Cambridge to Norwich the long way - part 1

Over the Holiday Weekend I had been thinking about a slightly longer cycle ride and going by the weather forecast Tuesday looked the best bet - although it was sunny there were 20MPH (32Km/h) winds from the South as well. I had also been looking at the Sustrans website and using the Where's the Path website to compare the current OS map for this part of the world with the 1930s OS map. I am amazed how many railway lines there used to be criss-crossing the area. My interest in the railway lines is mainly driven by the potential they have as cycle routes - but I admit to having a slight interest in the Steam days of rail.

I was originally planning to get the Cambridge to Norwich train and then cycle along a route called the Marriot's Way which runs from Norwich to Reepham along the route of a disused railway line or two. Part of it runs along the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway from Norwich to Melton Constable and on to the Midlands, part of it takes a route from Themelthorpe to Aylsham, completed by the Great Eastern Railway. However with the wind blowing from the South I did not fancy having to cycle back down towards Cambridge against the wind and decided to cycle out to Norwich via the Marriot's Way and then to catch the train back to Cambridge.

Previous rides to Norwich have been about 130Km/80miles so I reckoned that even with a bit of detouring it would probably only be around 160Km/100miles in total. Allowing for rest stops and picture stops and a 9.30am start I took lights as depending upon when exactly I got to Norwich station it could be dark when cycling back through Cambridge. (The train takes 1 hour 15 minutes. to do the journey) So after a quick scan of the map I decided to cycle via a few Sustrans Routes, but made the mistake of not really working out how far it was going to be!

For some reason I have been finding the Sustrans Map website difficult over the holiday weekend and so could not rely upon it for information - just when it would have been useful - ho hum. Instead I used the OS maps which do mark the Sustrans routes on them.So my plan was to take Sustrans 51 from Cambridge to Burwell, switch to Sustrans 11 to Ely. I planned to detour around Ely and follow the Great River Ouse where there is the Southern Loop of the Fens Cycleway which follows the River first on one side and then on the other on a minor road called Ten Mile Bank. At Ten Mile Bank instead of heading North the route then switched to an Easterly Sustrans Route - 30 - to Thetford forest. At Thetford Forest the plan was to take Route 13, once again heading North where it met Sustrans 1 with an East run along the Marriot's Way to Norwich. What could be easier? I have cycled on each of the routes in the past and so did not bother programming the route into my GPS, I did print out a couple of pages , one showing the direction Sustrans 30 as it has two choices an off-road route and an on-road route - I wanted the off-road route. The other page showed the area around Sustrans 13 joining Sustrans 1.

Although I planned to buy some food and drink along the way I filled up a couple of water bottles and took two bags of jelly babies for energy and a bit of cash for the train ticket as well. No point in taking too much money. I set of before 10am as planned the following wind was great for maintaining a good pace, especially as I started heading off in a more Northerly direction when I passed through Reach on on the outskirts of Burwell joined Sustrans 11. I normally cycle the other way around here and it was almost as if I was on a different road it looked so different. I paused at Wicken Fen to take this picture of a Thatched Cottage before heading up through the village of Wicken, continuing along Sustrans 11 through Barway to an off road bit towards Ely alongside the River Great Ouse.

Once past Barway Ely Cathedral comes into view although the first part of the path is below the banking alongside the river.

The Sustrans Routes 51 and 11 have been well signed with both Route Numbers and signposts giving places and mileages - which is reassuring. When cycling to keep stopping is tiring - and I stop often enough for photographs and normal road hazards so route checking is low on my priorities.

The detour around Ely is actually a straighter route than Sustrans 11 and is marked on their map as part of the Fens Cycleway. As the Sustrans 11 off road bit reaches the main road then there is a short right-left jink onto Queen Adelaide Way to Queen Adelaide another jink on you are one the Fens cycleway route, with the wind behind me it was an easy 25mph/40Km/h - although I did stop at Branch Bridge to take this picture of a long boat looking a little out of place on such a wide stretch of water. There is a railway line on the other side of the River.

I did not bother going into and out of Littleport I just went up to the A10 turned left then right onto Ten Mile bank. This is a great little country lane and with the wind behind really fast on a bike. The road wiggles a bit as it follows the bends in the river quite closely. The A10, a busy main road runs on the other side of the river and occasionally I found myself checking to see whether there was a lorry behind me because the noise seems to transmit from the other road. Pretty soon Ten Mile Bank - the place. With the wind behind me I was making good progress - so time to have a quick drink and snack. Conveniently there is a bench (middle left of the picture) as well. The river was quite choppy with the wind. At this point I was about to cross the river onto Sustrans 30. There are a set of traffic lights at the crossroads on the left of the bridge. They all seem to be at Red and then then sense when traffic from a particular direction comes along and switch that route to Green. I have found it does not always work with my bike - laying the bike at an angle over the sensor helps. (It has a steel frame so should be ok!).

The bridge is called Hilgay Bridge

These geese sometime hang around the bench - today they were off down to Littleport as I went past they had a good hiss at me - apparently they make good guard "dogs" I can see why.

Whilst on the bridge time to take a picture of the River Great Ouse - looking North. At this point my resolve almost wavered and I did think how much easier it would be to carry on to King's Lynn with the wind behind me.

Whilst on the bridge this cyclist came from one side of the river over the bridge and then back up the other side. The river is quite a barrier. According to the OS map just after crossing the bridge the route switches to off-road and crosses the A10 onto the off road bit the other side. No it doesn't, when I got back and checked the Sustrans route map it suggested that the route is on road until the point at which you cross the A10 and then directly opposite it carries on off-road - no that is wrong as well.

This is what happens - you cross the bridge, cycle down the road to the A10 cross the road onto the shared pavement/cycle path, head right and then a short way down turn left onto what looks like a farm track. In this picture the road is the A10 with the spec on the left the sign to turn left towards the bridge and in the foreground is the Sustrans route marker for Sustrans 30.

The off-road bit on the map looks straight, but with the offset start it wiggles back onto the marked route. Here is the track - although a mud track it was dry and straightforward to negotiate. There were on or two potholes and sticks across the path but on a dry day easy enough on my touring bike (with drop handlebars).

According to the OS map and the Sustrans website the route carries on straight on here - but the local signage steers you off up some tracks to Southery and then along the Feltwell Road - one day I will cycle along the track to see where it ends up - but on my hybrid or MTB just in case it gets tricky.

The next tricky bit is finding the off-road turn of the Feltwell Road. You can stick with the road - but I prefer to avoid as much traffic as possible. The strange thing is that on the Sustrans website both routes are marked as on-road, whilst on the OS map it is marked as off-road. The surface is very good for a farm track- but it is not my definition of a road. Interestingly there is a sign at this point - but pointing along the road.

There was quite a lot of flooding in the fields and as at this point the route had started heading back towards the south the cycling became hard work. Cycling across the wind is tricky because the buffeting can push you off course - cycling into the wind is just plain hard work, especially when it is 20mph/32Km/h wind. This is a nice route on a sunny and windless day though.

At the end of the road there is a farm track T-junction, at this point I had to stop as a car went one way and a post office van went the other. It was as bleak as it looks, perhaps I should have taken the easy option and carried on to King's Lynn.

The off-road bit then crosses a bridge before rejoining the on-rad part of Sustrans 30 Where it heads south again!! For a cycle ride to the North East there seems to be a lot more Southerly riding than I had expected. This river is called a cut-off channel - quite a substantial bit of river.

The cut-off channel was so "impressive" I photographed it both up and down the channel.

At this point I though I was just under half way - it turned out that I was less than a third of the way along my journey. Still apart from the wind the route was pretty quiet. Part 2 tomorrow and yes it did get worse.

Sustrans 11 Cambridge to Kings Lynn - part 2 Ely to Kings Lynn

The Sustrans 11 route out of Ely drops down to below 10m and follows a moderately busy road the B1411 to Little Downham, although the Sustrans website shows an alternate route in development along a smaller road/track called the Downham Road. I must try it out when the weather is a bit better. Little Downham is also on a hill almost as high as Ely so there is another small climb up into the village where it continues along the B1411 to Pymoor and Welney.I mentioned that standard of Sustrans signage - they not only indicate the route number but in this case the towns and distances as well. Very reassuring when you are on a bicycle - but they must assume that cyclists have better eyesight than car drivers!

The road runs alongside the New Bedford River (or Hundred Foot Drain) and passes under the Ely to Peterborough railway line. Ely is well served for railway lines despite the small size of the station. with services to Cambridge, Kings Lynn, Peterborough, Ipswich and Norwich (and of course beyond). I travel to Manchester a couple of times a year and there is a very convenient direct train from Manchester (Oxford Road) to Ely - much easier than driving.

Despite this being a B road there was hardly any traffic at all on Friday, it was lovely to be away from the noise of cars and lorries. There were some fighter jets flying around from time to time though. Although they were flying quite high they seemed to be flying with after-burners on and so making a huge amount of noise.

The route then heads close to Welney and Welney Washes where it briefly joins the A1101 (again not too busy, although busier than the B road.) It is is a natural flood area. The A1101 has signs alongside the road to indicate how deep the floodwater is. At this point the Sustrans 11 route leaves the A1101 and passes alongside the Welney Wetland Centre on an unclassified road. This is looking south near the A1101/Country road junction.

The road is on the right below the bank of the New Bedford River - seen here looking towards the North. The washes are actually called The Hundred Foot Washes.

The route then heads east to a place called Ten Mile Bank - a group of houses on a crossroads. Where a bridge crosses the River Great Ouse. At this point the route turns left (North) and heads towards Kings Lynn. I normally cycle on the route from the south direction which is more direct from Ely and Littleport (known as the Fens Cycleway - Southern Loop on the Sustrans map). It is a small road which follows the River Great Ouse from Littleport. There is a main road the other side of the River, the A10 which syphons off all but the farm and angling traffic.

This is a composite picture made up of three photographs of the cross roads and bridge of Ten Mile Bank. With my bike in the foreground. I often stop at this point to drink and eat. Did I mention that I had brought some Jelly babies with me on this ride - but of course. I stopped to eat some as well. A pity I had forgotten to bring anything to drink.

The route carries on North up near the River before detouring through Downham Market. Here the Sustrans 11 route wiggles oddly through the town. It is not really odd - it is more a local route good for cycling to school (it passes at least two schools). Here the Sustrans map shows there is a plan to bypass the main road out of Downham Market. It then heads off onto C-roads again, with the river(s) old and new to the left one wiggling, one much straighter. The cycle route then joins with Sustrans Route 1 from Wisbech where the Sustrans map shows it as Route 1. I must check out the Sustrans Road Signs the next time I head that way.

This is a picture looking south down the Relief Channel - quite a substantial chunk of water. You can just make out St Peters Church Tower in silhouette. (This picture and the next were taken from Wiggenhall Bridge.)

To the North of the Relief Channel is Kings Lynn Power Station - framed by electricity pylons, although these pylons don't seem to have anything to do with the Power Station.

A closeup of the Power Station with Saddlebow Bridge in front. Apparently it is a Combined Cycle Gas power station capable of up to 325MW

There are pylons coming out of the power station though (not literally though) here are two near the Tail - more to come on that subject. It was the clouds that inspired me to take this picture.

Again Sustrans have done a great job of developing a cycle route, in this case into Kings Lynn. The cycle route detours around the Power Station and then follows the River Great Ouse under a couple of bridge into Kings Lynn. The path is tarmacked and so easy top cycle along.

The path passes this construction known as the Tail on the maps. It is a series of gates used to control the water flow in the Relief Channel. If you walk by a loud voice warns you not to go on the machinery and to stick to the path. There are sensors at each end that trigger the warning. They don't seem to work if you cycle by them above 10mph/16Km/h though. I passed through to take this picture and then headed back to rejoin Sustrans Route 1.

The next stop is Kings Lynn.