Trimingham to Bacton Green and return

I had been working rather long hours, including over the previous two weekends, and I was determined to get a walk today; a section of the Norfolk (and England) Coast Path to the east of the Trimingham seemed the most sensible option. We found a suitable looking circular route, making use of the Paston Way, which meant we only needed to take one car. Amazingly, the weather was obliging and it was sunny for the whole time we were walking. The only disadvantage that came with that, coupled with the need to make the most of the limited hours of daylight at this time of year, was the low Sun which was a bit problematic on the journey across Norfolk in the morning and also on our return leg in the late afternoon.

The section of coast along which we would be walking has become infamous for its unstable cliffs, which are slipping into the sea at an alarming speed; we knew we’d be following a diversion through Trimingham House Caravan Park and that a section of cliff in Mundesley (also on our route) fell into the sea just a month ago. This situation is a rather sad reminder of the frailty of our landscape. It also makes the concept of a coast path a challenging one. From a practical point of view it brings a possibility that such a path will either be miles away from the coast, possibly on a road, or that you’ll have to walk for miles along a beach. The latter possibility may seem attractive, but mile after mile of walking on soft sand or shingle is very hard work, and the route may be impassable at high tide. I don’t know why I am telling you all of this here, because today’s walk turned out to be delightfully varied, with sections of cliff top walking, sections on the beach, and an inland return leg, mostly on quiet lanes. There was a section that may not be passable at high tide, so we’d advise you to check the tide times before setting out, as we had. We also encountered old-fashioned holiday resorts, a major gas distribution centre, a radar dome and a handful of country churches. Read on…

We had spotted (on Google Maps) a very long lay-by opposite Trimingham Hall, which is a newish and attractive village hall by the way, not some stately home. This was perfect! We parked at the eastern end (TG274388) near the path leading back to the cliff edge along which we had approached Trimingham we were here in December. Today we walked along the road back to the unusually named Church of John the Baptist's Head. Last time we were here the weather was distinctly murky; today I could only photograph the church from behind because of the direction of the Sun. Just past the church we rejoined the route of the Norfolk Coast Path/England Coast Path

The section of path to Mundesley is not shown on our 2006 copyright OS Explorer map, so we had taken advantage of my OS Maps subscription to print a more up to date version of the relevant section. From a quick glance at this I had thought that the first mile or so from Trimingham would necessitate walking along the coast road. I was wrong! Initially, we were on a field edge path running parallel to the road, then - and watch out for this because it isn’t signposted - the coastal path takes a right hand fork from the coast road (I.e. away from the coast) onto a quiet lane, before turning left onto a path. We had a lovely rolling landscape to our right and the "Trimingham Golf Ball" (a radar station correctly named Remote Radio Head Trimingham) to our left. After another section of field edge path parallel to the road, we crossed the road and entered Trimingham House Caravan Park.

I can't say that the idea of a holiday on a caravan park appeals to me at all, but the collection of buildings and static caravans through which we walked seemed well managed and tidy. I won't attempt to describe the route of the diversion, because you can find it on the Norfolk County Council website here and it is signposted, though it is worth knowing that the signs are rather small so you have to look out for them carefully. We emerged on the cliff edge at the eastern end of the park and continued on the top of the cliff towards Mundesley. It was nice to be back close to the sea. After a brief open section, we had a rather larger caravan park to our right, but the views were still to the coast to our left; it was just past high tide so the sea was close at hand.

Eventually our way along the cliff top was blocked by caravans closer to the sea and the path turned inland, initially taking us to the coast road through Cliftonville, a suburb of Mundesley. A few hundred metres or so further on, we knew we should return towards the sea; the Maps app helped us to identify the place to turn (down Albion Road by the way). It was only after we had found the turning that we saw the signpost, on the opposite side of the coast road; what a silly place to put it! Albion Road brought us to Sea View Road and we turned right. It felt like the height of suburbia, but we knew that the sea wasn't too far behind the houses to our left, where the delights of the view must be tempered by the uncertainty over how long it will be before your home slips into the sea. I certainly wouldn't buy one of the houses down the side tracks heading even closer to the sea. We passed a large former hotel, now a residential care home. The residents must have a lovely view of the sea.

We reached an area of open scrub land, with another enormous former hotel behind. This was the Grand Hotel. However it was converted into apartments and renamed Trafalgar Court which, it appears, fell into disrepair. Hopefully it is on the "up" now, marketing as Grand Norfolk Holiday Apartments. It would be such a shame to see all the old Victorian buildings disappear. I was keen to get a view of the sea again so wandered off the route across a car park from which there appears to be access to a beach, but the view I got was no better than that from the path slightly further on. We passed the Mundesley WW2 Coastal Battery, built between 1940 and 1942, then continued on the coastal side of the church, before cutting through its car park and so along the road towards the centre of the village. We passed the Manor Hotel, now closed. Sad.

Although Mundesley was apparently mentioned in the Domesday Book, the area by the coast is essentially a Victorian and rather old-fashioned seaside resort, but there's nothing wrong with that. Between the ages of about 17 and 20, I had a holiday job in another similarly old-fashioned if otherwise different holiday resort, Penmaenmawr on the coast of North Wales just to the west of Conwy. I think that was when I first realised how much nicer I find holiday resorts in the "down" season and Mundesley had a nice buzz today, even though it was January. Above the beach, the former Old Coastguard Lookout still houses a lookout station on the first floor, with the tiny Mundesley Martime Museum below. The Maritime Museum is currently closed because of the Pandemic; I wonder when and if it will reopen. Next to that there is an unusual memorial, to the members of the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Unit who lost their lives in the Second World War.

I was keen to get down to the coast and wanted to walk along the beach, even though it wasn't clear if we'd be able to get through (it was only an hour or so after high tide at this point). We spent some time watching a dog playing in the sea, obviously what it really wanted to be doing, completely untroubled by waves breaking over it. The owner told us that in the summer she'd had to go into the sea to physically get her dog out, but she had no intention of doing that today. After a brief walk along the promenade, we passed the lifeboat station, home of Mundesley's independent inshore rescue boat, and returned to the beach. I shouldn't have been anxious to get to the beach a few minutes ago; we now followed it all the way to Bacton, a distance of some 2.5 miles. There is a wooden structure along the beach for most of this section, presumably a sea defence.

The route of the path goes behind the structure, which later research confirmed to be a sort of sea defence called a revetment. I think the principle of operation is that the slope on the seaward side absorbs the sea's energy. The sea was quite high, so initially our only sensible option was indeed to walk behind the revetment. The sand was just a little too soft for comfort, but passable, and we had the company of two dog walkers with three large dogs. At one stage one of the dogs ran into my legs as I stopped to take a photograph, which didn't do any serious damage but didn't improve my temper. I am not convinced you'd be able to get all the way along here at all if the tide was particularly high. Fortunately the tide was falling and we noticed that two litter-pickers ahead of us were walking on the other side of the barrier, so we decided to do likewise, crossing by way of the steps over the revetment. It was slightly easier walking on the damper sand closer to the sea, but this section of beach wasn't too challenging at all. As the sea came closer again, we again followed the trend set by fellow walkers and crossed to the other side of the barrier again.

There was a group of six or so dog-walkers in front of us, maintaining a photographic line as they walked. We eventually overtook them. For some time we'd seen a tower of some sort in the distance (a comment on Ruth Livingstone's description of her walk along this section identifies this as Walcott Church) and, closer at hand, there were a few indications (though rather fewer than I'd expected) of the Bacton Gas Terminal up on the cliff above us. When the Gas Terminal ended, the caravans of Bacton Green began. If you wanted a beach holiday this would be a good place to come, with a good wide sandy beach. We discovered from an information board as we left the beach slightly further on that the beach between the Gas Terminal and Walcott (about 2 miles further along the coast) was augmented by 1.8 million cubic metres of additional sand in 2019, in the Bacton to Walcott Sandscaping Scheme, another coastal defence mechanism. To all accounts everyone is very happy with the impact on the beach too!

Near the church there is an information board explaining the Paston family's links to both Bacton and Paston. The upwardly mobile family, at their height from the 15th to the 18th Century and famous for the Paston Letters, took their name from the name of the village (I think it is that way round!) and lived in Paston Hall, and it was to the village of Paston that we headed next, along attractive country lanes. In case you think that everything was quaint and picturesque, it should also be pointed out that the route took us directly past the Gas Terminal. The posts warning of gas pipes below the surface of the ground were a reminder of the fact that gas must flow out as well as in. The thatched Paston Church is undergoing renovation, but we left the road (which was apparently re-routed for the benefits of the residents of Paston Hall next door) and walked down to it. It's an attractive place. Nearby is Paston Great Barn, also thatched and apparently the home of the only breeding colony of barbastelle bats that is known to live in a building.

The spur of the Paston Way we were on ended in Paston (well, according to our map) and we followed a rather busy road to Mundesley; this was the least good section of the day. However it took us past the attractive Paston Old House and then Stow Mill, now a holiday let, then down the hill back to the centre of Mundesley. Here we rejoined the Paston Way, heading towards Gimingham. First of all this took us through residential roads, where an attractive "Thank you NHS" bench was a timely reminder of the impact of the Pandemic. Then Links Road took us towards Mundesley Golf Club and we took an attractive path through some trees and then across rolling fields. There were good views to either Trunch (or possibly Knapton) Church in the distance to the left, and Southrepps Church even further away in front of us. This was reminiscent of previous walks in this area; two churches in view at the same time. Today we also soon had views to the Trimingham Golf Ball.