The thing about a lot of the Norfolk Broads is that you can only see them from the water, surrounded as they are by wetland and woodland. Many aren't even accessible by public footpath, let alone a road. But Malthouse Broad is fully visible and also car-park-adjacent, assuming you can find a space. Head for the staithe - the local term for a landing stage - where all kinds of boats moor up around a small square of grass. 24 hours max if you come by water, with a £12 overnight fee unless you're a parishioner in which case mooring's free. The village of Ranworth is small by national standards but normal for Norfolk, a few miles from the A47 not quite as far as Acle. I should point out that the Visitor Centre is more a visitor shop, that scooped ice creams can be found in the Granary and that the local pub is closed until 21st April following a winter spruce-up.
From the staithe a footpath leads alongside Broad Road to the edge of a patch of wet carr woodland. Think alder and birch trees growing from squidgy pools, with plenty of grasses and reeds and the occasional burst of yellow irises. Thankfully a wooden boardwalk has been constructed to enable further progress, zigzagging onward for a good few minutes and occasionally wide enough to permit the overtaking of dawdling families. At the far end half-hidden behind tall reeds is a thatched two-storey ornithological hideaway, courtesy of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, where you can either buy bird goodies or point your binoculars across the water in search of tufty feathers. I don't know what the Queen spotted when she opened the place in 1976 but we spotted a great crested grebe as well as several swans and a big Mississippi-style paddle steamer.
This is actually Ranworth Broad, a separate swathe of water to the broad beside Ranworth. Beside the sole access point is a jetty from which a reed-lighter called Little Tern sets off on 40-minute wildlife-spotting trips, although the heritage aspect is a smokescreen because it's all electric now. Miss that and you're walking back, but you can vary the route and loop pass the parish church instead. St Helen's is sometimes known as the Cathedral of the Broads, more for its treasures than its scale. The painted rood screen is one of England's finest, the illustrated prayer book is late medieval and the church tower can be climbed for a suggested £2 donation. The 89 spiral stairs are teensy, then come two actual ladders to get you past the belfry before pushing open a trapdoor to emerge on the roof. I turned down this opportunity, I believe for the second time, but if you truly want to see the Broads there's nowhere topper.
