King's Lynn to Dersingham
Walked by Sally and Richard, 24th March 2012
14 miles (of which 3.5 were diversions from the route) plus 2 miles from home to Downham Market Station
Click here for all photographs taken on this walk
This was a most enjoyable potter on a warm and sunny day - at times it felt more like May than March. We knew that we wouldn't be pressed for time, so didn't leave home until about 9am, aiming to catch to 10.06 train from Downham Market to King's Lynn. The train was about 20 minutes late so we didn't leave King's Lynn Station until about 10.45.
From the station we turned left and left again, to reach 'The Walks' (a park). We cut through to Tennyson Avenue, taking a short diversion to look at Red Mount Chapel, built in the 15th Century and used by pilgrims on their way to Walsingham. At the exit from the park there were a couple of sculptures by Mark Goldsworthy, whose work we saw last year in Homersfield on the Angles Way. We crossed the level crossing on Tennyson Avenue then turned onto the former railway to Sandringham, now National Cycle Route 1. It was quite busy and, inevitably for a cycleway, hard underfoot, but otherwise it was surpringingly pleasant. We passed Kings Lynn Academy (formerly Park High School) and KES (King Edward VII School) with the old tower block of The College of West Anglia behind. We crossed Gaywood Road then continued past the Gaywood River and Lynnsport, pleased to be here today not tomorrow, when a Sports Relief 'Mile' will be taking place. We passed through the residential and (lightly) industrial areas of North Lynn, then left the old railway and turned right onto a path beside the busy A1078 on its way out of Kings Lynn, still on National Cycle Route 1.
We turned left into North Wootton and meandered our way through the village, past the pretty church. Note to other walkers looking for refreshments: by turning off the path into a residential area just before Wootton Junior School, you emerge by some shops, including a small Tesco. This route also brings you out directly opposite a footpath leading to Ling Common, a delightful wooded area with relief for the feet at last, as we left the tarmac behind us. We made our way through the wood, crossed the road and turned onto Wootton Carr, a more open area of common. We stopped for lunch just before a cottage surrounded by woodland, which made me think of Hansel and Gretel, even though the cottage is constructed of local carrstone, not confectionary (though in checking how to spell 'carrstone' later, I learnt from Wikipedia that carrstone is also known as 'gingerbread' to the extent that our local town of Downham Market is apparently known ask 'gingerbread town' in some circles - well they do say you learn something every day!)
We reached Castle Rising, a place that we have visited frequently in the past, usually to visit the Castle, a family favourite when the children were younger and highly recommended. However there's a lot more to Castle Rising than its castle - the whole village is pretty and we took a diversion off our path to take a closer look at the impressive Church of St Lawrence and at Trinity Hospital (17th Century almshouses). Second note to other walkers looking for refreshments: in addition to the Black Horse Inn, there is also now a tea shop in Castle Rising.
We left Castle Rising by way of the former road to the east of the village, with good views to the ruins of St Felix Church. We crossed the Babingley River then walked on a track parallel with the main road to the hamlet of Babingley with it's attractive wooden social club. We crossed the road, passed a National Cycle Route marker, and turned up a minor road towards Sandringham. As soon as possible, we left the road in favour of a track through the trees. This took us first of all onto the 'yellow trail' and then onto the Scenic Drive through the Sandringham Estate. The wooded Estate is very attractive and there weren't too many people about. We stopped at a viewing platform with views to the coast and then, on familiar territory now, cut across to the Visitor Centre, where I enjoyed a cup of tea.
It was now about 3pm and we'd given our ETA at the B&B, not much more than a mile away, as 5-5.30pm, so we had time for a good potter. We wondered about visiting Sandringham Church but, along with the House and gardens, it doesn't open to the public until April. We walked round to the Norwich Gates, then explored the Estate to the north of the Visitor Centre and sat reading for half an hour or so. It was a lovely afternoon, so very pleasant.
We were looking for a path off the Sandringham Estate down to Dersingham Common. We had a couple of false starts (some wandering through the Queen's rhododendrons!) but once we were on the right path we were quickly down in Dersingham. We walked through the village to Ashdene House where we were welcomed by Sue and Martin Bruce and shown to a lovely twin room with a view of the garden, all they'd had left when we booked the previous day, but we would have been hard pressed to do better. In the evening we walked past the Church to the two pubs - The Coach and Horses didn't have any free tables and we were lucky to get one at The Feathers, but we had a pleasant meal of local sausages (me) and lasagne with local beef (Richard).
