A walk alongside Hardley Freeze

LEADEN skies, a biting wind and snow flurries hurling themselves across the marshes, why wouldn't you want to go for a long Wherryman's Way walk today? Early this morning, I tramped one of my favourite stretches, the narrow isthmus of a footpath between the River Chet and Hardley Flood (pictured). Most of the Flood was a Freeze while the Chet stayed liquid apart from a small stretch near Loddon Staithe. People might be getting fed up with this weather now, but I still find it strangely magical. This is a once in a decade job, once in a generation perhaps. Get out there, go walking, start sledging. What did you do during the great freeze of 2010 Grandad? Do you know what kids? I had a bloody good time.

Wherryman's Way: what's your favourite stretch?

HUMPTY Dumpty brewery partner Stephen George has been in touch. It turns out he and his family have become big fans of the Wherryman's Way over the last few years. For him the best bit is the stretch between Loddon and Reedham. "I love walking over those country lanes coming down to the ferry," he writes.
Which got me thinking. What's your favourite spot? Breydon Water, Wheatfen or maybe the newly-restored Hardley Mill? For me, the best places also happen to be the most inaccessible. All those windmills in the middle of nowhere between Reedham and the Berney Arms for example. Or The Slaughters, hidden until Rockland Broad until low tide. But having toyed with the ruins of St Saviour's Church and all that history bound up in Reedham Ferry, I'm plumping for Hardley Flood (pictured). It's stunningly beautiful, especially at dusk, and yet there's never anyone else there.