The Blakeney Area Historical Society (BAHS) launches its 2024/25 season of events on 24 September with a talk by Nick Acheson, the Norfolk born naturalist, ambassador for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and grandson of a Blakeney doctor. Nick spent Covid lockdowns observing Arctic geese as they overwintered in the county.

Over seven months, he cycled 1,200 miles around Norfolk on his mother’s 42-year-old bicycle, watching brent and pink-footed geese, writing up his observations in a diary.
Nick’s experiences led to a book, ‘The meaning of geese: a thousand miles in search of home’ which was the 2023 Book of the Year at the East Anglian Book Awards. It was described by The Guardian as: ‘a gorgeously observed paean to the beauty and complexity of these birds, and the landscape of North Norfolk.’
His topic for BAHS is a playful rewording of his book title: “The Meaning of Geese – a thousand miles around North Norfolk on a creaking bicycle.” While his extraordinary journey is recent history, his observations on the geese, whose abundance in North Norfolk is threatened by, amongst other things, climate change, are an important historical record for naturalists of the future.
The BAHS programme is organised by committee member and local historian Jonathan Hooton and continues with a talk about German Prisoners of War in Norfolk by Brendan Chester-Cadwell on October 22. BAHS meetings are usually on the last Tuesday of the month at Cley Village Hall at 2.30 but exceptionally, the October meeting is on the penultimate Tuesday.
Formed in 1990, BAHS focuses on the history of the Blakeney Haven, covering the parishes of Cley, Morston, Salthouse, Wiveton and Blakeney as well as their surrounding inland areas. Membership is just £12 a year for an individual and runs until the end of August 2025. For membership enquiries, email: membership@bahs.uk