DAY ONE - GREAT YARMOUTH TO ASHBY
Summary - We had a 12.5 mile walk on Day One and the weather was fine. We left Great Yarmouth Station where the Angles Way meets two other paths and went along the banks of Breydon Water. Lots of birds on the marshes and boats going up and down. Stopped to look at a church and Roman Fort and have lunch in a pub at Burgh Castle and then continued inland following roads and tracks through rather flat countryside. Nothing spectacular in the afternoon but there was a church at Finton with old paintings on the walls. By hay it beats working!WHO WERE THE ANGLES - The Angles (Latin Anglii) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and their name is the root of the name England. The name comes from the district of Angeln, an area located on the Baltic shore of what is now Schleswig-Holstein, the most northern state of Germany. Extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angles
This is the Three Ways Meeting point next to Great Yarmouth Station where we parked all day in the pay and display car park. The Wherryman's Way from Norwich, the Weavers Way from Cromer and the Angles Way from Thetford meet up at this marker point.
The first few steps are across the Vauxhall Bridge over the River Bure which is being restored by the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust. http://www.greatyarmouthpreservationtrust.org/en/projects/vauxhallbridge
The route is well waymarked throughout although some in fields have been uprooted. There is a variety of types of waymarks, this one was just after the Vauxhall Bridge.
The Haven Bridge over the River Yare is a modern one where you can view part of the dock wharfs downstream.
This is a mural on the side of a house at the junction of Critten's Road and Isaac's Road.
A path leads towards the lifting Breydon Bridge which takes the A12 over the River Yare. The river starts south of Dereham and runs through Norfolk passing to the south of Norwich and is joined by the River Waveney and the River Bure before passing through Great Yarmouth to the sea
In the picture is Jim my long suffering companion on this trip
Breydon Water (part of the River Yare) is strongly tidal and this old sailing boat was trying to make headway upstream.
The path along the south bank of Breydon Water goes for over four miles on a flood embankment from where there is good views across to the mud flats on the other side. Godwits and Avocets were seen by an ornithologist with an impressive camera.
A number of old wrecks litter the shore whilst holiday boats enjoying the Broads come down to Great Yarmouth and then go up the Bure, the Yare or the Waveney exploring the Broads. At one point ten of them could be seen.
Along some sections sheet piling had been put in to raise the effective level of the flood embankments.
This barge powered by sail and outboard motor passed swiftly down stream.
On the opposite bank can be seen the Lockgate Drainage Pump http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/WindmillsD/halvergate-lockgate-drainage.html and the
Berney Arms Drainage Mill. At 21.5 metres high it is the highest of its type in Norfolk although located in an isolated spot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berney_Arms_Windmill
Both are located on the River Yare but we were to take the left fork in the river system which is the River Waveney and the Angles Way goes all the way to its source.
The south bank of the Breydon Water which is 5 km by 1.5 km and is a large protected wetland
This is a stained glass window in the church below which marks the passing of the reigns of Queen Victoria and King Alfred a thousand years apart - 901 and 1901.
The church of Burgh Castle, St Peter and St Paul is one of 124 existing round tower churches in Norfolk.
Breydon Water from a view point just north of Burgh Castle
The outside of the north wall of Burgh Castle a Roman fort constructed as a defensive fort against raids up the east coast. It is called Gariannonum. It is rectangular but one of the walls has fallen into the estuary. There is nothing to see inside but it is freely open to the public.
The way in from the north through a gap in the wall caused by a collapsed watch tower.
This is the inside of the fort from the north west. It is in the care of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust and their web site explains the history of this part of the world in Roman times.
An artists impression (taken from a display board) of what the view from the now lost west wall might have looked like down on to jetties on the much larger estuary that existed then.
From here it is a short walk to the Fisherman's Inn where we had lunch and a pint of ale. http://www.burghcastlemarina.co.uk/the-fishermans-inn/
After passing around the back of the marina we did a short section of the River Waveney before heading inland through the village of Belton which seemed to have an example of every style of dwelling architecture in the last 150 years.
We left Belton on Back Lane running next to Belton Common which has been a source of sand extraction.
This section of the lane was like a sandy beach.
The Angles Way goes through fields to the village of Fritton.
The church of St Edmund at Fritton
One of a series of old wall paintings exposed in the church.
From here the Angles Way goes through Fritton passing the Decoy Tavern and then takes a bridleway down into a marshy valley just downstream from Fritton Lake. Climbing out of the valley it joins Blocka Road which is followed east. There was a lot of cars using this route so we were glad to get back to the field side paths in the direction of Beech Farm and then we left the Angles Way to go to where we had parked the car near Ashby Hall Farm.
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