‘There’s a unique beauty,’ she says of the coastline. ‘There’s the feeling of openness and wildness, the salty air and the strong winds wrapping round you. It’s a haunting atmosphere made richer by the constant call of the wading birds. On each visit I have seen something memorable.’

She’s been coming here for more than 20 years. She and her husband, Mark, live in the tiny landlocked county of Rutland, so north Norfolk is the closest coastline to home and they used to moor their 24ft wooden sailing boat at Morston. With no sailing experience between them, though, for the first three years they never left the harbour, going back and forth in Blakeney Point, and going through safety drills with their four young children.

Avocets at Blakeney by Angela Harding. Photo: contributed In those early years when Angela and Mark were both working full-time in their respective careers and looking after their family, they didn’t really have time to use the boat but would squeeze visits into any available windows of time.

‘No matter how tired I was after work, once we were heading east it always felt like a great idea,’ says Angela. ‘It did mean it was late when we arrived so we would watch the most beautiful sunsets. Or we would leave Rutland in the dark and get to the boat by first light. Walking out to the pontoon would always be accompanied by birdsong - reed buntings, linnets.’

There’s no better way to observe birds and wildlife than from the back of a sailing boat, she says, and a single wading bird on the mud when the tide is out can provide as much inspiration as a spectacular rare sighting. Sitting on deck in the early mornings or at the end of the day, Angela recalls watching seals basking and geese in formation overhead.

Angela Harding creating one of her prints. Photo: Joanne Crawford ‘We can........

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