Hunstanton to Burnham Deepdale

The weather forecast for the weekend wasn't great, but we'd booked to walk the Norfolk Coast Path this weekend, irrespective of the weather and in fact today's weather was pretty good. Getting accommodation for single nights on the North Norfolk Coast is almost impossible, so Richard had booked us into Boxwood Guest House in Wells-next-the-Sea for three nights, and we planned to use the Coasthopper bus to get backwards and forwards at the end and beginning of each leg.

We caught the 8.37 train from Downham Market to Kings Lynn and had expected to catch the 'fast' Coasthopper bus to Hunstanton at 9.30. However we were at Kings Lynn Bus Station in time to catch the slower number 10 at 9.05, so we caught this and reached Hunstanton at 10am. From The Green, the path follows the large grass verge to the coastward side of Cliff Parade, above the cliffs. However we accidentally followed the signs to the North Promenade - this is something of a dead end, but it did give us a lovely view of Hunstanton's white chalk, red chalk and carrstone cliffs. We climbed back up to Cliff Parade and walked along to the Old Lighthouse, where various groups of schoolchildren were just arriving.

When we visited Hunstanton when our children were small (frequently on Christmas Day) we used to access the beach and the cliffs from the north end of the Cliff Carpark and we took the same path now, taking a sandy path between beach huts rather than descending to the beach. At the Old Hunstanton Lifeboat Station, the Norfolk Coast Path used to head inland, but now it continues, past more beach huts and with the golf course on the right, all the way to the end of the Peddars Way at Holme next the Sea. There was a shower as we left Old Hunstanton, so we stopped to put on waterproofs - but the rain soon stopped and the weather got better and better as the day progressed - it was quite sunny in the afternoon. The sandy path meant that it was quite hard walking, but the views were great!

From Holme next the Sea, the path continued through the dunes (sometimes on a board walk) to the Holme Dunes Nature Reserve and past Gore Point. There were quite a lot of people about, many of them twitchers. The path turned inland, across atmospheric salt marshes and we eventually reached Thornham, a pretty place with a massive Church. We stopped for lunch, then walked along the road through the village.

The path goes inland between Thornham and Brancaster, avoiding the Titchwell RSPB reserve. There is what the guidebook describes as a tedious uphill trudge on the road towards Choseley - actually it was not too bad; the road was quiet and there were excellent views back to the coast. After a mile or so on the road, the route turns left and follows a track for between one and two miles, before meandering its way back towards the coast at Brancaster.

I was hoping there might be a tea shop in Brancaster, but there wasn't, so we continued on the road towards the beach, then turned right on a path that runs behind the salt marsh (mostly on a raised board walk, otherwise you'd get wet feet!). We passed the site of Branodunum Roman Fort - just a field now and not even a bench to sit on! Eventually we reached a bench and sat down for a rest and a snack. Soon afterwards we reached Brancaster Staithe, which was delightful. It is interesting that this was once a industrial site, a trading centre for coal and grain and with the largest malthouse in the UK.

We continued to Burnham Deepdale, expecting to get that cup of tea at the Deepdale Cafe - but we arrived at 3.58pm and the cafe closed at 4pm. We visited the church, complete with Saxon round tower, then sat on a convenient bench and waited for the 4.35pm bus. This took us to Wells and so to the Boxwood Guest House.

Following leg of Norfolk Coast Path