Freiston Shore RSPB Reserve

Location: See RSPB Website

Facilities: Car Park, 1 hide with ramp and room for one wheelchair. No toilets

Opening Hours & Admission: Reserve always open

Contact: Matt Hackney [dba member] matthew.hackney@ntlworld.com

Review:

I’ve visited Freiston Shore three times now and even though it’s a fairly undeveloped site compared with many of the RSPB’s other reserves it is one of my favourites.  There is no visitor centre and, perhaps more importantly for some, no toilets!  There is also only one hide but it is accessed up a fairly gentle ramp and has a space for at least one wheelchair user.  Mercifully the window for this space lifts up, fastens safely with metal latches, and is at a perfect height for the vast majority of wheelchair users.  The view from the hide is a good one as it gives a good view of most of the lagoon and its islands.  As it says on the RSPB website, you can actually see a fair bit from the car park but I reckon you’d be really missing out it you didn’t journey up the path to the hide.  It’s around 250 yards up a fairly rough compacted stone path, but it is pretty much level otherwise so you don’t have to worry about going uphill. 

If you carry on up the path for another 250 yards or so you will reach a rather steep slope that leads up to a bank that will give you views out over the saltmarsh and, at high tide, the sea.  You will definitely need help to get up this slope, and it will be tough if there’s only one person with you and you both have a lot of equipment, but it is possible.  It’s best to time your visit to coincide with high tide especially if you’re going to make the effort of getting up on to this bank as otherwise you are only going to see saltmarsh stretching out as far as the eye can see.  If you come to Freiston at high tide though you will see the sea pushing up much closer to the bank, exactly how close will depend on how high the tide is for the day you visit.  Having said that, you will still need a scope to really get the best out of a visit as some of the distances to the birds are quite considerable and with binoculars only you will be just looking at bird-shaped blobs.   On my last visit many of the birds out on the saltmarsh were still a long way off and I was operating at the limits of my Swarovski scope and its zoom eyepiece. 

To get a little bit closer to the birds at high tide you are best to turn left when you’re actually on the bank and head towards a wooden fence and farm gate.  You should be able to open the gate and gain access to a footpath that runs along the top of the bank.  If you carry on for around 500 yards you will reach a breach in the bank and this is a very good viewpoint out over the saltmarsh at high tide.  The bad news is that this footpath is rather rough and extremely hard work in a wheelchair even if you have mountain bike tyres fitted, and without them I wouldn’t even consider it.  On my last visit I managed the 500 yards to the breach but I did have my new secret weapon with me; a Speedy powered handcycle (if you want to know more about this, follow this link ).  With this fitted the trek is easily possible although you do have to take care in some of the rougher areas.  I think that some of the mobility scooters that are designed to go over rough ground would probably cope with this, but those that are designed for more day-to-day usage will not as they will most likely ground themselves on the rough terrain. 

If you do manage to get up on to the bank though you will be treated to some great views of large movements of a variety of birds out on the saltmarsh if your visit coincides with high tide.  On my first visit to Freiston I was entranced by the waves of Oystercatchers that kept passing only a few feet above my head as they flew inland.  Granted, it’s not going to be as spectacular as can be seen at Snettisham say, but I found it rather moving just the same.  Away from the saltmarsh, you’ll almost certainly find that there’s a fair bit of activity on the lagoon and with Freiston’s location there’s always the feeling that something that little bit special may turn up.

Back at the car park, instead of turning left and heading up to the hide and the sea, if you carry straight on and up and over the hump near the car park entrance you can gain access to a good surfaced wide path that leads alongside some fields.  If you have time it’s worth taking a detour down here as you can spot a number of birds flitting about in the field.  Last time I looked we got pretty decent views of Skylarks and Wheatears. 

I’ve still not explored all the options that Freiston has to offer so will probably update this review when I have done.  Just one final point regarding a convenient toilet stop; if you’re heading out of the area via the A52 you will find a large Tesco store as you come out of Boston and this has a decent disabled toilet if you’re in need!