{"id":142,"date":"2012-01-13T22:17:58","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T22:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=142"},"modified":"2016-07-08T10:28:49","modified_gmt":"2016-07-08T10:28:49","slug":"grand-norfolk-hike-stage-3-ely-to-shippea-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2012\/01\/grand-norfolk-hike-stage-3-ely-to-shippea-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"Stage 3: Ely to Shippea Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"

I walked this, the third stage of my\u00a0Grand Norfolk Hike<\/a>, on Sunday 8th January 2012.<\/p>\n

\"Ely
Shippea Hill to Ely<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This might sound a little odd but the title of the post is wrong, the correct title is the one above, just under the map. \u00a0The reason for this is that Jo drove me to Shippea Hill station<\/a> so I could walk back to Ely. \u00a0There is only one train per day to and from Shippea and it leaves at 7am or something similar, and I didn’t fancy that.<\/p>\n

This is the first stage of the Border route of the Grand Norfolk Hike, where I’m heading east towards Lowestoft on the coast. \u00a0You can check out the main hike map<\/a> if this all sounds a tad confusing.<\/p>\n

So, Jo, Harry and Evan dropped me off at Shippea Hill station.<\/p>\n

\"Shippea
Shippea Hill station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My plan was to take a farm track down to the the Lark river and walk down to the village of Prickwillow<\/a>. \u00a0From Prickwillow I’d take the Hereward’s Way<\/a> footpath to Ely, a walk of about 9 miles.<\/p>\n

The walk got of to a bad start when I found a big ‘Private, No Access’ sign at the start of the farm track. \u00a0This meant I had to take the road 3 miles or so to Prickwillow and a pretty dull walk it was as well. \u00a0I amused myself by singing songs and taking photos.<\/p>\n

\"Two
Two swans in a nameless ditch near Shippea Hill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Songs sung on the never ending tramp to Prickwillow:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Scrapple From The Apple – Charlie Parker<\/li>\n
  • Country Boy – Johnny Cash<\/li>\n
  • The Prettiest Star – David Bowie<\/li>\n
  • Last Gang In Town – The Clash<\/li>\n
  • Battle Cry of Freedom (Union version)<\/li>\n
  • Might as Well Be Spring \u00a0(Stacey Kent’s version)<\/li>\n
  • A Good Sword And A Trusty Hand<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The good lady Eris showed her approval of my choice of song:<\/p>\n

    \"All
    All hail Eris!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    I finally arrived in Prickwillow and found a place by the Lark to sit and eat my snacks.<\/p>\n

    I also recorded a short video blog thing.<\/p>\n