonus of having a candle making workshop where you can try your hand at making your own candles. |
Stracey Arms Stracey Arms is the last place on the river Bure that you can moor. There is a pub, a mill and a small childrens farm here. Be careful when mooring, the river's tidal here, so leave some slack! |
Sutton The village of sutton has a small staithe alongside the green, with a pub nearby. It's a short walk from here to the village centre. It's a popular spot so arrive early if you want to stay overnight. |
Whenever and wherever you moor up, you're sure to be greeted by the locals, who demand to be fed! |
Just relax in the warmth of the evening sun... |
There's a museum of olden day life at Sutton, in the old mill. The museum is very interesting having replica shops and rooms from the 19th and early 20th century. You get a great view of the surrounding countryside from the top of the mill. There's also a good pottery workshop in Sutton and a shop/post office. |
Barton Turf A large and busy broad, especially with yachtsmen. Take care to keep out of their way as you pass through. |
Getting There It's best to arrive by car. You CAN get there by train if necessary, there are connections from Norwich to Wroxham, one of the main boating centres.
You'll probably be coming here to hire a boat for a week or two, so the stuff you'll be bringing with you would be better of being brought by car. Your car can usually be left at your boatyard in a secure compound for free, or for a reasonable charge. |
Neatishead The small staithe here gets busy, so arrive early, otherwise you'll have to turn round and find somewhere else - and turning's not easy, look how narrow the dyke is! |
How Hill How Hill is a popular destination with large fields and an interpretation centre explaining broads life. |
Here's a lovely yacht moored up at How Hill. |
Thurne The river Thurne joins the river Bure at Thurne Mouth. There's a couple of mills here and a pub. It's a very popular river with yachtsmen. |
Take care passing the yachts, they have to tack back and forth across the river. |
Ludham Ludham is a lovely village, there are some simply wonderful riverside houses. |
Here's another one - oh, how I wish... |
The Wherry Boat Museum is at Ludham. (Wherry's were the original, working boats of the broads). This is the "Albion" the most famous of the boats. |
Horsey Horsey Mere is at the end of the river Thurne. Here men are cutting reed to be used for thatching, an industry that goes back centuries. |
Reedham Reedham is on the southern broads - we didn't sail there, we drove! It's pretty, with good pubs and a cable ferry. |
Getting Around Probably the best way to see the broads, some would say the ONLY way, is to hire a cruiser-type boat and travel around the broads that way. It CAN be done other ways, though.
First of all, you can DRIVE from village to village, most villages on the broads having footpaths that adjoin the river or lead up to the broad. You can get to see quite a bit of the boating activity this way and it's a good way of whetting your appetite. Villages with good access by road include Reedham, Brundall, Wroxham, Horning, Coltishall, Acle Bridge, Potter Heigham and Ludham.
Next, you can hire a cottage by the river and hire a day launch or picnic boat for the week. A day launch has no facilities whatsoever, but is great for pottering about in. A picnic boat has a toilet and a cooker in it, so you can travel in a little more comfort. Neither of these boats has any sleeping facilities, so you return to your cottage each night. We have done this and had a really good time, though eventually you do get a little tired of the stretch of river by your cottage! There are cottages like this available at Wroxham, and they're very nice.
The best way, of course, is to hire a cruiser. There are umpteen boatyards offering this facility. We used Russells of South Walsham, who have a first rate fleet of boats and a very friendly attitude. |
Here's the ferry. The ferry platform is pulled across the river on a cable. |
Berney Arms This is a remote mill reached only by water or by foot - there's no road. We cycled here on a country track. |
This is the mill at Berney Arms. Needless to say, there's a pub here too! |
Setting Off We picked up our boat from Russells of South Walsham, and after a guide to the facilities and instructions on driving and mooring, we were off! |
The instruction always seems a bit basic and you're left wondering if you'll manage, but the best way to learn is to just do it. Spend the first part of the day practicing mooring and turning. Soon you'll feel at home at the helm. |
Coltishall Coltishall is the limit of navigation on the river Bure. It is a very pouplar spot, not least for its' 4 pubs - two of them right by the moorings! The private Anchor moorings ($7.5 per night), a little way downstream of the main public moorings are very good, with a large expanse of grass for playing, picnics and barbecues. |
Belaugh Belaugh is on a very picturesque stretch of the river. The church looks particularly good when approached at dusk or dawn. You can moor at the small staithe and visit the church. |
Wroxham Wroxham is the self-styled "capital of the broads". It is actually two villages Wroxham and Hoveton, Wroxham having mainly boatyards and Hoveton having all of the shops and the railway station. Wroxham is the home of "the biggest village store in the world" - Roys Of Wroxham. It occupies most of the village centre in several buildings. There are lots of banks, shops and cafes here, though the pubs are a bit of a disappointment. |
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MikeStarr5 Mon Oct 29, 2007 22:36 UTC
Great pic - Thanks. Here in "Barking Town" we have the UK's 2nd largest public artwork called "Holding Pattern" - It's 70m long x 50m wide and almost 6m high. It cost £650,000 to build and only Anthony Gormley's “Angel of the North” is bigger. | JessH Mon May 28, 2007 12:06 UTC
Hi Steve. Have never been to the UK before, but really hoping to make it there next year. Lovely overview of the country here, great photos, nice tips! Veggie pubs? Wish we had 'em here, too! Greetings from the desert / Jess :-) | freddie18 Sun Oct 15, 2006 15:58 UTC
Hi Steve. I am amazed with the terraced valley in your HP. It's a wonder! I also visited your UK page and find your tips very informative and useful. I have to go back to your other pages at a later date to see more..... Regards from Freddie of Toronto | Fergie01 Mon Aug 21, 2006 21:57 UTC
Great pages! we are hoping to move back to the UK, one day soon, thanks for the glimpse...greetings from Ontario Canada - Deana |
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