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Ride Three

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A nice ride of just over twenty miles with just one gentle slope and one moderate but short climb.

STARTING POINT: SWAFFHAM - THEATRE STREET FREE CAR PARK.

Turn RIGHT out of the car park to the end of the road and RIGHT again into Haspalls Road. Continue to the end where it joins Cley Road at the junction by the iron gates of the recreation ground.

Take the Beachamwell road, obliquely ACROSS, with the new houses on the right. Follow this lane between hedges to the top of a slight rise where the aspect becomes more open and shortly enters a forestry area, before ascending slightly to the little cluster of houses at Drymere. There is then a nice downhill slope for about a mile to where you pass a lane on your left. Ignore this and continue straight on between trees and broad grassy verges to the next junction.

Here the main road veers to the right, but you take the road diagonally ACROSS, which leads you into the village of BEACHAMWELL.
As you approach the village green the road turns sharp right, so that the green is on your left, the pub one end and the church the other. Continue past the little thatched church and the Post Office to the end of the village where you come to a junction.

Turn RIGHT here, where from early summer onward your nose will be filled with the heady scent of strawberries from the fields. Across the fields on the left are the picturesque ruins of the Anglo-Saxon church of St. John's. Then, at the farm which takes its name from the church, the lane turns sharp left then right, (beware the 'free-range' chickens browsing in the roadway) and up to the 'T' junction. Turn to the LEFT and follow the lane to the next crossroads.

Take the LEFT turn here, which after a few yards veers to the right and runs dead straight, between very broad grassy verges , until you see BARTON BENDISH on the right.

If you are not going to the village, keep to the main road, round a sharp left hand bend, after which the road winds and twists its way through a variety of landscapes until it arrives at BOUGHTON. Most of the village is set around the picturesque pond and green and is a good place to rest awhile as there are seats at the waters edge. Continue through the village until the lane bears right, where you take the little lane on the LEFT. This gets ever narrower as you progress along its length, until it spills you out at a 'T' junction alongside a bridge. Turn RIGHT here and continue to the next junction, signposted Oxborough.

Turn sharp LEFT here, through the reed beds, over the stream and then follow the road round until you see the castellated walls of Oxborough Hall and the village of OXBOROUGH .

At the ruins of the Church of St. John the Evangelist ( the magnificent old building is well worth a visit and is a good place to stretch your legs), you will see a slip road to the right. Turn RIGHT here, and the road passes the entrance to Oxborough Hall, over the tiny bridge (the River Gadder which feeds the moat around the house),and through the lovely beechwoods of the estate. Ignore the small lane on the left and carry straight on to the next junction. Turn LEFT here and follow the lane to a 'T' junction on a bend, where you turn RIGHT, in the village of GOODERSTONE. Continue through the village, passing the church of St. George and the Swan P.H. which face each other across the road.The Gooderstone Water Gardens are on the left and are well worth a visit. Near the end of the village you will pass a large vegetable packing factory, after which you find yourself back between rows of old Scots Pines, backed by fields of carrots which feed the packing factory. The lane eventually joins another, going in the same direction which you follow to the next crossroads.

Turn LEFT here, the road running downhill quite steeply to cross once again the infant River Gadder, (about a mile from its source) and past the entrance to the Iceni Village and Nature Trail at COCKLEY CLEY. The lane divides here and you take the RIGHT fork for Swaffham, (unless that is, you intend to visit the Twenty Church Wardens in the village!) The lane rises up a short steep hill to a 'T' junction with the little wooden bus shelter in front of you, where you turn RIGHT, away from the village and out on to typical Breckland heath.

When you reach the golf course the lane becomes hedge enclosed,passing a farm, where great care should be taken due to a couple of bends in the narrow lane. After a left hand bend you pass a bungalow estate, then the recreation ground, where you come to a crossroads. Ignore the sign for 'Town centre' and go STRAIGHT SCROSS. Just before you reach the town centre, at the 'No Entry' sign, turn RIGHT into Theatre Street and return to the car park.


RIDE STATISTICS.

TOTAL DISTANCE:   24 MILES
MAX. HEIGHT:   236 FT.
MIN. HEIGHT:   7 FT.
TOTAL HEIGHT ASCENDED:   659 FT.


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RIDE STATISTICS.

TOTAL DISTANCE:   12.29 MILES
MAX. HEIGHT:   299 FT.
MIN. HEIGHT:   52 FT.
TOTAL HEIGHT ASCENDED:   659 FT.


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Unique thatched church of St Mary's, Beachamwell and the semi-ruined church of St. John the Evangelist, Oxborough.

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CONTACT PEACEFUL BYWAYS