🦭 Hike to Atlantic Grey Seal Pups – Peak of the Breeding Season

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Mid-December is a unique opportunity to see the breeding season at its peak and a fantastic Christmas gift to yourself! 🎁 This is when we typically see the most seal pups - over 2000!

We’ve created a list of FAQs to help you.

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We’re off to Norfolk! The seals in Norfolk are truly one of the county’s most special sights. Without any doubt, they're an incredible WOW factor and one that you must see!

On this day hike, we'll walk along the top of the sand dunes and enjoy stunning panoramic views across the North Sea. On our way, we'll pass the much-loved grey seal colony at Horsey Beach, which draws thousands of visitors each year, particularly between November and March, when the seals come ashore to breed. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of seals and their pups stretching for as far as the eye can see!

The whole walk is in the Broads National Park – one of fifteen national parks in the UK. You'll discover its iconic windmills, navigable waterways and broads (man-made, shallow lakes). With over 125 miles of lock-free waterways, the Norfolk Broads have more miles of waterway than Venice or Amsterdam, and are an extremely popular boating holiday destination! Locals like to call the Broads ‘the Venice of the East’.

HIKE HIGHLIGHTS

• Watch seals and their young from a close distance at Horsey Gap, home to one of the biggest colonies of grey seals in Britain.
• Take a gentle stroll over the vast open expanse of the golden sand dunes of Winterton Beach – a Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest. The area is a veritable haven for birds and all kinds of wildlife and is widely regarded as having the best sand dunes in Norfolk.
• See the spectacular Horsey Windpump – the youngest and largest windpump in the Norfolk Broads. It was built in 1912 to pump water out from the surrounding land so that it could be used for farming.
• Discover Horsey Mere, often regarded as one of the most beautiful of the northern broads and famous for its internationally important wildlife.
• Walk the newly opened stretch of the England Coast Path – a new National Trail around all of England's coast, which once completed will be the longest coastal walking route in the world (4,500 kilometres in length!).

DISTANCE & DIFFICULTY

Distance: 6 miles (10km).
Ascent: 50m.
Difficulty: Easy.

ITINERARY

07:45 meet outside ibis London City – Shoreditch Hotel, 5 Commercial St, E1 6BF (near Aldgate East Station); 08:00 sharp departure; 11:15 Horsey Windpump to Hemsby hike via Winterton-on-Sea for a lunch stop; 16:30 departure; 19:30 London, next to Bow Road Underground Station.

TRANSPORT

As on most of our trips, we'll travel in a comfortable 16-seater minibus.

SAFETY

This hike is led by an experienced, Outdoor First Aid qualified hike leader.

BOOKING

Please RSVP and pay by bank transfer to the account below, leaving your Meetup name and the name of the trip as a reference (e.g. John Seals):

Business Account Name: London Social Hiking Limited
Sort Code: 20-17-20
Account Number: 63116514

We'll let you know by changing your status to ‘Paid’ as soon as the payment is cleared. You can check your status next to your name in the attendees list of the event. Please allow up to 48 hours for the payment to arrive.

THE PRICE OF £68 INCLUDES

• Transport throughout the trip
• Experienced, professional CPC/PSV minibus driver
• Professional event organisation
• Guiding on all hiking routes by an experienced Lowland Leader
• Group first aid kit with qualified first aiders
• Admin fee
• 20% VAT

WHAT TO BRING

• Suitable hiking shoes with ankle support
• Waterproof and windproof jacket and trousers
• Gloves/hat/cap
• Water (min 1L)
• Packed lunch

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REFUND POLICY

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