To Sir Peter Scott Lighthouse from the Port of Sutton Bridge and return

We'd had (for us) a busy Christmas, with visits from the children and their spouses and Richard's Mum, sorting out of stuff prior to the completion of the sale of Richard's parents' house (due on 3rd Jan) and the completion of the purchase of a flat in the village of Simpson, Milton Keynes (due on 4th Jan) and attempting to complete a research paper for work. The paper isn't finished yet, but we wanted a break and it had occurred to me that the Nene Way would be a good path to follow en route between home in Norfolk and the flat, but the first couple of legs were definitely at the Norfolk end. so why not walk the first one today.

The river Nene is tidal in this section (and indeed most of the way to Peterborough) and I noticed that there was a low tide today shortly after 8am. I didn't much fancy walking alongside mud, so it seemed best to wait until mid morning before setting out - Richard went shopping first thing and we left home about 10.30am. It only takes about 30 minutes to drive from home to Sutton Bridge, with a choice of routes, either via Wisbech or via Kings Lynn. We know both routes quite well as we go this way when heading westwards on the A17 towards the A1 and hence the north, and we went via Kings Lynn today. When the children were small we had the excitement of watching the swing bring at Sutton Bridge (very close to our starting point today) being opened, but we'd never driven down the minor road just to the east of the swing bridge, leading to our parking place at TF486221, opposite the Port of Sutton Bridge. There is parking closer to the Sir Peter Scott Lighthouse too, but we were planning to walk to and from the lighthouse (and a bit beyond) and decided to park at the southern end of our walk.

We had a good view of the modern port of Sutton Bridge, which is on the west of the River Nene and was opened in 1975 about a hundred years after the original port. There were also views back to the iconic swing bridge which is called the Crosskeys Bridge and is the third bridge over the River Nene at this point (apparently replacing a bridge which opened like Tower Bridge) and the distinctive Sutton Bridge Power Station. We also thought we could see something white by The Wash in the distance; we thought it might be the Sir Peter Scott Lighthouse, though it seemed closer than we'd expected (distances on the fens are deceptive) and when it disappeared as we walked along the road, we decided that it hadn't been the lighthouse after all, but it was - the photo at the top of this page was taken back at the car at the end of the walk.

There was one other car parked in the car park, with a female dog-walker walking, slowly, towards the car and a man sitting in it...but the woman and dog kept walking past the car. What was going on? The man then drove on a short distance to another parking place whilst the woman and dog continued to walk, at which point the exercise was repeated, and so on, though at some point the man and woman swapped. We set off in the same direction and soon overtook the dog-walking/car-driving couple; soon afterwards the walker and dog reached the latest car parking spot and drove off in the opposite direction.

We meanwhile made good progress along the road, which was fortunately not too busy, with just an occasional car coming past (presumably mostly heading down to the parking near the lighthouse). There were people walking on the opposite bank, and plenty of bird life on the river, and we passed some bullocks by the river, a few attractive houses, a couple of farms and a couple of roads heading to the right across the fens. But most of the time it was beautifully peaceful; just us and the wildfowl. As we approached the lighthouses we were able to get off the road and to walk alongside the river for a while.

What is now called the Sir Peter Scott Lighthouse is one of a pair of lighthouses built in 1830 on opposite sides of canalised river some distance from its outfall into The Wash, so as to guide shipping into the channel. We got a good view of the West Lighthouse first. Peter Scott came to live in the East Lighthouse in 1933 and it was here that he became an artist and naturalist. Meanwhile the lighthouse and its isolated location inspired Peter Scott's friend Paul Galico to write "The Snow Goose" (though the lighthouse was moved 70 miles south in the interests of the story line, to enable a small boat to travel from there to Dunkirk) and Peter Scott illustrated the English editions, with his first wife being the model for Fritha in the story. 

The current owners of the Sir Peter Scott (East) Lighthouse had hoped to open a visitor centre (their plans are described here) but it appears the necessary weather-proofing work was more expensive than they'd expected and the lighthouse now looks a bit sad, and is for sale [in 2024, it is a holiday let]. Its location is beautifully described in "The Snow Goose": Desolate, utterly lonely and made lonelier by the calls and cries of the wildfowl that make their homes in the marshlands and saltings.

We walked past the start/end of the Nene Way which is at the lighthouse, and onto the bank heading towards the Wash, now on the Sir Peter Scott Walk, which eventually loops round to West Lynn, a short ferry crossing away from the start/end of the Ouse Valley Way and the Nar Valley Way. The temptation to return to this lonely, desolate landscape is strong (and we came back at Easter 2019). For now, we stopped for some Christmas cake at a conveniently placed bench then retraced our steps past the lighthouse and back to the car.

Following leg of Nene Way

Following leg of England Coast Path (anticlockwise)