Day 3 - RANWORTH TO LODDON

Ranworth is always a nice place to wake in, it's quite but you can always hear the murmuring of other boaters preparing for the day, along with the duck chorus, it gives off the feeling of a great day to come. Add that to the strong sunlight streaming in in the saloon, and it felt good to be back.

Start Of The Duck Chorus

People tarting Their Day At Ranworth

I had a walk around the staithe, and popped in the post office shop. I bought some Jams, Relishes, and calenders, that was all the gifts sorted. It was certainly going to be a lovely day, the sky was blue and the sun out, yesterday had been overcast all day.

Leaving Ranworth

We set and returned to the Ant Mouth and headed back up to Ludham Bridge. We were going through Great Yarmouth later, the ideal time to cross Breydon Water was 4:30 pm, so we had enough time to make a side trip. I love travelling upriver between Ludham Bridge and How Hill, the river here is very twisty, you can just see over the reeds to some really lovely scenery, especially when the sun is out.

Views On The River Ant

Old Friend Greeting Us At How Hill

From The Hide At How Hill

Garden At How Hill

We made good time and were moored up before 11am. We walked down to the Toad Hole cottage and paid the £1.50 each for the nature trail, we didn't see many birds, but the meadows and woods were teeming with lots of butterflies. We didn't spot any Swallowtails, but must have seen every other species.

Bluebell Wood

More Bluebells

Bluebells Everywhere

There is a bit of the trial that is quite thick forest, where we were walking through carpets of bluebells as far as the eye could see. We spent some time looking at the main house and gardens, although we weren't allowed inside either. The walk down from the house to the river is a particularly scenic one, you walk across lawns and parkland, with the river as a backdrop.

How Hill House

Looking Down Towards The River

Walking Back Down How Hill

We had got back to Mars earlier than expected, so we decided to set out for Great Yarmouth at a leisurely pace. I took us back downriver, while Paul cooked our lunch. As we passed the moorings at St. Benets Abbey, I spotted Flash of Light, and honked the horn, it was my blogger friend Sally-Anne from Broadland Holidays with her family. I think they had also decided to stop at the Abbey for lunch. It was good to say hi, but we still never got to have a chat, as we never saw them again for the rest of the holiday, maybe next year.

Walking Back To Mars

The Captain

We were soon passing Acle, and the sun was sparkling on the water, and it really was a beautiful day. The staithe at Stokesby was very busy, and the Ferry Inn there looked very welcoming, we decided that would would do an overnight there, next year. The run down to Great Yarmouth was smooth and uneventful, and there really wasn't many boats about at all.

Ferry Inn Stokesby

Long Stretch To Great Yarmouth

Safely under the bridge, going across the great expanse of water was fun as there is no speed limit across Breydon Water, so you get the chance to really put your foot down. We turned onto the River Yare, and started seeing other boats, as we neared Reedham. It really is such a pretty village on a beautiful day like today. It was about 6pm, the sun was still out and quite warm, and the journey down had seemed so easy that we decided to push on.

Far Side Of Breydon Water

Approaching Reedham

Once past Reedham we were travelling in unknown territory, and were soon passing the Reedham Chain Ferry, which was just about to make the crossing. A few minutes later and we turned off to the left, and joined the very narrow River Chet. Luckily the river has just been widened here, but it was still quite narrow, but luckily we didn't pass any boats going the other way. Looking across the meadows here, you can see why this is famous for it's natural beauty. Every turn we made, (and there were many) opened up vistas of glorious countryside, you would easily imagine that Constable painted his famous landscapes here.

Scenic River Chet

Evening Sunshine Over The Chet

Approaching Loddon

The river started opening out into a Basin, the public moorings were very busy, and everybody seemed to be enjoying the evenings sunshine. We got to the end, and there wasn't a free spaces, so as I was turning the boat to go back downstream, a guy called to me and offered to pull us in beside him. It was a tight fit, but we managed to get moored right next the to watermill there. We were very grateful, and we had such a lovely view of the old mill and the sound of cascading water.

Loddon Moorings

Moored Next To Loddon Mill

We quickly freshened up, and went into the village, which was right next to the staithe. Loddon is a very attractive village, and quite large for Norfolk, it had a very large church with a green, three pubs, and also quite a few shops. We walked right down to the far end of the street, where there's a small statue of the village's Saxon founder.

Loddon Church

Outside The Swan

Village Founder

We walked back to the centre intent on eating at The Swan, which was the only pub of the three that had a restaurant, but on entering we were told that they had just stopped serving food. So we made the short walk across to the Chinese takeaway, and took a delicious meal back to the boat.

Village Limits

Walk Back To The Chinese