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Today we toured To Horsey, Sea Palling and Hickling Broad.
We travelled from Clippesby via Thurne to West Somerton.

We continued to Horsey where we stopped for lunch at Horsey Windpump on the edge of Horsey Mere.

Views of Horsey Windpump

Views of the dyke and boats along the edge of Horsey Mere

We continued on to Waxham Barn where we stopped for a coffee and a cake, and to visit the barn.


Views of Waxham Barn

Steve last visited Sea Palling many years ago during his pre teen years, when he spent considerable time on the beach with bucket and spade! It was interesting to contrast the childhood memories with the actual visit and perspective many years later as an adult. So much seems different when you are grown up!

We continued to Hickling where we stopped to visit and walk around the Nature Reserve. We loved the sense of peace and tranquility – it felt as though you were miles from anywhere…


Views of Hickling Nature Reserve

We returned home via Potter Heigham and Thurne – by now a very familiar leg of our touring.

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Today we took a shorter trip via Stokesby and Mautby to Filby Broad. Filby Broad is one of the Trinity broads, which are not connected to the river system and are used as storage reservoirs.

As we passed Mautby we visited Thrigby Post Windmill, which was built in around 1790 by Robert Woolmer to grind wheat for the Thrigby Estate.

More details of the history of the windmill can be found on Wikipedia here.

We then toured via Thrigby to Filby Broad.

Views of Filby Broad

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Today we toured from Clippesby via lovely country lanes to Thurne, Potter Heigham and Ludham, including a visit to St Benets Abbey, the only abbey in England to escape destruction during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.

Our first stop was the picturesque village of Thurne, where we viewed the river Thurne and windmill.

View of the river and the windmill at Thurne

Our next stop was Potter Heigham.

Swans at Potter Heigham

This was a day of extreme weather. We travelled to How Hill with the intention of taking an electric boat trip on the nature reserve, but were assailed by rain, hail, thunder and lightning! Unsurprisingly all boat trips were cancelled, so we travelled on to Ludham, where we consoled ourselves at the Alfresco tea room situated opposite St Catherine’s church.

The Alfresco Tea room at Ludham, and St Catherine’s church

We decided to seek out St Benet’s Abbey despite the weather. St Benet’s was a real gem.

Views of St Benets Abbey

St Benets Abbey

St Benets Abbey

St Benets Abbey

St Benets Abbey

Yacht on the Broads at St Benets Abbey and more abbey views

We then returned home to Clippesby.

Are these straw bales, modern art or swiss rolls?

Finally the sun lit up the treetops at Clippesby after a very rainy day.

Sunlit treetops at Clippesby

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We spent the morning looking around Gouda. Of particular interest were the fine stained glass windows in Sint Janskerk (St John’s Church). Unfortunately, photographs of these were not permitted.

After a leisurely lunch we left for the Hook of Holland and the ferry at around 15:00, thinking we had plenty of time. Unfortunately, we did not allow for major road works all along our cycle route, causing numerous diversions and lost time. We also got lost near the end of the journey due to a misleading sign. Additionally a large articulated lorry had overturned causing delays while the police directed traffic past the accident scene. In the end, we had to make a frantic dash to get to the ferry on time – well, as frantic as we could on a tandem towing a heavy trailer! We made the ferry just in time to board but it was touch and go and for a while I was convinced that we would end up in a hotel at the hook of holland for another night.

When the ferry actually started sailing we took a moment to reflect that we were indeed on board the ferry rather than watching it leave, and settled down to enjoy a few well earned drinks and dinner.

During the journey we travelled along some familiar parts of the route which we had taken a couple of weeks previously on the Orchid Holland charity ride, which we had also done the year before. We had passed this attractive windmill a number of times and had never actually taken a photo of it, so here we are…

View of the windmill ‘Wind Lust’ en route to the Hook of Holland

We finally arrived home during the next morning, after what had proved to be an excellent and highly enjoyable tour. We are already thinking of a tour of Denmark next year, so watch this space…. !

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