Loddon to Reedham

I can't say I was much looking forward to today's walk, which involved rather a lot of road walking. It was also quite a long way from home and involved quite a lot of driving between our start and end points, because they are on opposite sides of the River Yare. Our option would have been to take the Reedham Ferry, as we did when on the walk, but we'd have had to do this with both cars and so decided to drive around. Most of this leg was nothing special, but it was all perfectly fine (the roads we walked along were very quiet) and there were places and wildlife of particular interest; I enjoyed the whole walk more than I had expected to. It was relatively short, but the only realistic alternative would have been to walk all the way from Loddon to Great Yarmouth, which we thought would be too far, given all the driving too.

We left home early and drove both cars to the end point of the walk, right by the river, at Reedham Staithe (TG422017). As I waited for Richard, I heard before I saw the train trundling, very slowly, over the Reedham railway bridge. This is the only bridge here, hence the need for cars and walkers to either use the ferry or drive around. There was also some activity on the river, both people pottering about on the boats moored in front of the car and one boat passing on the river. We left my car here and drove round to the start of today's walk. The maps app on our phones seems to think that you just follow one road most of the way to the A47, but there were a number of turns it didn't tell us about. We were also entertained by a number of rally vehicles coming towards us, some on the back of 4 x 4s. They all seemed to be heading for a field, and coincidentally we stopped right by it to enable me to check we had my car keys with us.

We drove back along the A47 to cross the River Yare on the bridge we had walked underneath near Whitlingham Country Park and the Sewage Works on 3rd April, then turned off onto the A146 to Loddon, where we parked near the Staithe at TM362989. This is where we had parked for the previous leg but, it being a Sunday, parking was free today. When I went to photograph Loddon Staithe and the view across the River Chet to Chedgrave, it became obvious that the level of activity on the river had increased since last time we were here, with more moored boats etc. It was also clear that it was distinctly chilly this morning. I had come in just a T shirt and a lightweight fleece, so added my waterproof jacket and gloves for warmth!

Finding the way out of Loddon proved somewhat challenging. It was easy enough to turn left out of the car park onto Bridge Street and to walk south towards the town centre, but there was a clear Wherryman's Way sign pointing down a road to the left, which led to a Green which appeared to be private and across which there was no obvious route, and to a (definitely private) boatyard. We returned to Bridge Street and followed this to Church Plain, then crossed the churchyard and took a narrow wildflower-lined path on the other side. With the benefit of hindsight, I think the official route must cross the Green where were were previously and then walk around the side of the churchyard to join the path here, but this would have meant we missed the centre of Loddon, with some attractive Georgian buildings, so I would recommend the route we actually took.

The path brought us to a minor road where the characteristic call of a peacock drew our attention to an unusual white peacock, with an impressive display of tail feathers. After half a mile or so of road walking, we cut across fields to some cottages and then crossed a watery landscape to Little Church Farm and the delightful (and unexpected) thatched Heckingham Church. Shortly after the church we emerged onto the road and then followed roads all the way to the ferry. However, they were very minor roads and although we were passed by a number of cyclists, there were very few cars. We also had views to boats on the River Chet, and these came past quite regularly. Across the river, there were views to Hardley Flood, and to Hardley Church, which we had seen from both sides on the previous leg. Unsurprisingly, the wildlife was the real star today, and we watched a muntjac, another deer and a hare.

Past Nogdam End, the road brought us very close to the River Chet, and I clambered up to the bank just as a boat went past. We could see Hardley Cross on the opposite side of the river and we soon passed Norton Drainage Mill, with the small building which presumably houses the modern pump contrasting with the historic wind "mill". We were now back close to the River Yare, having completed the diversion along the River Chet all the way to Loddon and back. Very soon we reached the end of the road i.e. the landing stage for the Reedham Ferry.

The chain ferry was just reaching the opposite bank of the river and it waited a little while there, so we had a short wait. I suspect that the delay was because there was just one car wanting to cross the ferry in that direction; Richard, more charitably, thought the ferryman was waiting for boats to pass. Whatever, it was nice to have time to watch the activity on the river; a number of boats came past including two travelling together in the style that, were one to be a narrow boat on a canal, the other would be the butty. We also spent some time pondering how much the ferry crossing would cost us: the stated cost for a pedestrian was 50p, but it also said that there was a minimum fare of £1.50. By the time we were on the ferry and had paid £1 for the two of us, we'd worked out that the minimum is the smallest amount that the ferry will run for, which is entirely reasonable. However, by this time there were four cars (for which the fare is £4.50, though only two can travel on any one crossing) and two cyclists in addition to us, so there was no such problem this morning.

Safely on the north side of the River Yare, we watched the activity for a little longer, though the Reedham Ferry Inn was still closed because of the Pandemic. There was a swan on a nest near the water, close to what appeared to be a perfectly decent footpath along the bank to Reedham, past the converted Reedham Drainage Mill (now a house). However, the Norfolk County Council website had altered us to a diversion here, and there was a clear signpost sending us up the road, away from the river, so we went that way. Given that we discovered another clear signpost at the other end of the diversion sending the Wherryman's Way along the route shown on the OS map, by the river, and a couple with a dog, who we had seen going that way, were just emerging at the far end, it is clear that there is a route along the river bank. Perhaps it is just that it's a permissive path rather than a right of way? However, our diversion was not unpleasant. The roads were extremely quiet and we were initially crossing attractive marshes, with views back to Cantley Power Station.

After walking past houses and a boatyard, we returned to the river bank and passed another pub, The Lord Nelson, which was open, though only for outside trade. We meanwhile sat on a bench to eat our picnic lunch, watching the antics of some novice boaters, being ably assisted by a helpful man (the harbour master?). The Broads rangers had also arrived, and we listened in on a conversation between one of the rangers and the harbour master about a broken bollard. However more amusement was to be had from watching the novices trying to moor their boats! One couple were in a day boat and I suspect the others may have only picked up their hire boats yesterday. We discussed the fact that cruising boats are self-contained accommodation, so allowed under current Coronavirus rules and therefore presumably attractive as a holiday option. However, given how cold it was, and the fact it is quite dark in the evenings, eating out options (with pubs still shut for indoor dining, and many shut altogether) are rather limited and the whole idea rapidly loses its appeal. The car was close to our lunch spot, so after lunch we just had to drive round to Loddon to collect the other car, and then to drive home.

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