Fringe Project Safety This leaflet is one of a series of self-guided trails that will help you enjoy the Norwich • Before starting your journey, check Fringe countryside. Marriotts your bike is safe to ride. Norwich Fringe Project aims to promote • Although the route follows quiet informal recreational facilities in the Way and lanes, you will meet other vehicles; countryside surrounding Norwich. ride in single file on narrow or busy Northern lanes and never more than two abreast. A 1 4 Woodlands • Take care crossing main roads. 0 • Wear a safety helmet and brightly Cycle Tour coloured clothing.

Cyclists give way to horses and A47 • pedestrians and horses give way to A47 pedestrians. Warn horses and pedestrians of your approach, slow Hethersett 1 down and give them room. A1

BE SEEN – after dark wear 0 • 4

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reflective clothing and use lights. A • Signal before manoeuvre, motorists need to know what you are doing. Norwich Fringe Countryside Management Project • Routes in and out of Norwich are Mile Cross Central Depot Admin Building busy during rush hour periods – Mile Cross Road, Norwich NR3 2DY take care at all times. Telephone: 01603 423303

Email: [email protected] Website: www.norwichfringeproject.co.uk

www.norwichfringeproject.co.uk Maps are based upon or reproduced from Ordnance Survey material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf Marriotts Way and Northern Woodlands Cycle Tour of the Controller of Her Majesty's A distance of 20 miles, or 32 km, it should take about Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes three and a half hours at a leisurely pace. Crown copyright and may lead to H prosecution or civil proceedings. Norwich VERING O HA LAND R L O T City CouncilLicence No.100019747 2004 A R D B O 1 E A AN 1 Y L D SWANNINGTON BE 4 AB 9 M IL L LA D N

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N N L SAN I O DY D LA CFELTHORPE B I NE HUR Cycle T A CH A LA O NE T Locking Rack S R

MAR M R D IOTTS A WAY H A HORSFORD R O E R

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ATTLEBRIDGE FREELAND CORNER A 1 0 1 km 0 6 7 0 1 mile ow many

of us are put M A D R

A R off from visiting the I O H MAP TWO O Key R T T countryside by bike T S R W E Cycle route A when faced with cycling V Y O

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R Site of interest through busy urban traffic I

F to get there? Off-road track For the residents of the Norwich area, Parking the Marriotts Way is an ideal, traffic- Telephone free route between the city centre and the Public House quiet lanes and woodlands of the modern Busy Road fringe. Now adopted as part of Route One on the National Cycle Route, much of its surface has been upgraded to suit all weather cycling. DRAYTON From New Mills in the heart of the city the route STATION A ROAD 10 follows the Marriotts Way to Freeland Corner, north of 67 Taverham. It then follows quiet lanes through Felthorpe and Swannington, rejoining the Marriotts Way at . Please find the route description for features 1-8 on the next page.

M A R R IO T T S M W U S A N Y E A W RIV 1 ER 0 R T 67 E UD IV R y a r

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A S h Park A t Slough Bottom Park IN T u Trail continues A

R U G S U from here y T R S b E T E IN T E n S

g M i SU s EN Anderson's e W Car parking is d ER Meadow ST CRIS V PINS t RI RO indicated on the e AD l f

a map at several places

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L along the route, for MAP ONE D A O R those wishing to

N R bring their bikes by A few off road detours or short cuts are highlighted, A B however it is recommended that they be only used A47 car - cycle locking

S E racks can be found L during the summer months as in winter they can be P L I A

R H at St Faiths Common. extremely muddy. G City Centre The tour is approximately 20 miles, or 32 kms. Marriotts Way and Northern Woodlands Cycle Tour

1. Starting at Barn Road roundabout, 3. Wildlife has been quick to colonise Much of the heath vegetation 8. Common is adjacent to the Halfords Superstore, since the lines to Attlebridge were can still be found, such as covered in scrub providing the the route passes northwards through lifted in 1973. Harebells, Canadian gorse, broom, birch and oak. ideal home for many migrant the site of the old City Station. All Fleabane and Hoary Mullein can be The only remaining songbirds. The nightingale can that remains of the station, which found along the track.Buddleia, the heather survives where it be heard on summer evenings closed in 1969, are the gentlemen’s ‘butterfly bush’ is common and is not shaded in woodland with bursts of melodic sounds toilet on the other side of St Crispins attracts many butterflies. Parties of rides and beneath power sung from the safety of thick and the engine shed at New Mills. Long-tailed tits are frequently seen in lines. shrubs. Once the site was dug The railway opened in 1882 and was trackside bushes and shrubs. for marl (clay), which was used operated by the Midland and Great 6. Felthorpe village is a to improve the surrounding Northern Joint Company. Lines ran to 4. The route crosses the River convenient wayside stop sandy soils. , , and Kings Wensum , which flows 33 miles to with a public house for Chalk was also excavated and Lynn via Melton Constable. The line Norwich from its source near refreshments. burnt in a kiln on the site for use to Cromer included the present Whissonsett. It is a slow meandering as agricultural quicklime. The North Steam Railway. river with an average fall of less than 7. Upgate Common excavated pit now contains rare In its hey-day 140 passenger and 3.5 feet per mile. An ideal habitat for is another SSSI noted chalk grassland with a wide 40 freight trains ran each weekday. wildlife, it is a stronghold for otters for a wide variety of variety of plants, including five and in summer is a great place for habitats in a small species of orchid. 2. Travelling out of the city, the route watching dragonflies. area. A series of pools passes Sweet Briar Marshes , a site of along a spring line are Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), an a haven for dragon - area nationally important for wildlife flies and damselflies. as it contains many rare plants. In the spring hundreds of On a summer evening Sand Martins toads migrate up to three as well as Pipistrelle and Noctule miles to congregate here bats are busy catching insects over for a frenzy of spawning! the marsh.

5. St Faith’s Common and the Flowing along the northern surrounding area is predominantly boundary of the common the conifer plantations, however the Swannington Beck has a thriving landscape used to look completely population of trout and is home to different with heathland cleared of the elusive otter. trees for firewood and grazed by sheep. Close to here was once a pub called the Flagcutters. It took its name While every effort has been made to include accurate from the practice of cutting flags of and up-to-date information, the Norwich Fringe Project turf, used for fuel, from the heath. does not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. If you find any inaccuracies we would be very pleased to hear about them. www.norwichfringeproject.co.uk