Walk 81

Llantwit Major to Porthcawl 17miles

A perfect start to the day with a lift from my friend Ken to my start point, clear blue skies and what I would describe as the perfect temperature for walking 8deg! For those of you keeping up with my blog you will see I've started to travel in the clockwse direction again so this entry links to Walk 42.

Anyhow the day itself was perfect, I started with a small climb out of Llantwit beach and it was great to see today was going to be a series of up and down valleys which were a welcome sight after the "boring fens" The first dip took me down towards St Donats College and I was impressed with their outdoor swimming pool! it was then on to the Nash Lighthouse (see pic) and a small dip to Nash point, the second pic was taken looking towards Traeth Mawr. A series of up and down valleys led me to Ogmore by the sea at this point I was faced with having to go inland due to the river estury. I walked along mostly riverbank until I reached the sewage works and then had to road walk until Ogmore castle where I could traverse the river via stepping stones which I found quite hairy!!! I was jut glad there wern't wet ! I was then into a small forest area which took me in turn to the sand dunes on Mertur-Mawr Warren, by now the wind had whipped up and blew straight in my face all the way along Porthcawl beach. Portcawl is Ok its a shame you can't get around the coast path due to a bloody big caravan site. :(

Walk 80

Heacham to Kings Lynn 14.5miles

A nice easy walk to finish off this week of walking....I started by turning left out of Heacham and picking up the sea bank that runs more or less parallel with the disused railway line, this took me all the way to Snettisham at this point I had no choice but to turn inland and walk along the A149 for many miles via the Queens residence at Sandringham... I say I had "no Choice" but people who have gone before me have decided to take the "trespass" route from Snettisham walking along the sea bank all the way to Kings Lynn, however in my eyes this is wrong for one simple reason its ILLEGAL and us walkers get enough grief of the farming comunity as it is without adding fuel to the fire. The final 4.5miles of todays journey was following the well marked cycle path from Sandringham through the lovely villages of North Wooton and South Wooton all the w to Kings Lynn which I must say I quite liked. Pic is of a beach I took somewhere on my journey this week!!!

Walk 79

Wells Next The Sea to Heacham 22miles

Yet another poor nights sleep in the a YHA, I really dont know why I do it...............Anyhow, as I walked down the High St in Wells I was dumbfounded as why this place is so expensive to live as in my mind its just another pretty Norfolk village, but £57,000 for a beach hut....really I ask you? So the first part of todays walk was nice because in took me via a small wooded area which gave me some respite from the cold wind that had been blowwing in my face for the last 3 days! this took me into Burnham (3rd one so far). Today everything had gone back to being very flat with the only views of Norfolk Fens and of course windmills! I trudged relentlessly through Brancaster(see Pic) and onto Thornham, at this point though I do think I need to point something out....not since Essex have I had the mis-fortune to meet such miserable people during my days walking, I will ALWAYS say hello to anyone who I pass on my way but in Norfolk I was lucky to barely get a grunt out of most of the people I met SHAME ON YOU ALL.

The final part of the jouney tody was through Hunstanton and like Gt Yarmouth it was just another seaside town, however the beach was fantatstic (see pic).

Walk 78

Cromer to Wells Next The Sea 22 miles

A fair old wind kept me awake for a lot of the night (c/w lashing rain) and was there to greet me full on in the face first thing in the morning. As low tide was not until 10am I decided to walk along the beach to Sheringham, where I took the first pic of the day looking back towards Cromer. I then had no choice but to walk the rest of the day across cliffs, shingle beaches and nature reserves, along the way I went through some very pretty villages like Cley, Blakeney and Stiffkey where I managed to take a pic of an icon of Norfolk...the windmill!

Walk 77

Sea Palling to Cromer 18miles

The B&B at Sea Palling is the closest one to the beach I have ever stopped in, mind you the clue was in the name "the Beach House" A cool wind greeted me at the start of todays walk to Cromer, luckily for me the tide was out so it was beach walking all the way to Happisburgh where I took the first pic of the day of its lovely classic lighthouse. I then decided to take the cliff route to Mundesley where I stopped for a cuppa and what I can only describe as the best piece of choc cake I have tasted in a very long time...hats off to Jonet Cafe. My next decision was wether or not to try to walk the next 6 miles to Overstrand along the beach with the tide on its way in, stuff it I went for it! It wasnt until halfway I thought uh oh whats the coastguards number again! but fortunatley I made it with about 1/2 hour to spare. I took to the cliffs for the final part of the walk and skirted around the edge of the GC at Cromer which I must say is one of the nicest I have walked across for a long time. Final pic is of Cromer from my late lunchtime stop.

Walk 76

Gorleston to Sea Palling 18miles

A really nice brekie and blue sky started the day well for my walk to Sea Palling. A short walk took me into Gt Yarmouth via an inland lighthouse at Gorleston (see pic). Gt Yarmouth is like any other seaside town in the UK with its tacky shops and even tackier people! once past all the shops I hopped onto the beach (which I must say is lovely golden sand) it was then full steam ahead to California where I had to take an inland route due to the beach turning into large boulders, I only had a small 2 mile trip to Newport before I could walk the rest of the day along sand dunes and beaches. At Waxham with only a mile or so to go I decided for the first time in the 1300 miles I have covered so far to take off my walking boots and socks and have a paddle in the sea and it was just fantastic, especially when a curious seal decided to pop up his head only 5 yards out and see what I was up to!!! A perfect end to a perfect day.

Walk 75

Benacre

Southwold to Gorleston 19miles

Gorleston

I started the day with a train and bus to my start point at Southwold ( via a bacon sarnie in Halesworth!). I hopped onto the beach at Southwold and it was sand all the way to Kessingland, at Benacre reserve I took a picture of a tree growing in the sea, the tree I presume was once on the top of a piece of land but due to coastal erosion it now finds itself getting its roots wet everyday! Today was turning into another hot one with the temperature reaching a dizzy 28 deg (its the 3rd October!) I had very little road or field walking today which makes a nice change, however I did end up on the nudist beach at Corton!!! what is it with with fat people and nakedness? In between Kessingland and Corton I skirted around the edge of Lowestoft and visited the most easterly point of the mainland UK, I now have 2 of that set (southerley and easterly) only Glencoe (westerly) and Dunnet Head (northerly) to go! Just north of Lowstoft I passed into Norfolk and so another county bites the dust :) The rest of the day was spent walking along the cliffs all the way to Gorleston where the second pic was taken.