Broads School C, Walk 3

For this walk, we went on a minibus from the school (which is in Broads VillageC) to the nearby village of Upton, as several of the children in the class come from here and it was seen as more appropriate that they should plan a route around the area where they live rather than where they go to school. There are ten children, two researchers and the teacher who has done the reconnaissance walk. This teacher knows this area very well, its wildlife and its architectural and social history, and he is particularly excited about the potential for bird sightings on this walk.

Our walk starts at a bridge over the River Bure where we stop to gather together and check the route on the map. The view from here across the river is quite beautiful and absolutely characteristic of the Broads landscape; flat and rugged. The day is grey and overcast. There is water on the paths in puddles everywhere but it is not raining. There’s a lot of excitement about where we’re going: “we’re going to the boats! Me and my brother have come down here several times”; another boy adds, “I don’t even need a map around here!”. However there’s also some heated debate about the route we’re taking: one boy warning “I hope we’re not going the way I think we are because that way’s overgrown”, to which a girl replied, “well I like that way” then explained “there used to be a really tame otter that came up to you” – saw this last year. Another girl then added her memory of coming here: “I fell in!” From the discussion it becomes clear that the children have a great deal of experience and expertise about the routes near the river that they wish to share.

As we walk along, a boat is chugging along the water, and the children comment on the way it spews out water: “I think that boat’s throwing up!” “Bleurgh! I don’t feel well!”. A couple of the children point out tyres in the water.

There are some girls on this walk who are champion long distance runners and are absolutely in their element on this terrain. They are way ahead of us, encouraging us to keep up a great pace and jumping in and out of puddles as they go. In fact there is an intense enjoyment of the puddles that we traverse. They tell us: ‘I come down here a lot and I bike down here a lot. I leave home at 6 and I get back at about 8.’ ‘I go running here, and cycling and just walking.’ ‘I come down here with my dog.’ ‘I go down to Upton Park,’ ‘and I do races with my dog here’.

As we walk the teacher points out a marsh harrier out on a farm field and a heron by the side of the river. He also spots a flock of lapwings in the distance over the field which he points out.

We are walking all the way along the riverbank and a boat passes us with someone from Broads Authority on board who gives us some advice about where we can spot some kingfishers. We reply that we have already seen a marsh harrier. He goes on his way.

We ask what they think it will be like in 100 years: one girl remarks “It will all change”, and more generally “I wonder if eventually there will be no more people on this earth”. This turns to more specific discussion about the field we can see: “I think it will have flooded and there will be no sheep”. However, not all the children agree and this then triggers some discussion of why it might not flood, leading to some general allusions to the water cycle. As we ask further questions, there is no clear sense of what might cause flooding here other than increase in rainfall.

The teacher then prompts discussion of the history of the waterways. One boy declares of the broads, “It’s manmade. I learned that ages ago. Well, it’s half manmade, because people dug it, but it needs water to fill it up”. They point out the farmland that appears to be lower than the level of the river but don’t have an explanation for why this might be. They also point out algae in the water: “Around you see its really horrible and green – mouldy! I think it’s called Algae.”

We pass by some old drainage mills. The children are aware of the existence of these mills and their function, but the teacher’s attempts to get the children to discuss the function of the mill and identify the large pipes nearby don’t get much response. Instead, the children are more interested in the shape of the drainage mills: “Look at that windmill, it looks like a Dalek because it’s lost its mills.” “First that one will turn into a Dalek, then they’ll all turn into Daleks, then they’ll take out all the boats, then they’ll take Yarmouth – yessss!”

As we walk along there continues to be great excitement about the puddles with squeals of delight and shrieks of disgust when the water floods into their boots: ‘I am going in! Guys, it is getting deep!’ and then, ‘we are stuck, oh my goodness we are actually stuck!’

Behind the mill are some fruit trees. One girl shows them to us proudly: “These are apple and plum trees. I collect them every year. I get the nicest ones from near the top.” This girl is well known amongst her peers for her love of trees and her penchant for climbing them. She climbs these trees to get the tastiest fruit from the top. The children tell us all about this and she takes great pleasure in explaining about her tree in her garden which is her favourite place to spend time; she tells us that sits in her tree every day after school.

We turn away from the river now and continue to walk along a drainage ditch heading back now towards the place where the taxi is parked. ‘We have found a worm. It is all squishy!’

On the route back to the minibus, all the excitement is about the mud; spotting bird footprints in the mud; jumping in the mud; going “urgh!” about the mud, and so on. One girl declares: “I love muddy puddles. I wish I had them in my garden. Mum would call me and I’d be like jumping in muddy puddles.” Another girl says “Listen to that squelching, isn’t that disgusting. It’s weird”; and then one of the boys shouts out “come and play mud football!” This play in the mud is something which these children who are older (aged 10 and 11), enjoy in the present moment, bringing them into the landscape, interacting with the very earth that they are walking over; but it is also something which brings up memories of similar play from earlier in their childhood.

In the bus now, on the way back to the school there is talk of having seen a hole in a bank which ‘I thought an otter had made. There was also the slippery mud and the foaming water at the mill.’