Holme-next-the-Sea to Thornham on circuit from Ringstead Common

We hadn't expected to walk a route that JordanWalks would document today, but the whole circuit was so enjoyable that I wanted to record it. Our friend Eileen was staying, a visit postponed since last year when the Pandemic prevented her travelling down from Newcastle upon Tyne by train, and it was only a few days after I'd stepped down as Head of School at work, so the whole experience was quite special and very relaxing. Since our walk included the stretch of coast from Holme-next-the-Sea, which we had reached on Christmas Day, it seemed reasonable to include the description here. Like the previous leg, this one isn't actually designated as the England Coast Path yet, but from what I can see of the plans, I don't think it will alter much. We'll have to see.

The car park was clearly used by dog walkers, most of whom were heading up the track to the north of the car park, so we decided to do likewise rather than walking along the road, which had been our plan. We soon passed signs to walks on our right, on permissive paths created by the enlightened owners of Courtyard Farm, who I think probably maintain the car par too. We continued to meander our way north towards Holme-next-the-Sea on tracks and minor roads, deliberately avoiding the route of the Peddars Way because that uses a slightly more major road through and to the north of Ringstead - and we have walked that way before. There were good views to the coast.

We crossed the main A149 and followed the road through the pretty village of Holme-next-the-Sea. To our surprise the road we were on was signposted as one of the routes of the Peddars Way, but it was as we turned right onto the road that cars use to get to the beach that we joined the Peddars Way as shown on the OS map, and as we have walked before. We dodged the cars, passed the access road to the Holme Dunes Nature Reserve and the Beach car park - and stopped to use the toilet. After crossing the golf course we reached the Coast Path, but we went to take a look at the beach before heading off to the east across the salt marsh.

We walked across the salt marsh and through the dunes past the beautiful Gore Point (shown in the photograph above), though we stayed in the dunes rather than heading down to the beach, as many others were doing. Slightly further on there was a convenient bench by an information point indicating that this was where "Seahenge", a prehistoric timber circle, was found. We remember the timber circle appearing beneath the sand in 1998, before being excavated, treated and moved to the Lynn Museum. Whilst eating lunch, Eileen tried unsuccessfully to book into her tap class.

The beach beneath the dunes was quite busy and we soon realised that this was because we were reaching another car park. It turns out that this is the car park at the Holme Dunes Nature Reserve Visitor Centre and in different circumstances (e.g. visiting the coast with our grandson) it could be very useful, provided we either join the Norfolk Wildlife Trust or pay £10 for the privilege of parking here. The path turned inland past Broad Water and then around the marsh to the north of Thornham. I have always loved this bit. I had expected to follow the track all the way to the main road whilst the route it actually took a rather overgrown path through the reeds.

We emerged at a sign indicating that we could turn left for the beach, which sounds fun, but we turned right to the centre of Thornham between the distinctive Church and the Orange Tree Pub and Restaurant. I suspect that the route of the England Coast Path will be slightly closer to the coast, but for now this was the point at which we parted company with the Norfolk Coast Path, which turns left along the main road, whilst we turned right. We took the road signposted towards Ringstead, a rather tedious climb away from the coast and with more cars passing us than we might have wished, though it couldn't be described as busy, and both the climb and the traffic were much as I remember from the route of the Norfolk Coast Path, about a kilometre to the east. We turned right, still signposted for Ringstead, but now there were fewer cars, less of a climb, and good views.

We took a track left, now in lovely rolling countryside, before taking a gamble on an unsigned grassy track, not shown on OS mapping. We thought this was probably a way through to Courtyard Farm's waymarked routes and this was indeed the case. It even brought us past one of their art installations, "Carstone Shale Wall and Boulder", close to the northern end of the attractive bank of trees known as North Wood. We were soon back at the car, after a most enjoyable walk.