There's plenty to see and do when you stay at the lighthouse. Below is a guide to help you get the most out of your stay. Click here for direction and key information.

Binoculars: Don’t forget to bring your binoculars and birding scopes. Barn owls and Kestrels commonly hunt the sea wall right outside the windows

Fishing: The river is tidal but you can fish from the river bank  beside the lighthouse for sea type fish including flounders and bass. The river sides are rock reinforced, so long casting rods and sea tackle are necessary. For baits, use mackerel from the supermarket or frozen black lug etc that can be had from Shipshape in King’s Lynn 01553 764058   A useful link to a fishing blog   Click here

Seals: Seals can sometimes be spotted in the river outside the lighthouse, (normally around full tide) but are almost always to be seen on the north bank at the end of the river at low tide throughout the year. These can be seen from the lighthouse first floor with a birding scope, or walk along the river to the mouth and look across. They just look like grey lumps more than anything else for seal tours from Hunstanton Click Here

Migratory Birds: Winter months from around November to the end of February are the time to see the famous big skeins of Pinkfoot and Brent geese flying overhead to overwinter from colder countries and from field to field. Colourful shellduck are also plentiful winter visitors. Although skeins of geese are often be seen from the lighthouse, they do move around from year to year depending on what crops are growing inland. Snettisham RSPB reserve makes for particularly good viewing as does the WWT Welney washes reserve. For some of the birds you will see Click here 

Gulls: A twice daily spectacular morning and evening are black headed gulls as they fly following the river from their inland feeding grounds to Doughnut island that lies just a mile offshore and is the only island above high water in the whole of the vast Wash sea embayment.

Walking: The walks are primarily sea wall walks. The ten mile Sir Peter Scott Walk starts from just outside the main gate to the lighthouse but most people just follow it out to the main head of the river and back. The full ten mile walk ends t West Lynn and you can take a ferry ride across the Great Ouse river into King’s Lynn for dinner and a taxi or bus ride back. Click here for the ‘Wimps Guide to the Sir Peter Scott Walk’ and more details

Please never go onto the mud at any stage of the tide for your safety

For more details about the wash walking Click here  

Bugs and sea plants: Around the lighthouse, the coastal environment is rich in different forms of habitat, from the raised sea walls to the brackish rivers and salt waters of the Wash itself. Bug hunters will have a great time if they know what to look for and where. This is also dependant on the time of year. There are many different types of coastal sea plants including Samphire (best in July and August), which is still collected today for sale in restaurants and local use. These plants have to be salt water or brackish tolerant and use many different ways to achieve this.

https://wildfood.originaloutdoors.co.uk/uk-plants/coastal-plants/marsh-samphire-salicornia-europaea/

Bombing Range: For  military aircraft enthusiasts, the Wash practice range is just over four miles away up the coast with a wide variety of aircraft, including helicopters, propeller and jet driven fighters and bombers. They can be noisy but seldom practice for more than 20 minutes at a time, so you might be lucky. Look well ahead of the noise to find the jet! Click here for more information.

Doughnut Island: Just a mile offshore is Doughnut Island, although its official name is the outer trial bank. This was a bonkers barmy scheme of the 1970’s that was somehow supposed to test to see if salt water would pass through sand if they were to try and turn the wash into a freshwater lake. building this huge sandcastle cost an eye watering amount of money before being abandoned and is now home to thousands of nesting gulls. Read about it here.  

EV charging point: A 7kW Electric Vehicle Charging point has been provided for your use (type 2 connector) but as with other chargers, you will need to download the app and pay online. We make no money from this and the charge is set at 50p per kW.

Goose Lawns: Please note that there is no access to the goose lawns at the side of the lighthouse and that form a rare geese breeding program. Please do not let your dog bark at them for the geese you will see Click Here

Dogs: As your dog, I am part of the family, so please, please, please don’t embarrass me in the eyes of others. Anything I do on the lawns has to be picked up, bagged and put in the dustbin or tossed into the hedge at the end of the garden where no children can walk into it or touch it. Also, you know that I am never allowed on the beds and furniture because even if they are thoroughly cleaned between visitors, I know that some children are very allergic to the slightest trace of dog and I really wouldn’t want that to happen just because of me.

There are two medium size dog bowls for my use and a feeding mat, so I don’t spill food on the floor or have to chase my bowl around the slippery floor.

If I am shy of bangs, please bear in mind that this is an agricultural area and  at certain times of the year, farmers may have gas guns to frighten pigeons away. It can be a pain but this is the country.

Farm Access: Please note that there is no access across the farm tracks. Farming around the lighthouse is primarily arable but as with many farms, farmers are now working to mitigate climate change including incorporating winter cover crops, introducing sheep, cattle and planting trees to build up soil health and resilience.  

Lighthouse Plan: