There’s an Old Mill by a Stream...

or more accurately there are several old mills by the River Ant, but that doesn’t scan. The photos will go up on the website in the next few days but I spent the morning walking along the river from the caravan site. Although the OS map shows the footpath as being right next to the river there’s actually a drainage ditch in between so views were a bit more limited than I’d hoped and there was no shade from the hot sun. The windmills (in this case using mill in its sense of referring to any machinery not just that used for grinding) were used to pump water up from the drainage ditches into the river. All the ones seen today were cap mills and in various states of dereliction or restoration. The most unusual was a skeleton mill, it is just a wooden frame instead of the familiar stone tower.

That last was at How Hill, the furthest point on my walk. It’s an education centre but with public access as well. I did spend some time sitting watching the boat movements and thinking people are much the same wherever you go. One group, a 50th Birthday party judging by the banners, were going so fast through the moorings that I was sure they’d either fail to make it round the bend there or would run into the back of the boat in front. Fortunately they did avoid hitting anything but it was close.

The best sight were the Hunters’ hire boats. These are traditional Broads sailing cruisers, with no engines. Tacking one through a congested mooring takes a bit of nerve, I was convinced one of them had failed to make the tack but it just managed to pick up the wind again. The rigging on these boats does help - being technical they’re gaff rigged sloops with boomed self tacking jibs (so when you go about, or turn, you don’t have to faff about with bits of string).

From How Hill I completed the circular walk mainly by road, coincidentally (and if you believe that I’ve got a bridge you might like to buy) that took me past the Dog Inn. It would have been churlish to not go in and have a pint or two. I had a chat with the barmaid, some lunch and beers then reckoned it was time to relax back at the ‘van. The forecast was for rain from about 4pm, in the end it was 6 before the storm hit and it didn’t last long.

Overall a pleasant day, other than walking about 6 miles I’ve not done as much as I’d usually do but having been here a couple of years ago there wasn’t really anywhere I was desperate to visit.