A walk on the marsh

Whenever I mention to people that we live very close to the edge of The Wash, they get very excited and imagine we live by the sea. Strictly speaking I guess we do, but certainly not the sandy beach and lovely rolling waves type of beach. Our beach is a big wide stretch of marshland with the sea in the distance!

Neighbours told us that walking across the marshes was a pretty dangerous thing and one should always have a knowledgeable local to guide you across the the safe parts so as not to end up in the quick sand (or mud) or get completely lost having followed numerous creeks on the outward journey, just to follow different ones on the way back.

Well, we've lived here 3 years now and during that time have only ventured across the marshes once, to see all the firing range objects permentantly places for the RAF to target shoot (obviously we went when the red flag wasn't flying!!).

During the lovely spell of warm weather we decided a trip across the marsh would be fabulous for Poppy. Every dog owner around these parts talks of walking along the marshes and, as far as I'm aware, none had experienced any dodgey happenings.

Our first trip was when the tide was in. This made the walk alittle damp underfoot, but nothing too squidgy. You could see the creeks filled and following with clear sea water and we weren't able to get to the actual edge of the sea at the far end - it would just have been too dangerous.

Our second trip was more successful. The tide was out and we were able to match towards our goal, the edge of the sea, with more confidence (having done it a little before). The kids loved it, the dog loved it even more (she certainly needed a bath afterwards) and Katie took loads of gorgeous photos. It is quite a stunning place, full of beauty and bird song, but I could see where the warnings came in. As we reach the edge of the water we could see that the tide was turning, the creeks beginning to fill and the marsh beginning to recede into the water. To start with our starting point seemed a very long way off and we were all a little panicky. But we needn't have worried, we did beat the tide (although it was, I must say, pretty fast).