Yesterday we woke up to heavy rain so we took a day off walking to visit the beautiful Ely Cathedral – the ship of the fens. One of the few facts I remember from the guided tour was the reason why the cathedral had never been bombed – apparently the Luftwaffe used it as a navigation point for their attacks on London.
Today the weather forecast is slightly better although I do sense the approach of rain as we get out of our taxi in the deserted carpark at Wingland Marsh.
At the top of the lane leading up onto the seabank are two squat lighthouses, one on each side of a narrow and very straight strip of water, marked on the map as the decidedly unromantic Nene Outfall Cut.
The east bank lighthouse together with its twin on the opposite bank, were built in 1830 to mark the draining of the Lincolnshire fens. Son of the famous Scott of the Antarctic and the first chairman of the World Wildlife Fund, Sir Peter Scott moved into the very rundown east bank lighthouse in 1933. An enthusiastic wild fowler and nature conservationist, he spent a lot of his time acquiring and breeding birds, and it is said that by1938 he had 250 different types of geese. Over the years he also became a famous wildlife artist, writer and broadcaster. Golly………
And you can stay there if you fancy a bit of isolation – the new owners have put the property on Booking.com……..
We walk on, following the sea bank – marsh on one side and vast, empty fields on the other.
And then we turn a corner…….hurray!
And then look in vain for somewhere to stop for lunch as the grass is very wet – you’d think someone would realise that walkers of the Peter Scott Way would at some point need and deserve a bench – but no.
This is what we find to perch on………
After soggy egg sandwiches we return to the path which now runs along the west bank of the river – the Great Ouse (wonderful name). Soon we begin to see the riverside buildings of King Lyn on the opposite bank and I’m hoping and praying that my information is correct and that the pedestrian ferry will be running not just on time but at all!
Encouraging signs……
And there it is, moored up in the mud at the end of a wooden walkway. We walk down to investigate and just as we are coming to terms with the possible 30 mins wait, a voice hails from somewhere behind us and the “captain” appears. We clamber into the shaky vessel and pay our £1.40 each in cash – the journey takes about 5 mins.
On the other side are steps leading up to a small waiting room – we walk though this and up a dark narrow lane to emerge blinking into the bright lights of King Street.
This has been an uneventful but invigorating walk and we’re now ready for a shower, a pint and possibly a “cheeky Nando’s”
Distance: 11 miles
Joining the Dots 
Luke tells me he used to catch that ferry when he worked in Kings Lynn 50 years ago! We have also walked from Sutton Bridge to where your walk started on a very cold windy day. Saw the lighthouse on a travel show with two biddies staying for a night. Can’t remember their names.
Well there you go – hope the rain has stopped for you xx
Both of these recent walks with Tricia have been particularly enjoyable for various reasons…..If the walk is a snake it has a head and a tail and Tricia has been chasing away at its head for many years, pressing on….. This time we decided to attack its tail and set out to drive to North Norfolk where the walk started a decade back. This is good for me as I really like this part of the country having been a student in Norwich nearly 50 years ago. It’s also a much shorter drive from London, I really like driving but it’s now an epic trip to northern England on the west coast. I love Norfolk for its enormous skies and flat horizon and it’s full of memories of my youth. It’s also where I met Tricia all those years ago……
Weather was not great but we’ve got the right clothes so we walked anyway. Walking in the rain is not as bad as it sounds. As Tricia mentioned we did take a day off and drove to the fabulous Ely Cathedral where we did something unusual and joined a guided tour with a local historian. Strange how we change as the years pass, the very idea of walking in the rain or joining a guided tour of a cathedral would have sent me screaming for the exits…..but it was incredibly informative and helped us piece together the history of our green and pleasant land. It’s an unusual cathedral as it’s not got so much stained glass which makes it much lighter and airier than many. It’s also got the most unusual ‘come hither’ statue of the Virgin Mary in the Lady Chapel. I think it was commissioned in the 80’s or 90’s and was quite controversial at the time, don’t quote me on the dates….but it’s modern.
So the last two walks were a bit uneventful but it was great to be back in Norfolk. It also helped that we were staying in the lovely Globe Hotel right in the central square of Kings Lynn whose bar was selling pints of Moretti for £3.85, my local bar in London sells the same pint for £6.50. Neither did it do any harm that there was a Nando’s next door!
When are we going back to Norfolk Tricia?
Thank you for your informative contribution sir – I believe our next walk will be in Lincolnshire – perfect if you’re fond of flat horizons and enormous skies.
Yes, I’m particularly fond of sand dunes and salty air….
I’m very fond of sand dunes and salty air….
I think I visited Ely Cathedral years ago with Hilary my nursing friend who lives in that area. I like guided tours too but forget the facts pretty soon! The landscape is nice and flat for walking. You look happy in the video Tricia One of the women in the travel programme staying in the lighthouse was Sandy Tostig(sorry spelling?) . I know all about Peter Scott as I am up the road from Martin Mere! . The Globe hotel you stayed at in Kings Lynn sounds lovelyxx
Do you mean Sandy Toksvig? And what travel programme is this? Yes I couldn’t remember a lot of the information from the guided tour, not helped by the fact that it was freezing cold in the cathedral! x
Yes Sandy Toksvig. It was on a few years ago. Each week she stayed in different houses with various friends. Channel 4
I imagine a walk under a big sky, which involves hardly any physical stresses, strains and mild discomfort, to be liberating for that part of our brains to be contemplative and perceptible to the smallest of things that give us pleasure. Like those bits of blue sky peering through the grey, birdsong, stillness and even that civilisation, has provided a perch from which to whistle and feast.
I always really enjoy reading about your walks and stories xx
Thank you Andy – that’s why I love walking – a calm space well away from the daily grind xx