The new Babcock Hide overlooking Watling Water on the new land at
NWT Cley Marshes will be open to the public from Saturday 17 October.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust purchased the land between its nature reserves at Cley and Salthouse Marshes in 2012, thanks to a £900,000 public appeal and a grant of over £1.5m from Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
Over the last three years the new land has been transformed from its former use as land for commercial shooting. Now the once-degraded pools have been restored and reed beds created. The new hide overlooks one of the restored pools - Watling Water, which was named after Geoffrey Watling - with fantastic views at the moment of autumn migrants, dunlin, black tailed godwits and bearded tits.
The hide forms the latest addition to NWT’s visitor facilities at the nature reserve, and is included in the entry ticket. There is free access for NWT members. Tickets can be purchased at the visitor centre.
Chief Executive of NWT, Brendan Joyce said: “this is another exciting step forward in Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s aims to raise awareness of the importance of Norfolk’s wildlife, on land and at sea, and to reconnect people with the natural world, encouraging more active interest in its protection and conservation.”
There is no car parking specifically for the new land. Visitors are encouraged to use the visitor centre car park or the small car park at the East Bank. Work to improve the path along the East Bank has now been completed. A new mown path – Attenborough’s Walk – takes pedestrians from the East Bank down to the new hide.