Walk along the Wissey

The River Wissey rises near Bradenham, somewhere in the middle of Norfolk and flows for 31 miles, passing close to North Pickenham, South Pickenham, Great Cressingham, Hilborough, Lynford Arboretum, Mundford, Northwold, Stoke Ferry and Hilgay before joining the River Great Ouse opposite Ouse Bridge Farm, just a few miles from where we live. Only the lower 11 miles or so (approximately corresponding to the navigable section) have a footpath running close, but I realised last weekend (when walking an 'old favourite', the loop from Hilgay along the Cut-Off Channel and back along the River Wissey) that there was about half of this 11 miles that we've never walked, despite it being so close. The occasion to rectify this came on a day when we had hoped to be walking both further and further afield, but were put off by very cold weather and the forecast of snow. It was a lovely walk - mostly very isolated and with lots of wildlife for company (we saw swans, geese, herons, a fox and lost of deer) but with an interesting industrial interlude in the middle as you pass British Sugar's huge Wissington Factory.

Soon after 9.30am we had left one car at Hilgay (parked at the spot we usually use at (TL621986)) and the other on the verge of the A143 Stoke Ferry by-pass as it crosses the River Wissey (TL713995) near the roundabout at the bottom of Whittington Hill. This is about the furthest upstream that you can walk and we'd planned to walk downstream i.e.mostly to the west. However to access the river bank you need to leave the A143 on a path to the east of the road, and then pass underneath the road to head in the right direction. It was so cold (about minus 4 degrees Celsius) that the river was partially frozen. There were boats moored here and again as we crossed the minor road out of Stoke Ferry and passed 'The Moorings'. We could see what were clearly old station buildings to the south of Stoke Ferry.

We reached a sluice on the river itself and crossed the channel that links the Wissey to the Cut-Off Channel. Then, alongside the river, we crossed the Cut-Off Channel on an aquaduct.

The following few miles were the most isolated, as the bank we were walking on crossed Stoke Ferry Fen and Wretton Fen, with the river and flooded areas to our left. We saw deer from time to time, and a huge herd of deer appeared from the woodland of Eleven Acre Belt as we walked past.

The Wissington Sugar Factory had been visible for most of our walk (not surprising - it is vast and it is operating at this time of year, so the steam that's emitted can be seen for miles around). Now we walked right past it. The factory itself (not pretty!) and the Bioethanol plant (the first in the UK) are on the other side of the river, but we passed through the Limex collection yard (Limex is produced as a by-product of the sugar refining process and its sold as fertiliser). Later we passed the massive greenhouses, where hot water and carbon dioxide from the factory are pumped and used in the production of tomatoes.

Then, suddenly, all was peace and quiet again, well, apart from the geese which we disturbed as we walked along the path. We passed an old pumping station on the opposite bank and we were soon back on the familiar territory of the Hilgay loop. By this time the sun had gone in and the wind was getting up, so by the time we left the path at Hilgay to cross the river and return to the car, I'd had enough of the cold (although the car thermometer was showing the dizzy heights of one degree Celsius). We drove back to collect the other car by was of back roads through West Dereham, Wretton and Stoke Ferry (apparently the River Wissey has also been known as the River Stoke) and then returned home for a late lunch.