About the Norfolk Broads

For a fuller history follow the link to the Wiki at the bottom of the page.

The Broads (known for marketing purposes as The Broads National Park) is a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The lakes, known as broads, were formed by the flooding of peat workings dug in the middle ages. The Broads, and some surrounding land, were constituted as a special area with a level of protection similar to a national park by the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act 1988.

The area is 303 square kilometres (117 sq mi), most of which is in Norfolk, with over 200 kilometres (120 mi) of navigable waterways. There are seven rivers and 63 broads, mostly less than 4 metres (13 ft) deep. Thirteen broads are generally open to navigation, with a further three having navigable channels. Some broads have navigation restrictions imposed on them in autumn and winter.

There are many wind powered pumps, sluices, bridges and canals which make for interesting scenery. There are many birds in the reeds and swamps which makes the area of great interest to twitchers. There are also many waterside pubs, many of them very old and almost all of them in extremely interesting settings.

Pleasure boating is probably the main activity of the Broads although hiring a boat is anything but cheap. Having said that, the hire businesses charge what the market will bear and none of them seem to be in financial trouble. The countryside is very flat so cycling is also very popular although the cyclist are a hazard on the many twisting narrow roads.

Pictures can be viewed full-size in a gallery. Simply click/tap on a thumbnail below and it will appear in a slider. You can navigate forwards or backwards through the images by clicking on the navigation button on either side of the photo. To have the slider show images automatically, click/tap the left hand icon on the toolbar in the top right hand corner of the screen. This button can also stop automation. To exit full screen mode, click on the X in the top right hand corner of the screen.