You would think that Norwich, the county town of Norfolk, being only 100 miles from the centre of London would mean the whole of the county would be overrun with visitors. However, it’s a county where it is still possible to find remote areas. Remote and quiet.
I had been out on the marsh for around 2 hours. I had seen nobody. Nothing but a pair of Marsh Harriers quartering the reedbed for company. I was walking slowly on a floating mass of vegetation. Stepping forward the whole ground around me moved for a radius of several metres. It was like walking on thick pale green custard. If I stood for a while I slowly sank until the cold reminder of my boots filling with water prompted me to move. The thought suddenly occurred to me that if this meniscus of vegetation broke I should slip without a trace beneath the bog only for my remains to be discovered in the next millennium clutching camera and rechristened ‘Canon man’
All dark thoughts disappeared under a cloak of excitement, and relief, when I looked down to see the smallest twist of flowers struggling for attention amid a thatch of rushes. The most iconic of Norfolk’s orchids was reaching skyward, fingers outstretched, at my feet. Along with Bittern, Swallowtail, Norfolk Hawker and Crane; the Fen Orchid has to be listed within the county’s ‘big five’. As rare as it is beautiful this small delicate gem is only now found in dune slacks around Kenfig in South Wales as well as Norfolk.
Thank you to David for his more than perfect directions.
Letter From Norfolk 