I’VE MENTIONED the Wherryman’s Way’s Achilles’ heel before – it ends next to Asda. Specifically it ends with a small monument between the supermarket and a down-at-heel bridge (pictured) on the outskirts of Great Yarmouth. That bridge takes you over the Bure en route to the magnificent Hall Quay – famously compared to that of Marseilles by Daniel Defoe.
“The river lies on the west side of the town, and being grown very large and deep, by a conflux of all the rivers on this side [of] the county, forms the haven; and the town facing to the west also, and open to the river makes the finest quay in England, if not in Europe, not inferior even to that of Marseilles itself.”
The trouble is that once over the bridge you have to pass through a down-at-heel part of town to get there. Acres of sumptuous Yarmouth history lie a few hundred yards away but the town isn’t exactly putting out the welcome mat for first-time walkers. Which is why it was great to read in today’s EDP that there are plans to renovate the bridge – although frustratingly the details aren’t online.
This area still has industry – providing much needed jobs I know. But if there was a way of smartening up this stretch of the road called North Quay – or even opening up the river frontage near Lime Kiln Walk – the tourist trade might just bring in a few much-needed bucks too.
For me one of the wonders of this partt of the Wherrymans Way was walking in solitude from the Berney Arms, no traffic noise, just the sounds of nature. Wind rustling the reads, birdsong and the lap of water. Most special of all were three Geese flying overhead not making a sound but because of this wonderfully quiet wilderness I could hear the whistle of the wind on their wings. Superb!
ReplyDeleteThen the contrast of walking into Great Yarmouth with busy streets and holidaymakers. I ahd visitedtwo different worlds in a matter of hours. One of my best moments! Stuart
Just completed Wherrymans Way (over two days) - a really nice walk thru a quiet bit of the Broads. Actually we liked the end of the walk and thought that the end stone was really good! We started the walk at norwich Station it made sense to end at the rivernext to yarmouth station.
ReplyDeleteYarmouth was quite a culture shock from the tranquility of the Broads!!!
Pete & Rachael