Walk 16/2007 – Frampton and Frampton Marsh Nature Reserve

Sunday 15th July 2007

We commenced the 9–mile walk in the charming village of Frampton with its pretty little cottages and farmhouses all built in the same rustic brick.

We followed along a quiet lane first passing the Greenwich Meridian (0 degrees longitude) and then we had discreet views of the attractive Boston Stump in the distance. A plentiful supply of Hawthorne trees were healthily growing along the sides of the lane, and so Trevor’s elegant Hawthorne walking stick must have felt back at home.

A series of tracks and footpaths then led us to the wetlands, at this point the flatland stretches for miles to the horizon and offers a spectacular long distance view of ‘The Wash’.

One of our highlights on this walk was the vast sky and how it gave us a show of a variety of colours and cloud formations in just 4 hours. At times the sky was a rich blue but also changed to an ominous black during lunch. There were several wispy cirrus clouds that offered creative swirls over the sky but again then changed to bulky cumulus providing a spectacular 3 dimensional formation but also threatening us with an outburst of rain! Fortunately this did not happen.

We walked along both New Sea Bank and Old Sea Bank crossing over marshlands, the home to many wading birds, unfortunately today we had few sightings other than that of a Little Egret and a Kestrel. The banks provided home to bushes with hosts of bright red berries and several wildflowers were also seen thriving in the long grass. Several of us commented that the marsh walk was surprisingly prettier than expected and that a variance in nature captured much of our interest.

The final part of our walk followed back along another quiet road and after passing by an unusual breed of cows was completed back at the attractive church.

We were then all rewarded with a drink at the Moors Arms where they served Batemans Beer and provided a comfortable beer garden. The walkers received quite an education throughout the day on the sharing of good tips and useful gadgets. It appears that Lakeland plastics have helped many of us out from the plastic sachets with zips to banana protectors and economical travel towels. We were also offered tips on keeping our water–proof garments weather proofed, with some alternative methods of achieving this e.g. Comfort fabric conditioner!

Perhaps we need to write a book for the club!

Cathy

Pictures by Graham

Walk rating – Pleasant

A marker for the Greenwich Meridian line.	We presume a beacon lit for the millennium celebrations.
A field near a house.	“Hosts of bright red berries”.
Part of the walk along field edges.	“There were several wispy cirrus clouds that offered creative swirls over the sky but again then changed to bulky cumulus providing a spectacular 3 dimensional formation” – and a ditch.
A place good for bird spotting.......I can spot one sitting on the seat! .	The walk back into Frampton and the onion harvesting.
Frampton church spire.