Wicken Fen Figure of 8

This 4.7 mile route at Wicken Fen is a combination of two shorter routes which can be taken alone. There are many other route options around the reserve.

Wicken Fen is the National Trust’s oldest nature reserve and is home to 9000 species. It is a wetland area and as such is prone to being very muddy in places in wet weather. There is however a short raised and accessible boardwalk route.

Wicken Fen

The reserve is free entry and there is a large car park, free for NT members.

1. Leaving the car park turn left and walk towards the reserve.
2. With the café and visitors centre on your right follow the gravel cycle way ahead. Continue on as the cycle way bears left.
3. Go over the bridge on your right and immediately turn left.
4. Follow the cycle track a few metres and take the path on your right.
5. Go through the gate and continue along the grass pathway. Look out for the wild Konik ponies which often graze in the adjacent field.
   
   

   

   Konik ponies at Wicken Fen

   
   
6. Continue on the pathway as it bears right and eventually up onto a bank.
7. Go right, keeping the water on your left and follow the bank until it bears right. Go back over the bridge and continue back along the cycle track to the visitor centre. This is the end of the first half of the walk.
8. Either go around the centre or through and follow the board walk towards and past the wind pump.
   
   

   

   Wind pump, Wicken Fen

   
   
9. Continue on the boardwalk until you reach a hide on your right. Go left and then right.
10. Follow the grass track – depending on the season this could be a passage through high sedge. 
    
    

    

    Wicken Fen

    
    
11. At a ‘cross roads’continue straight over along the summer trail and follow the pathway through the sedge and reed beds.
12. Bear left at the end and then right. Keep the water on your right and continue along the straight grass track. There is a hide on your left about half way down.
13. Bear left at the end still keeping the water on your right and going past the tower hide follow this until you reach the boardwalk.
14. Cross to the boardwalk on your left at the wind pump and go right through a small wooded area. Follow the boardwalk until you reach the visitor’s centre.

Wicken Fen

Our route was 4.7 miles

See the route on mapometer

Terrain: flat apart from short climb up the bank, gravel cycle way then grass tracks. Can be very muddy in wet weather, boardwalk sections.

Habitats: Fields, wetland, reed beds.

Facilities: Toilets near car park and also behind the café. Café and visitor’s centre. Cycle hire and boat trips (seasonal), pub in Wicken village.

Ickworth - Off The Beaten Track (5-6 miles)

Ickworth house and park belongs to the National Trust.  It is free to walk in the extensive grounds.

This route is taken from the website (Off the Beaten Track walk).  I have copied and pasted their instructions as they were pretty good. We ended up walking a bit more due to the field in the section 8 being overgrown (hubby had shorts on and didn't relish being bitten!) and no diagonal path being obvious so we went carried on rather than turning left and followed the wood around the field until we reached the stile .

We also stopped off at the Walled Garden to see the spectacular wild flower meadows. I think from some of the seed heads we might have been a week or two late for the peak but it was still stunning nonetheless.

Wild flowers in the Walled Garden, Ickworth

Lunch was at the restaurant. Slightly disappointing after great previous visits. They have changed the menu and it is not table service any more which means big queues at the counter and a long wait for our food, which seemed overpriced now compared to other NT places we visit.

Route:

1. From the Porter’s Lodge visitor centre take the path opposite towards the Albana Wood, follow the path going through two 5 bar gates. Just after going through the second gate take the path to the right at the small ‘Albana Wood’ stone. Stay on this path until you reach the large green Trim Trail sign, then turn right following the trim trail.

2. As the trim trail goes down a left hand slope and you reach a junction, turn right off the trim trail and leave the woods into an open field. Follow the path down the side of the field with the trees on your right and cross the brook on the wooden bridge.

Sheep at Ickworth

3. Once across the brook, turn right on to the wide track, and shortly through a 5-bar gate. Follow this track until you reach the next 5 bar gate where you will see a cottage beyond the gate and a bridge to your right. Do not go through the gate but turn left and walk up the hill until you intersect the main track and turn left towards Dairy Wood Cottage.

Dairy Wood, Ickworth

4. As you approach the cottage, turn left across the grass and go through the gate in the corner of the field into Dairy Wood. Stay on this track and don’t take any turns or junctions. You will exit the wood briefly and keep on the track as it re-enters near the edge of the wood. The next paragraph covers the loop into Twist and Horsepool wood, so if you wish you could carry straight on, missing out step 5 and re-joining the walk just a few metres further on at the start of step 6.

5. Very soon after you have re-entered the wood look for a barely discernable track/fork to your right. Follow this track which has a ditch on your left as you go gently up hill. Just before you exit the wood cross the ditch to your left and follow the track through the woods. Take the right fork when you intercept another path and you will eventually meander next to some stagnant ponds to your left (great habitat). Keep going until you reach the main path cross roads; turn left for a short distance and left again on a ‘main path’ effectively doubling back into the same woods. Keep on this path until you exit the woods.

Dairy Wood, Ickworth

6. As the path leaves the wood, you will see a clear path between the cropped fields going downhill. Follow the path between the fields to the wide track at the bottom and then turn right. Stay on the wide track for a while. Shortly after passing the ‘White House’ on your right you come to a cross roads. Go straight across the cross roads (stone bridge to your left/cattle grid to your right) following the grass track.

Ickworth Park

7. With the Walled Garden and Canal lake on your left, turn right through the gate approximately at the centre line of the gardens (opposite the summer house), and head up the hill towards the wood-line of Lownde Wood. On reaching the wood, turn left and walk along the front of the wood with the Canal and gardens at the bottom of the slope and to your left.

8. After approximately one third of a mile, you will reach the meeting of a number of fences and gates; go through the gate into the field beyond and then immediately left into the adjacent field. Go diagonally across this field to the opposite corner and cross over the stile onto the path and turn left back towards the walled garden.

Ickworth Park

9. Follow this track until you reach the Walled Garden and turn right keeping the wall of the garden to your left.

The Walled Garden, Ickworth

10. At the end of the Walled Garden take the main road past the church and back up towards the Rotunda and gardens. Go through the 5-bar gate turning immediately right, and enter the Italianate gardens. Enter the West Wing via the orangery and stagger to the restaurant where you definitely deserve a cake or pudding or two.

The official route on the Ickworth website is 5 miles
Our route was 6.25 miles
See the route on mapometer
Terrain: Grass and dirt tracks mostly, moderate climbs in places. Latch gates, kissing gate. Can be muddy in places in wet weather.
Habitats: Meadows, fields (animals grazing), woodland, lakes.
Facilities: Toilets and cafe at Porter's Lodge entrance and at the Rotunda. Rotunda toilets can also be accessed at the back.  Toilets also near the church.

Coton Nature Reserve, Cambridgeshire (4 miles)

Coton Nature Reserve is fairly new, about 10 years old in fact, and covers over 300 acres of farmland including arguable one of the best views of Cambridge – something of an achievement in this flat part of the country!

The reserve has lots of walking possibilities and the reserve map plots a few routes.  We wanted something a bit longer so combined a few of them taking in most of the reserve.  There are also possibilities for longer walks continuing outside the reserve on footpaths.

We parked up in the Martin Car Park, just off junction 12 of the M11.

Coton Nature Reserve

Route:

Take the gateway round the pond on the right to a concrete track and head away from the entrance road.

When you come to a gap in the hedge on the right follow this track round the field (following the orange walk on the reserve map), along the motorway edge and when you come to a small bridge on your left go over.

Carry on straight ahead until you come to a gateway and go out crossing the road.  Go into the next field, turning left and along the track that takes you up a slope.

Rifle Range

As you go up you should see a rifle range in front of you.  (There is a footpath that goes to Barton that crosses the range but if the red flag is flying you must not cross.)  Turn right at the signpost hut and continue up Red Meadow Hill.

At the top turn right and walk along until you come to some steps, take the steps and go through the gate to the top of the hill.  Here you can see across to Cambridge picking out Kings College Chapel, the University Library tower and St John’s Chapel along with the chimney of the Museum of Technology.  It is said that on a very clear day you can see Ely Cathedral.

Views towards Cambridge from Red Meadow Hill

At the top of the hill go left through the gate and turn right and walk back down along the side of the field.  At the bottom bear left and cross the bridge and turn left onto the permissive footpath of Rectory Farm. 

View towards Coton coming down Red Meadow Hill

Follow the track and turn right at the end, walking along the edge of a small woodland area.  At the end of this track turn right again at the signpost and walk along the field going straight on at the end and then right into a woodland.  Follow the narrow path through the trees until you come out back onto the field and turn left. (You can miss out the wood here and continue alongside the field)

Follow the track to the end and then right until you reach a gate on your left. Go through the gate into Manor Field crossing straight ahead. Go past the water recycling centre and out of the gate at the end.

Continue on until you reach the road, crossing here carefully. Go into the next field and walk straight on until you come to Clarke’s Bridge. Cross the bridge and go through the gates.  Walk a few steps and take the gateway on your left.

You are now following the pink walk on the reserve map.  Walk ahead and take the gate on your right into Rowan’s Field.  You can either go straight ahead here towards the cream house or go left around the young woodland.  Either way go past the house and right along side the field.  The recreation ground will be on your left through the hedge.

At the end of the hedge turn right and walk down the concrete track.  Go through the gateway at the end and bear right through the gap in the trees and then left. 

Follow the path bearing left until you meet the concrete track again.

Turn right and walk back towards the car park.

Our route was 4 miles

See the route on mapometer

Terrain – Mostly easy going on grass tracks. Slope and steps up to Red Meadow Hill. Gates and bridges. Some muddy areas. Could be animals grazing.

Habitat – Small pond, farmland, stream. Meadows.

Facilities – Car park, no toilets or refreshments. ThePlough at Coton.

Burnham Overy Staithe to Wells-next-the-Sea (Stage 3 Norfolk Coast Path) (7 miles)

The weather was grey and misty when we arrived in Burnham Overy Staithe  for stage 3 of our Norfolk Coast Path walk.  Apparently Nelson learned to row here and once we turned down the harbour road it was clear the tide was right in.  There is parking here at the harbour but do not leave your car without checking the tides!  Having recently taken delivery of a new car we were reluctant to see it floating out to sea so went to plan B.  We drove on to Wells-next-the-Sea and parked up in the car park before catching the first Coasthopper bus of the day (Sunday – 9.40am but do check the timetables) back to Burnham O.S.

Burnham Overy Staithe

Once we were off the bus at The Hero pub we took the road opposite down to the harbour and turned right.  This part of the walk is along a bank which winds its way towards the sea.  The air was still with not a hint of breeze this morning but you are quite exposed and I imagine, like our previous walk, it could be cold on a blowy winter's day.

Burnham Overy Staithe

Despite the restrictive parking, it was nice to see the tide in for a change.  On our previous two walks (Stage 1 & Stage 2) we had been surrounded by mud and all the boats were stranded in the marshes.  

I’ve never really seen Small Egrets until I walked this path and today there were lots making the most of the food bought in on the tide.  There were a few serious photographers out too, long lenses balancing on monopods pointing towards a group of what I thought were Egrets as they fished in the lagoons. (I later zoomed in close to the photo I took - they were a long way away so it's not clear enough to post up - and have decided they were actually Spoonbills, another first for us)

Dunes leading onto the beach

After about 1 ½ miles the bank became a boardwalk and we headed into the dunes.  After a short climb over the top we stopped to take in the view - a spectacularly beautiful sandy beach.  The official coastal path goes through the dunes but we went down onto the sand.  The tide by now was just starting to go out and we turned right walking along the edge of the shore for a few miles as the sun started to burn through.  It truly is a stunning unspoilt stretch of beach.  We crunched over millions of shells, especially razor fish shells which litter in drifts along the high tide mark.  This beach, and many of the North Norfolk beaches were badly damaged by the storm surges in December 2013 but you can see the dunes starting to re-establish themselves already.

Razor fish shells on Holkham beach

We followed the line of the dunes for a while in the now warm sunshine.  We actually started to find walking on the sand got tougher as it dried out and, knowing we had quite a way to go, we took a path on the right, cutting through the dunes slightly early, and walked along the inside edge of the pine woods coming out in the nature reserve near the bird hide.  The hide was full with people watching large noisy flocks of geese out on the marshes.  The official route goes a bit further along the sand/dunes coming out at Holkham Gap.  Either way you will eventually come out at the top of Lady Anne's Drive in Holkham.  Again you have a choice, you can walk through the pine woods or as we did cross the road and follow the bike trail along the outside edge.  You could also just keep to the sand and walk right to Wells if your calves will take it, although again do watch the tide times as there are many sandbanks and strong currents along here.

Holkham beach

We had done this part of the walk before, albeit in the opposite direction.  As it is close to the car park at Holkham and to Wells holiday park it was busier than the first part.  As well as walkers, we passed dog walkers and cyclists, all enjoying surely one of the last warm summery Sundays of the year.  We stopped for a while on a bench and watched a pair of buzzards circling over head.

Buzzard at Holkham/Wells

Eventually the trail bends round to the left, passing some holiday chalets and then at the signposted junction we took a right towards a car park. We stopped briefly here for the toilets but decided to carry on to the town for something to eat, although the café near the car park is good.  We climbed the steps onto the pathway that runs alongside the harbour and Beach Road and followed it towards the town just as the clouds began to gather again.  (There is a little train that runs up and down here too sometimes)

The walk to Wells-next-the-Sea town

The car park we started at is just to the right at the end of the road but we stopped to pick up our lunch in the excellent Wells Deli opposite and ate it on the harbour wall before heading home.

Route:
1.              From The Hero pub in Burnham Overy Staithe follow the road opposite to the harbour. 
2.              Take a right and follow the path along the top of the bank.
3.              At the dunes either follow the path on the right along the top of the dunes or go down onto the beach and turn right.
4.              Follow for a few miles until you reach Holkham Gap on your right (not signposted)
5.              Follow the boardwalk away from the beach and either go through the woods or along the marked path on the outside of the woods.
6.              Follow the pathway until you reach a junction.
7.              Take a right and go through the gateway into the car park.
8.              Walk between the café and the toilets and take the steps up onto the pathway.
9.              Follow the pathway into Wells town.
10.          At the main road turn right to get back to the car park.

Our route was 6.96 miles.

See the route on mapometer

Terrain: Grass paths and boardwalks from Burnham O.S. flat and easy although small climb into the sand dunes, beach is mixture of wet and soft sand, through the nature reserve and along the edge of the pine woods the paths are wide and sandy and easy going.  Flat tarmac path to the town. 

Habitat: Marshes, coastal, pine woods, nature reserve, ponds, harbour, urban

Facilities: Toilets at car park in Wells, Coasthopper bus stop near car park.  No toilets that I could see at Burnham O.S. although there is the The Hero pub.  Toilets and café at the beach end car park of Wells.  Numerous shops, cafes, fish and chips in Wells town.

You can see my photos from the other stages of our Norfolk Coast Path walk on my Flickr album