Coastwalk

Lowestoft → Great Yarmouth

Distance: 10.6 miles
Ascent: unknown
Duration: unknown

At my most easterly
« Southwold | Hemsby »

Towards the north end of Lowestoft is Ness Point, mainland Britain's most easterly point. It's an insignificant-looking place, but an important marker: the back of East Anglia has been broken and I'm starting to head west again.

On the map this walk looked interesting. And once past Lowestoft docks the scenery is wonderful, the going easy... as far as Gorleston-on-Sea. From there, the path gives way to shabby roads as the River Yarn drives a north/south cleft through sprawling Great Yarmouth.

I couldn't find the passenger ferry across the Yarn marked on the map, so crossed the river three miles north of its mouth at its first bridge. From there rather than head south to round the peninsula I made directly east to the pier, cutting out the south-eastern part of the town. (Hey, this is my walk: I make the rules.)

Like many seaside towns, Yarmouth has an air of sadness about it. The rides are rusting and the pier is playing host to third-rate ex-gameshow hosts in gaudy cartoon coloured suits. Bizarrely there's a rush of Yorkshire accents too: I wonder whether a travel agent in Halifax has been particularly effective at promoting the night-life of Norfolk.