Friday, 4 April 2025

Garboldisham Walk

Today we had a "training walk" for our forthcoming Eastbourne trip where some will be undertaking the 31 mile 1066 walk over two days.

At 17 1/2 miles it was the longest walk I'd done for quite a while. We started and finished at Garboldisham just over the border from Suffolk into Norfolk.

This was the invite from Joyce....

"Friday April 4th a much longer walk. We have permission to park at Garboldisham Village Hall, Church Road IP22 2SE. They have a community shop which you’re welcome to use but let’s start walking promptly at 9.30am. After 6.5 miles we will arrive at Thorpe Woodlands where there is a coffee shop. Personally, I think it’s a great walk – varied and challenging in a lengthy way but not with any elevation to speak of. It will be a good test of stamina and time on your feet. The route is about 17.5 miles but if you would like to make it shorter (11 miles)  then meet us at Thorpe Woodlands and I will drop you back there at the end. There is a lovely community pub at the end (The Fox Inn) which will be open at 5pm. It serves a wide range of East Anglian beers. Please dress for the warmer conditions and bring enough food/drink. There will be some smaller roads to walk at times. We are aiming to finish 4.30pm."

This was our route.

Here are a few of my photos.

We met at the village hall as planned and there was plenty of parking.


We had a few minutes before the walk was due to start so had a quick visit to St John the Baptist Church.



Joyce giving us our briefing before we set off.


We passed the ruins of the Garboldisham All Saints church. As Simon Knott tells us, in 1734, the eastern face of the 14th Century tower collapsed into the nave, and the building was abandoned


We saw a few haring hares at a distance today. Here is one of them.



We came across a meeting of horsey folk readying for a ride.


Walking alongside the River Thet, Karen spotted this heron.


After 6 miles, and less than 2 hours walking, we came to our drinks stop, the Thorpe Woodlands Forest Retreat.



Shortly afterwards we were treated to fruit juice cartons from a cache Joyce had created just off our route.


Brimstone butterflies are on the wing at the moment. Here are a couple of them.


We met the Peddars Way and headed south towards Knettishall Heath.


The fleece-covered fields give an unusual landscape.


At Knettishall Heath we came across the Exmoor ponies.


The coffee van at the car park.


We were by the River Little Ouse here and would now follow it eastwards for the next few miles.


But first we stopped for lunch.



On familiar paths now (see links at the end of the post) we passed Riddlesworth Hall School, which Princess Diana attended between 1970 and 1974. Read more about her time there here.


This is the school chapel.


A little further on we came to the Old School House, originally built to educate the children of the workers on the Riddlesworth estate which remained in use as a school until 1951.


We came to Gasthorpe village, from where Bill Gates family originated.
 

Oo look. Another hare.


We got a view of the ruins of St. Nicholas Church.


Our muntjac of the day.


We we skirted Hopton Fen and ascended gently towards Hopton.




We continued along the route of the Angles Way, familiar from our walk of it in 2023, to Thelnetham Windmill. Dating from 1819, it is one of only four preserved tower mills in Suffolk. 



Just before recrossing the Little Ouse into Norfolk we passed this seat at Parkers Piece, a site owned by the Little Ouse Headwaters project.




Not far to go now as we could see the ruined church in Garboldisham....


...and St John the Baptist  church.


We passed The Fox pub....


...and were back at the village hall before 4:10pm...


...20 minutes a head of our scheduled finish and 50 minutes before the pub opened. Never mind. I could have a beer when I got home.

So how did I feel after the longer distance?  Well my feet were a little sore from the hard ground and my legs were a little stiff when I got home, but not really any more than usual, so I guess I'm good for the 1066 walk, if I choose to do it. A lovely walk in warm spring sunshine. Thank-you Joyce for organising and leading us around and to everyone else for the additional company. You can find more details of our 17.5 mile route here on MapMyWalk (or download a GPX file here) and see more of my photos here on Flickr.

Other related walks you can find on my blog include

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