We picked up Broom’s Bolero 2 at their Brundall boatyard today. The weather was not promising. The boat is everything one could hope for! Incredibly comfortable for two who are used to more basic boating comforts!
Outward bound for Reedham, two hours down river, the intention is to cover the route of the Norfolk Saints’ Way by boat. We took a detour around Rockland Broad to consider the birds – Swans, Marsh Harriers, Reed Warblers, Reed bunting, Common Terns, Mallard, Swifts, House martins, Black-headed and Herring Gulls and Cormorants.
Arrived at the Reedham Ferry Inn ( where we had reserved a mooring) in time for a glass of something before supper. A pint of Ferryman (re-badged for the venue, but really Little Sharpie), from the Humpty Dumpty Brewery – right next door to the church established by St. Felix in 7th C – and the reason we are moored at Reedham.
The plan is to write something by way of a spiritual log as the cruise progresses.
Today, I have taken some time to consider the birds; Christ-like, I have got into a boat and gone over to the other side, tonight I will sleep in the stern; tomorrow I will meet with friends and share a meal on the shore. Tonight are with King Raedwald ( if it is he who is buried with his ship at Sutton Hoo) and death.
Paying the ferryman was an essential element of burial rituals then. Raedwald’s burial assemblage included golden coins for the oarsmen that carried the sign of the cross. They were Christian, Merovingian coins. But Readwald? Pagan? Christian ? Was he just hedging his bets, when it came to death?
And what of my death? Or yours for that matter! The tide is strong at Reedham. The tide of time runs swiftly too!
The Walsingham Way 
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