{"id":2312,"date":"2014-01-17T21:39:52","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T21:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=2312"},"modified":"2014-11-22T15:14:44","modified_gmt":"2014-11-22T15:14:44","slug":"the-wild-wash-wander-expedition-stage-1-kings-lynn-to-sutton-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2014\/01\/the-wild-wash-wander-expedition-stage-1-kings-lynn-to-sutton-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wild Wash Wander expedition : Stage 1 – King’s Lynn to Sutton Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is\u00a0stage 1 of the Wild Wash Wander expedition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I had been looking forward to this walk for quite a while.<\/p>\n

Timing was everything, I wanted to be at the edge of the Wash as the sun was rising.\u00a0 This would only be possible if I took the first ferry from King’s Lynn across the Great Ouse at 7.20am.\u00a0 The only time it’s still dark at 7.20am is midwinter, oh and I wanted a clear night\/morning so I could enjoy the breaking dawn in all its glory.\u00a0 So, as you can see, a tricky trick to put into effect.<\/p>\n

\"King's
King’s Lynn to Sutton Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After two years of waiting for the right moment I noticed, a few days into the new year, that the time was just right to embark on this grand adventure.\u00a0 I was still on Christmas holidays, the weather indications were nearly perfect and it remained very dark in the early morning.<\/p>\n

I hopped on the first train to leave Ely for King’s Lynn at 6.35am and arrived at Lynn for 7.05am, giving me 15 minutes to cover the half mile or so to the ferry to West Lynn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I arrived at the ferry boarding place right on 7.20am and five minutes later spotted a small boat heading my way from the other side of the river.<\/p>\n

\"Boarding
Boarding point for the King’s Lynn ferry to West Lynn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was one passenger on the boat who disembarked and hurried past me.\u00a0 I said good morning to the captain and paid my \u00a31 fare. A minute later we were underway across the Great Ouse towards West Lynn.<\/p>\n

Oh!\u00a0 It all went by far too fast.\u00a0 Was it a big big thrill to be on the ferry, crossing the river in the breaking dawn?\u00a0 Yep, it was dreamy dear reader, just dreamy.\u00a0 Look, I’m a romantic and stuff like this means a hell of a lot to me.\u00a0 It was fab!<\/p>\n

\"Crossing
Crossing the River Great Ouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before I knew it we had arrived at West Lynn.\u00a0 I was tempted to pay \u00a35 and sail back and forth a few more times but I needed to get to the Wash before sun-up.\u00a0 I said farewell to the captain and made my way up the gangplank and back to dry land.<\/p>\n

\"The
The ferry from West Lynn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I picked up the\u00a0Sir Peter Scott path<\/a>\u00a0(named after the famous conservationist who made his home in a lighthouse at the other end of the walk). The path took me along the banks of the Great Ouse, with the lights of King’s Lynn to my right.<\/p>\n

\"The
The early morning lights of King’s Lynn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The morning began to break…<\/p>\n

\"Sunrise
Sunrise over King’s Lynn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After 40 minutes or so I arrived at the mouth of the Great Ouse where it spills out into The Wash.<\/p>\n

\"River
River Great Ouse and pools<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Behind me the golden dawn was gathering pace over Norfolk.<\/p>\n

\"Sunrise\"
Sunrise over Norfolk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Squadrons of geese flew overhead, a seemingly never ending display of air power, quite mesmerising at times. But of course, this is<\/strong> birdland. the salt marshes belong to them. I saw endless varieties of birds, the majority of whom I cannot name.\u00a0 I definitely saw a Marsh Harrier though, there was NO mistaking her.<\/p>\n

\"Bird
Geese squadrons flying in formation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally I reached The Wash.\u00a0 My boots were letting in the dewy dampness of the grass and I wished I’d brought a flask of tea along.\u00a0 The Wash was about a third of a mile out across the salt flats. I could just about make out the cliffs of Old Hunstanton across the way in Norfolk.<\/p>\n

\"Towards...\"
Looking across the salt flats towards Hunstanton (probably)…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And then…never ending horizons, straight lines everywhere, wind, wind, wind, birds amock, making a glorious racket.\u00a0 I kept my spirits high by singing the first Clash album, both sides, at high volume.<\/p>\n

After running out of songs I pulled out my harmonica and played some blues riffs…<\/p>\n

\"Never
Never ending horizons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

…and sometimes I just stood still and listened to the wind and birds, tasted the salty air on my lips and felt the sea breeze on my face.\u00a0 This is Fen wilderness at its finest!<\/p>\n

\"Long,
Onwards!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s impossible to miss two odd-looking man-made islands along the way.<\/p>\n

Built in 1975 as part of a study into the feasibility of building a large freshwater reservoir (I don’t really understand this but it’s what the internet told me), the project was abandoned pretty quickly due to costs and no one really understanding what the project was actually about.<\/p>\n

The first of the two is (apparently) accessible by walking out over the salt marshes. \u00a0If were wearing a pair of wellies I might well have strode bravely out and explored.<\/p>\n

\"Thing\"
Strange island 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second island is now managed as a seabird reserve by the Fenland Waterfowl Association…<\/p>\n

\"Fenland
Fenland Waterfowl Association sign<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This island is a mile out into the Wash.<\/p>\n

\"Thing
Strange island 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both islands offer something of interest for the eye to rest upon. \u00a0Imagine a wild camp on one of these! \u00a0Might be a bit noisy with all the birds around so maybe not.<\/p>\n

Actually, as for wild camping I did spot a few nice grassy spots on the bankside that would be good for a basic bivvy set up. \u00a0I’d imagine the best time would be a summer’s night with a full moon on show. There probably isn’t a clearer night sky in the whole of southern England, very little light pollution in this neck of the woods.<\/p>\n

\"River
River Nene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I finally reached the mouth of the River Nene and began the walk towards Sutton Bridge and the end of the hike.<\/p>\n

I passed the Sir Peter\u00a0Scott lighthouse (now managed by the Snowgoose Wildlife Trust<\/a>), though it was closed for repairs.<\/p>\n

\"Sir<\/a>
Sir Peter Scott lighthouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And finally, Sutton Bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Sutton
Sutton Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was tempted by the fish and chip shop next to the bus stop but the bus arrived before I had a chance to make a purchase. \u00a0Half an hour later I was back in King’s Lynn and munching on a delicious toasted bacon sarnie in the station cafe.<\/p>\n

All-in-all, a fine day’s hiking in the East Anglian wilderness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is\u00a0stage 1 of the Wild Wash Wander expedition. I had been looking forward to this walk for quite a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[34,55,32,31,105,62,43,58,103,50],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2312"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2352,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312\/revisions\/2352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}