Walking and Bird Watching from Cottage Farm Barns
January - March 2012
A few miles back from the North Norfolk Coast, Cottage Farm Barns offers a warm and very comfortable base to enjoy a winter break.
Whether or not you would describe yourself as a bird watcher, the mass of local and visiting birds adds an entirely new dimension to every walk or cycle ride in the area. January through to March the nature reserves on the coast are simply teaming with life. Drive across to RSPB Snettisham and you are bound to see thousands of waders feeding on the Wash. Closer to home, there are geese in their hundreds, if not thousands, on the meadows leading down to Holkham beach and a walk from Cley-next-the-Sea to Blakeney along the North Norfolk Coastal Path is wild and full of stunning bird life.
There are two excellent country walks straight out from our barns and the whole of the North Norfolk Coastal Path to explore. By arrangement we are happy to drop you off at the start of your Coastal Path walk and pick you up at the end.
Three, four and seven day winter and spring breaks
Date Band |
Golden Lion Barn |
Inn Keeper's Store |
|||
week |
short break |
week |
short break |
||
7th January - 11th February |
£390 |
£273 |
£341 |
£238 |
|
10th February - 18th February |
£482 |
£337 |
£424 |
£297 |
|
17th February - 31st March |
£390 |
£273 |
£341 |
£238 |
|
Short breaks Golden Lion Barn 3 nights Saturday - Monday (depart by 10.00am Tuesday) or 4 nights Tuesday - Friday (depart by 10.00am Saturday)
Short breaks Inn Keeper's Store 3 nights Friday - Sunday (depart by 10.00am Monday) or 4 nights Monday - Thursday (depart by 10.00am Friday)
Walks from Cottage Farm Barns
Pictures: Left to Right - Thursford Hall Parkland - Walsingham Village - Views over Stiffkey Valley - Old Great Eastern Railway
Short walk to Thursford Hall and Church:- this circular walk, perfect for an afternoon stroll, takes you from the barns, into Thursford Green, through a small wood and into the parkland above Thursford Hall. The Elizabethan mansion, now much reduced in size, sets the backdrop as you cross the meadows to Thursford Church. A narrow lane takes you back into the village past attractive farm buildings and a fine barn.
Longer walk to Walsingham via Great Snoring and the Stiffkey Valley:- a stretch of around 8 miles sets off from the barns towards the little village of Great Snoring. Following a quiet country lane lined with meadows to handsome Canister Hall Farm, there are stunning views across the Stiffkey Valley. At the base of the valley you pick up the track of the former Great Eastern Railway Line, which takes you to Walsingham, an ancient village that has been a place of pillgrimage from before the Norman Conquest. Heading back out of the village past the Franciscan Friary, you walk up an ancient green way back to Great Snoring and home.
Winter bird watching
Pictures: Left - Marsh Harrier. Middle - Holkham Beach in January. Right - Black Winged Slilt
There's little to beat the North Norfork Coast in winter and early spring:- Blakeney, Cley, Holkham and Titchwell reserves, famous for their waders, geese, hawks and harriers are all close by. To give you a flavour we thought we would let one of our guests of last February describe their experience. "A superb cottage to stay in, very comfortably furnished and equipped. We will certainly be back again to enjoy this quiet, peaceful bit of Norfolk. We didn't see the ones (picture of cockatoos) on the card! However we did see a total of 95 bird species."
Snowdrop walks at Walsingam
Pictures: The snowdrop walk in Walsingham.
Walsingham, just two miles down the road has been a place of pilgrimage from before the Normans arrived. Its abbey and little streets, crowded with old houses is well worth a wander at any time, but without a doubt February is Walsingham's month. Literally carpets of snowdrops, mingled with aconites have naturalised throughout the Abbey woodland and along the banks of the River Stifkey which runs through the Abbey grounds. Seeing the first flowers of spring in such quantity, this is a woodland walk that stays with you for years.