UK from Norfolk 2016: Meandering the landscape of The Norfolk Broads

Now, there is LOT more to the Broads then the glimpses offered here. Nonetheless, the last few days provided a really good illustration of the value of the journey as opposed to focusing too much on a destination. Tuesday while Deb & Belinda wandered around the City, I ventured off to "see what I could see". Today, we both set off, again just to "see what we could see" ... no GPS or even really paying attention to a map ... just driving around and stopping down lanes or roads. We have come to realise that a 40 mile radius around Norwich pretty much covers the whole of Norfolk, so it never takes to long to get anywhere and the myriad of smaller roads all interconnect and end up joining an "A" road somewhere making it easy NOT to get lost (for too long). You just need to pay attention because the country lanes are narrow, often with no room to pass, so you find a place on a verge quickly if you need to! So far so good!

So here are a few images showing off some the landscapes in those sections of the Broads we have been traversing ...

Here are some chocolate-box houses from the quaint and very beautiful river front village of Horning, and the river along which they sit (that was taken from the river-edge beer garden of a pub :).

I cannot resist adding this next one after the picturesque houses above ... this is "naked nature" again, a rookery without curtains, and open for all the world to see showing of nature's architectural skills ... eat your heart out Kevin McLeod :) ...

And while I am speaking of nature's naked architecture ... these capture what I have been trying to find since I have been here ... the proportions and structure that is the antithesis of our human engineering laid bare for all to see ... I just love it and marvel at how grand it is - have not tired of looking at scenes like these ...

Bare nature overlooking the tilled and planted fields

Needs nothing ... speaks silently of its own grandeur

The ancient, the newer & the reclaimed ... note the thatched roof.

And to some views across the fens and broads showing modern and not so modern modes of exploring them - cannot imagine the challenge of navigating in summer :). When you see the first picture with a sail below, note the swans center right in the field just above the reeds ... quintessential original Norfolk!

Today we went down a lane and found a "staithe" (a wharf or mooring point) - per chance. We hopped out and an old man was walking his dog and recommended we head out to the windmill "about 20 mins out and the same back" along the dyke ... so we did. Some of the birds in the last post we saw, also a red china deer we startled and it was way too quick to get on camera! This is a taste of the landscape on the way out ... and you can see from Deb that despite the clear blue sky, it was still a light chill wind that blew!

So, the windmill above and below right is under renovation and before that looked like the one in the picture below left (between the trees).

The absolute best bit was we were given a guided tour of the windmill and the next series of photos require your imagination as a panorama taken from the walkway around the white dome. Very cool and excellent to have such a view across the low lying marshes. Of course, it was really good to see and hear of the inner workings and machinery ... the purpose of the windmill was to pump water from the marshes into the river when they flood. It will only offer rare demonstrations soon when it is functioning. The big factory in the background is a sugar refinery, processing sugar beet.