Wells & Blakeney

Wells-next-the-Sea occupies a narrow strip behind a belt of pines and a wide tidal beach, where rows of painted beach huts sit on the sea wall above a broad sweep of sand. The town grew around its quay, where fishing boats and crabbers still work the channels that open and close with the tides. Streets of shops and narrow lanes lead down to the harbour, and marshes and creeks extend behind the quay, changing with each tide and shaping how boats reach the sea.

Blakeney lies a few miles along the coast and is known for its long tidal creeks and the low-lying salt marsh that runs out from the village. Small boats leave the quay to cross to the sandbanks at Blakeney Point, where grey seals regularly haul out and pups can be seen at certain times of year. The area is tracked by birdwatchers and by conservation bodies because the mudflats support large flocks of waders and wildfowl, and paths from the village give access to the marsh edge and the shoreline.