In 1926, Cley Marshes was bought by a group led by Dr Sydney Long, a local GP and it was his forsight that started the Wildlife Trust movement. Today, the site is Wardened by Bernard Bishop who has followed in the footsteps of his father Billy and Grandfather David. It is through Bernard and other passionate residents and visitors to Cley that this story is told.

This guide is intended to be listened to at points of your choosing along the boardwalk, from the new visitor centre (where pre-loaded MP3 players can be hired) to the three bird hides at the centre of the reserve, However it has been designed so that you can listen to it anywhere on the reserve, or further afield.

The marshes are dynamic environment, a place of perpetual change, new life follows old, and each new season brings with it something different. Even the name itself has been, and still is contested...

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the thirteen passionate people who spared their time to be interviewed, and to Wildsounds who supplied many of the bird song recordings.

The image below of the audio trail route can also be found by zooming into the Cley Marshes marker on the interactive map.