DAY TWO - ASHBY TO NORTH COVE NATURE RESERVE
Summary - A beautiful sunny day 25 C real holiday weather. We started at Ashby Hall Farm about 1.5 miles north of Somerleyton. Heading south we stopped to inspect St Michael's Church another one with a round tower. It was locked but we enjoyed the cherries on a tree in the graveyard. Stopped at Somerleyton which has a large stately home and some beautiful thatched houses, Stopped at the post office to get some shaving cream and a Bakewell Tart. This village was where the hovercraft was invented. The next four miles were along overgrown paths above marshes, hot sticky going with high humidity, Civilisation was reached at Oulton Broad a real tourist hotspot with lots of boats shops and boats that take tourists around the waterways. Commodore Pub did us well and there were lots of people sunbathing and eating in the garden. This was soon left behind as the next five miles was closely following waterways on raised embankments, Views over the marshes on one side and boats passing on the other. Finally we diverted through North Cove Nature Reserve to where we had left a car. 13.5 miles and still feeling fit.
This is a sun dial on the south side of the church tower at Ashby just a quarter of a mile after we had started.
The Church of St Mary was locked so after an exploration of the churchyard and the consumption of some of the cherries on one of the trees we carried on. The following s an extract from http://www.lothingland.co.uk/ashby4.htm
To the left of the gate as you enter the churchyard is the memorial stone to the 7 USAAF airmen who were killed nearby in the last war. The first five were of the 100th Bomb Group stationed at Thorpe Abbotts, nicknamed the "Bloody Hundreds". A number of Flying Fortresses set off on the early morning of May 7th, 1944, for a raid on Berlin. One caught fire before it reached the east coast. Several dozen signal flares in cartridges stored in the top turret compartment, for some unknown reason, started to explode and set on fire the entire front of the plane. Though the top turret gunner tried to put out the flames, the cabin was filled with smoke. Moving to the forward hatch to make his escape he found it blocked by the body of a man whose parachute was outside the plane. Five of the crew escaped through the gun turret while the pilot kept the plane steady, but the remaining five, including the pilot and co-pilot, died in the crash and explosion nearby. Their names were:-- 1st Lt. Ralph W. Wright Lt. Jack W. Raper
- Lt. Richard Curran Lt. Carl A. Herrmann
- The second two names:-
- Lt. Russel P. Judd F/P. Louis S. Davis
The Angles Way hen follows farm tracks through fields. These crops were of potatoes but we also found wheat, barley, maize, carrots, leaks, unions, sugar beat, broad beans on the route.
The route passes through Somerleyton and this is the attractively designed primary school.
The village sign on the green.
Many of the houses consist of a model village built around a green that once belonged to the Somerleyton Estate. As we passed through the school seems to be practicing for sports day.
At the western end of the village is this nice pond complete with dozing ducks.
The Angles Way enables you to have this brief view of the Somerleyton Marina. From there it is along a path that gets one close to the railway station and then goes along Station Road and Waddling Lane out into fields that are slightly higher than the flood plain and marshes along the River Waveney. We deviated from the route on the Ordnance Survey to follow a footpath closer to the river although there was more undergrowth to cope with. The path continues above Blundeston, and Flixton Marshes and then you get to Camps Heath Nature Reserve where there is a display board,
This is St Michael Church at Oulton which was locked.
This is Oulton Broad the most southern area of open water in the Broads system, and it is a busy tourist and sporting centre. It is used for a variety of water sports, including powerboat racing, and as the base for boat hire. Facilities include a yacht station and moorings as well as a 'village' of holiday chalets. It is one of the few broads with residential areas adjacent, with houses to the north and flats to the east. The north side of the Broad is one of the most expensive residential areas in Lowestoft, with large detached houses having lake frontage and it is through this plush area that the Angles Way goes in order to get to this view point.
The Commodore Inn was the lunch stop and this is the rear garden.
To the east the Oulton Broad is linked by this lock to Lake Lothing which passes through the centre of Lowestoft and opens into the North Sea. To the west it is linked by Oulton Dyke to the River Waveney.
There are no footpaths along the Oulton Dyke but the Angles Way keeps close to it through the Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve in which there are numerous drainage ditches like this one.
From the recently restored flood embankments you get this view over |Peto's Marsh which has been restored sufficiently to support a corn crop.
The route then joins the embankment going upstream along the River Waveney although along most of the way there is an area of marsh separating you from the waters edge.
The embankment is well maintained and thankfully the vegetation is cut back. The Angles Way uses it all the way to Beccles.
Away from the river there are herds of cows feasting on the summer growth in the marshes.
Cruise boats pass by at regular intervals.
We diverted off the river bank to the North Cove Nature Reserve where we had left a car in a small car park near Wade Hall, Barnby.
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