Author: thriftynorfolkmummy

We last visited the Bure Valley Railway Station at the start of September and this is something we’ve found to be a staple activity over the last year or so. As you may have gathered my children are mad about trains and this is a perfect pursuit when they are in need of a ‘train top-up!’.

The Bure Valley Railway runs between Aylsham and Wroxham and either station is really worth a visit. We tend to visit Wroxham more frequently as it’s located nearer to the Grandparents. We have travelled on the train which is great fun, however for a more cost-effective everyday activity we find it great fun to go to the station and watch the trains arrive and turn on a turntable you can see the train go onto, turn and then leave; its worth familiarising yourself with the timetable to make sure you arrive in good time to see a train.

At Wroxham, the Bure Valley Station is located very close to the main line railway station and so this can be combined with a visit to the station, where there is a lovely walk way to and from both stations. The Bure Valley railway line also runs for a short way next to the mainline railway for added ‘traineeness!’.

The car park at the Bure Valley Railway station in Wroxham is free, the station has good toilets and a lovely pre-owned bookshop with a great childrens book section and a train table for the children to play freely with. There are also picnic tables to the side of the bookshop at the end of the train track.

The train track has a path running the full length of the route from Wroxham to Aylsham (approx 9 miles) and can be approached to the left of the Bure Valley Wroxham station from the car park. The walk is called the Bure Valley path and can be accessed from several of the villages along the way. I have yet to explore parking at various points along the track but can safely say the walk from Wroxham along the track is lovely and great for viewing the trains as you walk side-by-side with the track for much of the way. It’s quite buggy friendly, we coped well with it although a little bit stoney in places, we have walked as far as Belaugh Lane (about 1.5 miles) from Wroxham station and back again.

Will keep you posted as we explore more of the path, more about Aylsham station to follow…

Marriots Way is a fantastic footpath running along an old railway line about 26 miles between Alysham and Norwich. There are lots of places to access it from along the route and a great walk to explore nature, watch the changing seasons and tire little ones out. By my understanding some of the route is easier going for buggies, bikes, scooters etc so it’s best to check the Marriots Way website for advise. I’ll also keep note of conditions on the blog as we explore sections of it.

Today we visited Whitwell Station near Reepham where part of the Marriots way footpath can be accessed from. Whitwell Station is a really friendly working heritage station with excellent free parking, great toilets and a lovely cafe. It’s a friendly place and the team who run it are really helpful, you only have to ask to access the baby changing facilities.

I’ve included a couple of photos I took of the footpath map which goes to the right of the station and can be accessed via the station platform. This forms a loop and runs just over six miles to Reepham Station (now disused as a station but has a cafe). It’s worth noting it does suggest that this route can be muddy and not suitable for buggies so today we walked a couple of miles in the opposite direction to this. The route would eventually take you to Drayton which is 9.5 miles if you were feeling energetic! The path is really flat and is excellent for both buggies and scooters as you can see from my photos below.

There are lots of bridges and points of interest along the way. We loved collecting sticks and playing ‘pooh sticks’ at one of the bridges, we also spotted a frog, some sheep, saw lots of people on bikes, walking dogs and followed some horse shoe shaped tracks.

Do take a look at the Marriots Way free download with everything in you need to know about the walks. I’ve taken a look at it this evening and will definitely be using this to help me plan future days out. The section on part of the walk we did today is on Page 24.