Brancaster - Marshes, Motivation and Martyrdom

Norfolk isn't known for its Roman heritage, so it was with a certain sense of occasion that myself and BAM (Best Aussie mate) set out early on a Friday evening for Branodunum a.k.a. Brancaster, on the North Norfolk coast. 

I've noticed the affix -dun in many place names that have Roman connections and I'm guessing it has something to do with the Celtic word dún meaning 'fort'.  Indeed, Brancaster was one of the nine Saxon shore forts built by the Romans to secure Britain's coastline.  We visited another of the Saxon Shore forts during our walk in Portchester, on the south coast of England.

Lodgings and victuals

To get there, we trundled along on the London to Cambridge train, joining the front carriages at Ely, which continued to King's Lynn.   At King's Lynn we jumped on the Coasthopper which travels along the North Norfolk coast, to Brancaster Staithe, where we had booked B and B accommodation in a reassuringly suburban-looking house.  We ate dinner at The Jolly Sailors  - a lovely pub that was full of cheerful weekenders, enjoying the local ale. 

Burnham Deepdale to Brancaster (1.9 miles/3.1 kilometres)

We decided to start our walk at Burnham Deepdale, which is at eastern end of North Norfolk's three-village conurbation.  This area is well-known to walkers, as the path we followed to Hunstanton, is part of the Peddar's Way and North Norfolk Coast path - one of the UK's national trails, running 93 miles from Knettishall Heath in Suffolk to Cromer in Norfolk.  Burnham Deepdale is a well-known stopover on this route, famous for its tipi accommodation. 

St Mary's round-tower church, Burnham Deepdale

Books for sale at the church entrance

Starting at St. Mary's round tower church, we turned down a narrow public footpath to join the coastal path, turning left to head west, in the direction of Brancaster and the opposite direction to how the coastal path is usually walked!  The coast around Brancaster is ambiguous and the land barely sees to be at peace with the encroaching advances of the sea.  It's a very beautiful part of the world and we were lucky with the weather, which remained sunny for the duration of our walk.

Boat on Brancaster Marsh

A confusion of land and sea

The coastal marsh at Brancaster is teeming with bird-life and we saw a few 'twitchers' with their binoculars, as we walked along the board-walks and negotiated the thin path that clings to the coast.  I've done a lot of coastal walking before, mostly in Cornwall and Devon, but this was quite different, as Norfolk has no cliffs, making the walk much easier to what I'm used to. 

Lobster pots at Brancaster Staithe

There are lots of interesting buildings along the coast

A boat named Jessica

It didn't take long to reach Brancaster Staithe again and the site of the Roman fort at Branodunum.  We then followed the path to Brancaster, a pretty little village with an impressive church and a suspiciously 'continental' feeling about it!

Cottage in the marsh

Brancaster to Thornham (3.6 miles/5.8 kilometres)

At Brancaster the path turned inland for a few miles, taking us towards Norfolk's incomprehensible interior.  We've walked in many parts of England, especially in the south, and few places feel as 'empty' as Norfolk.  Once away from the coast, it's field upon field and not a settlement visible for miles around.  It's amazing that somewhere that feels so remote is, actually, not that far from London and the cities of the East Midlands. 

The church at Brancaster

Hedgerow flowers

We enjoyed our jaunt inland, admiring the hedgerow flowers, as our thoughts turned to the subject of 'motivation' and a recent course I've been on at work.  As we crossed the Chalkpit Road and passed two rather large, eerie looking barns, on the top of a kind of ridge - the coast looked ever so far away, with shimmering boats visible in the distant reaches of the Wash. 

The turn-off for Chalkpit Lane

Mudpath to barns

Norfolk country lanes devoid of traffic

 

Thornham to Gore Point (2.2 miles/3.5 kilometres)

At Thornham we were back in civilisation, celebrating our return from the interior with a chocolate break and a friendly chat with a local man, who was walking his, rather elderly, dog.  Beyond Thornham, we joined the sea again and the landscape really became spectacular, as we entered the Holme Dunes National Nature reserve. 

Sign post in Thornham

Village life in Thornham

There were a surprising amount of people around, walking, bird-watching, enjoying the weekend sunshine - our conversation turned to research that I've been doing on the work of Dr Kinsey, for my partner-blog, Learning about the World - BAM told me about an interesting radio documentary she'd listened to, about religious sects in New Zealand, who are advocating the return to a more traditional role for women.  It seems the world goes around in circles sometimes! 

Boat house near Holme Dunes

Path along the top of a dyke

Gore Point to Old Hunstanton (2.1 miles/3.4 kilometres)

The walk became more desolate again, as we passed Gore Point and made our way to the beach huts at Old Hunstanton.  It got rather hot in the dunes, as we dodged golf balls and marvelled at the view of the beach posts, installed to prevent coastal erosion.  There is a beautiful lighthouse in Old Hunstanton which is available as a holiday rental cottage. 

Beach posts preventing erosion

Holme Dunes nature reserve

Lighthouse at Old Hunstanton

We also came across a signpost for the Hunstanton Wolf Trail, with a picture of Saint Edmund (the Martyr) looking rather displeased at the fact that his body is full of arrows!  Legend has it that Edmund's decapitated head was thrown into the forest, where it remained lost, until a wolf cried out 'Here! Here! Here!' revealing its location!

Edmund and the Wolf

Old Hunstanton to Hunstanton (1.4 miles/2.2 kilometres)

It was a pleasant last mile or so, along the coastal road to Hunstanton, a seaside town that was abuzz with Saturday strollers, enjoying the first signs of (what promises to be) a short summer!  We indulged in some pub grub and beer before catching the Coasthopper back to King's Lynn, making our London-train with only a minute or two to spare!

Interestingly, our bus back to the station was named in honour of Margaret Read, a local woman who was burnt at the stake in King's Lynn in 1590, accused of witchcraft.  Legend has it that her heart burst out of her body and left an imprint in a local building, which can still be seen today! It was an interesting end to a very interesting day!

Access for Wheelchair users:

Unfortunately, not much of this walk would be accessible for Wheelchair users- the coastal path is narrow and on bumpy ground, sometimes following board walks through the marshes or travelling through sand dunes and other physical obstacles.

Probably the best part of the walk, which is accessible, would be from Brancaster going inland on the country lanes - we did come across a rather big gate at Chalkpit Road, which seemed inaccessible, but I'm sure that alternative routes and lanes could be used and it seemed as though the path from Thornham to the sea was pretty accessible, at least, until the stile which marks the boundary to Holme Dunes.

There is some nice coastal walking around Hunstanton and this might be another doable option for Wheelchair users.  Norfolk itself is quite flat and many of the country lanes are almost traffic-free.

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