Pingo-ing Onwards!

The last post took us along the first part of the Great Eastern Pingo Trail. If you want to know what a pingo is then you'll need to turn back to that post for an explanation. Now lets continue on our merry way....

After all the small ponds we've been seeing, it's a bit of a surprise to see a much larger body of water. This is Thompson Water, which is a man-made lake dating from the 1840s. Despite a lot of searching on the internet I can find no mention of why it was created, but probably for fishing and maybe wild-fowling; there's certainly a lot of birdlife around here today - nothing particularly rare, but all nice to watch from the single tiny hide.

Pussy-willow grew on the lakeshore, along with reeds.

But we're not done with the pingo ponds just yet. The water on these looked particularly black, though I think that's just because they are surrounded by the dark foliage of the holly bushes.

Many of the birch trees in this area had an odd pink tinge, which seemed to be caused by some kind of lichen that thrives in this damp area. Water levels must be particularly high after all the recent rain.

Now we encounter a straight, no-nonsense path heading roughly north-south. This is what remains of a Roman road constructed nearly 2,000 years ago. It's known as the Peddars Way and can be followed for around 50 miles (80 Km) across Norfolk to the coast. We're just going to walk a mile or so of it.

We're on the flanks of "Stanta", or the Stanford Military Training Area. That forest behind the sign is known as Madhouse Plantation. It gets its unforgettable name from the Victorian asylum that once stood here. It was taken over after the First World War to house shell-shocked officers, as much to hide them from public view as to cure them, it seems. Then in WW2 the buildings were demolished and the whole area was taken over by the army for military training.

One wet and dark evening a group of soldiers were sent out on manoeuvres leaving one man behind on sentry duty. During the night an officer appeared and spoke to the soldier in a friendly way, "I'll send someone for you" he said as he disappeared into the darkness. It was only after his departure that the soldier realised that the officer was wearing a First World War uniform. A ghost - or maybe just a tale invented by some sadistic Sergeant-Major to put the wind up young recruits?

Leaving the old Roman road behind, we now turn off along a disused railway track back to our starting point. Its the only way to traverse an area known as Cranberry Roughs which is swampy waterlogged land. Back in the Tudor period this was a lake, which was subsequently drained - but not drained very well (!) and it reverted to an impenetrable swamp for most of the year.

I didn't get a shot of the old railbed, but imagine a narrow, sometimes muddy, footpath with trees and bushes encroaching, and with flooded woods on either side. It must have been an interesting train journey in its day.

The line was closed in the 1960s, like many other minor railways. It had been opened in 1869 as the Thetford, Watton and Swaffham Railway, but was informally known as the "Crab and Winkle Line", from its use by Norfolk folks visiting the coast for the day and returning with their crabs and shellfish.

After the swamps of Cranberry Rough we cross a drier area called Breckles Heath (Breckles is just the name of the nearby village) but even here there's standing water.

There's very little evidence of the old railway to be seen, though these stones are what's left of the crossing-keeper's house near Crow's Farm. This is such a minor road that it's difficult to believe that a manned level-crossing was really necessary. It must have been a very easy job and no wonder these little lines were unprofitable!

Then we're back in pingo country again as we traverse Stow Bedon Common. That's fallen pussy-willow floating on the water.

And thus we conclude our walk on the Pingo Trail and return to the car park, which was once part of Stow Bedon railway station. I fully intend to return to this walk in the summer months when butterflies, dragonflies and wild flowers abound.

Take care.