Events, Recipes, Art Events, Recipes, Art Rivers Special Walking Into the Past Win a Great Day out the Best Local Food, Fun An
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Norfolk Coast GUARDIAN FREE guide to an area of outstanding natural beauty 2014 OUT & ABOUT Walking intoto the pastst GET UP CLOSE The best local food, fun and nature Rivers special Discover our precious streams COMPETITION from source to sea Win a great day out Events,Events, RRecipes,ecipes, AArtrt 2 A SPECIAL PLACE NORFOLK COAST GUARDIAN 2014 Working together for a precious place his newspaper comes to you from the Norfolk Coast NORFOLK COAST PARTNERS Partnership – a team of or- ganisations working togeth- Natural England Ter to look after this area of outstand- TEAM TAKE ACTION Norfolk County Council Look out for news of what we’ve ing natural beauty - one of a family North Norfolk District Council of protected areas which extend across been doing to keep the Norfolk Borough Council of King’s Lynn the world. Coast beautiful this year. and West Norfolk The coast has a wide range of land- scapes, from surprisingly hilly chalk natural processes at work to maintain Great Yarmouth Borough Council ridges and heathlands to expansive the unique seascape and landscape that Broads Authority saltmarsh. The sea is ever-present and we have. Environment Agency in a constant, dynamic relationship This year’s edition of the Norfolk English Heritage with the land. In early December last Coast Guardian focuses inland, on the year a huge storm surge caused much Norfolk Coast’s freshwater secret – a Norfolk Wildlife Trust change on the coast and damage, with set of chalk rivers so precious they National Trust flooding due to a combination of tide are some of the world’s rarest habi- RSPB The Norfolk Coast Partnership, South Wing at Fakenham Fire Station, and weather. tat. As well as articles from a range of Norwich Road, Fakenham, Norfolk, NR21 8BB Country Land and Business Association Thanks to accurate prediction, partners on the work happening to T: 01328 850530 E: offi[email protected] clear warnings and swift eective ac- protect them, throughout the paper National Farmers Union w: norfolkcoastaonb.org.uk Twitter: @NorfolkAONB tion, no human life was lost. Due to you’ll hear from the Partnership’s sta Community Representatives the scale and force of the flood, you team about ongoing work and special AONB Common Rights Holders The Norfolk Coast Guardian is published by Countrywide Publications may find certain coastal paths out of projects. on behalf of the Norfolk Coast Partnership. Editor: Lucy Galvin. action, but much is repaired, and the Led by Tim Venes, the team work Wells Harbour Commissioners Designed and produced by: Countrywide Publications early signs are that nature is repairing out of Fakenham to liaise with part- The Wash and North Norfolk Coast T: 01502 725870. Printed by Iliffe Print on sustainable newsprint. European Marine Site itself well along this dynamic coast. ners around the coast. Estelle Hook is Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication. However, The challenge in the future will be policy and partnership officer, Steve Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path the publishers can accept no responsibility for any effects arising there from. Views expressed are to work with communities to build Tutt provides business support, Kate National Trail those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Norfolk Coast Partnership member organisations. All material copyright Norfolk Coast Partnership 2014. NCP 03/14 – 60K in sustainable resilience. Due to the Dougan and Mark Hubbold are part- Norfolk Rivers Trust scale of the issue, hard ‘defences’ are time community and external fund- Articles available in large print: please contact not always a practical solution – our ing officers, and Lucy Galvin handles Norfolk Association of Local Councils best hope is to work carefully with the communications (also part-time). 01328 850530 or via website www.norfolkcoastaonb.org.uk NORFOLK COAST GUARDIAN 2014 A SPECIAL PLACE 3 £1.3M has been awarded through the The project will reinstate the Nine rivers: government’s Catchment Restoration natural bends to allow the Fund to improve nine of Norfolk’s The focus is on the Gaywood, 6 rivers to clean themselves, nine facts chalk rivers – the Glaven, Babingley, Glaven, Babingley and Stiffkey remove non native species Chalk rivers are incredibly Stiffkey, Gaywood, Hun, Mun, Ingol, until April 2015 after which it to enable native species to important for wildlife as, having Heacham and Burn. is planned that further funding flourish, enable flood plains All are welcome to get been filtered through chalk, the will be sought for work on the to develop to store water involved through the 1 water quality is potentially so other five smaller rivers. and work to decrease silt project’s walks, talks, 8 workshops and family good. They are also very rare. 3 and pollution in the rivers. 5 events. Some are in poor condition This funding was won 7 Communities are working together Contact Norfolk Rivers due to pollution and silt run by the Norfolk Rivers to learn about their rivers, share 9 Trust to find out more: 2 off from roads and farms, over 4 Trust with the support their concerns and in time form [email protected], straightening, abstraction of of the Norfolk Coast self sustaining groups that can telephone 01263 862657, water and invasive species. Partnership. ‘manage’ the rivers when the grant Twitter @9ChalkRivers or cash runs out. check www.norfolkriverstrust Nine rivers run through it Toad at Wighton on the River Stiffkey. Jack Perks Norfolk is a county defined and bordered by big rivers. Yet along the coast flow nine small, perfect treasures. Laurence Rose leads the way Taking action for clean, clear rivers into our rivers edition – and David Diggens offers a special welcome. Rivers are a lifetime obsession for me – their mysterious environment, and fantastic relationship with the world around them. It started with a school project looking at salmon, and it goes on today - we still don’t know how eels rossing into the county over chalk provides nutrients and clar- of non native species, over straighten- get to the Sargasso. the Nene or the Waveney, ity for a world inhabited by precious ing and reduction in fish stocks. I love our Norfolk chalk rivers’rivers complexitycomple and flexibility as ecosystems. My past the massive network wildlife like water voles and, increas- The Norfolk Rivers Trust and dream for the Norfolk Rivers Trust is to sees the chalk streams of Norfolk running of the Broads, the Norfolk ingly, otters. Teal and shovelers dabble other conservation groups aim to clear in all weathweathers,e and rich in iconic species like brown Ccoast at first sight seems riverless, in the wet plashes at the edge of the improve natural functioning of the trout, eelseels anandd lamprey. shaped by the sea alone. river; small patches of reed attract reed rivers which can help reduce local- IIt’st’s a grgreate time to be in river restoration. We Travelling clockwise round the and sedge warblers in summer and ised flooding and restore aquifers, have a marvellousm team working for the long coast you may not notice, in sequence, water rails, even the occasional bittern enhance water quality and improve tterm.er It is our opinion that we would like the Gaywood, the Babingley, the In- on a winter feeding foray. habitats. These rivers are characteris- toto see cleaner rivers, with strong natural gol, the Heacham, the Hun, the Burn, Many of these rivers flow through tic features of a man-made landscape, ppopulationsop of fish, mammals, insects and the Stiffkey, the Glaven and the Mun. small floodplains and wet woodland of mills and hedges, crops and cattle. birds withwith water of the highest quality. This is Yet these chalk rivers - none much of alder and willow – itself a scarce Restoring their former glory is not not a ututopiano dream, but a pragmatic approach to a balancedbalan natural environment. longer than ten miles from source to habitat. The sound of goldfinches about re-wildling, but re-balancing. WWorkingorkin closely with local communities, the sea – are incredibly rare. There are feeding in the alder tops is often ac- In the meantime, they remain havens NorfolkNorfolk CoastCo Partnership and other partners, we only about 200 such in the world, companied by the calls of siskins and of relative tranquillity where there is aarere takingtaking aaction to restore these gems. I hope you 160 of them in Britain, and Norfolk lesser redpolls. always the chance of sighting some- enjoy readingreading aboutab them, and get involved if you can. is particularly lucky to have such a The chalk rivers of the Norfolk thing special. concentration. Coast have suffered damage to habi- DDavidavid DiggensDiggens has been Director of Norfolk Rivers To explore on foot is to discover tats and wildlife, poor water quality Laurence Rose is Senior Sites TTrustrust since iitt was founded in June 2011 a subtle and gentle landscape. The and quantity, build up of silt, invasion Manager for North Norfolk, RSPB 4 RIVER NATURE NORFOLK COAST GUARDIAN 2014 Clean, clear and To keep the coast The special waters beautiful, we won of chalk rivers £1.5m last year Discover the support an incredible rivers at one of Tim Venes, Norfolk Coast the great events Partnership Manager: “The Norfolk range of life, writes Coast Partnership staff team work planned for this hard to bring in extra money to Jonah Tosney year – look after the coast – and are very successful. he rivers of central Norfolk see page 21 Last year we worked with our are made unique by their partners to bring in over £1.5million bedrock: chalk. Permeable, external funding for conservation it acts as a sponge, absorbing Trainfall, filtering water and releasing it and enhancement of the coast – over five times more than our though springs and fissures.