The Cattle Yard

There is a touch of Royalty to some of this route with its well-kept roadsides and pretty cottages contrasted by a large amount of unsurfaced tracks.

Starting in Great Massingham, this walk takes in Grimston Heath and passes pockets of woodland across rolling downland before heading back on Peddars Way.

This peaceful route passes between the sleepy villages of Leziate and Ashwicken, where a history of industrial sand extraction has left the area with a series of artificial lakes. What it may lack in facilities the walk more than makes up for in rural charm.

The Peddars Way is a long distance footpath in Norfolk, England. It is 46 miles long and follows the route of a Roman road. It has been suggested by more than one writer that it was not created by the Romans but was an ancient trackway, a branch or extension of the Icknield Way, used and remodelled by the Romans. The name is said to be derived from the Latin pedester – on foot. It is first mentioned on a map of 1587 AD. It starts at Knettishall Heath in Suffolk (near the Norfolk-Suffolk border, about 7 km or 4 mi east of Thetford), and links with the Norfolk Coast Path at Holme-next-the-Sea.

Circling one of Norfolk’s most important Bronze Age landscapes, this route is a wonderful chance to get off the beaten track and sample high culture in the same day. Houghton Hall offers an array of outdoor sculpture in its gorgeous gardens as well as indoor art exhibitions.