Horsey Wind Pump

first dip of the day

 Sea Palling

The night was star studded and not too cold. Van-Man walked Lottie in a big circle below Ickborough Hill before breakfast for her first toilet trip of the day.

Once everything was stowed away we set off to find the North Walsham and Dilham canal which is no longer used. As ex canal boat owners we still find the waterways fascinating. We found the end of the canal between North Walsham and Swaffield but there was nowhere to park.

calm waters

Van-Man turned Sally-Van around expertly and we carried on towards Great Yarmouth. Then we followed a sign for Horsey Wind Pump which Van-Man wanted to visit.

boats and wind pump

“There’s a picnic area in Sea Palling,” I said checking the map as we entered the village. The car park had a large field for overflow parking so Van-Man chose a spot and paid for 2 hours parking.

Water channel

We had to go down a huge ramp over the sea defences then had a lovely walk along the beach and paddled in the sea which was surprisingly warm. Lottie went straight in for a dip and had several more on the walk. She seemed to appreciate the absence of the Cornish surfing waves.

path to the lake

We returned to Sally-Van with over half an hour on the parking ticket so had lunch there while Lottie lay on the grass beside Sally-Van.

As we cleared our lunch things up and prepared to leave a ticket inspector strolled over, however we had 2 minutes left as we moved off.

It was only a short drive to Horsey Wind Pump but the car park had one spot left that Sally-Van could fit into.

sailing on the lake

I looked around the Wind Pump first while Van-Man walked Lottie past the boats to the lake which only took five minutes.
As it was hot she wanted to cool off in the water but Van-Man couldn’t see a way into the lake.

I enjoyed the wind pump and ended up jumping the queue to the top as only 5 people were allowed up at a time and a family of 4 had gone up ahead of 3 couples and a family of 4.

looking towards the lake from the top of the wind pump

I loved the view but when it was time to go down one of the girls refused to back down the ladder and insisted she wanted to go down another way. While she was crying about this her father told me to go down ahead of them. By the time Van-Man entered Horsey Wind Pump the family had exited the bottom so they got her down the steep ladder eventually.

I walked Lottie around to the lake and found a steep incline into shallow water so Lottie had her cooling paddle. 

Two ladies with small terriers found us there but their small dogs couldn’t have jumped out the way Lottie had to. By the time we were back at the wind pump Van-Man was at the top aiming his camera left right up and down.

the broads

When we were reunited we walked across a field towards the dyke and sea. On the other side a small stream flowed which Lottie investigated at the first opportunity. She had trouble getting out and got mud caked all over her. Eventually the path had no view at all due to reeds and trees so we turned back. We soon realised that this part of the country is best seen from a boat because of the deep reed beds which rustled in the gusty wind.

wind vane

On the way back I dropped a stick in the stagnant looking stream to see if there was much flow. Lottie chased after it (she has never chased a stick before) but the steep bank dumped her in the water head first. The water was deep and she could not get out so Van-Man had to climb down and haul on her collar to help her. She got purchase on the bank shot up to the path and shook vigorously trying to get us as wet as she had been. At the car park we had ice creams, saving the final big of cone and ice for Lottie then returned to Sally-Van where Lottie had a brisk towel down. She promptly lay down ready to travel, a clear sign that she had walked far enough.

The roads were narrow but Sally-Van passed along the easily. There were no single track roads. We took a longer route back on an A road and returned to the campsite after 4.30.

Horsey Wind Pump