Winter on the Werryman’s Way – Reedham, Norfolk, Nov 11th 2017

Apolgies this Blog Post is late! I’ve had horrendous computing problems but I’m now back up and running! Yay 😀

A couple of weeks back, Keith and I found ourselves with a completely free weekend! These do not seem to come around a lot these days – so when we saw that the weather forecast was looking good (cold but bright) we wasted no time in zipped off for a cheeky night away in Ruby the Campervan. Ruby was pleased as she hadn’t been used for camping purposes since our jaunt to Pembrokeshire in Aug!

Our chosen site for the night was Reedham Ferry Touring Park, which is an hours drive from us. Our journey took us through Diss, which was very handy as coincidentally “The Flying Scotsman” locomotive was due to be passing through mid morning. My Great Grandfather used to drive the Flying Scotsman for many years, so it was very excited for me to be able to see this glorious engine fully working and looking her best.

Diss Train Station was heaving with people, which was lovely – so many people had come out to see for themselves what a beauty she is.

As she approached the whole platform went quiet in awe! She’s stunning! I suppose I am officially a train spotter now! Here’s a video Keith took, as I got way too emotional – I’m my father’s daughter for sure!

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were lucky as the train was scheduled to stop for water here so we got about 15 minutes to admire her before she choo chooed off on her way to Norwich. Won't forget that day in a hurry.

We carried on up the A140 towards Norwich, stopping at our favourite Farmshop/ Britstop en route to stock up with some treats for our night ahead, before pulling onto the practically empty Reedham Ferry Touring Park (£19pn). First impressions were good, the toilets and showers were clean, warm and modern, pitches spacious and the River Yare just behind us. <<
ter a quick lunch of homemade Leek and Lemon soup we donned our walking boots and set off down the well trodden Wherryman's Way towards the village of Reedham. It wasn't far, and we intended on walked perhaps a little further than we did – but, in the 1 mile downstream (or is it upstream?) we passed a chain ferry, a swing bridge and not one, not two, but THREE dog friendly pubs, all selling the local Humpty Dumpty Brewery Ale (and a local Norwich Gin) and all with delightful river side beer gardens. So – in the interest of sampling the wares, we abandoned the walk, and turned it into a rather lovely pub-crawl! You can thank us later. The verdict on the ale by the way was that Little Sharpie was delicious and so was the Bullards gin!

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e Wherryman Way is a long distance footpath that runs along the River Yare from Norwich to Great Yarmouth. There are a number of circular walks running alongside the Wherryman's way, so its certainly one for us to return to.

The last of the afternoon light was simply spectacular and I don't think I can remember a more pleasant way to spend a Saturday in Norfolk.

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e pubs were The Ship , The Lord Nelson, Reedham and The Reedham Ferry. Watching the sun set over the River Yard with a Norwich gin in my hand was just perfect.

We popped back into the Ferry once the sun had gone down to enjoy the cosy log fire – although we didn’t eat, the food looked lovely and we will will definitely return.

Next morning dawned and the weather looked not so promising. We got up pronto and enjoyed a stall down the river on the Wherryman’s way in both directions. I just love the sound of the wind rustling through the reeds.

It was a lovely way to spend Sunday morning, and we even found some sloes to pick, so my Sloe Gin is currently infusing ready for Christmas.

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e campsite were happy for us to take our time departing as they were empty, so we enjoyed a really leisurely brunch before hitting the road home, feeling thoroughly refreshed.

Until Next Time

Lx