The RSPB’s reserve at Strumpshaw Fen is in the heart of the Norfolk Broads. A number of nature trails lead you through the varied habitats, including reedbeds and woodland and in the summer Strumpshaw is the perfect place to enjoy Broadland meadow flowers.

Set in the wild and beautiful Yare Valley, near Norwich, Strumpshaw Fen is an enchanting nature reserve where you can get close to the outstanding wildlife of the Norfolk Broads. Enjoy a gentle family stroll through a timeless landscape of reedbeds, pools, meadows and woodlands.

In spring and summer, the meadows bloom with wild orchids and come alive with dragonflies and butterflies. Look out for rare insects like swallowtail butterflies and Norfolk hawker dragonflies.

The Catfield Fen reserve is part of the Ant Broads and Marshes National Nature Reserve (NNR), which covers much of the floodplain of the middle Ant Valley. The NNR is one of the best and largest remaining areas of fen habitat in Western Europe. Known as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Norfolk Broads, frankly, there is nowhere else quite like it.

Catfield Fen has been cut for reed and sedge for thatching for many years.  Butterfly Conservation (BC) purchased the reserve in 1992 and has managed it ever since, with the RSPB since 2012. The reserve is a typical fen mixture of open water, reed, sedge and carr woodland. The reed is cut on a 1–2 year cycle and sedge, on a 3–5 year cycle. This is used for thatching, and produces an ideal range of vegetation structures for a great diversity of wildlife.

Many uncommon and rare plants and animals are found on the reserve, including Milk Parsley and Crested Buckler Fern, and dragonflies such as the Norfolk Hawker.

The dykes and ditches support rare plants such as Frogbit and stoneworts. Old peat cuttings on the reserve provide a special range of conditions for water beetles and Catfield Fen is one of the top national sites for them.

The reserve is also the only site from which Trogus lapidator, the Ichneumonid wasp parasite of the Swallowtail, has been recorded in the UK.

As well as providing a home to the rare Swallowtail Butterfly, it also supports a community of endangered fen orchids (Liparis loeselii) and other wild flowers.

The How Hill Trust is a renowned environmental educational charity, established in 1984. It is based in the landmark How Hill House overlooking beautiful gardens, wetlands, historic windmills, woodlands and the river Ant.

Next to the staithe and not far from the house is Toad Hole cottage. The cottage is preserved as a museum and shows the life of a marshman living and working in this area. This is where the nature trail starts from and is a good trail in early summer to see the swallowtails.

How Hill house was built 100 years ago as a holiday home for the family of Edward Boardman, an architect from Norwich. It is built on the hill and has an excellent view over Turf Fen and the River Ant. The gardens that surround the house belong to the Broads Authority and are open all the year round to the public.

The largest of the Broads, Norfolk Wildlife Trusts (NWT) Hickling Broad is a year-round haven for wildlife. It is easy to spend a day walking around its trails or, in summer, gently whiling away a couple of hours taking in the Broad’s hidden corners on one of NWT’s boat tours.

Hickling is situated on the Upper Thurne river system, which holds a significant percentage of the UK population of common crane as well as important breeding numbers of bittern, marsh harrier bearded tit and Cetti’s warbler. In winter large numbers of marsh harriers roost in the reedbed north east of Stubb Mill; merlin and hen harrier are also regular. Barn owl is almost guaranteed and you may see kingfisher if you are lucky. Interesting mammals include the introduced Chinese water deer, red deer and hard-to-see otters.

Among the many insects are two iconic local specialities – the swallowtail butterfly and the Norfolk hawker dragonfly – though many equally rare, albeit lesser-known, invertebrates also occur. Plants are well-represented, with the important milk parsley: the larval food plant of the swallowtail.

Wheatfen Broad is one of the few remaining areas of the once extensive Yare Valley swamp. It is, undoubtedly, one of the most important sites of its kind in Britain. As the patron of the Trust, David Bellamy said, “Wheatfen Broad is, in its way, as important as Mount Everest or the giant redwood forests of North America. It is probably the best bit of fenland we have because we know so much about it. That is purely because one man gave his life trying to understand it – Ted Ellis”.

Wheatfen is now managed as a nature reserve and consists largely of open fen, reed beds, sallow carr and the small broads Wheatfen and Deep Waters. The house and adjacent land are still owned by the family who permit The Trust to extend the nature trails into Surlingham Wood and The Carr.

This is a strange primitive area recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is one of the last tidal marshes of the Yare Valley. The Trust wants to preserve its rich and fragile ecology, but above all, it wants to keep this land and its wildlife accessible for the enjoyment and education of children, students and everyone interested in Nature.