Wensum Way

We set off walking just after 9am, having left one car in the last available space in the Hoe Rough car park (though there are other parking possibilities nearby which we'd have been able to use had the car park been full) and the other in one of two available spaces in the Lenwade Station car park, reduced in size to accommodate repair work on the section of the Marriott's Way through Lenwade. Again there are plenty of other places in Lenwade, but we were pleased to have been parked in the optimal spots at both ends; we were also pleased that the closure of a short section of the Marriott's Way at this point didn't affect us. The diversion led down to and along the main road through Lenwade, crossing the River Wensum, with Lenwade Mill set back from the road. but we had expected to go that way in any case, though it is not entirely clear where in Lenwade the Wensum Way officially starts. After walking right through the village, we turned down on the tree-lined drive leading to the Lenwade Country House Hotel; all very attractive (complete with free-range turkeys on the other side of a fence) as was the hotel itself in the distance, but it turns out that the hotel closed suddenly earlier in the year; note this was before their financial difficulties could be blamed on the pandemic. We turned to the right, now on a permissive path past Walcis Farm, which is a stud I think; there were certainly a couple of statues of horses.

We soon reached the River Wensum and a series of what appear to be flooded gravel pits, known as Sparham Pools. The boardwalk through is section was slightly wobbly in places but it was definitely passable with care, and this area was delightful; it would have been a pity to have missed it. We passed through a car park that we had noticed on Google Maps when on satellite view looking for parking for our Plan B, but on Google Maps we hadn't been entirely sure where the access to the car park left from the road. Fortunately the path appeared to have been diverted along the access road to the car park so we were able to get clarity on this point; this is certainly an area that I would like to explore again at some stage. We turned left on the road towards Lyng, passing several more pools (including one in which a woman was swimming) and bifurcations of the river.

If you think of Norfolk is an entirely flat county, think again! In the next section we skirted Cadder's Hill then continued towards Elsing, emerging through the pretty "Hundred Year Wood". We had not been able to see Lyng Church as we walked through the village (though we did spot it in the distance when looking back). However, there was a very attractive view to Elsing Church as we approached it. We continued on lanes through the village (where there is a car park which could be useful in the future) and out the other side, being slightly anxious when Richard's mobile rang, just as we were approaching the midway point on today's walk. I was sure it was going to be the residential home where Richard's Mum lives, but it was just the man who is collecting my car for service tomorrow.

We turned right onto a track. For the first point today, the signposting was not clear here; in fact there was no sign marking the Wensum Way or a public right of way of any sort at this point. However we were confident we were following the right route. We could see Swanton Morley Church ahead of us, though our route to it would be somewhat circuitous! After rejoining a road we turned right onto a path by Penny Spot Beck and we followed this down to the River Wensum, passing a family. The river at this point had several strands and was beautiful; so reminiscent of the Nene Way, which we were currently approaching the end of. Right by the main strand of the river there was a "Wensum Way" bench. It was rather too early for lunch, but the well-placed and appropriately dedicated bench was too tempting, so we stopped and ate our lunch, very early, before continuing along by the river.

Bylaugh Hall, an ostentatious stately home apparently known as Norfolk's "Downton Abbey" and now owned by the owner of "The Lady" and run (or to be run?) as a training centre for domestic staff, had been visible for some time and now it was up amongst the trees on the other side of the river. Closer at hand was a sewage works(!) and the beautiful round-towered Bylaugh Church, just on the opposite bank of the river, providing a wonderfully photogenic spot, and as we continued there were also photographs to be had of Swanton Morley Church (still in the distance!) with the river in the foreground. Unsurprisingly, this section of the walk was quite busy. However, the point at which we left the river was the second place in which we noticed the absence of a sign post, and on this occasion we also missed the turn. To be fair, we then realised that there was a post in the appropriate spot but it had lost the appropriate sign.

We crossed what appears to be a little golf course under development, heading towards Castle Farm, but as we again puzzled over the correct route, the 4 x 4 which had been parked by the golf course area came driving towards us and its driver told us that the route was not through the farm but rather through a gate straight ahead. From here we again continued straight along a field edge, then took a 90 degree turn across the field; we'd (on this case deliberately) not taken the path at 45 degrees from the gate, but that would be a shorter and probably better route. The Wensum way continued across fields in slightly rambling fashion; the route appears as a series of unjoined diamonds at this point and it became apparent that two diamonds at 90 degrees to each other do indicate a 90 degree turn in the path. We passed some attractive cows grazing by an attractive tree (cue: photo opportunity) and shortly afterwards managed to stop a newspaper cutting, which appeared to be the walk directions being used by the two walkers we had just passed and which they had dropped, from blowing away in the wind (cue: virtuous feeling).

We were, at last, now approaching Swanton Morley Church, up on a hill to our right, and eventually we climbed up to it. Many years ago, when just working part-time for the Open University, I visited the former Swanton Morley RAF base on a couple of occasions, including to a careers' fair when the base was closing and another memorable occassion: I'd left my car lights on so the battery had gone flat and I had to be jump-started by some obliging air force men and then refused to stop the car at the gatehouse to return my permit, instead throwing it in the direction of the armed guard at the gate...Fast forward to today: the base was handed over from the air force to the army in 1995 and it is now the Robertson Barracks. However, on the corner of the road leading to it there was an RAF flag flying and under this was a conveniently placed bench on which I could sit while changing my socks (which I have found to be necessary on longer walks and/or warm days, in order to avoid blisters). We then continued through Swanton Morley on Town Street, stopping to photograph the village sign on the green, where there are several more benches. A man who was sitting on one of them told us of the cost of the sign to the village and also the cost if the new flagpole (presumably the one where we had been sitting), which had apparently been erected "in case the Queen dies"; it would never do for a village not to be able to fly a flag at half mast when need arises...

Our route continued on a track which left Town Street at this point, passing a school and a football match in progress, with spectators very definitely not social distancing. The track continued to head to the west, became a green lane and eventually turned to join Hoe Road North, a grand name for a narrow and attractive lane which we followed for about a mile, passing Hoe Hall and a little church which had no spire or tower but was nevertheless attractive. We reached a T junction, but our route lay straight ahead on a footpath leading to a bridge across the railway, or so we thought. No difficulty was apparent until we were just about at the railway, but then there was a serious barrier with notice saying that the bridge was closed for demolition, and a sketch map showing a diversion. It was all properly supported by a closure notice from the council, the problems were (a) that the closure notice was dated 23rd Sept with an active date of 29th Sept and today was 20th...(b) that the Norfolk County Council Wensum Way webpages don't mention the closure (and, as I write this description of the walk, on 1st October, I note that the website still doesn't mention the bridge closure). We followed the diversion along the road and over the railway, and noticed that there was already work of some sort going on at the closed bridge. We moaned to a man who we met as we crossed the railway, who had been clearing the route of the diversion along the other side and picking blackberries, but he did explain, quite reasonably, that they had no choice but to close the bridge and demolish it because the concrete was disintegrating - and we could see missing chunks. We scrambled down the just-cleared bank to the field and walked along the edge of it to the other side of the closed bridge, where there was no apparent clue as to the route of the diversion, just "bridge closed" signs. This is my reason for commenting at the beginning of this page that I was pleased we walked the Wensum Way in the direction that we did, as I don't know what we'd have done had we encountered the closure early in the walk with no indication as to what to do about it. In summary, whilst I fully understand the reason for the closure and diversion, better communication is needed!

From the railway, the route led across fields to the west, crossing three roads, the final one* of which was the road we had driven along this morning, not too far from the Hoe Rough car park. The signposting gave Dereham as the end point of the Wensum Way, whilst we were heading to Gressenhall, and about 500 metres after crossing the final road, the Wensum Way was signposted both left and right, with left leading to Dereham (to the south) whilst we headed right towards Gressenhall to the north. The track we were now on led us past a farm and some attractive houses and back to the road we had crossed at *. We were now within 300 metres of the end of the Wensum Way (for purists, our walk along this 300 metres is described briefly as part of the walk described here) and even closer to where the car was parked.