A Walk by the Coast

In an office like Dragonfly House where several people need access to the same file for work, files are kept on shared drives. Inevitably, as electronics advance, these shared drives systems need updating and all the files have to be moved onto something new before the old one is shut down and everything on it is lost forever. For us this 'something new' was TRIMM, a file system that prioritised security over usability. As comforting as the extra security is, the need for a full day of training on how to use the system was a strain on everyone so our team leader organised a day out on the seafront.

St Andrew Church, Church Lane, Eccles-On-Sea

The coastal path from Eccles-On-Sea, through Happisburg to Walcott and ending at Bacton was chosen because work had recently been done to make it a part of the England Coastal Path by colleagues at Natural England, specifically in terms of signage. So we set off from our starting point at St Andrew Church for a very windy but sunny walk to unwind and critique the signage that outlined the walk.

The beach was a lovely sandy one, lined with stone sea walls and was surprisingly quiet considering the sunshine. Before we reached the beach we had to make our way through a small residential settlement whose roads had seen better days, not helped by the recent weather which had turned the pot holes into what felt like small ponds. After that though, the first leg was straight forward; simply head along the shoreline to the lighthouse at the end of the beach and you'd reach a grassy area with seating for a rest and a picnic before the second leg, which was less simple.

The Happisburgh Lighthouse

After the lighthouse we walked through Manor Caravan Site and, though we did get back down onto the beach eventually, we were filed along a narrow patch of grass squeezed between a ploughed field and the cliff edge. Though any fences or railings put along this section would have ruined the view the drop, while not life threatening, would still have done some damage to anyone who fell off it. On top of this the view was already marred by the old, eroded groynes which stuck out of the sand like gnarled fingers. But this was only one section of what was a lovely day by the coast; it was a really enjoyable walk and I saw much more of Norfolk's coast than I had done in my previous two years of being at university. Not to mention the pubs, cafés and fish and chip shops we could stop at along the way.

The beach from Eccles-On-Sea to Happisburgh

However, unfortunately, not all the aims of the walk had positive outcomes. The signage, such that is was, had room for improvement. Some signs were done well; noticeable without affecting the landscape and proving useful information about how far you were from settlements in each direction but overall the signs lacked consistency. Other signs were less detailed and a few were easy-to-miss posts in the ground offering even less information. And none of them paid tribute to the organisation who'd put them there.

Testing and collaboration are key parts of any project and even bad news, as unpleasant as it is to give it, can be helpful news. Be it in a team like the Hoveton Restoration Project or an organisation like Natural England, nobody works in isolation. I'd already learnt this in getting contacts for working with bats and it was a good opportunity to test my new way of looking at things and to help out how I could.