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Discover the Broads Society: Championing a Sustainable Future.

Since 1956, we've been the voice of the Broads' community, ensuring leisure, tourism, and local economy flourish alongside the natural beauty of this unique, protected landscape.

19/10/2026

The wildlife didn't get the memo.

We sometimes talk about the Broads “winding down” in autumn.

But the wildlife has other ideas.

While some summer visitors are departing, other birds are arriving. Across the marshes, reedbeds and waterways, autumn brings a different kind of activity.

The reeds are losing their summer green. Seeds are ripening, fungi are appearing, and shorter days are changing the rhythms of life across the wetlands.

For some species, autumn means preparing for winter.

For others, the Broads are the place they've been travelling towards.

And as vegetation dies back, parts of the landscape that have been hidden all summer begin to reveal themselves again.

Autumn isn't simply the end of the busy season.

It's the beginning of a different one.

What's the first change that tells you autumn has really arrived in the Broads?

📷 Greylag Geese by Caroline Legg

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16/10/2026

Imagine the Broads without its historic drainage mills.

For generations, these distinctive landmarks have helped define the Broadland landscape.

But many are deteriorating. Climate change, rising sea levels and limited funding are adding to the challenges they face.

We may not be able to save them all.

**So which should survive? Who should pay? And what would the Broads lose if others disappeared?**

These aren't simply questions about old buildings. They're about the future of a landscape we all care about.

Join us for the Third Annual Broads Society Lecture, when Dr Andrew Tullett will explore the difficult choices ahead.

Drainage Mills in the Broads – Icons in a Threatened Landscape

📅 Thursday 22 October | 7.30pm
📍 The Forum, Norwich
🎟️ £5 members | £7 general admission

Your perspective matters. We'd love you to be part of the conversation.

Booking details are in our bio. Go to our website and then events

14/10/2026

A WORD FROM THE BROADS: STAITHE

You've probably seen the word on signs around the Broads.

Ranworth Staithe. Womack Staithe. Stalham Staithe.

But have you ever stopped to think about what it actually means?

a "staithe" is a landing place beside the water, traditionally used for loading and unloading boats.

It's not a word unique to the Broads, but it's woven into the history of our waterways.

Long before many of these places became familiar spots for mooring and watching boats go by, the rivers were busy working routes.

Crops, goods and other materials travelled by water. A staithe was where the river connected with the village, the farm or the wider world.

Today, some remain busy mooring places. Others are quieter reminders of a time when the waterways played an even greater part in everyday working life.

It's one of those little words that can change how you see a familiar place.

Next time you pass a staithe, imagine what might have been loaded or unloaded there a hundred years ago.

Which Broadland staithe do you know best?

09/10/2026

Why are so many Broadland drainage mills standing in what looks like the middle of nowhere?

Because they weren't built to be landmarks.

They were working machines.

For generations, managing water has been essential to life on Broadland's low-lying marshes. Wind-powered drainage mills helped lift water from the surrounding land into drainage channels and rivers, allowing marshland to be farmed and grazed.

Today, many have lost their original working role. But their distinctive silhouettes have become such a familiar part of the Broads that it's easy to forget just how ingenious they were.

And that raises an interesting question.

What happens to working structures when the work they were built to do is no longer needed?

On Thursday 22 October, Dr Andrew Tullett will explore the history and future of these remarkable structures at the Broads Society's Annual Lecture:

Drainage Mills in the Broads – Icons in a Threatened Landscape

If you've ever sailed past one, walked beneath one or spotted one across the marshes and wondered about its story, this evening is for you.

Thursday 22 October
The Forum Auditorium, Norwich

We'd love you to join us.

Booking details are in our bio.

07/10/2026

October can be a surprisingly noisy month in the Broads.

We spend a lot of time talking about how the Broads looks in autumn.
But perhaps we should listen to it instead.

The changing season brings a changing soundscape.
Summer visitors are leaving. Wintering birds are arriving. Flocks gather and move across the landscape. Geese call overhead. Across marshes and wetlands, the voices you hear in October can be very different from those of only a few weeks ago.

Add the wind moving through drying reeds, halyards tapping against masts and the occasional unseen splash from a d**e, and autumn in the Broads has quite a soundtrack.

And that's the curious thing about a landscape we know well.
Sometimes changing how we experience it makes it feel new again.

So next time you're out in the Broads, stop for a minute.
Don't look.
Listen.
What sound tells you autumn has arrived?

Image: Evelyn Simak / Geese above the marshes

02/10/2026

How many times have you passed a Broadland drainage mill without giving it a second thought?

They’re such a familiar part of the landscape that it’s easy to forget just how remarkable they are — or how uncertain the future is for some of them.

On Thursday 22 October, Dr Andrew Tullett will take us beyond the familiar silhouettes for the Broads Society Third Annual Lecture:
Drainage Mills in the Broads – Icons in a Threatened Landscape

Join us at The Forum Auditorium, Norwich, for an evening exploring the story and future of one of Broadland’s most distinctive features.
Thursday 22 October - 7.30pm
The Forum Auditorium, Norwich

Book your place here:
https://www.broads-society.org/event-details/third-annual-lecture

29/09/2026

What happens when salt water pushes into a freshwater landscape?

Next Wednesday, our first Society Supper Debate of the season tackles Saline Incursion – a Growing Threat to the Broads.

With Steve Lane and Friends, we’ll explore what saline incursion means for the Broads, why it matters and what it could mean for the future of this extraordinary freshwater landscape.

But a Society Supper Debate isn’t simply about listening to the speakers. It’s a chance to ask questions, exchange views and be part of the conversation about issues that matter to the Broads.

And this time, we’ll be doing it over Curry Night 🍛🍛🍛

📅 Wednesday 7 October
🕰 6pm–9pm
📍BridgeStones Café, Potter Heigham

If you’ve been meaning to book, now’s the time.

Book your place:
https://www.broads-society.org/event-details/october-society-supper-saline-incursion-a-growing-threat-to-the-broads

🌿🗣💬Good food. Important conversations. And a seat at the table for you.

25/09/2026

What is a river for?

A navigation route?
A wildlife corridor?
Somewhere to sail, paddle or fish?
A means of draining the land?
A view from a favourite walk?
A habitat?
A piece of history?

In the Broads, the answer is all of them — and more.

That's part of what makes caring for these rivers complicated. Different people need different things from the same stretch of water, while the river itself is part of a much larger living system.

Sunday is World Rivers Day, so this weekend we're celebrating the waterways that quite literally connect the Broads.

What does a Broadland river mean to you?

23/09/2026

They're among the most familiar silhouettes in the Broads.
But they weren't built to look picturesque.

Broadland's drainage mills were working structures, built to move water and help make wet land usable.

Today they are one of the defining features of the landscape — reminders of the generations of ingenuity involved in living and working in a place shaped by water.
And many are vulnerable.

We'll be exploring their history, significance and future at our
Thirds Annual Lecture on Thursday 22 October,
when Dr Andrew Tullett joins us for:
Drainage Mills in the Broads – Icons in a Threatened Landscape

🎟️Get your tickets:
https://www.broads-society.org/event-details/third-annual-lecture

Next time you see one of these familiar silhouettes on the horizon, remember: it was there to do a job.

21/09/2026

When do you know autumn has arrived in the Broads?

Not according to the calendar. According to the landscape.

Perhaps it's the light sitting lower over the water.
The first properly cool morning on the river.
Reeds beginning to lose their summer green.
Swallows gathering before heading south.
Or simply realising that the evening has arrived rather earlier than you expected.

Late September is one of those lovely in-between moments in the Broads. Summer hasn't entirely disappeared, but autumn is beginning to make itself known around the edges.

What's the first sign that tells you autumn has arrived?

📷 image with thanks Eileen Joan

Address

Weavers Way Barn, The Hill
Acle
NR133DW

Website

https://www.broads-society.org/

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