Gedney Gate leaflet 2/10/08 15:52 Page 2 The Walk Map & Walk The Walk The Wash 11 Leave the car park and turn left. 7 For the shorter walk take N The Wash is designated as an the signed public footpath on 9 Turn right and follow the road 13 Turn left along the road into the internationally important area for the right after walking until it bends sharply to the left. village. nature conservation under The approximately 11/ km (1 mile) Ramsar Convention and The Natura 2 Turn left along the public footpath 2 Gedney (400m) 2 10 Take the public footpath which 2000 Network and includes an 8573 at the side of Park View bungalow, along sea bank. Drove End 6 1 continues in the same direction hectare National Nature Reserve. It cross the drain and climb up onto Scale /4 mile 3 In the summer months look out for the along a stone track. You are 14 At the road turn right and follow is one of the most outstanding the old sea bank. Just before the main road 1 5 cattle grazing the marshes, they coastal wetlands in Great Britain now walking on the old sea this road back to the Village Hall turn right along the 4 help maintain the saltmarsh comprising open sea, permanent bank. Continue until you come and car park. footpath which runs along 2 habitat so it is attractive to a shallow water, intertidal sand, variety of birds throughout the 13 to the road. mudflat and saltmarsh. It has been 33 Turn right and walk along the the edge of the field. Rejoin the 14 year. listed in the top ten sites for bank to the road. walk instructions at 12 birdwatching in the world! The The oystercatcher is a distinctive wading best time to see the waders and bird. With its black and white plumage, red- wildfowl is on a rising tide 7 pink legs and long orange bill it is easy to between September and May, as 44 Turn left along the road to a spot! It feeds on cockles and mussels and the birds move from the mudflats T - junction. 12 uses its bill to make a hole in the shell. It has a loud shrill ‘kleep- to surrounding land to wait for the kleep’ call and has a very 8 Follow the path onto the bank of tide to recede. noisy courtship display. 11 the River Nene and take the first 55 Walk straight across and follow footpath signed on the right along the footpath to the new sea the edge of a large drain to the bank. road. River Nene 66 Climb the bank and at the top 11 Turn right and follow the road turn right and follow the path until it bends sharply to the left. along the top of the bank. If you look to your left you will 10 This stretch of the River Nene was opened in see the RAF Holbeach weapons 1831 to provide a new deep outfall which is 8 still used today by cargo vessels. The two range. lighthouses, which were built in 1826, mark the line of the old sea bank. The east bank 12 Take the public footpath which 9 lighthouse was once the home of continues in the same direction Sir Peter Scott, naturalist, painter along a field edge next to a and founder of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. drain. The flat circular island out to “Map drawn from aerial photography copyright Lincolnshire County Council and Getmapping PLC. Again you are walking along sea is in fact man made and built Lincolnshire County Council reproduced from OS mapping with permission of the controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (C) Crown Copyright and Unauthorised reproduction infringes the old sea bank. Follow the in 1972 as an experimental reservoir For the longer walk continue Crown Copyright and may lead to civil proceedings. OS Licence I00025370” for storing fresh water. Now it is home to a path to the road. For more information on The Wash visit range of seabirds, and beyond is the Norfolk along the sea bank for 1 1 coast line. approximately 2 /2 km (1 /2 miles). www.washestuary.org.uk www.esfjc.co.uk.