The River Great Ouse rises near the village of Wappenham in Northamptonshire and empties out into the The Wash at King’s Lynn some 143 miles later. It is the fourth longest river in the UK.
The river passes through my home, the city of Ely, in the English fenland. It also visits the village of Brampton where my parents in-law live. I’ll be stopping there for a replenishing pint of bitter at Brampton Mill pub.
There are two other rivers called the Ouse in the UK. The Ouse in Sussex is (in)famous for being the river that claimed the life of Virginia Woolf. There is also an Ouse in Yorkshire.
I’ll be following the Ouse Valley Way footpath and will hopefully spend a night or two wild camping under the stars along the way, maybe even a quick swim at some point.
I’ve already covered the first three stages of the walk via the Grand Norfolk Hike:
- Stage 1: King’s Lynn to Downham Market
- Stage 2: Downham Market to Littleport
- Stage 3: Littleport to Ely
Here are the next stages:
- Stage 4: Ely to Earith
- Stage 5: Earith to Brampton
- Stage 6: Brampton to Great Barford
- Stage 7: Great Barford to Bromham (Bedford)
- Stage 8: Bromham to Sharnbrook
- Stage 9: Onwards!
…and so on and so forth until we arrive at the source.