(Try saying that five times fast!)
We spent a week of winter holidays in Old Hunstanton, a pretty village tucked up in the northwest corner of Norfolk, where The Wash becomes the North Sea. We have several favourite short walks in the area - these are a few of them. I've included GPX files so you can download them if you want, but most of them are pretty easy to figure out for yourself once you're there! They’re all circular or there-and-back strolls that will take 1-2 hours, so they’re perfect for stretching your legs in the morning or for catching a breath of fresh air after lunch.
1. Above and below the Hunstanton Cliffs
| Distance: 3mi/5km Start: Old Hunstanton (or Hunstanton) | 
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Although on paper this walk is pretty much a there-and-back-again kind of affair, the 'there' along the beach is very different to the 'back' along the cliff top. We started in Old Hunstanton, walked up the beach below the famous two-tone cliffs, had a cuppa in Hunstanton at the lovely Norfolk Deli, then wandered back via the lighthouse and old ruins. You could just as easily do it the other way around. (NB: check the tide times if you want to make sure you can get around the bottom of the cliffs.)
The beach below the Hunstanton Cliffs. A fantastic place for anyone interested in geology - I found a fossil on the beach here once!
 The low sun catching on footprints in the sand. |  You can see the profile of a person with a beard, right? |
Oystercatchers on the rocks, feasting in the tidal pools.
Another diverting feature of the beach, the wreck of the Sheraton, a steam trawler built in 1907 and wrecked in 1947.
There were half a dozen kite surfers out on the water. I'd love to try this one day!
 Hunstanton town sign - depicting St Edmund and the wolf, I suspect. |  The lighthouse seen through the arch of the Chapel of St Edmund. |
2. Up through the Ringstead Downs
| Distance: 2.5mi/4km Start: Ringstead Downs Nature Reserve, Ringstead |
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Norfolk is famously flat - but it turns out there are some "hills" just out the back of Hunstanton, at Ringstead. We drove out one beautiful frosty morning and parked at the Ringstead end of the downs, following the path straight up between two low, mainly wooded rises. The return walk was much the same, though we detoured up to a lookout over the little park in an old chalk quarry and then down through said park before heading to the car.
West through the Ringstead Downs. It's a lovely, quiet little reserve - and beautiful on a clear winter morning.
 I love how the dew drops have formed and then frozen on the grass. |  Not sure what tree this is - we called it the fish skeleton tree. |
A wonderful old barn at the far end of the Ringstead Downs. I imagine lots of bats live at this farm.
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The path back - looking east through the downs.
3. Beach huts and holiday homes . . . next-the-sea
| Distance: 2.5mi/4km Start: Old Hunstanton (or Holme) |
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This walk follows the River Hun (which is not very big, for a river) from Old Hunstanton to Holme-next-the-Sea, with the golf course on your left. At Holme, walk out towards the beach, then follow the Norfolk Coast Path back to Old Hunstanton. You'll see all manner of holiday accommodation, from hotels to beach huts, caravans to fancy houses - especially if you explore the villages at each end.
It's an inauspicious start to the walk. Looking back over my photos, the number of warning signs implies this is a far more treacherous walk than it is!
 We managed to avoid the golf balls. |  Rosehips - a welcome splash of colour. |
Holme is where the Peddars Way joins the Norfolk Coast Path (they're treated as one national trail). More warning signs!
I do like the muted colours of the Norfolk coast and the abstract patterns formed by sand and water.
 Just be careful, OK?!! |  Heading back towards Old Hunstanton along the coast. |
A hut kind of thing on the beach, but not a beach hut. A beach shed?
Now we're talking! Beach huts (or beach boxes, if you're from Melbourne). We slept on the verandah of a box like this last December. Not this time!
4. Handsome Holkham Hall
| Distance: 4mi/6.5km Start: Holkham Park, Holkham |
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This final walk is a little longer and a bit further east along the coast at Holkham. Holkham is a large, walled estate with a fancy hall, a landscaped and well maintained park, farmland, various monuments and loads of deer. They have a number of suggested walks, both shorter and longer than the one we did. We set off a bit after 9am on Boxing Day and by the time we had finished the carpark, the village and the nearby nature reserve were heaving. We'd chosen a good day to come early!
I love the silhouettes of gorgeous old trees, the lines thick at the centre and dissolving into fine etching at the edges.
 The Monument (imaginative name) and lots of deer! |  In which I manage to make Holkham Hall look a lot smaller than it is. |
Probably my favourite building at Holkham (and one of the oldest): the ice house. Not spectacular, but very cool. (Cool, haha.)
Two-tone water on the lake. The line down the middle is a little weir-type thing.
 The Obelisk. A high point on the estate and quite the landmark. |  One point perspective - works every time. The trees are holm oaks. |
And finally, a reminder that winter in the UK is not always gloomy and overcast. Bright, cold days are great for walking.
I hope you found those little walks enjoyable to read about - and if you ever visit that corner of Norfolk, I hope you give them a go. Let me know if you do!
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