Discovering: Oulton Broad, Broads National Park
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Date posted: 28/07/2022
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Time to read: 6 minutes
Kayleigh Judson
I’m Kayleigh Judson, Heritage Planning Officer for the Broads National Park. I’ve worked for the Broads Authority in planning since 2008, specialising in Heritage, after my Masters in Conservation at the University of Reading. Having grown up in the Broads with a strong connection to the houses and developments within it, I am now extremely proud to be able to influence decisions on how to manage appropriate change to the historic environment, while balancing many (often conflicting) issues and opinions. The highlight of my job is visiting the many old houses in the Broads and discussing their history with their enthusiastic owners.
Oulton Broad is like no other Broad within the National Park. Just as there are two sides to every story, there are two very different, yet beautiful sides to Oulton Broad. Located in Suffolk, it is often forgotten in publications on the ‘Norfolk Broads’, yet I find it the most vibrant and also the most calming of them all.
The town straddles the eastern shore of the Broad, and during the summer it comes alive with many pubs, bars and restaurants. On balmy summer evenings live music and animated conversation can be heard floating across the water.
This place is particularly special to me – it’s where I grew up. I have so many fond memories as a young child enjoying the boating lake at the play park, the huge orange slide, the trampolines and endless ice-creams on the bandstand on the green. As a teenager, the Broad remained the go to place for my friends and I – enjoying freedom from our parents – on our bikes and headed for makeshift smoking shelters. Later in life, the long walks on the marshes (along its west and southern banks) would tempt me outside.
The northern bank is punctuated by a mix of large houses with long gardens and moorings that extend out into the Broad. To the south-east, Nicholas Everitt Park is home to a large play park and gardens, the Lowestoft Museum (a beautiful flint building) the Boulevard Amusement Café, and when I was younger, the Oulton Broad Lido.
It was of no surprise to me that street artist Banksy marked his staycation by visiting this park and chose an old bridge for one of his masterpieces, now enjoyed by many. While this side of the Broad is a hive of activity, towards the south and west, the hustle and bustle gives way to open marshland. Here, an abundance of quiet and wildlife can be experienced, only disturbed occasionally by the passing trains that serve two of Oulton Broad’s stations.
There is a particular spot in the southern part of the broad – a concrete pontoon – that I’d visited many times as a child, but it wasn’t until later in my life that I realised its importance to me. I would often head for it when I needed some time for quiet reflection. I’d take my parents’ dog for company and sit, crossed-legged, staring across the lapping water towards the marshes. I’d listen to the clanking of boat metal masts and flapping of sails, children laughing while learning to navigate canoes or dinghy’s, I’d smell the meals cooked on houseboats close by, and I would be enveloped by a sense of belonging and wellbeing.
It made me realise that National Parks can be so much more than just a photo opportunity. They are living, breathing, adaptable places, where people grow up, work, enjoy their pastimes, where they can be loud and have fun, and most importantly where they can find quiet contemplation at times when they need it.
To Discover more of the Broads National Park visit their website
🍂 Autumn is creeping in, and the nights are slowly drawing in around us. But darkness isn’t just something we notice. For countless bugs, it’s essential.
Two-thirds of invertebrates are partially or wholly nocturnal, relying on the natural rhythm of night and day to feed, move, reproduce and survive. Yet increasing light pollution is disrupting this vital nighttime world. 🐜
September is an active time for bugs - spiders seek shelter, wasp colonies reach their peak size, and many are migrating or laying overwintering eggs.
Our National Parks are home to some of the UK’s darkest skies and important habitats where we can protect the darkness that bugs depend on.
Together, we can help even the smallest of species to thrive.
Clips via @buglife_ict
1 & 2: Moth © Patrick Chadwick
3: Running Crab Spider © Patrick Chadwick
4: Millipede © Patrick Chadwick
5: Common glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) © Kristian Pikner
6 & 7: Ringlet butterfly roosting © Patrick Chadwick
8: Wasp © Patrick Chadwick
#BugLife #DarkSkies #NationalParks
💚 Our National Parks are intertwined in many of our lives, whether it`s on a daily basis or less often. But they don`t just happen by themselves.
They rely on people and communities every single day. From the friendly faces in a visitors centre to the farmer right out in the wilderness, our parks are what they are thanks to the people who give their time to them.
#NationalParksUK #PeopleinAction
🏴We all know Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) for being home to impressive peaks - but this landscape also holds some of the most dramatic scenery in the UK in the form of castles. 🏰
Hidden in the valleys are rugged, secret strongholds. Castle Harlech here, nestled onto a rocky knoll close to the Irish Sea, hosted the longest siege in British history which lasted for seven years.
Our National Parks are known for beautiful views, but they also protect some incredible homes and stories that span across our history. Together we can preserve that.
#HarlechCastle #EryriNationalPark #WelshCastles
Good news for nature August roundup 🌿
This time there’s cats, bugs and birds. There’s so many spectacular sightings, breakthroughs and results for wildlife every single day in our National Parks.
Here are just four pieces of recent good news to make you smile this weekend. Share with someone who loves nature to spread the positivity 💚
#GoodNews #NationalParks #Wildlife
Three years ago, beavers returned to the Cairngorms. 🦫
After more than 400 years away, the first beaver family was released into the National Park in December 2023.
Since then, something special has happened: they’ve settled, spread and started breeding. There are now around 72 beavers in the Cairngorms, including kits born in the wild.
And they’re not just living in the landscape, they’re helping to shape it. By creating wetlands and changing waterways, beavers can help hold and slow water, and create habitats that benefit a whole host of other species. 🌿
It’s a brilliant example of how our National Parks can play a vital role in nature recovery - and what’s possible when people work together to bring species back and create healthier, more resilient landscapes for people and nature.
#NationalParks #Cairngorms #Beavers #NatureRecovery
September is a great time to try nature journaling 📝🍂
A simple form of mindfulness, nature journaling encourages us to slow down and notice what’s happening in the world around us - from the first changing leaves and fungi appearing to the birds we hear and the changing light.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s simply about taking a moment to be present, pay attention and connect with nature.
All you need is a notebook, a pen and somewhere outdoors. Our National Parks are pretty good spots for it, too. 👀
Have you ever tried nature journaling? It’s another way our National Parks are helping people to unwind, everyday.
#NatureJournaling #NationalParks #Mindfulness
🦇When the sun goes down, a whole new world comes to life.
Our National Parks are home to many rare species, including wildlife that can be much harder to spot. The New Forest is home to 14 of the UK’s 18 species of bat, from tiny pipistrelles to some of our rarer woodland species.
Bats depend on a mosaic of habitats to survive, and across the UK’s 15 National Parks, work is happening to protect the places wildlife depends on – even when we don’t always see it.
This International Bat Night, meet just some of the bats our Parks are home to.
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1. Soprano Pipistrelle – Russell Wynn / Wild New Forest
2. Soprano Pipistrelle – New Forest National Park
3. Barbastelle – Hugh Clark/Bat Conservation Trust
#BatsOfInstagram #NewForest #InternationalBatNight
15 National Parks. Countless landscapes and communities.💚
Working farmland. Wild coastlines. Woodland paths. Places shaped by generations of people.
Our National Parks are incredibly diverse and not just in the landscapes they protect, but in the people, nature, heritage and stories that make each one unique.
#NationalParksUK #UKNature
