Category: Walks

Snow, Stations and Trains, Walks

…Sorry it’s been a while!

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It’s been a while, I know and that’s not to say we haven’t been busy- the trouble is we’ve been too busy! My last post was before we had the fantastic (well fantastic for the first day, fun for the second, too cold for the third and down-right inconvenient by the forth! …is school ever going to reopen?) SNOW!

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My husband said I should write about the snow being a great thrifty activity and it absolutely is- snowmen et al, but it is sadly wholly reliant on the weather. Saying that, I thought I would mention that besides spending several of the days at our wonderful Eaton Park, sledging on the slopes, playing snowballs, and gazing at the bright blue frozen solid boating lake, we did discover a little area of Wymondham that will be worth another visit even if we don’t see the snow again.

We took a drive out one day (before it got too bad) to Wymondham and parked in Cemetery Lane car park, where up to an hour is free and £1.00 per hour thereafter. This is a nice big car park near the railway station– which in itself is a lovely historic station, with a good bistro, toilets and great views of the tracks from the pedestrian bridge. We took a lovely walk/ sledge around Tolls Meadow nature reserve, which is only a one minute walk in the opposite direction to the train station from the car park and free to visit. When we were there it was covered in several centimetres of snow but from the information on the website it looks like a real haven for wildlife and definitely something I will be taking my little bug hunters back to visit for an afternoon once the good weather finally gets here!

 

Over the last couple of months alongside our usual very thrifty adventures we have had some not quite so thrifty days out, but made the absolute most of them. A wonderful Easter visit to Bewilderwood where we met Cedric the Easter Bunny, the very breathtaking Framingham Castle, Church Farm Stow Bardolph where we saw and fed our first lambs of the season and The Dinosaur Park (we have a season ticket so we have been spending a great deal of time there!) I will probably expand on some of these as I update alongside my super-cheap days out, as I think there may be some useful tips I can share with you.

Next post Yorkshire, where we visited the wonderful and very thrifty FREE National Railway Museum…

Playgrounds, Walks

High Lodge- Thetford

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We made two visits to High Lodge this week as the ‘Highway Rat’ trail was closed due to storm damage on Monday and I sillily had not checked the website. Both days were absolutely fantastic, the weather was sunny, clear and crisp- if a little bracing at times! High Lodge is a firm favourite with the boys, there is so much to do there for all ages.

 

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We visit at least once a month and while it does cost £2.20 per hour up to a maximum of £11.50 for 5hrs +  to park on the site; I think it is worth it for a really superb day out in the forest. There are lots of trails to choose from, we love the sculpture and play trail and the music trails. 

There are great facilities including plenty of very clean toilets, a cafe, bike hire, gruffulo sculptures and lots of play equipment and picnic tables to keep little ones happy on the visit.

The ‘Highway Rat’ has been a favourite in our house since it was first broadcast on Christmas day (2017) and so the children were really excited to explore the trail. It’s about a mile long and definitely aimed at younger children. The trail is focused on identifying all of the major characters from the story, finding food supplies (via crayon rubbings) and exploring key aspects of nature and the environment. We purchased the activity pack for £3.00, the pack definitely adds to the experience through enhancing the activities but isn’t essential to enjoying the experience.

There’s lots of work going on at High Lodge in preparation for the warmer months so some access to parts is limited, but on a clear winters day it’s always worth a visit to get some fresh air and enjoy the outside, even if you do end up having you picnic in the boot of the car!

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Shopping, Stations and Trains, Walks

Buffer Stop Books at Wroxham Station

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I’ve talked about the Bure Valley Railway here before but I wanted to set aside some space for the wonderful ‘Buffer Stop Books’ based at the Bure Valley station in Wroxham. This stop is a really excellent diversion, especially on a cold winters’ day when you find yourself short of something to do for an hour or so.

We have already visited a couple of times this year; mixing it up a little bit by parking in the Roy’s free mid-length stay carpark on Station Road near to the mainline Wroxham Station, taking the footpath through the station and onto the Bure Valley Station. Lots to see on the way and a reasonably decent footpath with ramps through the station all accessible to buggies.

During the winter months Buffer Stop Books does have slightly limited opening hours so its worth checking the website before setting out to visit. The shop has a fabulous range of pre-owned books, all in great condition. On our last visit we bought 20 children’s books for under £10.00, many of which were previously between £3.99 and £6.99 when new! The boys love to play with the train table and it affords a few moments ‘grown-up’ browsing while the boys are engrossed in their play.

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On the way back you could choose to carry on the path towards the river and take a meander along the river or back round to the boardwalk (which eventually heads back to the station via a more muddy route. The riverside walk is lovely, although can be a bit wet in the winter months so wear wellies and take lots of bread to feed the water fowl!img_2264.jpg

Walks

Burlingham Woodland Walks

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Just after Christmas the boys tend to get a bit stir-crazy, so when the weather is good we try to get them out in the morning for some fresh air and a walk. It’s nice to explore, but sometimes we don’t want too long a car drive but still want to feel like we are going somewhere different.

Burlingham woodland walks are just outside norwich off the A47- you can find everything you need to know here with a great downloadable PDF of the actual walks.

We always park at St Andrews Church, which is free but can get quite busy on weekends. I’ve also noticed people park on the roadside but we have always managed to get a space by a waiting a little while as people seem to regularly come and go. The car park can be a little muddy (especially after the rain we have had recently) but once you get to the walk the mobility access path is perfectly fine for a buggy. On a fine dry day, many of the walks deeper in the woods and on the footpaths and bridleways would also work with a buggy but in the depth of winter these are very muddy and boggy.

There are lots to see on the trails including art projects by local schools, bronze plaques and a sun dial further along in the woods. There is also a lovely ‘swap box’ where you can take unwanted items and swap them. Today we even found a ‘Norfolk rock’ which we moved and found a new hiding place for.

The woods are absolutely beautiful and feel very magical to wander around with the boys, there is lots of wildlife to see and is perfect for a good stomp to blow the cobwebs away. I’d throughly recommend a visit, we took a packed lunched and enjoyed a good few hours out costing us absolutely nothing except little fuel money for the drive.

 

Christmas, Walks

Christmas Lights

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Visiting Christmas lights this time of year in any town or city is a fantastic ‘thrifty’ activity.

We’ve been working our way round Norwich City Centre on foot, enjoying the castle projections, tunnel of light- which continually offers at least 20 minutes if not more of excitement as we watch it work through the differing lighting cycles, the wonderful forum lights and the Christmas tree festival at St Peter Mancroft to mention just a few highlights.

Christmas tree festivals are becoming increasingly popular and we’ve visited a few in the past years, Fakenham is another really lovely one to visit, as are the town lights which are really beautiful too. It’s a lovely activity to take all the spare coppers we have and give the kids two tubs to take round the trees and pop in the charity collection boxes of the trees they like. Generally we end up putting something in each one as we don’t like leaving anyone out!

Another evening activity we tend to enjoy this time of year is a drive around our neighbourhood to look at the houses with Christmas lights, we have created a map with all the best ones on which we add to every year. Thorpe St Andrew in Norwich have lovely lights by the river which are definitely worth a look and there is one of our favourite houses near-by, hope you have fun searching for that one!

We’ve discovered lots of great places to drive through looking at Christmas lights including Rackheath, Attleborough and Wymondham to name but a few! We’ve found this one of the best activities to really get us all in the festive mood.

Gardens, Playgrounds, Stations and Trains, Walks

Eaton Park

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We absolutely love Eaton park at any time of the year. It has good bus connections from Norwich City Centre- number 25, great parking at both ends of the park, toilets and a fab cafe.IMG_5150

We love a good stomp around the paths which are super buggy, scooter or bike friendly. It’s a lovely, safe environment for the kids to practice on their wheels. There’s a miniature railway that runs on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays throughout the spring and summer months and at Christmas with a Santa Special. Even when the train isn’t running the children love looking at the station buildings and track. The boating lake is also a great source of entertainment with people regularly sailing their craft on it.

On top of all that there’s a skate park, band stand, tennis courts, table tennis, football pitches, basket ball court, crazy golf and probably lots of other things I’ve missed! The jewel in the crown is the fantastic playground suitable for all ages!

We visit the park almost weekly and always have a lovely time exploring and enjoying different events as the seasons change.

As Christmas is coming, I thought I’d make a particular note of the next event- ‘Carols at Eaton Park’ on 19th December starting at 7.30pm. It may be a little late for the younger ones but is guaranteed to get the family in the festive spirit!

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Animals, Gardens, Walks

Felbrigg Estate

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The National Trust Felbrigg Estate is a staple spot to visit for us, it’s very close to Cromer and wonderful to visit all year round.

We tend to visit the estate only paying £2.00 for parking all day. The car park is huge and great for picnics or you can venture closer to the hall for picnic tables which are freely available. There are some lovely walks around the estate; all so far I have found to be buggy friendly.

Toilets, cafe and shop are all free to access and during the summer the grass outside the hall has a big wicker basket on it full of lawn games which the boys adore exploring!

We love Felbrigg, there is always something to see, the landscape changes with the seasons and the farm animals and wildlife are always go great interest to the kids.

Animals, Birds, Gardens, Playgrounds, Walks

Bury St Edmunds- Abbey Gardens

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E26D01C6-40F0-401F-8BB2-C8BD17E6CD10IMG_2957We really love visiting Bury St Edmunds; the Abbey Gardens are truly lovely to take a wander through, enjoy a picnic and play in the fantastic children’s play area.

We tend to park in Ram Meadow car park which is a 3 minute walk from the Mustow Street Entrance to the Gardens. All day parking is £2.30- 8am-6pm. There are lots of spaces, although no parent and child.

The kids really enjoy the playground, especially the sand and water play area in the summer. The water comes from a pump that creates a small & child safe river and is great fun to splash around in, but remember to bring a change of clothes! There is also an excellent tree house for slightly bigger children or toddlers with a helping hand. Just to note the pump only runs on certain days during the summer but everything else is accessible all year round.

The Abbey gardens are completely free and its easy to spend a day there. Along with the playground there is an aviary, sensory garden, riverside, water garden and lots of ruins to explore. There are excellent toilets, extremely buggy friendly paths and a small kiosk cafe.

Our favourite thing to do all year round is feed the squirrels, so remember to bring a big bag of monkey nuts!

Playgrounds, Walks

West Stow Country Park

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We stumbled across West Stow Anglo Saxon Village and Country Park a few years ago when the Grandparents were caravanning at a nearby site.

Saturday was a day out with Nanny & Grandad so we planned to stop there for a picnic on our way to Bury St. Edmunds and use the facilities. Parking is only £2 for the whole day and there are good toilets and a great playground catering for both smalls and slightly bigger ones. There are plenty of picnic benches accessed easily from the car park and some lovely circular walks. The benches are in the woods near the activity centre and cafe and its great to see the boys running about and finding pine cones and playing hide and seek behind the trees. The walks are between 1 and 2 miles and the longer of which goes round the lake and alongside the river Lark for part of the way and all are accessible for buggies.

If you have a slightly bigger budget there is also a museum, shop and cafe. I haven’t visited the Anglo Saxon Village museum with the kids yet, but from the reviews on Trip Advisor it looks to be a good day out and with content to suit all ages.

More to come about Bury St. Edmunds, squirrels and an aviary…

Stations and Trains, Walks

Bure Valley Railway Station

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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.IMG_8208

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.

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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…