A sunset trip to Burnham Overy Staithe was on offer for a Saturday night.
Initially, I wasn’t keen on this location because on the one or two occasions I’ve called by this location before, I’ve felt there wasn’t much there.
However, these are occasions when you have to go for it, push yourself, and challenge yourself to get something.
About Burnham Overy
The villages name means ‘Homestead/village on the River Burn’ or perhaps, ‘hemmed-in land on the River Burn’. ‘Overy’, meaning ‘Over the river’, was added to distinguish it from the other Burnhams in Norfolk.
Burnham Overy lies between the larger village of Burnham Market, less than 1-mile (1.6 km) to the west, and Holkham, some 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east.
The larger town of King’s Lynn is 20 miles (32 km) to the south-west (with the closest railway station), whilst the city of Norwich is 30 miles (48 km) to the south-east.
Burnham Thorpe, the birthplace of Horatio, Admiral Lord Nelson, lies 1-mile (1.6 km) to the south-east.
According to various letters and documents, Nelson learned to row and sail a dinghy at Burnham Overy Staithe, at the age of 10, two years before joining the Navy. The village’s only pub is called “The Hero” in his honour.
Historically Burnham Overy was the port for the surrounding villages of the Burnhams. Both settlements lie on the River Burn, and until the end of the Middle Ages trading ships were able to reach the village (now Burnham Overy Town).
With the silting of the river, commercial traffic switched to the downstream Staithe. With the coming of the railway to the Burnhams in 1866, commercial shipping declined and the last cargo is believed to have been shipped from the Staithe soon after the end of the First World War.
Between Burnham Overy Staithe and the sea, the river spreads out into multiple tidal creeks through the salt marshes that fringe this stretch of coast, and finally reaches the sea by passing through the fronting sand dunes at a gap near Gun Hill locally known as Burnham Harbour.
Small boats can reach Burnham Overy Staithe through this gap and creek. Today Burnham Overy Staithe, and the associated harbour, is a recreational sailing centre. It is also the point of departure for seasonal ferries to the Scolt Head Island National Nature Reserve.
To the east of the Burnham Overy creek, the former salt marshes between dry land and the sand dunes have been reclaimed to form fresh water meadows, part of the Holkham estate.
A one-and-a-half-mile (2.4 km) long footpath links Burnham Overy Staithe to the sand-dunes and beach, running along the crest of the embankment which protects these water meadows from the creek.
The Shoot
Myself and another photographer met at the Staithe and it seemed busy such that we both had to drive round the semi-circular road to find a place to park.
It was a lovely warm evening and the harbour was packed with moored boats, which meant too much clutter to see anything specific to photograph.
We walked up along the bank and away from the harbour to see what was on offer.
Looking back and to our left was a small water channel with some lovely reflections of a row of trees but it looked difficult to get a shot – I tried later on using a longer range lens but by then there was movement in the water and a hindered view of the water.
Walking along the elevated path, we stopped halfway along, made our way down the bank and I grabbed the shot below.
I took a couple of shots looking left from the one above, but these were slim pickings.
We walked further along the bank and spotted a boat on its own moored up.
The sun was starting to fall quite quickly so we set up and starting taking some shots.
I composed carefully making sure the grassy bank went diagonally across the bottom, and the S bend of the waterway in the distance was captured.
For my final few shots, I tried to capture a shot with a bird in the scene.
I’ve cropped the shot square to make the boat more obvious as well as the bird. It’s a shame there was a boat passing in the background as it clutters it a little but I like the shot.
The sun was gone now, and the mosquitoes were proving persistent trying to feed on me, therefore we called it.. that was a wrap.
We wandered back and agreed it had been such a relaxing evening, and well worth the trip.
Onwards and upwards…