I realised I’d not shared the latest of my walking videos here, despite it being live for over a week. Apologies Llama hiking fans – here it is:
Sitting here, writing these few notes under a grey Sunday sky, with rain aplenty all weekend, this second trip along the sunny autumnal tracks and roads of Norfolk feels like a lifetime ago. This time the trek took in a lot of walking along disused railway lines – for many, many miles. Around 10 miles in all(!) Indeed this was more so than I’d really counted on, as they’re not something I often walk along in Leicestershire. I suspect we’re too industrial as a county still, so most of the major lines are still in use – unlike Norfolk. There’s not as much of interest to see along the way – save for a couple of abandoned stations.
Now, as I note in the video – walking in relatively straight and direct routes makes for very easy navigation. But what it doesn’t make for is as much variety as, say, the first section from Cromer. There we almost fell over the number of stately homes, ancient churches, expansive farmlands, intriguing green tracks; with only a few backlines to progress along. Here on the second leg most of what we encounter is the aforementioned old railways lines and then a LOT of road walking.
If anything, I was a little disappointed by the contrast between the two legs, as this second one felt more like walking Leicestershire in the winter when I end up pounding the side roads a lot when the fields are too sodden. Now, that isn’t to say there weren’t highlights – such as the wonderful autumnal path towards Hickling and past an old mill. I captured this bit separately for a short – which you can watch here.
The end of the route came relatively quickly upon me, although I was glad to get out of the high winds as I finished. As I was glad of a break and collection by Mrs Llama, I was sorry not to get to hike along more of the Norfolk Broads themselves this time. That’s a treat I’ll be saving for my next leg – maybe in February or March next year – we’ll have to see. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this slice of the last of the autumnal sunshine and fine weather, with my fervent hope that spring doesn’t wait around too many months to banish the gloomy skies above and soggy fields below.
This may be the last of the Walking with Llama Paws videos for 2023 [1]– unless anyone really wants to see me stomping along Leicestershire’s roadways. A lot of the field routes near me are currently either underwater or practically impassible unless you like swimming in mud for example. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, there might be a final chance over the Xmas break for some decent walking – but I won’t hold my breath on the weather being good enough for now.
Happy walking, and as always, let me have any thoughts in the comments below or over on YouTube.
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[1] I have already started planning a couple of new routes for Spring though.
Walking With Llama Paws 