About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Friday April 17th 2015 - O is for Oulton Broad

This post is part of the A - Z Challenge.

Oulton Broad is both a suburb of Lowestoft and a large expanse of water which is part of the Norfolk Broads system, although it lies just over the county border in Suffolk. Oulton village was once completely separate from Lowestoft but land, property and road development over the years has merged the village with the larger town and there is now no discernible boundary between the two. The village has restaurants, cafes, pubs, take-aways, the Wherry Hotel and just one main shopping street, and is served by two railway stations, one on the Lowestoft to Ipswich line and the other on the Lowestoft to Norwich line.

Oulton Broad itself is the most southern area of water in the Broads system; to the west it's linked by Oulton Dyke to the River Waveney and to the east is linked by a lock to Lake Lothing which passes through the centre of Lowestoft and opens into the North Sea, forming part of Lowestoft port.  A busy tourist and sporting centre, Oulton Broad is used as a base for boat hire and for a variety of water sports including yachting and powerboat racing. It's one of the few broads with adjacent residential properties, and the north side with its large detached waterside houses is one of the most expensive residential areas in the Lowestoft area.

On the eastern edge of the broad is Nicholas Everitt Park with its waterside flower-bedecked pedestrian boulevard where you can wander or sit and enjoy the picturesque views across the water. Also in the park are large grassy picnic areas, crazy golf, play area, trampolines, a small boating lake, bowling green, tennis courts, cafes, a bandstand and museum, and if you like decent coffee and home made cake then the Park Cafe is a good place to get it. Fishing enthusiasts are well catered for as bank fishing is possible at numerous spots around the broad and day boats can be hired to get out into deeper water and beyond; fish species include bream, tench, pike, rudd and carp and there are several tackle and bait shops in the area.

So whether you want to explore the area or just sit in the park and enjoy the view, on a sunny summer day Oulton Broad is certainly a very pleasant place to be. Photos of Oulton Broad can be found in my post from August 18th 2011.