| I had long left the beach fishermen behind me when, in
the early afternoon, I reached Benacre Broad, a lake of
brackish water beyond a bank of shingle halfway between
Lowestoft and Southwold. The lake is encircled by deciduous
woodland that is now dying, owing to the steady erosion of
the coastline by the sea. Doubtless it is only a matter of
time before one stormy night the shingle bank is broken, and
the appearance of the entire area changes. But that day, as
I sat on the tranquil shore, it was possible to believe one
was gazing into eternity. The veils of mist that drifted
inland that morning had cleared, the vault of the sky was
empty and blue, not the slightest breeze was stirring, the
trees look painted, and not a single bird flew across the
velvet-brown water. It was as if the world were under a bell
jar, until great cumulus clouds brewed up out of the west
casting a grey shadow across the earth. |
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by Norfolk Tourism