Protecting the Protector

We did a circular walk around Holme Dunes after we arrived at the campsite this afternoon. The area is a National Nature Reserve, managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, important for overwintering & migrating birds of all sorts & for breeding waders at the moment, so we kept on the coast path with S firmly on a short lead. Hadn't realised until we read some of the information boards that this was also where they discovered Seahenge, the Bronze age timber circle, a few years back - we thought it was further along the coast.

It was difficult to see what to photograph at first as we were in the midst of acres of a mature dune system with no obvious pattern to hold the eye, & even the smaller plants, the thrifts, etc, were blowing around. As the path ran closer to the sea I liked the patterns of the coastal defences along the shoreline & the sun managed to break through the patchy clouds to illuminate the waves. The water itself was typical North Sea, dark grey-brown & cold-looking. The dunes themselves are an important sea defence, protecting the grazing marshes/meadows behind them, but even such an extensive area of mature dune needs a helping hand in places!