by Norfolk and Suffolk’s Broads national park – Britain’s largest protected wetland – has 124 miles of navigable waterways ripe for boat exploration. Sadly, a much larger four figure number, in pounds sterling, appeared on my computer screen when I was searching for a suitable boat to spend a long weekend enjoying.
Thankfully, I had a plan B – or SUP plan.
Stand up boarding was seen as a fun way to spend an hour or two on holiday. But during the pandemic and lockdown, sales of inflatables have increased dramatically. Since then companies such as Devon-based manufacturer Red Equipment, iRocker and Aztron have launched a range of compact boards that fold down to half their size, when deflated, making them portable – and do longer adventures even easier.
Since I bought mine, a multi-day trip was in the offing. So, after leaving work early on Friday, my partner and I hopped on a train to Norwich carrying our board and minimal clothes for the weekend on our backs. From there it was a 30 minute bus ride (£2) to Coltishall – the “gateway to the Broads”. If you don’t have your own board they can be hired from GoPaddle in Horning from £40 per day, with discounts for longer stays.
We chose affordable luxury for our first night, in the Norfolk Mead hotel, before our camping adventure. On the banks of the River Bure, this Georgian country house also has an award-winning restaurant, where we ate a handful of Norfolk-caught seafood, local cheeses and the regional specialty, crunch rolls (granary style, made from hulled wheat grains).
We saw an electric blue flash of a kingfisher, but the azure terns and the rare Norfolk hawk were common, hitting a lift on our rafts.
We woke to sunny skies and, after breakfast, picked up our pre-ordered packed lunches before heading to the hotel’s flower-lined waterfront. Then we inflated the boards, packed and secured our bags, and moved on.
Moss-like gorse and ribbony streams swooped as we passed over it. The trees provided a hollow canopy, and we slipped into the huge gardens of waterside houses as we glided by.
The Pages take up 0.1% of Britain, but are home to a quarter of the country’s rarest species. From time to time, we saw the electric blue flash of a kingfisher, but more common were the azure damsels and the rare Norfolk hawk, striking a lift on our rafts as we passed among the water lilies.
We stopped for a snack at Ballytha, where boaters who knew their pleasure craft were struggling to fit, as we slipped in with ease and without a sound. Swans, beetles, hens and wasps came to seek shelter between our boards – we were accepted as fellow water dwellers.
It was Saturday, but when we left Ballina we had only seen three boats as we wound our way through narrow willow and alder channels, the sound of the splash from the dip of our paddles almost hypnotic. As we grew closer to Wroxham – “the capital of the Pages” – more paddleboards, pedal boats and canoes joined what felt like an unofficial non-motorized flotilla. In the riverside park we sat with our feet in the water, eating sandwiches and chatting about our journey with those who were curious about our oversized packs.
As we walked away, the smell of food being cooked at the town’s riverside pubs and cafes faded and the waterway widened. Sometimes it felt as if we were alone in a river desert; at other places, it was as if we were falling on a super highway of boaters.
We stopped to rest our arms on the Hoveton Great Broad nature trail – a walking circuit on a broad island of the same name, only accessible by water. In the half hour we walked there we saw caterpillars and frogs, we tried to photograph red Admiral butterflies and we learned, courtesy of the ranger, about the practice of bio-manipulation. Fish are being kept out when they naturally leave the bay, to allow water fleas (which eat algae and clean the water) to bounce back in numbers, which will allow plants to grow and mean more fish
The sun was setting as we entered Salhouse Broad and our campsite. It was just a simple pitch with a few composting toilets, but we had splurged £28 on a camping pod, to avoid carrying a tent – a smart move, as it started raining within minutes of our arrival.
That night we walked 20 minutes to the Fur and Feather Inn, where “beer travels meters, not miles” from the on-site brewery. We sat outside overlooking the thatched roof, sampling a “wherry” amber ale (named after the large wooden sailing barges popular in the 1600s for carrying cargo, now used as luxury day trip vessels) before we go inside to eat burgers and mash.
We awoke at dawn to a chorus of blackbirds, chiffchaff and Canada geese as we packed our bags and hauled the boards back into the water – on a mission to get breakfast. A low mist hung over the water as we headed north, passing the edge of the Burr marshes to reach Horning and a great cafe at Staithe’n’Willow.
We wound our way through narrow willow and alder paths, the rattling sound from the dip of our paddles almost hypnotic
There is something magical about being on the water early on a Sunday before the motorboats start their engines. We took advantage of the perfect conditions to begin tackling the seven mile paddle to the station at Acle.
Before long, the trees along the banks were thinned, revealing windmills in various states of restoration. Almost immediately, the wind came up, turning paddling into a workout. We paused at the 11th century remains of St Benet’s Abbey, outside Ludham, before descending to join the River Thurne and turning south.
Thanks to the rising wind, we disembarked a little early at Acle Bridge, where the pub of the same name welcomed muddy boots (and boards), rewarding our efforts with chips and a pot of tea . Then we deflated the boards, rolled them back into the bags and walked briskly to the station.
As the train went into a blissfully exhausted lull, I checked our receipts. We may not have covered the full 124 miles, but we enjoyed what felt like a real adventure – and one that was incredibly cheap.
The trip was supported by Visit Norwich. LNER provided rail travel. Doubled at the Norfolk Mead hotel cost from £145 B&B. Salhouse Broad offers camping for £15 (for up to four people), and a camping pod for £28 per night. More information from visitthebroads.co.uk. Paddleboards on the Broads require a licence. When hiring a board the license is part of the package
