{"id":2583,"date":"2014-07-06T19:36:50","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T19:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=2583"},"modified":"2014-12-10T17:34:13","modified_gmt":"2014-12-10T17:34:13","slug":"on-the-nar-valley-way-a-norfolk-river-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2014\/07\/on-the-nar-valley-way-a-norfolk-river-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Nar Valley Way – a Norfolk river walk"},"content":{"rendered":"

This hike\u00a0came\u00a0from Laurence Mitchell<\/a>‘s excellent “Walking in Norfolk \u00a0–\u00a040 circular walks<\/a>” book.<\/p>\n

I took the train up to King’s Lynn, hopped on a bus to Narborough and soon\u00a0found myself on the Nar Valley Way<\/a>. \u00a0The river Nar itself runs for 15 miles, winding its way through west Norfolk before joining up with the river Great Ouse.<\/p>\n

\"Nar
Nar Valley Way<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The start of the walk took me past the Narborough mill<\/a>, built in 1780.<\/p>\n

\"Narborough
Narborough mill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A short while later I had left the village and joined the course of the Nar\u00a0through\u00a0the heart of the Norfolk countryside.<\/p>\n

\"River
River Nar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The remains of the\u00a0Narborough Bone Mill<\/a> sits on the north bank of the Nar.<\/p>\n

Built in the 19th century, the mill was used to grind bones into agricultural fertilizer. \u00a0Rather disconcertingly, the bones sometimes included those of humans\u00a0exhumed from cemeteries in Hamburg in Germany!<\/p>\n

\"Narborough
Narborough Bone Mill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I took a diversion from the walk to take a quick look at Marham Fen<\/a>, a short way from the river. \u00a0Managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the Fen is mainly woodland and meadows though I can imagine it becoming quite boggy in the winter. \u00a0It will be worthwhile coming back for a more detailed exploration some time.<\/p>\n

\"Entrance
Entrance to Marham Fen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back to the river and I go for a paddle to refresh my feet.<\/p>\n

\"In
In the Nar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The temptation to lie down in the shallow waters was immense but alas I carried\u00a0no\u00a0towel in my daysack.<\/p>\n

\"Waterlevel\"
Waterlevel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I ate lunch at the halfway point.<\/p>\n

\"Nar
Nar crossroads<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From here, the walk leaves the river and starts the journey back to Narborough.<\/p>\n

Along the way I passed a\u00a0restored Augustinian priory<\/a>. \u00a0Founded in\u00a01130, the priory is now a hotel and looks quite\u00a0impressive.<\/p>\n

The landowners have placed a sign on the public footpath stating no right of way for walkers, \u00a0this is a lie. Follow the map, which, in this case, is most definitely the territory.<\/p>\n

\"Augustinian
The Augustinian Pentney Priory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rest of the hike took me alongside fields full of the summer.<\/p>\n

\"Norfolk
Norfolk summer country lanes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I passed a path covered in sea shells. \u00a0I’m not sure what this means.<\/p>\n

\"Shell
Shell path<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On entering the village of Pentney I passed a roadside stall selling various fruit and veggies. \u00a0A little sign pleaded for honesty otherwise they’d have to shut up shop.<\/p>\n

\"Stall
Stall at Pentney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just outside\u00a0Pentney I came across a poem that someone had attached\u00a0to a gate.<\/p>\n

\"Belonging
Belonging – A Pentney poem<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first paragraph\u00a0reads:<\/p>\n

I’ve allegiance to nowhere, no particular base;
\nno sense of belonging, from birth, to one place.
\nI’ve no roots to speak of, but wherever I’ve been,
\na cutting\u2019s been taken and left at the scene<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No author’s\u00a0name is cited, searches on the web brought up nothing. \u00a0An anonymous countryside poet, such a fine idea, we need more of this kind of thing.<\/p>\n

I reached Narborough hoping for a pint but the pub is now a Chinese restaurant. On the way to the bus stop I popped into\u00a0the Narborough\u00a0museum, a large room in an old chapel, well worth checking out if you’re in the village.<\/p>\n

The bus took me to King’s Lynn station where I discovered the next train to Ely was not for another 50 minutes. \u00a0So I crossed the road to the Fenman pub and ordered a pint of very cold Stella. \u00a0The perfect end to a fine day’s hiking in the glorious Norfolk countryside.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This hike\u00a0came\u00a0from Laurence Mitchell‘s excellent “Walking in Norfolk \u00a0–\u00a040 circular walks” book. I took the train up to King’s Lynn,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[31,111,92],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2593,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583\/revisions\/2593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}