WALKING IN About the Author Originally from the West Midlands, Laurence Mitchell has lived in Norfolk for longer than he cares to remember. With a degree in Environmental WALKING IN NORFOLK Science, he worked as a geography teacher for many years before taking by Laurence Mitchell up travel writing and photography full-time a decade or so ago. Never one to follow the crowd, Laurence is especially interested in off-the-beaten- track destinations like the Balkans, Central Asia and the Caucasus region, and has written guidebooks to Serbia, Belgrade and Kyrgyzstan, as well as Slow Travel Norfolk and Slow Travel Suffolk, for Bradt Travel Guides. When not venturing off to exotic destinations abroad he likes to explore his own backyard of Norfolk and Suffolk, a region he enjoys just as much as anywhere else. In addition to writing several guidebooks, Laurence has contributed to a number of travel anthologies and provides regular travel and destination features for magazines including Hidden Europe, Geographical, Walk and Discover Britain. He is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers and the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. Find out more at the author’s website, www.laurencemitchell.com, and his blog, www.eastofelveden. wordpress.com.

Other Cicerone guides by the author Suffolk Coast and Heaths Walks JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS, OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL www.cicerone.co.uk © Laurence Mitchell 2017 CONTENTS Second edition 2017 ISBN: 978 1 85284 869 9 Map key...... 4 Reprinted 2020 (with updates) Overview map...... 7 First edition 2013 Printed in China on responsibly sourced paper on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd INTRODUCTION ...... 9 A brief history...... 11 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Landscapes...... 14 Library. Wildlife ...... 18 © Crown Copyright 2017. OS PU100012932. National Parks and AONBs...... 19 Getting there and back ...... 20 When to go ...... 22 Updates to this Guide What to take...... 22 While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of Food and drink...... 23 guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime Waymarks and access...... 23 of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Safety...... 23 Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/869/updates), so please check Maps ...... 23 before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about Using this guide...... 24 such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of Longer walks in Norfolk...... 25 way can be altered over time. We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent 1 NORTHEAST COAST AND THE BROADS...... 26 by email to [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Walk 1 Winterton-on-Sea ...... 27 Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL. Walk 2 Potter Heigham and ...... 31 Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers Walk 3 North Walsham...... 35 and GPX files where available, register your book atwww.cicerone.co.uk . Walk 4 Happisburgh...... 39 Walk 5 Horstead and River Bure...... 42

Route symbols on OS map extracts 2 , THE YARE AND WAVENEY...... 46 (for OS legend see printed OS maps) Walk 6 River Chet and Hardley Marshes...... 47 Walk 7 Outney Common and Earsham...... 50 route start/finish point Walk 8 and Claxton ...... 54 alt route route direction Walk 9 ...... 58 OS map extracts reproduced at 1:40,000 (2.5cm to 1km) Walk 10 and ‘The Triangle’...... 62 Walk 11 Burgh Castle...... 66 Walk 12 ...... 70 Features on the overview map Walk 13 Fritton Common...... 73 County/Unitary boundary National Park Walk 14 Harleston and Redenhall...... 76 Urban area Area of Outstanding Natural Walk 15 and River Yare...... 80 Beauty Walk 16 New and ...... 84

Front cover: A sunny ride in Forest (Walk 31) Overview map

3 AND COAST...... 88 Walk 17 and Beeston Regis...... 89 km 20

Walk 18 Bodham and Baconsthorpe...... 94 10 miles Walk 19 Itteringham...... 98

Walk 20 Aylsham and Blickling...... 101 eat N G r

Walk 21 Old Hunstanton, Thornham and Holme-next-the-Sea. . . . . 105 armouth THE Y

Walk 22 Snettisham ...... 111 BROADS 0 0

Walk 23 Salthouse and Cley-next-the-Sea...... 115 1 11

Walk 24 Blakeney and Downs ...... 120 10

Walk 25 Little Walsingham, Houghton St Giles and Great Snoring. . . . 124 2 Saxmundham 6 Acle

Walk 26 Brancaster Staithe and Barrow Common...... 129 4 8 7 9

4 CENTRAL NORFOLK AND BRECKLAND...... 133 3 R Yare alsham North R Alde W Loddon Harleston

Walk 27 Thompson Common and Pingo Trail...... 134 5 omer

Norwich

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12 e Walk 28 Swannington and Upgate Common...... 138 C r

14 n

R Bure Hoveton e

13 v Walk 29 ...... 141 a

m u W 20 15

s 17 Walk 30 ...... 145 Location of walks n e R ough 19 W Framlingham 28 Walk 31 Santon Warren and Thetford Forest...... 148 18 R ylsham

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A Yare Diss R

5 WEST NORFOLK AND FENS...... 153 16 Attlebo r 23 Walk 32 Harpley and Peddars Way...... 154 Sheringham 24

Walk 33 and ...... 158 d

Walk 34 Helhoughton and West Raynham...... 163 30 25 Walk 35 Castle Acre...... 167 eham NORFOLK 27 fham Thetfo r 33 De r

Walk 36 Roydon and ...... 171 Wells- atton 34

Walk 37 Narborough and Nar Valley...... 174 next-the-Sea W Swa f 31 35

Walk 38 ...... 179 26

Walk 39 Hilgay Fen...... 184 32 Walk 40 The Wiggenhalls...... 187 38 37 21

36 Little Ouse R Ouse Little King’s Lynn King’s Appendix A Route summary table...... 191 Market 22 Appendix B Useful contacts...... 195 Downham Appendix C Further reading...... 198 39 Skegness

Appendix D Long distance walks in Norfolk...... 199 40 Hunstanton Newmarket

e Acknowledgements s

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Thanks to David Vince and Nicola Draycott for their helpful advice on some a

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of these walks. R

R Nene R 7 St Ives attershall Ramsey Boston T Spalding Whittlesey Peterborough CAMBRIDGESHIRE  Walking in Norfolk

Round tower church, commonly found in Norfolk, at Burgh Castle near Great Yarmouth (Walk 11) INTRODUCTION

A rich harvest – straw bales in the fields just outside North Walsham (Walk 3)

‘Very flat, Norfolk’, asserts Amanda in make associations with the low-lying Noël Coward’s Private Lives, reflect- Fenland region of the far west of the ing pretty much the commonly held county: aspects of Norfolk, certainly, view of the county: a place, with but not the full picture by any means. attitude perhaps (think of its heroes – While it is undeniable that the Horatio Nelson, Thomas Paine, Delia Fenland region of the county’s far Smith, Stephen Fry...Alan Partridge), west is flat and low-lying, as are but certainly not with altitude. The the marshes and waterways of the stereotyped view, although mislead- Broads in the east, between these two ing, is understandable enough, as extremes there is a great deal of topog- most people have some sort of image raphy going on. The fact is, Norfolk is of Norfolk even if they have never far more varied than most outsiders visited the county. Many will have imagine, with several distinct types of seen the vast sandy expanse of North landscape, some of which are unique Norfolk’s Beach in films to the county. In addition to the shim- like Shakespeare in Love or TV pro- mering water-world of the Broads, and grammes like Stephen Fry’s Kingdom. the black soil and arrow-straight chan- Many more will think of boating nels of the Fens (actually, just a small holidays on the Norfolk Broads, or fraction of the county’s landscape),

8 9 Walking in Norfolk A brief history

changed the look of the countryside. revolution, if it could be called that, It is also to smell and taste it – the was earlier: between the 13th and tang of salt air in the coastal marshes, 17th centuries when much of the land the fecund smell of wet vegetation was given over to large flocks of sheep in the Broads, the pungent aroma of for the thriving international wool wild garlic in ancient woodland in trade, and the county (or rather the spring and, maybe less romantically, county’s landowners) grew wealthy the occasional whiff of cattle slurry on the profits. The wealth can still and freshly hosed farmyards. It is to be seen today in lavishly decorated experience wildlife too: the seeking parish churches that seem to be dis- out of Norfolk specialities and, more proportionately large for the small vil- exciting still, chance encounters – lages they service. sluggish grey seals on winter beaches Despite its relative proximity to on the North Norfolk coast, the deep London, Norfolk still has a slightly boom of a bittern hidden in reedbeds, isolated, ‘end of the road’ feel about the spectacle of flocks of uncount- it. Much of the county is, quite liter- able waders at the Wash, dragonflies ally, at the end of the road as it does and swallowtails in the Broads in not lie on the route to anywhere else – Old Hunstanton is popular for its beach and its very distinctive cliffs summer; even the all-too-common if you have come to Norfolk, you have experience of pheasants exploding made a decision to come here and are from the undergrowth while crossing not merely passing through. The fact Norfolk also has the sandy Brecks, native Norfolk acquaintance that ‘The arable land. Perhaps more than any- that Norfolk is among the few coun- rolling pastoral farmland, ancient trouble with mountains is that they get thing, though, it is a sense of history, ties in that does not have a woodland, meandering rivers and, in the way of the view’. Although I do of change through time. motorway going to it is something to the jewel in the crown, the gorgeous not subscribe to that view myself, after Any walk in Norfolk is a walk be celebrated by those who prefer North Norfolk coast with its beaches, decades living in East Anglia I have at through history. Although the county a quieter life. That is not to say that shingle banks, salt marshes and tidal least come round to thinking that even might have become a backwater by the county is backwards or insular as mud flats. There are few other coun- the most diffidently undulating land- the 19th century, in medieval times some might suggest, just that it has ties in southern England – or any- scapes have plenty to offer in their Norfolk was one of the most densely different priorities than simply getting where in the for that own right. populated counties in England. Now somewhere as quickly as possible. matter – that have quite as much sheer The joy of walking in Norfolk is to it is among the least crowded. Unlike variety within their boundaries. experience this variety of landscapes much of England, the Industrial Of course, topography is not the in the raw – to follow the course Revolution never really took off in A BRIEF HISTORY be-all and end-all of a landscape’s of a river upstream, to walk along East Anglia as the region did not have In 2010, the discovery of a haul of flint beauty. As any fan of the Fens will ancient footpaths, to stumble upon the raw materials or power sources tools on a northeast Norfolk beach near tell you, what the landscape lacks in pristine tracts of woodland that have necessary for manufacture and so Happisburgh pushed back the date of elevation it makes up for with enor- been around since the last Ice Age it was largely bypassed by the sud- the first known human occupation of mous skies and cloud formations of and villages that were thriving at the den and dramatic urban changes Britain by a quarter of a million years. Himalayan proportions. Indeed, I time of the Domesday Book, before that took place throughout the North The tools, which were estimated to be have been told – quite seriously – by a the Norman invasion dramatically and Midlands. Norfolk’s economic around 900,000 years old – the oldest

10 11 Walking in Norfolk A brief history

before being eventually subjugated. region’s most important hub under The Romans finally left inad 410 after Norman rule and both its castle and building numerous roads and castles cathedral were completed within half at Brancaster (Branodunum), Caister a century of the Norman Conquest of and Burgh Castle (Gariannonum) 1066. By the 14th century, Norfolk near Great Yarmouth. The next invad- was the most densely populated ers were Anglo-Saxons who settled region of England, partly due to inten- throughout Norfolk, which became sive agriculture that cultivated the part of the Kingdom of East Anglia land and reared very large flocks of ruled by an Anglo-Saxon dynasty. sheep as part of the burgeoning wool Vikings came a little later, attacking trade. Much of the county’s remaining the county in the mid 9th century woodland was cleared for agriculture and killing King Edmund in Suffolk during this period. During the medi- in ad869, leaving Norse names as eval period, the Church was central testament to their presence in many to everyday life in Norfolk and more settlements in the east of the county, churches, often financed by the wool particularly those that end in ‘–by’ like trade, were built than in any other Scratby, Filby and Hemsby. English county. Gariannonum Roman Fort, Burgh Castle (Walk 11) , already an important At the same time, monastic com- Anglo-Saxon town, emerged as the munities were established around the ever found in Britain – were probably there appears to have been sufficient those used by the hunter-gathering population to warrant the building Homo antecessor, or ‘pioneer man’, of a ritual wooden structure – the so- who lived alongside mammoths and called ‘Seahenge’ at Holme-next-the- sabre-toothed cats in a Britain that was Sea on the northwest coast near Old still attached to mainland Europe. At Hunstanton. the time Britain’s climate was becom- Evidence suggests that Norfolk ing increasingly cool as it was enter- has been continually farmed since ing an ice age and the population as the Iron Age, and hoards of coins and a whole was probably no more than torcs found at Snettisham point to the a few thousand at most. Much later, presence of an organised and rela- around 58,000bc, there is evidence of tively sophisticated population back Neanderthal mammoth hunting sites in the first century bc. The Iceni tribe in what is now Thetford Forest. The were dominant in the region at the same Brecks region was also the scene time of the Roman Conquest in ad43, for large-scale flint hand axe produc- and under the leadership of Queen tion at Grimes Graves in the Neolithic Boudica they rebelled violently period around 5000 years ago. A mil- against Roman rule in ad60, creat- All Saints Church, Shipdham, with its unusual wood and lead spire (Walk 30) lennium later, in the Early Bronze Age, ing widespread havoc in the region

12 13 Walking in Norfolk Landscapes county at Little Walsingham, Castle including Holkham, Houghton and above sea level, while some of the Fen the Brecks in the southwest of the Acre, Thetford, Binham, Burnham Felbrigg Halls. It was also around region in the county’s far west actually county, the deposit was just a thin Norton and North Creake. It was dur- this time that the county became the lies at sea level or below, the result of layer of sand, while elsewhere, large ing this same period that the Norfolk cradle of the Agrarian Revolution, an ambitious drainage scheme that depositions of clay ensured that the Broads were inadvertently created with landowners like Thomas was begun by Dutch engineers in the resulting soil would be sufficiently by the extensive digging of peat for William Coke (‘Coke of Norfolk’) and 17th century and continued into the fertile to provide for intensive farm- fuel in east Norfolk, the pits created Charles Viscount Townshend (‘Turnip early 19th century, when wind-pow- ing for millennia. In North Norfolk, eventually becoming filled with water Townshend’) revolutionising farming ered pumps were replaced by coal- the Cromer Ridge, a low range of to create a system of manmade lakes. with new modern methods and rota- powered steam engines. hills that marks the highest land in During this same wool-boom period, tional systems. Having successfully The underlying geology is chalk the county rising to 102 metres, was Norwich, the county capital, enlarged made the transition from the produc- but this only comes to the surface in formed by old glacial moraines at the to the extent that it soon became tion of wool and established itself parts of the west of the county. Most edge of the ice sheet during the last England’s second city and would as England’s granary, Norfolk was of what is seen on the surface is the glacial period. The ridge, which lies remain so until the early 18th century seriously affected by a widespread result of fairly recent geomorphic just inland from the coast and extends when it would be overtaken by Bristol. depression in farming at the end of the activity – the land-shaping that took west from Cromer, is characterised by On the other side of the county from 19th century as a consequence of the place at the end of the Ice Age when large areas of open heath mixed with Norwich, King’s Lynn developed to importation of grain from across the retreating glaciers laid down huge deciduous woodland. become an important port, and by Atlantic. Many of the county’s large deposits of sand, mud and gravel on The North Norfolk coast, most the 17th century this was the busiest estates became neglected or were the underlying bedrock. In areas like of which is designated an Area of in Norfolk and a prominent member forced to sell up and, in the aftermath of the Hanseatic League, which pro- of World War I, some were broken up moted trade between England and into smaller units. World War II saw northern Europe. a population increase in the county, Compared to the rest of England, as many airfields, mostly bomber Norfolk was little affected by the bases, were built in Norfolk because English Civil War in the mid 17th cen- of its relative flatness and proximity tury, although the county had been to Germany. Although primary indus- seriously shaken by Kett’s Rebellion a tries like farming and fishing have century earlier in 1549, when 16,000 ceased to be big employers in the rebels under the leadership of yeo- county since World War II, Norfolk man famer Robert Kett temporarily still retains its essentially rural charac- occupied Norwich as protest against ter into the 21st century. the forced enclosure of common land. Kett’s men subsequently fought against the King’s army, which with LANDSCAPES the aid of foreign mercenaries killed Although almost all of Norfolk lies 3,000 of the rebels before capturing below 100 metres in altitude there is Kett and executing him for treason. considerable scenic variety within the Many grand country houses were county. Little of the land around the Eroding cliffs at Happisburgh with lighthouse and church in the distance (Walk 4) built in Norfolk in the 18th century, Broads rises more than a few metres

14 15 Walking in Norfolk WALK 1 Winterton-on-Sea 1 NORTHEAST COAST Start Beach car park, Winterton-on-Sea (TG 498 198) AND THE BROADS Distance 5 miles (8km) Time 2hr Map OS Landranger 134 Norwich & The Broads, Outdoor Leisure 40 The Broads Refreshments Pub in Winterton, café at car park in summer Public Transport Public Transport Regular bus service from Great Yarmouth Parking Beach car park (closes at 4pm prompt in winter)

This coastal route beginning and ending in the village of Winterton-on-Sea takes in a variety of landscapes along the way. Most impressive of all is the large area of sand dunes immediately north of the village – a nature reserve with several rare and distinctive species. Elsewhere, the route follows farm tracks through woodland and quiet country roads with virtually no traffic.

Start at the beach car park, with fine views of the coast- line to the south across the dunes. Head towards the huts at the northern end of the car park then follow the track inland through the dunes towards the village and church. Reaching a group of houses, go past these to take the road to the right. At the end of a short row of houses a footpath continues across Winterton Dunes nature reserve.4Walk through an area of scrub on the edge of A couple of notice the dunes. The main path runs in a northerly direction boards at the parallel to a fence, which, after a while, it runs right next entrance here give to. Beyond the fence lies a large open area of heath with information about the woodland beyond while to the right are high dunes sepa- wildlife that can be rating the path from the beach. found in the dunes.

Winterton Dunes National Nature Reserve is unu- sual in that its dunes support acidic plant life: most Canoeing at Horstead Mill near Coltishall (Walk 5) dunes on the north Norfolk coast support calcare- ous flora. This factor means that the ecology here

26 27 Walking in Norfolk Walk 1 – Winterton-on-Sea

WINTERTON-ON-SEA butterfly, over 170 species of bird have been Visiting Winterton-on-Sea recorded here and wintering marsh harriers are fre- back in 1722, the writer quently seen, as are nightjars in summer. Adders are Daniel Defoe noted that common. many of the village houses 4 were constructed from the The path veers away from the fence to pass through Alternative route: timbers of wrecked ships. an area of birches before arriving close to Winterton Follow the beach This part of the Norfolk coast Ness, where there is a crossroads of tracks. Turn left to from the car park has long been hazardous for walk through concrete defences that date from World for about a mile and ships because of its shifting War II and go through the gate to follow the track as it then head across sand banks and wrecking leads inland alongside the mixed woodland of Winterton the dunes to reach was a common pursuit in this region in the past. Today, thanks to its location Holmes. At the end of the woodland the track passes by the fence. Follow at little more than sea level, the village is highly vulnerable to flooding and wet grazing meadows. Continue past a track on the left this to the concrete sea erosion, and a flood siren system has been installed. to arrive at some isolated farm buildings and a concrete defences. If parking at Winterton beach car park in winter bear in mind that the farmyard that may or may not be covered by a smelly gate is locked at 4pm. layer of slurry. Follow the track around the field edge to Winterton Dunes the left next to a hedge. This soon turns sharply right to Nature Reserve, a continue along a concrete farm track lined with willows haven for birds and before reaching another road at a T-junction. Turn left to natterjack toads is similar to that of dune systems along the Baltic coast. Natterjack toads breed here and the pools sup- port both common and great crested newts as well as several species of dragonfly. In addition to numerous species of moth and

28 29 Walking in Norfolk

follow Holmes Road, which has a large expanse of wet WALK 2 grazing meadows on either side of it, and turn left at the Potter Heigham and Hickling Broad next junction. Follow the road right at the corner by a cottage and continue past brick cottages to arrive at a junction with Start Medieval bridge, Potter Heigham (TG 420 185) woodland ahead and a high brick wall to the left. Turn Distance 5½ miles (8.8km) left along Low Road to pass Burnley Hall farm. Follow Time 2hr 15min the road through a patch of woodland at East Somerton Map OS Landranger 134 Norwich & The Broads, Outdoor Leisure where the impressive ruin of St Mary’s Church can 40 The Broads be seen through trees to the right. This 15th-century Refreshments Pub and cafés in Potter Heigham Perpendicular-style ruin is covered in ivy and has an oak Public Transport Regular bus service from Great Yarmouth and North Walsham tree growing in its roofless chancel. The church once had Parking Plentiful parking at Lathams store just north of bridge (three- its own parish and probably last saw use in the late 17th hour limit) century. Continue in the same direction past a barn conver- sion and pond. Turn right at the white house, then left towards Winterton’s lighthouse and church tower imme- Beginning and ending at Potter Heigham, a village heavily diately ahead. Where the road swings around to the right involved in the summer boat hire trade, this is a surprisingly tranquil walk take the track that continues in the same direction as the once away from the village. The route skirts the southern side of Hickling church. Continue along this until passing Low Farm then Broad, a large expanse of fresh water that is home to rare wildlife unique to take the footpath to the right that leads past allotments to the Broads, before following a stretch of the River Thurne, one of northeast Holy Trinity and All Saints Church. Norfolk’s principal waterways. Note that this walk passes through part of Hickling Broad National Holy Trinity and All Saints Church, like many Nature Reserve and the that manages it has a no dogs churches along the Norfolk coast, has a tall policy on the reserve. Perpendicular tower that stands as a beacon to those out to sea. However, despite local rumour that it is ‘a herring and a half higher’, the tower Start at the north side of the medieval bridge and walk is actually 35 feet shorter than that of Cromer’s St along the road away from the river past boat hire offices Peter and St Paul Church. on the left and Lathams store on the right. Go past a car- avan park on the left before coming to the junction of Turn left at the road to pass a green with the village Station Road on the right. Turn right to reach the main sign and, a little further on, the Fisherman’s Return pub. A149 then cross this carefully to walk along Station Road Go past the post office and The Loke on the right to fol- where it continues on the other side. At the T-junction low the road to the beach and the car park. turn right along Church Road and continue past bunga- lows and thatched cottages to reach St Nicholas Church, a pretty thatched building with a round tower and a 14th- century octagonal belfry above. Inside is a splendid ham- merbeam roof, wall paintings and a rare 15th-century brick font.

30 31