Day 132 - May 11th

Today we woke to a dry but misty day and decided to walk part of the Norfolk Coast Path. 

We initially decided to walk from Winterton-on-Sea to The Nelsons Head pub at Horsey and back, but when we reached the Nelson's Head we decided to walk further to Horsey Windpump and round the Mere. This added several miles onto the walk, resulting in a total walk of 12.2 miles.

We started our walk at the beach car park at Winterton and headed along the dunes towards Horsey Gap.

Whilst in the dunes we kept our eyes open for adders which are known to be found there. Thankfully we didn't see any adders but we did see lot and lots of snails on the grasses.

The dunes are classified as a Nature Reserve and are also within the Norfolk AONB. 

We came across gorse bushes.

... and because the dune unusually support acidic plants we came across beautiful Rhododendron growing in the middle of nowhere. 

Natterjack toads breed on the site and new pools have been created for these.

Before reaching Horsey Gap, we came to the steps leading to the Seal Viewing Platforms. When we visit in Autumn there are always hundreds of seals on the beach  but we weren't expecting to see any today.

We were quite surprised when we reached the top pf the steps to find ourselves looking down on quite a few seals basking on the beach. No babies, but lots of full grown adults.

On reaching Horsey Gap we turning inland and followed the path to The Nelson' s Head pub at Horsey where we had lunch in the garden.

After lunch we walked on to Horsey Mere which is one of the most northerly broads close to the sea. NT Horsey Windpump stands over the mere but there is also another windpump, although it is now derelict.

Horsey Windpump is an iconic building and in recent years has received investment and refurbishment.

After a brief stop at the Windpump we then retraced our steps back to Winterton.