Day 3: Oxborough to Downham Market 11 miles

We have another fantastic breakfast then leave the Bedingfeld Arms on a bright and breezy morning. We turn down our intended route past a Road Closed sign. As we go on a few hundred metres, there are no roadworks in sight and we realise that they must be a long way down the road with no alternatives at that point. We decide to cut our losses and turn back to take a busier, but definitely open, road.

The traffic is not too bad and this way does have the advantage of taking us past the beautiful Oxburgh Hall. This is a magnificent late mediaeval red-brick country house complete with a moat and swans. It once held the exiled Mary Queen of Scots under house arrest, while catholic clerics hid in the priest hole to avoid detection and certain death. It belonged to the Bedingfeld family for its entire existence until it was given to the National Trust in 1952, having narrowly avoided demolition. It’s my favourite National Trust property; it fills me with calm and joy (and a great cream tea).

We pass yet another White House Farm then not too far along the road, we turn off onto Boughton Fen. This is open access land, but we follow the Boughton Fen Wildlife Walk as the vegetation is impenetrably dense on both sides of it. Boughton Fen is a 44 acre site of special scientific interest and is common land belonging to the local parish council. We hear a reed warbler and see a heron and a buzzard being mobbed by a crow, as well as a host of dragonfly species.

We emerge the other side of the roadworks (which we still can’t see) and head off up a hill towards the hilltop village of Boughton. It’s all of 32 metres above sea level, but then it’s surrounded by fenland which is sometimes in minus figures for height. Rich suddenly stops as there is a muntjac up ahead, chewing leaves off the bushes, having a scratch, then cross the road and snuffling off into the undergrowth.

Boughton itself is a beautiful chocolate box village complete with a duck pond so extensive it contains coot and moorhen chicks, as well as ducklings. We reckon it’s a bit early to stop so press on down the road.

We leave the village a little wistfully and take a track leading to a footpath on the left. It’s another good path leading through crops and hedgerows with wild flowers. We see two yellow hammers and copious gorgeous peacock butterflies. We arrive on a road and turn left towards the village of Wereham. We are aiming to take our break at the church but it seems Wereham also has a duck pond and a deep wooden bench put there to celebrate QE II’s platinum jubilee. There are mallard ducklings of different ages here and the mother of the older ones keeps attacking the younger brood. Their mother takes them off down the road, presumably to avoid any harm befalling them. We even intervene on a couple of occasions to rescue tiny ducklings from the over aggressive adult. The drakes stand by seemingly oblivious, though female ducks can kill other ducklings if they come near their brood.

We soon need to press on; it’s another short day today, but there are no shops in any of these villages so we are aiming to get to Downham Market for a late lunch. We cross the A134 then take an unclassified road out of the village. We turn down a track that may or may not join another track when it crosses the next road. It’s not clear on the map and there is a fenland drain to avoid, but the detour is relatively short if it doesn’t go, so it’s worth the risk.

It transpires that we don’t even see the drain and we’re soon heading off down the track towards White House Farm (again). I find myself wondering if they ever receive Amazon deliveries and post intended for the other White House Farms, as we do for nearby Old Rectories. We are soon approaching the village of West Dereham and one more octagonal flint church tower.

With a population of only around 450, it’s much smaller than its East Dereham counterpart, population over 19,000. It doesn’t have a shop. As we leave the village though, there is a roadside farm cabinet with an honesty box selling cherries in newspaper cups. It’s three pounds well spent and we munch the fruit as we walk.

We soon head past Ryston Hall then downhill to cross the A10 and pick up a cycle track on the other side. This is part of cycle route 11 from Cambridge to Ely and also National Cycle Network Regional Route 30, a 230 mile round trip through Norfolk and Suffolk. It leads us straight into the centre of town and the Downham Cafe and Restaurant where we have a very welcome late lunch.

As we sit down, I notice that the bra that was drying on the outside of my rucksack is gone (the pants are still there though). This poses a bit of a problem as I only have two with me: one to wear and one to wash and, unsurprisingly, Downham Market does not have specialist bra shops. There’s no way we can go back to find it though. We check in to the Crown Hotel and I ponder how to resolve my underwear deficiency.

The Crown Hotel is a 17th century grade II listed coaching inn, complete with mounting block, where the magistrates used to meet prior to the building of the Court House in 1849. The architecture is tremendous, with oak beams throughout and even a massive brick fireplace in our bedroom. The floor is somewhat sloping though, so care needs to be taken with cups of tea on the bedside table.

Next door to the hotel is Peacocks and they’re my first, and possibly only, port of call on the bra hunt; the only other option being Tesco’s and I don’t know if this branch do clothing. Peacocks is air conditioned and the staff are very helpful. I take some bras to try on and, while none of them is as good as the lost item, I find one that will do the job (and it’s only ten quid). Then it’s back to the Crown for a cup of tea, shower and a rest before a longer day tomorrow.

Total distance: 40 miles