This was the invite from Joyce...
Monday August 19th; Meet at Santon Downham Forestry Commission free car park (with public toilets) at 9.30am. I've attached 2 photos of the signs you need to look out for if travelling from Bury. There isn't a postcode that is suitable and phone connection is awful there. Texts work ok. Car share with John from Skyliner Sports Centre, Bury St Eds at 8.50am. We will be walking to Thetford along the River Little Ouse using St Edmund Way and having a substantial stop at Thetford Garden Centre for coffee and/or Scones/cakes after 8.5 miles (12.30pm ish). We will have a second quick stop at Croxton Church if needed. We will walk a circular route back to Santon Downham which involves a mile of on road walking. The walk is 17 miles.
I met up with Jane and Miranda at Skyliner Sports Center as planned and we were in good time to meet Peter and Joyce to start walking at just after 9:30.
This was our route...
A lot of it at the start and finish was familiar from Joyce's Suffolk Walking Festival walk that I had the pleasure of backmarking with Carolyn. But there was lots more to enjoy on this extended version.
Here are a few photos and some narrative....
The starting (and ending) point.
The bridge that appeared in a Dad's Army episode, as described here.
The River Little Ouse.
We got overflown.
The church of All Saints Santon, which was made redundant in 1998.
"Look at those swans", said Miranda.
In Thetford we met Captain Mainwaring and had a group photo.
And here is Miranda's version including me.
We also saw, across the water on Butten Island in the middle of the river, this statue of Maharajah Duleep Singh, the last maharajah of the Sikh empire. He came to England and settled at the nearby Elvedon estate. Well I never knew that!
..the old jail...
...and the Castle Mound...
...and headed out of town.along a nice green lane...
...towards the garden centre...
...and its Lime Kiln Kitchen for refreshments. The menu even includes doggie treats.
While we were there the thundery showers arrived, some 3-4 hours ahead of when forecast. See how wet it is as we set out again via Tesco car park,
The rain came again and we sheltered under the railway bridge for a while. Miranda had her waterproof cape and Jane and Peter were also prepared... but Joyce and I weren't. I had left 2 waterproofs and an umbrella in my car deeming them not necessary!
We watched the rain swelling this puddle for a while before it eased off enough to continue.
But it started raining again before we reached Croxton,
We were looking to shelter in the church and eat our lunch... but it was locked.
So we made do with this rather nice tree to keep us dry.
The rain stopped and we set off again. Here is a better view of the church.
It was warm and sunny and the waterproofs could come off.
It was raining again when we had to cross the busy A134 near the Rugby Club.
Soon we were back at the model aircraft flying field....
...and crossed the river again, back on the route of the Suffolk Walking Festival walk.
A nice wide path through the trees.
Oh-oh. Look what we were walking into. This time the rumbling was not of military jets, but of thunder!
We took shelter under the trees for a while as the storm passed overhead, leaving the paths a bit muddier.
But the sun was shining when we got back to the start.
You can see more details of our route here and MapMyWalk and more of my photos here on Flickr.
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