East Anglia Holiday - Day 4

On day 4, Monday, it rained continuously and mostly heavy rain, so not a single snap. We first stopped off at Carlton Marshes having now arrived in Suffolk (http://www.suffolkwildlife.co.uk/nr/sites/carlton.htm). The reserve itself seemed decent enough but a combination of the weather and the fact that due to them hosting an A Level group the visitor centre was closed to adults (an Ofsted ruling apparently!) meant we only did a short walk and then headed off pretty disappointed. We had lunch at a garden centre then headed on to Strumpshaw Fen (http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/s/strumpshawfen/), which was completely different. It was still raining heavily but at least the reserve was 'open', albeit deserted. We will definitely head back to Strumpshaw, the reserve itself looks very promising, the hides are well located and we left with a very good impression of the place. I wanted to take a snap from the heights of the Tower hide (least I think it was called that - excellent views!) but found that my camera had drained my second and only back-up battery and my charger was at home - a four hour drive away :( Much fretting later I decided to buy a new charger if I could.

Soggy and cold we headed back to our hotel to watch the football and fight with a bottle of red wine (we lost). A damp 5 miles, not helped by my boots leaking too :(