Walk 11/2007 – Little Massingham

Sunday 20th May 2007

The walk was across flat and remote Norfolk countryside, and in parts followed the ‘Peddars Way’. We started at Little Massingham passing over Grimston Heath, Grimston village and through Congham Heath, a most beautiful spinney. Most of the terrain consisted of grassy tracks and some country lanes connecting paths.

The weather was delightful, dry with hot sunshine. The quietness and tranquillity of this area allowed us to spot numerous animals. We saw dozens of hares leaping across the fields, and also came across a baby deer in Congham Heath, it was so curious we were able to take a good look at it through binoculars. Bird life was active, including a few red legged partridges and a couple of pheasants who were so close to us in the hedgerow that the noise of our disturbing them quite shocked us too! Momentarily we also thought we had spotted a couple of Martians!!, who interestingly turned out to be some beekeepers tending the hives.

The walk is described to be 11 miles but it seemed less to us as we completed it relatively quickly, maybe because it was very flat. Overall the walk was very enjoyable the highlights being isolated countryside with few buildings, and the many beautiful sightings of wildlife in one walk.

We concluded our walk at a delightful Pub “The Dabbling Duck” in Great Massingham. Well worth another visit due to its good menu and environment. There was a good selection of local beer (Woodforde’s Wherry from Norfolk and Broadside from nearby Suffolk).

Cathy

Walk rating – average

The landscape was a bit flat on this walk.	Surprisingly nobody stops at an ice cream shop in Grimston.
We passed some attractive pine woodland.	If you look carefully you can see a deer.
This is a picture from Andy which he has entitled “The object of Cathy’s Obsession” (Do you mean she likes pork or something else? – Ed).	Another picture from Andy.