Author Topic: Walking the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path (virtually!)  (Read 3294 times)

WhitstableDave

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Day 7 of my 'treadmill with Street View trek' along the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path national trail was a 12.8 mile stretch between somewhere near Stiffkey and somewhere near Weybourne. It's been the flattest walk I've ever done - indoors or out. The total elevation gain over the first 11 miles was 5 ft! So, once again I did some interval training - one of the things I've been learning about in some of my other treadmill activities.  :)



For the first 9 miles, except when going through the villages of Blakeney and Cley next the Sea, the path was usually on a sea wall beside marshes and the occasional creek, which made for very pleasant walking:



Despite the name, Cley next the Sea is at least half-a-mile from the coast. I gather the village is quite famous for getting clogged up with traffic during the summer. I'm not surprised, because the paths to this point had been much busier than what I'm used to seeing. The photo shows the 18th century Cley Windmill, which I thought looked very impressive:



By contrast, I didn't see a soul during the final 4 miles of today's walk. The terrain wasn't great for walking though, being shingle. I was curious as to why there's a fence running along the beach for miles...

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MarkT

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Enjoying the updates Dave and it's good to see some pictures similar to what I took when I did the trail last year. I remember the long slog along that part of the shingle beach, it seemed to go on forever and ended up going inland away from the trail near Muckleburgh Hill just to give my legs a rest. This also enabled me to see a military base and weaponry used to protect the coast line and found a lovely little cafe/shop on the main road to Weybourne. I believe the fence along the beach is to protect a conservation area.

WhitstableDave

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Thanks Mark.  :)
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WhitstableDave

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Day 8 of my treadmill virtual hike along the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path (incorporating the England Coast Path!) was from the coast north of Weybourne to Trimingham, passing through Sheringham, Cromer and some other named places. This stretch of the Norfolk coast is quite built up - and there were lots of campsites and holiday parks too.

After a week of level walking, today's trek actually involved some ascent - in fact, at well over 600ft, it was more than all the other days put together.



As soon as I'd passed Weybourne, cliffs appeared and the path went up and along the cliff edge. The cliffs looked sandy, but stable, with very few barriers or fences:



Arriving in Sheringham, I passed what I first thought was a paddling pool, but it turned out to be a big boating lake (for model boats!):



A little way past Sheringham - which, like all the towns and villages I saw today, looked extremely nice - I passed a trig point. It was at a place called Beeston Bump, which seems a suitable name for a 63m-high hill.



I think that leaves about 33 miles still to go...  :)
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rural roamer

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I’m not sure we have ever been into Sheringham itself, will have to sometime and find that trig point. We usually go to Sheringham Park which is National Trust and will be lovely this time of year as the rhododendrons will be out. I’m surprised you ascended 600 feet!

WhitstableDave

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I’m not sure we have ever been into Sheringham itself, will have to sometime and find that trig point. We usually go to Sheringham Park which is National Trust and will be lovely this time of year as the rhododendrons will be out. I’m surprised you ascended 600 feet!
I've just checked and the total ascent was actually 671ft! It all adds up...  ;)
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WhitstableDave

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Day 9 of my 11 day treadmill trek along the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path national trail was between somewhere near Gimingham to a little past Eccles-on-Sea.

I'm sure that in real life this would have been a delightful stretch, but the Street View version left a lot to be desired. The problem was that there was no 'walking' Street View for the first 7 miles, so I followed the standard Street View along the roads virtually sitting on top of the Google camera car. The weather wasn't up to much either!

Most of the last 5 miles was very pleasant indeed because the walking cameraperson was back on the job and obviously enjoys beaches. Having said that, about a mile of that was spent walking though campsites and static caravan parks.



The path went up to the clifftop just past Walcott and the views were fantastic! What I thought might be a lighthouse straight ahead turned out to be a church.



There were a number of inland bits and this is near Happisburgh, with a good view of the lighthouse... and a fly!



At Happisburgh, the path went down to the beach and stayed there for the rest of the walk. It's certainly a very nice beach...  :) 



About 24 miles to go!
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rural roamer

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We often go up to Norfolk and stay overnight near Horsey where you will pass tomorrow. We go to see the seals on the beach there. There’s thousands born every winter on the beach and it’s a lovely sight (safely from the cliffs). Far better than paying for a trip in a boat at Blakeney, this is free. Depending on when the cameras were there you may see them!

MarkT

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I saw loads of seals near Waxham, when I did the trail last year. I was walking along the beach, climbed over some sea defences on the beach and there they were. With no one else around I just sat on on the beach, (keeping away from the seals) and watched them for about an hour. Was definitely one of the highlights of the trail for me.


Unfortunately the trail has to go through some caravan parks as coastal erosion has taken it's toll along that part of the coast, so for safety reasons the trail had to be adjusted.

Mel

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Aaahhh, you found Beeston Bump  :)   


Pity you didn't get onto the beach as well to see the stripey cliffs though.


Glad the weather's still holding out for you too  :D

WhitstableDave

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I'll certainly keep a lookout for seals this morning and I agree that it's preferable to spot them yourself from the shore.  O0

Actually Mel, I did see the stripey cliffs. I saw them on Street View later while looking to see if I'd missed anything. Very impressive!  O0
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WhitstableDave

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Day 10 of my treadmill trek along the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path was between Eccles-on-Sea and Caister-on-Sea, a walk of about 12.3 miles.



From the map, you might think this was a walk along beaches, but for the first 8 miles I barely even caught a glimpse of the sea. The coast path runs along the landward side of the sand dune sea wall as far as Winterton-on-Sea (why does everywhere need to state the obvious?) and this view was quite typical for almost two hours...



Between Winterton-on-Sea and Caister-on-Sea, the coast path really does go along the coast - sometimes on the beach, but mostly at the foot of what looked to be fast-collapsing sandy cliffs:



I realise that in real life, I could probably have walked along the beach for much of the first 8 miles, or at least looked over the top of the dunes, but when following Street View one's choices are limited!
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rural roamer

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I expect the seals were just the other side of that sea wall! We used to holiday in wooden chalets at the top of the sand dunes in Hemsby when I was a child. They are long gone, I think each year the sea claims a bit more of the land around there.

WhitstableDave

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Day 11 of my treadmill national trail with Street View along the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path was between Caister-on-Sea and Hopton-on-Sea.



Soon after setting off along the beach, the path went up and then alongside static caravans pretty much all the way to Great Yarmouth...



I think the last time I visited Great Yarmouth was probably about 20 years ago. I decided to do a spot of reminiscing, so after passing the pier (which I remembered)...



...I carried on as far as the amusement park I remembered even better!  :)



Going to the amusement park meant adding a couple of miles to today's walk because it's a long way back to the nearest bridge over the Yare. I followed the river through quite an industrial area back to the coast.

At Hopton-on-Sea, I walked to where the OS map shows the PWNCP trailhead (my new word), but there was no sign of any sign marking the spot. Oh well.



So that's it - I've completed my third national trail in 5 weeks and 1 day!  :)
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Bigfoot_Mike

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It looks like the last stretch of the coast wasn’t as interesting as the rest. I have flown offshore from GY heliport, which was a grass field with a portacabin for a terminal. It was only a short flight to the gas platforms. I have stayed in GY in November on a work trip and that month probably doesn’t show it at its best. Much of the seafront and associated cafes was shut, although a large number of the old style penny arcades appeared to be open with no one inside them. They must have needed their own power station with the amount of lights they had burning.

 

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