Right on schedule, a dozen of us took the Konect service 4 to Mattishall on Wednesday 21 May. The first part of this walk was through small passageways and estate roads, before reaching the edge of the town past Rookery Farm.

From here, it was along the road for approaching a mile, but meeting only one vehicle. Then we were on to a track, walking through a quiet broken only by birdsong. Out from the trees, we followed field edges for a while, stopping at our halfway point for a brief rest (it was still rather cool!).

There followed another stretch of road, rather busier but also a lot shorter, so before long we reached the end of Footpath 26. Along here we had a pleasant surprise, finding that Restricted Byway 3, long fought over as a result of having been ploughed out for many years, had been well cleared through the crop.

Theoretically (and legally) a pretty straight line, the path instead wound its way through the crop making use of tractor tracks where it could - but at least it was there, albeit still arriving at its meeting with Restricted Byway 38 quite a few metres away from where the official fingerpost optimistically pointed directly into the hedge.

Excitement over, we continued towards Dereham, crossing the A47 on the occupation bridge and coming round to the Windmill. Some stayed here at the Partea Hut for refreshment, while others continued on their own chosen routes into town.

Back to Event History

©2025 Dereham Walkers are Welcome