Stiffkey to Blakeney and return
Walked by Sally and Richard, Saturday 17th March 2007
Approx 10 miles - 5 miles along the Norfolk Coast Path and return
Click here for all our photos from this walk.
The weather forecast was good and we had a completely free Saturday so we decided to walk the next leg of the North Norfolk Path. Actually the weather wasn't as good advertised (it was windy and the sun didn't get out until the afternoon) but it was nevertheless a very enjoyable walk.
We arrived at the Muckledyke (Green Way) car park around 10am. We followed the coastal path towards the east, separated from the sea by marshes with very attractive gorse in places. Quite unexpectedly we came across a beautiful lake at Stiffkey Fen - it's not shown on the map in the guidebook (published in 2002) though the Ordnance Survey seem to have noticed it since; it is on the 2006 1:25000 map, by White Bridge House.
We also passed some attractive creeks, though it was low tide so there was more mud than water. We passed Morston Quay; it's usually a busy little place (there is a National Trust watch tower here and we've had some attractive walks on the marshes; this is also where most of the seal-watching boat trips to Blakeney Point leave from) but it was quiet this morning.
We followed the path towards Blakeney, with the Church clearly visible in front of us. The path approaches Blakeney past Red House and emerges onto the Quay.
It was a bit early for lunch so we walked past the Blakeney Hotel and for a short distance along the coastal defences before returning to The Moorings restaurant for a very pleasant meal of spicy crab cakes and salad. The sun had come out by the time we'd finished lunch. We retraced our steps, with particularly good views across the marshes and lots of waterfowl flying in to the lake at Stiffkey Fen. We decided to drive home via Little Walsingham; this made a pleasant change apart from the fact that the SatNav managed to direct us via the coach park in Walsingham!
