Chapter 2: Ancient Paths to The Land of the North Folk

Thurs 8th June 2023

Day 6: A brief interlude – Wideham Farm Campsite – rest day… sort of

It was a chilly night, but after a long and restful night, I woke to a lovely, fine day

I’m camped in a field with two young bikers on one side of me, and a field of horses on the other. There are camper vans on site; I missed the Beast.

The lads were cooking bacon when I crawled out of my tent, and my thoughts turned to food

I had one dried meal left for tonight and a snack bar. There are no shops nearby and no shop on site. Another gripe of mine is the lack of phone charging points. Campsites simply don’t cater for hikers.

My eyes looked a fright, and so did my ankles, puffy and swollen. After leaving my laundry to dry on the tent, I headed across the road in search of food at the cafe at the West Stow Anglo Saxon Village and Country Park

Saved once more, this time by a bacon butty and coffee. They also have sandwiches that I can stock up on to get me through my next stage on the trail

In fact, I spent most of the day here, quietly exploring the village and museums. Deftly evading two school parties, with the help of the steward who told me their schedule

The weather was hot all day, and I was glad not to be walking

According to Wiki, West Stow has been settled from around AD 420–650. In the late 13th century, the site was covered by blown sand, a phenomenon which would continue to plague the Breckland sand areas into the 20th Century. The worked-out, exhausted farmland then became poor heathland. The site lay undisturbed for nearly 500 years, grazed over only by sheep.

A major archaeological dig here from 1965–1972 was led by Dr Stanley West of the West Suffolk Archaeology Unit. It revealed a well-preserved Anglo-Saxon site beneath the sands of the Breckland.

In the 1970s, complete with flares, long hair, and Pink Floyd, experimental archaeology was conducted, and the village was created

I would be quite happy living in any of these huts. Very cosy

The museum is well worth a look around. The archaeological finds from West Stowe and Icklingham tell the history of this area

The museum also holds some of The Isleham Hoard. More than 6,500 pieces of worked and unworked bronze, dating from the Bronze Age, found in 1959 by William ‘Bill’ Houghton and his brother, Arthur, at Isleham, Cambridgeshire

The Cornish may be interested to know that during excavations at West Stow, part of a Neolithic axe made from Cornish ‘green stone’ was found. That would be Serpentine

This suggests that goods were traded along the Icknield Way from East Anglia to Wessex and beyond

Well, after all that excitement, it was time for an ice cream and a lie down. I found a hole in the tent

From tomorrow I will be walking shorter days. I’m wild camping tomorrow, somewhere… so I can start later and amble slowly through the Kings Forest to Knettishal Heath and the end of the Icknield Way

That’s it, all caught up

Until tomorrow