A47 east of Swaffham to Castle Acre

Again, the weather forecast was not great; indeed there has been flooding in the north of England. However I had the day off, and the weather in Norfolk seemed OK, so we decided to walk the remaining five miles of the Peddars Way to Castle Acre. There was light drizzle as we drove to Castle Acre and Swaffham, leaving one car on the green at Castle Acre and the other back near the ‘McDonalds’ roundabout to the east of Swaffham on the A47 (take the turning back towards Swaffham then turn left near the ‘McDonalds’ roundabout to the east of Swaffham on the A47 there is space to park here, at grid reference TF844094). We set off walking just before midday. We didn't get wet at all and the sun even tried to come out.

We crossed the A47 from our parking place and continued along Procession Lane. The map is quite misleading around here - the section immediately to the north of the A47 is marked as road but is distinctly track-like (and on the ground it is marked as a restricted by-way); whilst the section to the north of Sporle Road is marked as a track, but looks more like a road to me...There were good views back to Swaffham's two wind-turbines, towering above the church. These wind turbines are unusual in that they were welcomed by the people of Swaffham, as a tourist attraction as well as a source of electricity. You used to be able to climb up the older turbine (the photograph shows the never one) to an observation platform.

We skirted the site of the medieval village of Great Palgrave (just a few bumps on the ground) and turned left past a modern day farm. The path follows the line of the road, but actually lies behind the hedge for a while, and with lots of plantations it is attractive walking. We crossed the A1065 and took the minor road to South Acre, with good views as we descended from 'Bartholomew's Hills'. We stopped for an apple and soon joined the route of one of our regular walks from Castle Acre (a circuit that includes part of the Nar Valley Way) though we took the official Peddars Way route into Castle Acre (turning right into Blind Lane then left onto Bailey Street) rather than following our usual practice of staying on South Acre Road past the Church to High Street.

Castle Acre is a delightful village, with not one but three English Heritage sites - the 11th Century Cluniac Priory, the 11th/12th Century Motte and Bailey Castle and the Bailey Gate (shown). The River Nar flows across pretty water meadows near the village, with two fords (one on the route of the Peddars Way) and other places of interest in nearby West Acre include the Westacre Theatre and West Acre Gardens. My love of Castle Acre was secured by Church Gate Tea Room, sadly now closed though Barnfields Cafe is also quite nice. We spent some time pottering around the (free) Castle, had a cup of tea at the Church Gate Tea Room, then drove home.

Following leg of Peddars Way