Day Six - The Broads (Horning, Ranworth, Potter Heigham and Thurne) - 16 May

We had a lovely sunny day touring The Broads. We travelled north bypassing Norwich and headed to Horning which means “the folk who live on high ground between the rivers“. I drove, Henk navigated, Liz was cultural advisor and Tomas relaxed. When we arrived at ten twenty we found a tour boat leaving at ten thirty and we quickly got organised to get on board. The commentary on the one and a half hour cruise was very good and gave a good overview of The Broads. We initially motored up the Bure River before turning into a dyke and into Ranworth Broad.

The land was very flat and it is only one foot above sea level. The reeds grown on The Broads are used for roof thatching and two and a half acres of reeds would thatch a roof. Apparently the Norfolk reeds are the best to use for thatching and will last for eighty years compared to straw which lasts for twenty-five years. The Broads, so named because of the broad expanse of water, were man-made due to people during the middle ages mining the peat bog and drying it for fuel for their fires. The dried peat bog became very popular and it was sent to many parts of the country. Eventually large holes were left in the ground and these filled with water which constitutes The Broads today. After the cruise we walked around the pretty waterside village of Horning and then moved onto Ranworth another little place on the edge of The Broads.

We had lunch at the local pub and went on to explore St Helen’s Church a short walk from the pub. Tomas, Henk and I climbed the tower of the church - 89 very narrow stone steps, one wooden ladder, one steel ladder and then through a hatch to climb onto the roof. The views over The Broads were very good. On top of the roof was a weather vane which looked very large compared to when we saw it from the ground. St Helen’s is a fourteenth and fifteenth century church with a painted medieval screen which is said to be the most complete and best example in the country. Surprisingly, there was no one in the church monitoring visitors to ensure that the rare artefacts were protected or overseeing anyone climbing the tower. We had afternoon tea at St Helen’s quaint little tea room with home made cakes including the Norfolk Slice which was very tasty. We moved onto Potter Heigham keen to see its fifteenth century stone bridge which is now classed as an ancient monument. It is very low and boats need to remove their masts before being able to pass underneath. Norfolk is unique for its variety of village signs and each sign tells a story of the history or legends relative to the area.

Potter Heigham’s sign was quite detailed in depicting its history. On the way back to Palgrave we called into Thurne to see two well known windmills and these were outstanding sitting alongside the water. We didn’t arrive back to Palgrave until six o’clock and decided to go straight to our local pub, The Cock Inn, for dinner. This is Liz and Tomas’s last day with us as they will be returning to Hereford after breakfast tomorrow. Henk and I don’t leave until Saturday.