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Wherryman's Way (Norfolk): 1. Norwich to Surlingham
Date walked: 25/09/2014
Wherryman's Way is a 60 Kms (35/37 mile) long distance recreational trail that runs eastwards from Norwich to Great Yarmouth passing through Loddon and Chedgrave, as well as some picturesque villages with some excellent pubs on route. For public transport users it has the advantage that it starts and finishes at British Rail stations.
An excellent pictorial guide to The Wherryman's Way has been written by Steve Silk (Halsgrove: 2010). The guide briefly describes the whole route but includes a wealth of history and background information, as well as including an additional 12 short circular routes. To date, it's the best guide to the route that I've found, even if its size makes it unsuitable for pocket or rucksack, but excellent for the coffee table or planning/reminiscing. To be even-handed, I should also mention a privately published guide by Kathy Blake of Reepham, which does pass the pocket/rucksack test and fits neatly into a map case and includes some useful directions and background information. The route is well way-marked throughout and in case is almost entirely covered by the OS Explorer map of The Broads OL40. The section from Norwich railway station to Whitlingham being covered by OS Explorer Map 237 (note that this section is not well way-marked at all). Further information is available at:
http://www.wherrymansway.net/ Wildlife along the Way can be excellent and whilst previously walking sections of it I've already seen otter, muntjak deer, Common Cranes, Red-necked Grebe, Short-eared Owls, Barn Owls, Peregrines and Marsh harriers. Geese and waders can be spectacular, particularly in winter. Whitlingham Lake is particularly good. Over the past ten years I've seen Divers; Red-necked, Slavonian and Black-necked Grebes; Scaup, Smew, Ring-necked and Ferruginous Ducks in winter, Arctic and Black Terns in spring and a good range of migrants. Nightingales and Cetti's Warblers have also bred there recently. You're most unlikely to see them all, but almost anything can, and does, turn up.
Doing the whole walk in sections is a little problematic. Access can be tricky, as can parking. There are few places where the river is bridged and the use of a chain ferry at Reedham is the only way of completing the walk in one direction. There is a very adequate rail service to both ends however - it starts at Norwich Station, finishes at Great Yarmouth station and there is a fairly regular service between the two. Some trains, but not all, stop at Reedham. The whole walk is certainly "do-able" in a weekend (probably with an overnight in Reedham - if you time it right they do an excellent beer festival here in the summer, some research may pay off - or Loddon, which has excellent local services.) One final note of caution, some sections, particularly eastwards beyond Reedham, can flood in the winter months - and this section is very remote with few, if any, escape routes. Generally though, even in the winter months, the paths are usually in pretty good condition. In good weather, particularly in late spring through to early autumn when the days are longer, supermen/superwomen could probably do the whole of Wherryman's Way in a single, long, strenuous day, it's certainly shorter and easier than some of the day walks that I've done in the past when I was younger.
For myself, I'm happy to do it over time in "bite-sized" bits, but then I can, I live locally. My intention is to systematically complete the whole Wherryman's Way through a series of circular walks or, where this is not possible, by some "out and back" walks, essentially parking up near where I turned around previously or walking up to that point and then continuing the walk, eventually completing it in seven or eight sections.
The first map (below) shows the first section of the Wherryman's Way if starting out from Norwich (which I actually completed in it's entirety on 12.12.14). However it is the Whitlingham Broad and woods circular walk shown (3.4 miles) that I completed today (for the umpteenth time - I regularly do it with my dogs, often two or three times a week) and it where I decided that it was about time that I completed the entire walk. This walk is excellent
The walk from Norwich station to the main car park at Whitlingham is 2 miles and, as urban walks go, more interesting than most, especially along the river.
The continuation shown to Woods End was actually conducted over a couple more "dog walks". It does give some pleasant walking, even if rather a lot of it is on a minor road, but the section that passes the sewage works can be unpleasant and it isn't a section I'll repeat again in a hurry.
Fortunately the next section, which also gives a circular walk of sorts, is a real gem, and one I've done on several occasions and will do so again.
It may be started from the Woods End (excellent bar/restaurant, booking advisable in the summer months); from The Ferry House, (good, dog-friendly traditional pub with good bar food and plenty of parking); or from Surlingham Church (as shown). There are a number of variations possible, but note that the path can get very muddy, particularly when the river is "up".
