Endurance Adventures

Day Three- Castle Acre To Hunstanton- 22 miles

This was the final day of walking the Peddars Way, but I woke up seriously worried as my ankle was quite sore. I really thought I may have blown my chances of finishing but set to with an appetite at breakfast, listening to the rain pattering on the conservatory roof. The landlady informed me that the heavy showers were due to give way to lighter showers, and her husband cheerfully added that the jetstream was due to move at the weekend, giving sunny weather next week.

I set off into the grey gloom, which quickly gave way to showers. Mercifully my ankle wasn't too bad when I started to walk on it, and I had dressed my blisters so I started to feel slightly more hopeful and decided to take it slowly. I saw a dead snake on the road which looked as though it may have been an adder.
 After a while the road gave way to a grassy track at Shepherds Bush, and it became apparent that it was going to be impossible to keep my feet dry. The walk from here on was a mix of metallic tracks and grassy tracks, some broad and pleasant to walk on and others rather muddy and wet. It rained on and off virtually all day; there would have been lovely sweeping views but not today- I have decided to go back and walk this part again as it was the most interesting part of the whole Peddars Way.
There are no villages on route, although there are villages just off the route, however as I had a long way to walk and was concerned about my ankle I didn't detour off route. I instead followed the track past the villages of Great Massingham and Little Massingham.
 At Harpley Dams the Peddars Way crosses the Kings Lynn to Fakenham Road, which I have driven many times. At this point the grassy track of the Way becomes arrow straight, pointing a direct line to Ringstead and the coast. It was also quite exposed, as I had to stop and put my waterproofs on yet again. My blisters had also started to rub again but I felt that there wasn't a lot of point in trying to dress them again. In all I was feeling pretty miserable!
                                                     This is what it should have looked like!
 There are tumuli in the fields bordering the Peddars Way, and a stile allows access to one of them, but there is not a lot too see apart from a mound of earth.
                                           Tumulus
Shortly afterwards the Way passes by the village of Bircham and I could see the distinctive windmill in the distance. There is a tea room here so I was sorely tempted, but as it would have added 3 miles into today's distance and I could feel my ankle again I thought it would not have been the greatest idea. I could see the broad grassy track of the Way stretching into the misty distance, and to the field on my right a deer was bounding through the crops, keeping pace with me.
                                         Long Track
The path now descended near to the village of Fring, where I met a chap cycling on his mountain bike. He said that he used to live in the area and asked me what the beginning of the Peddars Way was like as he'd like to cycle it. When I told him it was forest he seemed disappointed and said it sounded boring.
                                          The Track Near Fring
After a brief foray on the road, the path passes Sedgeford Magazine, an armoury built around 1640 and used in the Civil War.
                                          Sedgeford Magazine
By now my blisters were really hurting and I was dying for a coffee, but my guidebook informed me that the Gin Trap Inn in Ringstead wouldn't open until 6pm. However, I was mightily cheered when I finally descended to Ringstead to find a notice outside the pub stating it was open all day.

The landlord was leaning over the bar reading the paper, and I was the only customer, but he served me a lovely cup of coffee as it started raining again outside, Suitably refreshed, I set off through the village towards Holme-Next-The-Sea, walking across fields and down a muddy track to reach the final Songlife sculpture- 'And I being here have been part of all this caught and thrown like sun on water have entered into all around me.'
It was here that I caught my first sight of the sea!

A final road walk bought me to the beach and golf course at Holme, and I could see my goal- a finger post marking the end of the Peddars Way and its junction with the Norfolk Coast Path.
                                          Journey's End!
I would have been so glad to finish here but had a tough walk through the dunes towards Hunstanton, following the Coast Path- it was hard going walking through sand and my feet kept slipping around inside my shoes, pulling my blisters even more.

I could see the cliffs of Hunstanton looking tiny in the distance, and it seemed to take an age to reach the lighthouse and the remaining wall of St Edmunds Chapel. St Edmund was the Christian king of East Anglia from around AD855, who's kingdom was devastated by Viking raids. Captured by the Danes in battle, he was tortured and executed, and according to legend he was beheaded and his head hidden so that he would be denied a Christian burial. His followers, searching for his head, heard the cries of a wolf shouting 'Here, here!' and found the wolf guarding his head.
                                          St Edmund's Chapel
                                         The Wolf
The walk through Hunstanton was excruciating- my blisters were complaining very loudly indeed, especially the one on my left foot, and all my thoughts were directed towards reaching the B and B and assessing the damage. I eventually hobbled my way to the War Memorial and found the finger post marking the start of the Norfolk Coast Path, before treating myself to a portion of chips and staggering to the B and B.
                                         One Down, One To Go!
The owners of the B and B, Deepdene, were lovely and insisted in bringing me a cup of tea and slice of cake when I arrived. They said that they have a lot of Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path walkers- every day during April but it rained all the time!

I had a bath and took stock of the damages. Ankle- rather swollen but not too sore. Blisters- not too bad on the right foot, one burst and angry looking blister on the left foot, with a large flap of loose skin. I snipped this away and dressed it with a compeed reinforced with Zinc Oxide tape, hoping that tomorrow would allow me to keep my feet dry and the dressings in place.

I decided that I would just take tomorrow as it comes and had an early night watching telly in bed with a mug of hot chocolate...

Labels: Hunstanton, Norfolk Coast Path, Peddars Way, Ringstead