Having completed a couple of outstanding sections of the North Downs Way using Google Street View on a treadmill, as well as the entire Pembrokeshire Coast Path and Cleveland Way national trails, I started this morning on the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path national trail (or the PWNCP from now on!).
I hadn't actually heard of the PWNCP until I looked on the National Trails website for my next project. As far as I could tell, it was the only completely 'street viewed' national trail that I hadn't done yet. So basically, I didn't have much choice - the PWNCP it is!
The shape of the PWNCP is very similar to that of the Cleveland Way in that it's a horseshoe where the route heads north to the coast before following the coast south. And whereas I said that the Cleveland Way is like two very different trails joined into one, the PWNCP literally
is two very different trails joined into one.
The Peddars Way begins near Thetford at Knettishall Heath, which is right on the Suffolk / Norfolk border. It heads slightly west of north in an almost straight line (it was a Roman road) to Holme-next-the-Sea on the north Norfolk coast - a distance of 49 miles. Then the Norfolk Coast Path takes over and heads east then south from Hunstanton to Hopton-on-Sea - a distance of 84 miles. In all then, the PWNCP is about 133 miles. I'm planning on doing about 12 miles a day, so it should take me 11 days if all goes well!
Once again, I've rotated the route map to save space:
I knew from the very start that I was going to like this trail and 12.2 miles and 3 hours later I knew I was right! This one looks fantastic! From a small car park, I set off along a lovely wooded path...
...and about a mile further on I passed pigs. Welcome to Norfolk!
After about 3 or 4 miles I came to the River Thet. I didn't actually see much of the river, but the path used a boardwalk for what seemed a very long way and at one point I saw water as well as reeds.
But then the sun went in and it began to rain - this photo shows what much of the route from then on looked like:
It's hard to explain what I really like about this path, but I'll try. The area is very agricultural, but the path never seemed to cross any fields. This path is established - it's been here for more than a thousand years and it belongs here. There was never any feeling of the path taking me onto someone's land; the path is a separate thing entirely and we're off to a great start!