Friday 20 May 2011

Visiting the Wash.











The Wash estuary is not the most exciting place in the country - it is flat and at first glance can seem very uninteresting. But it does have a certain wildness and a wonderful atmosphere.

We visited two Bird Reserves, heard skylarks for the first time in years, saw lots of baby birds, heard the cuckoo, met some interesting people and had some good walks. What more could anybody wish for?

The hedges were full of red "May" (hawthorn) - hence the photograph. The villages in Norfolk, with their houses built of the local materials - flint - were so different from the stone houses here in Yorkshire and the crab sandwich I ordered at Cromer (where else?) was big enough to feed a small army!

In the afternoon we visited Sandringham, one of the smaller homes of the Royal Family. We went round the house and then round the beautiful gardens and pools - again plenty of baby birds and a lovely avenue of pleached limes.

Arriving at Heacham Manor Hotel - our home for the next few nights - was welcome. We had a lovely room, good food and again met some really interesting people. I might well tell you about them on another day.

Can you spot the coot on its nest at the Bird Reserve?

17 comments:

Reader Wil said...

Thank you for showing these photos of some beautiful places in England.We also visited Sandringham in 2007. I thought it a beautiful place for the Royal family. The park is also magnificent but it was a pity that it was raining and I had no umbrella, dear me!!

Tom Stephenson said...

Is it the bloke in the beige jumper looking into the pool, Weaver?

angryparsnip said...

I know you mentioned that you had to vacation "at home" this year but what a beautiful trip so far.
I think sometimes we forget how wonderful the place we live in because we know about it.
One summer we traveled around Mt. Vernon and the Civil War battle fields on the East Coast. I knew about these places from history classes and movies but to see them in real life was so much better. One of our best trips.

cheers, parsnip

Rarelesserspotted said...

Great post and some evocative photos of the Wash. In a winter I guess it could be a desolate and bitter place - very exposed to the elements.
xx

H said...

When I was a child, we used to holiday in a friend's caravan at Thornham. I have great memories of crabbing, walking along the sea walls and visiting the orchards at Sandringham to pick apples.

Crafty Green Poet said...

It's years since I've been to the Wash, lovely place for birds! Always wonderful to hear skylarks (do you never hear them in Yorkshire these days? That's sad!). Yes i spotted the coot, I've seen lots of their nests this year so I have my eye in...

Heather said...

Thankyou for sharing your holiday with us Pat - a lovely post. Even though the area is flat it certainly has it's charms.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for the comment Wil - sorry about our awful English weather when you visited Sandringham. Luckily as you can see from the photos, it was a lovely day.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Tom - the 'bloke' is the farmer but it wasn't until you pointed it out that I realise he is standing in typical Duke of Edinburgh pose!!

The Weaver of Grass said...

parsnip - yes I do agree that we often forget our own treasures - we certainly enjoyed it and we had no hanging about at airports to contend with either.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lesser spotted - we did get a good look at the Humber estuary on the way down too - not as bleak as the Wasg and really interesting.

The Weaver of Grass said...

H - crabbing!! Don't think I would know what to do with a crab if I caught one but I certainly enjoyed that crab sandwich.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Juliet - the farmer says there used to be skylarks in our meadows here on the farm but there are none now - it was lovely to hear them again. As for coots they seem to be doing very well this year = they are everywhere.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Heather - agree - living in hilly country it was quite refreshing to see such big skies.

MorningAJ said...

Gorgeous part of the country. And there's nothing boring about the way the tide comes in across the Wash! I love the Fens. Glad you had a good time.

Bovey Belle said...

I've never been to that neck of the woods Weaver, but one of these years . . . Lunch looked brilliant! and I'd love to visit Sandringham.

What a shame you don't have skylarks at home. We have a shortage of Cuckoos here . . .

Su said...

This is the area of my childhood - I spent many days in the woods around Sandringham on a bike and on the mudflats of the bird reserves around Snettisham. Nice to see your photos of it.