My 'Christmas Eve' Walk

I dare say that many would agree with me if I said that this year, despite the trees, tinsel and the turkeys on sale, and without the familiar tune of "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas", it doesn't actually feel like Christmas at all.  Inside the house, yes, it is clear; the roaring fire, the Christmas tunes and the warm spirit of family life beside the TV and the tin of celebrations, but outside, I don't sense the "bleak midwinter". I'm writing this at just before 9:00pm on Christmas Eve, but it's 6.4 degrees outside...and there's no snow to be seen apart from the artificial snow Mum decorates the windows with. The conventional Norfolk Christmas that I've grown up to love, has passed. Maybe it's global warming. Maybe it's just me.

I enjoyed the fine morning of Christmas Eve today in Horsey. For those who haven't ventured out into this part of Norfolk, Horsey is just North of Winterton on the coast. Walking and cycling is a welcome past time so do come along sometime. If you do stroll through, you're sure to be walking alongside large arable monocultures, although some land is devoted to pastoral farming. My Dad, Mum and I headed from the main village (although don't spend all your time looking for a large settlement, because it is dispersed and loose knit). The track, I could tell, was very well used although you didn't have to be Poirot to work out Horsey is a very popular attraction. Many families were taking the opportunity to spend Christmas Eve in the company of the low lying floodplains and of course the coastline.

I did ask both Mum and Dad one of the geographical formations we were looking at, but they both shrugged and I explained that the steep downward gradient of the dune in front of us was actually called a 'slack'. There's a lot of geography here, and I won't go into all of it now, but Horsey's geographical location is particularly important.

Horsey is one of three breeding sites, or 'haul-outs' for grey seals in the world, and on a crisp December morning like today, you can walk out on the dunes and witness a true wildlife spectacle. I don't remember the exact number of seals that were enjoying Christmas Eve on Horsey Beach this morning, but I estimate around 200 or so. Although you can't walk out on the beach, one can take advantage of several viewing points from the dunes.

Grey seals most often or not spread themselves out, and it was clear today that they were in a sporadic distribution. The tide was out, so the seals were making good use of the littoral zone; many just rolling around and taking it easy. They definitely have the right idea! The baby grey seals were closer landward; most of them nestled amongst the embryo dunes, and this is most probably due to the fact that their initial body fur is not waterproof. One of them was even on the viewing platform itself, and the warden told me that this was normal. It would stay here, and live off it's fat for some time, whilst the parents went to catch fish. Declining fish stocks were on my mind.

But of course the one structure that keeps them at bay, and allows us to watch them, is the dune we were standing on itself. The stability of such a dune is partly due to the rhizomes of the marram grass, but this is taken for granted and it's only the most passionate of geographers like myself who bovered to realise this morning the importance of this natural aeolian formed coastal feature.

My walk back was against the prevailing wind, and large nimbus clouds were hanging in the sky, so at last it was beginning to be the "bleak midwinter" that we all expect. Festive joy in the local pub, the Nelson's Head, and back home to celebrate the eve of the big day tommorow.

May I wish all my readers a very merry Christmas and a very fruitful new year! Love and Best Wishes, Dan.