As anticipated, ill-health meant no walk this week – this time it’s my walking partner, my daughter. And I have no store of recent walks to call on. But I do have walks that maybe you’ve not seen. So, put on your hikers and join us.
14th February 2017 is a wonderfully warm and sunny day – at least when we set out. We’re walking from Poringland, the second highest place in Norfolk, down to the Tas Valley. Enjoy
14th February 2017
These two radio masts are a local landmark, and being sited on the highest place they’re visible for miles around. Despite they’re on the parish border of Poringland and Upper Stoke, during World War II they were part of RAF Stoke Holy Cross (the next parish along)
A Little History:
Between 1937 and 1939 the Ministry of Defence erected eight radio towers as part of its Chain Home project—the codename for a ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. At RAF Stoke Holy Cross there were four wooden receiving towers and four steel sending towers. These two remain
14th February 2017
14th February 2017
Sheep graze the hill-tops, the Tas Valley seen as misty in the distance
14th February 2017
Big trees are numerous on this walk, and being big they’re also old
14th February 2017
Is that tree laughing at me?
14th February 2017
These three old ladies edge Arminghall Woods. This track used to be a vehicular lane from Arminghall to Caistor St Edmunds. It’s now a footpath that soon disappears into a field where after weeks of winter rain combined with the free-range pigs on the hill created a sloppy mud that more resembled slurry. Yuk. What we get into when we walk!
14th February 2017
14th February 2017
Oh yes, catkin-time! And for some bizarre reason we decide to walk back up the hill, just so we can descend into the picturesque Tas Valley
14th February 2017
Down, down and down. The Tas is a tributary of the Yare. I’m sure it used to be wider and deeper than this, since it served the Roman-built Venta Icenorum
14th February 2017
14th February 2017
Venta Icenorum, the ‘market-place of the Iceni’, served as the Roman administrative centre for Norfolk, north Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire – i.e. the former lands of Queen Boudica’s Iron Age tribe. It was founded during the CE 60s, after Boudica’s rebellion of CE 61.
14th February 2017
Despite I could tell you a whole lot more about Venta Icenorum, the day has taken a rapid turn for the worse with a river mist rising and calling forth the shivers. Or maybe it’s ancient ghosts?
See Tuesday Treats for more photos from this ‘historical’ walk
