The Great Bell Tower of West Walton

   St Mary's Bell Tower was always going to be on my list of places to visit while cycling, situated in the village of West Walton in West Norfolk it is ideal for a local trip and yesterday was to be my first encounter with this well-known fen landmark.
   I left Upwell and travelled through Outwell and Emneth before heading off down Lady's Drove and Harp's Hall Road towards Walton Highway. Once there I rode into the village of West Walton, a total trip of around 13 miles.

   It wasn't long and I was standing admiring the beautiful big Bell Tower of St Mary's and what a tower it is too. This exceptional four-stage tower was built c1240-50 of Barnack Stone with an ancient frame belfry that holds five large bells. The tower is detached from the Parish Church which stands just yards away and all four sides of the tower are pierced to provide walkways, each having moulded arches, all in all, one great piece of architecture and well worth the visit, I'm sure I'll be back on many more occasions.

   After spending tie walking around the tower and the Parish Church I decided to take the more scenic route home via Ingleborough Tower Windmill. The Windmill is brick built and was constructed in 1824, it has eight storeys with windows on every floor, it did have six sails when working but these were removed in the 1940's.

   The trip home once more took me through the villages of Walpole St Mary, Terrington St John and Marshland St James, a very enjoyable journey of just over 30 miles.

Friday's Long Cycle

   Friday means only one thing, its long cycle day. Twice a week, usually Mondays and Fridays I expand the usual daily cycle rides and head off out to pastures new exploring those remote parts of the East Anglian Fens. So this Friday off I set with the route in my head and expectations high, for I was heading off towards a few villages I'd yet to visit. I was soon cycling through the little hamlet of Emneth Hungate followed by the very long narrow village of Marshland St James until passing on through St Johns Fen End, this road led me to my first objective of the day, the busy little village of Terrington St John.

   The village has a large village store plus family fish n chip shop, it also, of course, has a beautiful parish church which you reach by passing over the A47. The Church of St John I was told was delightful and they were indeed correct. It is open to the public most days and worth time exploring the outstanding architecture and carved timber features inside, I will post more about the church in future blogs.

   From Terrington St John I headed off down St Johns Highway towards Walpole St Peter, passing a wonderful old derelict windmill. Once in the village, I followed the signs to the church and was confronted with what can only be described as a magnificent church, the Church of St Peter. The church stood high and proud surrounded by the perfect example of a picturesque village. Again this church is open most days and if any of you get the chance you really must pay a visit, so many amazing features inside and out. I will, without a doubt, be posting a whole post here about this church in the coming weeks, there is so much to show and mention it would be a crime not to.
   I'm not a religious man, only attending family weddings and funerals but I must admit I enjoy the architecture that such places provide. The thoughts of the work in building these huge stone houses of God always fill my mind as I jump off my bike to rest for a few minutes.

   After a well spent 30 minutes, I was off across the village towards Walpole St Andrew and what may possibly be my best find ever. As you entre Walpole St Andrew you will once again see the parish church, in this case, the church of St Andrew, built in the 15th century. There was a 12th-century church that once stood on the same site of which a font bowl still remains inside on the stone floor. The church is now redundant and has been for a number of years now.

   Then while walking around the church I saw it, what looked like a wonderful village sign made of steel. As I went closer I realized it was indeed a village sign and the most stunning example it was too. As you can see in the picture below the detailing is amazing giving such a unique finish.

   So happy with the discoveries I had made for the day it was time to head back off towards Upwell completing a journey of just over 40 miles and every mile an enjoyable one.
 

Cycling The River

   One of my favourite cycle trips is a nice summer day ride along the river bank from Denver Sluice through Ten Mile Bank and on to Littleport, not a huge ride but one that is always interesting. The river seems always to be busy with not just the outstanding wildlife to admire but also the many different river vessels that travel the River Great Ouse, there is something very relaxing about this part of the fens.

   When beginning in the village of Denver you will find a small village store, handy to buy any supplies you may need, also the nice tea rooms located at Denver Mill, very popular with a lot of cyclists. From Denver village, you travel about a mile to the famous Denver Sluice complex, a very interesting place in its own right with its great iron chains and steel dam walls that hold back any high tides saving hundreds of acres of fenland from being flooded. Here you will find a very pleasant riverside public house called the "Jenyns Arms", the perfect lunch stop for any walkers or cyclists with its beer gardens looking over the small marina.

   From the sluice and its boats and rowing club you then follow the river bank road for around three miles into the small village of Ten Mile Bank. A quiet little village sitting beside the River Great Ouse with its own small primary school and simple parish church.
   From Ten Mile Bank, you continue along the river passing both the old and new pumping stations on towards the small town of Littleport. Its just under seven miles from Ten Mile Bank to Littleport which is not far but has some nice views of the river on the way. You will also pass through the tiny hamlet of Black Horse Drove before reaching the final part of the river bank road and crossing the A10 into Littleport.

   Now because I live in Upwell which is about an hour cycle from either Denver or Littleport I have a few options in the way I travel home. I can go through Littleport and straight to Welney or I can leave Littleport and travel through Little Downham and Pymoor before heading off through Welney, a more scenic route but one that adds maybe ten more miles onto the journey. Or as I find myself doing on many occasions, I can turn back and travel back along the river to Denver, then head through the market town of Downham Market and proceed on my way home from there passing through a few small villages.
   If your new to cycling there is always the option of driving to Denver Sluice where you'll find a nice large carpark in which to leave your car, this way you can enjoy cycle along the river in the knowledge of not having another hours trip to return home, cheating a bit I guess but good for those who can't yet do the longer trips. I highly recommend you give it a go I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as me.

Christchurch

   Christchurch is probably the village I travel through the most when cycling as I enjoy exploring the Ely area and whether heading off on the start of a trip or returning I mostly pass through the parish. I remember when I first started cycling I used to set myself small targets, as indeed I still do today. One such target was to bike from my village of Upwell to Christchurch and back, a journey of around 9 miles when heading off via the village of Three Holes, now, of course, the trips are longer but I'll never forget the first time I managed it and stopping outside the church for a drink break. To me, it was the first time I started feeling good about myself and started to realize that if I wanted to achieve some kind of fitness then it was possible.

   Anyway enough of me, let's talk about Christchurch. Christchurch is a smallish fenland village and was once known as Brimstone Hill presumably after the Brimstone butterfly that was once very common in the area. The village boasts a perfect example of the Victorian church, The church was built in 1863 from beautiful old red bricks and though not as old as most parish churches it really has a great look and great feel about it. I've not been lucky enough to explore inside but from the outside, it looks very interesting in design.

   There is now no shop in the village but there is one public house called "The Dun Cow", which is used by many locals and the perfect stop for cyclists selling a good selection of beers from the local Elgoods brewery. And for any cyclist who wants a treat, the local fish and chip van sits outside the on Dun Cow Friday evenings.

   The village has it's own Primary School, a nice recently built Village Hall and a number of organisations such as Bowls Club etc. I'm not sure but I think on Monday mornings, there is still a pop-up coffee shop run from the Village Hall, ideal for those cycling through the area, with cakes, coffee, tea and even hot meals sold there, why not give it a try.
   All in all, Christchurch is a very pleasant village and over the last year or two, I have met a few of its residents, all of which are very friendly polite people who are always willing to answer any questions I have about the parish. So if your a cyclist please add Christchurch to your route and see for yourself another of the fens nice quiet villages.

Wimbotsham

   One village I pass through on many occasions is the small village of Wimbotsham, not just because it is situated on my route home but also because I adore the little lane leading down past the church towards the village centre, the small stone cottages take you back a century or two. The village is tucked away just a mile outside Downham Market, a quiet little parish with one village store and one public house called "The Chequers", which is the perfect place for the cyclist to stop for lunch with lots of outside seating.

   The village has a beautiful parish church, the church of St Mary, the Virgin. It's an Anglican church built in the 12th century and has some outstanding features in the stonework. Its roof was said to have been thatched but was altered to slate in the Victorian period. The village also has a Methodist Church, it was opened in 1894 with the Sunday School being added in 1896.
   The ornate timber carved village sign stands on the green and shows a WW2 Stirling bomber flying over the 12th-century church, a reference to Bexwell airfields role as a Stirling base during the war.

The Village of Coveney

   One of my favourite cycle trips is to the village of Coveney, a village that sits on a rise overlooking the fens just a few miles North-West of Ely. The trip takes me vis Three Holes, Lakes End, Welney, Pymoor and Little Downham, passing through the tiny hamlet of Way Head before arriving in the village. As you cycle up the slope into the village your met by a mixture of new builds and renovated properties before seeing the beautiful parish church of St Peter ad Vincula.

   The church is made of stone and dates from the 13th century with some later additions which look to be Victorian in age. There is a large peaceful graveyard to the rear, home of some outstanding tombstones. The gates are made from timber and have some very ornate carving upon them.
   Further along the main street, you will find on the left the old school house, now a dwelling. The schoolhouse was built in 1874 and still retains its belfry

   As you travel further through the village you will see the old Primitive Methodist Chapel which has the most amazing circular stained glass window above the front porch.

   For me, the old lock-up and pound are of great interest, built in 1850 the lock-up like that in many villages was used to detain anybody found causing disorder in the village or indeed over intoxicated. It houses a single bench and the tiled roof covers a brick arched ceiling making it impossible to escape. The pound was used to hold any stray animals until their owners were found.

  So all in all the village of Coveney is an ideal place for a cyclist to stop for a refreshment break, there are no shops or pubs but the village is very interesting and friendly. For me, it's a four-hour trip but worth every mile on a nice summers day.

Sometimes Little Is Best

    On my many cycles trips around the fens over the last 18 months, I have found that some of the most amazing little finds in the way of old or interesting buildings are often found in the smaller villages and in some cases tiny hamlets out in the middle of nowhere. One such discovery was the wonderful forgotten railway station at Middle Drove.
   There I was cycling along a very remote part of the fens, and a road I had driven down many times in my car, when there beside me standing on the left-hand side of the road was what can only be called a beautiful little Victorian railway station complete with platform and apart from the lack of a track it was so complete that it looked as if everybody had just walked away an hour ago, I stood there expecting the smell of a steam engine to reach my nose, it was a very strange feeling indeed. It just goes to show how much we miss when travelling in our cars, not just in nature but also man built.

   After a bit of research, I found it was indeed a Victorian station opened in 1848 and was closed in 1968. The line was an extension of the railway line from Magdalen station to Wisbech East and was used mostly to transport produce to the markets.

The Reasons Behind This Blog

   I feel it's only right to use the first post here on the new blog to introduce myself and explain the thoughts and reason for beginning this record of my cycling travels through the fens of East Anglia. Firstly let me say I am no cycling expert nor am I one of those colour coordinated athletic cyclists that you see flying through your village on a Sunday morning, in fact, I'm quite the opposite.

   I'm a 54-year-old lampwork bead maker who moved out here to the fen village of Upwell around 16 years ago now, before living most of my life in the village of Ashwell in Hertfordshire. My work means I'm lucky in the fact I can work my own hours but it also means I'm sitting down for long hours, which is not a very healthy situation.

   Two years ago when I was weighing just over 28 stone, I realized if I wanted to live more than a few years then I had to do something about getting fit and losing all the excess weight. To do this I started by walking every day enjoying the rural beauty that the fens offer, but soon I had the idea of cycling which would mean I could explore further afield than just the village in which we live. To me this was a huge jump, the thought of people laughing as they saw this fat guy wobbling along on a bike was one that played on my mind for weeks, but in the end, I decided my health was far more important than worrying about what others thought. And so I took up the challenge and with the mountain bike placed into the car, I drove out to a quiet fen around 10 miles from my home. There I rode the bike up and down the quiet road until I felt comfortable without the worry of passing motorists seeing me.

    Now I know this will sound silly to some but when your big and spend most of your life hiding behind baggy clothes than to be out on a bike in public really wasn't the easiest thing to do, trust me. I decided my first cycle was to be along a few small back roads in our village and so at 9.30 am(after the rush hour traffic had passed), I set off. Within 30 minutes and out of breath I was returning through the gates of our cottage, feeling rather ashamed of myself and the state I was in. But I did continue and within three or four weeks I had managed a huge five-mile ride which to me then was a major achievement. It was around this time that my wife Yvonne obtained a road bike for my birthday, a beautiful black and red bike which looked like something you see in the Tour de France. It was placed into my workshop and stayed there for a number of months. You see all I kept thinking about was how heavy I was, would the tyres burst if I got on it, would the frame be strong enough to take my weight, etc etc. And so this went on until I had lost the first few stones, by which time I was beginning to feel a little better about myself and once more the new bike was packed into the car and again heading off to my quiet fen.

   Then came the first ride on the new road bike, it was a sunny evening and after waiting until 8pm knowing the roads would be quiet, off I set bent double after the upright position on the mountain bike and feeling a little unsteady, to say the least. But I must say even though it wasn't the most comfortable cycle I felt bloody great when I returned home. Now over the next few autumn months, I put in some long miles and even through the winter I continued cycling most days until I was doing around 15 miles every morning. The weight started coming down, not fast but it was slowly lowering which in turn was making me feel better about myself.

   Now it's mid-summer and I'm six stone lighter with another three to go, the daily cycle is now 20 miles and twice weekly I do two longer trips from 30 to 45 miles each time. On my travels, I now take pictures of any interesting gems of the fen countryside I find and the fen villages I cycle through, these I have been placing on my facebook page to share with friends and most seem to find them very interesting. So it was with this in mind that the idea of this new blog was born and we'll see how it goes. The main aim is to show off the wonderful fen countryside and the many places I visit, from tiny hamlets to the stunning old market towns that stand proudly in the flatlands. Also just maybe watching my journey of weight loss and regaining fitness may help others to do the same, if so I'd be over the moon to know others were improving their health and at the same time are out there enjoying the miles of beautiful country lanes we have here in the UK.

   I will try to update the blog at least once a week and sometimes more, some posts concentrating on a single village or town, others may well show the complete cycle route I've made. But most of all I'll try my best to introduce you all to the outstanding world of the fens, cycling further afield as I go until I hit that magical 100-mile target, which may take a very long time, we'll see.