Don’t want to brave the big stretches of water today, feel like a bit of river running? Park up at Sutton staithe and put the canoe into the slipway, might cost you a couple of quid, but it keeps up the staithe, and the ‘boatyard man’ is dead keen on canoes. He’ll hire you an Old Town if you haven’t got your own canoe yet.
Paddle on up past the handful of boats onto Sutton broad (in effect a long wide navigable channel, could easily be a river).
The pulse slowing vista sets up your trip, this truly is timeless Norfolk; a majestic waterway bounded by murmuring reed, merging  into distant  Alder carr; and the whole scene lit by a measureless dome of ever shifting sky. Get your camera out & take a few shots. You may capture it,  good luck, I always fail! I just keep going back to try and construct the experience in my head for good!
Time to get the tempo and paddle, Kingfishers can be glimpsed buzzing along 6 inches above surface if you’re lucky, and as anywhere in the Broads look out for ‘Old Frank’ who’s loping aimlessly about the sky or intently watching, that built in refractive index calculator giving him a better chance than us.
Pass the reed and into the Alder woodland the feel the change to a meandering river, glide over left & fork towards Barton, enjoy the new surroundings and don’t forget to look out for wildlife in the woodland. We drifted up to a couple of oblivious Red Deer grazing the marshy vegetation around here once.  In a while you’ll turn right onto the river Ant, the area is typified by open marshland, with reed and Alder carr bordering the water. Paddle along and you are greeted by Hunsett mill, an attractive local landmark. A bit further on, stop for a brew up and just stare over the grazing marsh for a while. Barn owls quarter this marsh regularly and there’s a good chance of a Chinese water deer any time of day. I’ve seen harriers passing food to each other in the sky above when we've loafed below with a mug of tea & suitably large wedge of date and banana cake. 'Cake dear' , 'yes please dear'. Not much different from the Harriers really. Has my mind drifed again, sorry.
  There's always a few leisurely boats floating past, so no problem, that’s just more people enjoying this unassuming but ever infectious landscape.
Step back in and meander past the reed lined banks for a while, then power in for a bit past the admittedly not very pretty boatyards of Wayford Bridge, and bear right up Dilham canal. This shimmering treasure connects North Walsham to the Broads area. Norfolk isn’t synonymous with canals but digging this one started about the time the commercial steam train came into existence, which made the canal redundant by the time it was completed , leaving  today’s legacy as a delight for the canoeist. No powered craft are allowed up here so you’ll doubly enjoy the gradually narrowing channel and marshland views. This is an incredibly peaceful stretch with overhanging trees and clean fresh water, fish flop about under water lilies as you paddle serenely through the landscape, eventually the trees cut out the light and it’s a bit more claustrophobic especially towards dusk, finally the going gets a little stiffer, then  you feel and hear the rush of water from Honing lock (long since disused).

Get out and look around. If you feel like punishment portage across the other side & try to get further up , ( I managed about 200 yards) it’s pretty overgrown up there! Well if life wasn’t good enough, you now get to have your cake and have already eaten  it by doing the whole thing again, so lets hope there’s a backing wind prevailing for your  return leg so you can further explore and enjoy the diverse habitats and environments that characterize this trip.

Happy paddling !
 

Wilds of Norfolk was set up because of our unquenchable enthusiasm for the Norfolk Broads,  our small part of the natural world. We thought we'd like to try and give something back by helping other people enjoy the countryside and it's wildlife as well as do our own little bit to promote an interest in the natural world and it's conservation , not only for the wildlife but for the sheer exuberance of the precious life we're lucky enough to get the chance to live.

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