Nice place within reasonable distance from Cambridge

Dear walking fans,

in two weeks time I will be visiting a Belgian friend who
studies in Cambridge.

The plan is to leave Cambridge by car on Friday evening, to
then head for a nice place to put up our tent, to do a tough
hike on Saturday, to have a good meal and dito pint
afterwards in a nearby village and to be back in Cambridge
Sunday around noon.

So, what I am looking for is a quiet, beautiful (and
preferably still a little bit wild) area within a radius of
about a 100 miles from Cambridge, with a well enough
indicated walking path and at least one quiet, cozy village
in the near surroundings with eating and drinking
facilities.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Gert

"Gert Sclep" <Gert.Sclep@chello.be> wrote in message
news:Pine.WNT.4.58.0406142218110.1228@kwisbox...
> Dear walking fans,
>
> in two weeks time I will be visiting a Belgian friend who
> studies in Cambridge.
>
> The plan is to leave Cambridge by car on Friday evening,
> to then head for a nice place to put up our tent, to do a
> tough hike on Saturday, to have a good meal and dito pint
> afterwards in a nearby village and to be back in Cambridge
> Sunday around noon.
>
> So, what I am looking for is a quiet, beautiful (and
> preferably still a little bit wild) area within a radius
> of about a 100 miles from Cambridge, with a well enough
> indicated walking path and at least one quiet, cozy
> village in the near surroundings with eating and drinking
> facilities.

There's nothing that could be described as "a tough hike"
any closer to Cambridge than the Peak District....

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 20:32:26 GMT, Gert Sclep wrote:

> Dear walking fans,
>
> in two weeks time I will be visiting a Belgian friend who
> studies in Cambridge.
>
> The plan is to leave Cambridge by car on Friday evening,
> to then head for a nice place to put up our tent, to do a
> tough hike on Saturday, to have a good meal and dito pint
> afterwards in a nearby village and to be back in Cambridge
> Sunday around noon.
>
> So, what I am looking for is a quiet, beautiful (and
> preferably still a little bit wild) area within a radius
> of about a 100 miles from Cambridge, with a well enough
> indicated walking path and at least one quiet, cozy
> village in the near surroundings with eating and drinking
> facilities.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Gert

I would venture that you are totally stuffed for anything
within a hundred miles of Cambridge. You really want to be
looking at the Peak district, and if you are going that far
you may as well bite the bullet and go for Snowdonia, ELD or
the Dales.

Mark South wrote on Mon, 14 Jun 2004 22:41:39 +0200....
> "Gert Sclep" <Gert.Sclep@chello.be> wrote in message
> news:Pine.WNT.4.58.0406142218110.1228@kwisbox...
> >
> > The plan is to leave Cambridge by car on Friday evening,
> > to then head for a nice place to put up our tent, to do
> > a tough hike on Saturday, to have a good meal and dito
> > pint afterwards in a nearby village and to be back in
> > Cambridge Sunday around noon.
> >
> > So, what I am looking for is a quiet, beautiful (and
> > preferably still a little bit wild) area within a radius
> > of about a 100 miles from Cambridge, with a well enough
> > indicated walking path and at least one quiet, cozy
> > village in the near surroundings with eating and
> > drinking facilities.
>
> There's nothing that could be described as "a tough hike"
> any closer to Cambridge than the Peak District....

Cambridge to Edale (a good walking centre in the Peak
District - but I suspect not necessarily quiet on a summer
Saturday) is 138.7 miles,
223.1 km, 2 hours 57 minutes by car, according to the AA.
http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp

--
Tim Jackson news@winterbourne.freeserve.invalid (Change
'.invalid' to '.co.uk' to reply direct) Absurd patents:
visit http://www.patent.freeserve.co.uk

Chris Street <venus-ngfb@chris-street.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 20:32:26 GMT, Gert Sclep wrote:
>
>> So, what I am looking for is a quiet, beautiful (and
>> preferably still a little bit wild) area within a radius
>> of about a 100 miles from Cambridge, with a well enough
>> indicated walking path and at least one quiet, cozy
>> village in the near surroundings with eating and drinking
>> facilities.
>>

> I would venture that you are totally stuffed for anything
> within a hundred miles of Cambridge. You really want to be
> looking at the Peak district, and if you are going that
> far you may as well bite the bullet and go for Snowdonia,
> ELD or the Dales.

Stuffed for significant hills, yes, but there are still
plenty of quiet, beautiful places. Try the Norfolk coast
around Cley-next-the-Sea, or some of the birdwatching areas
around the fens. Orford Ness looks worth a visit too, though
I've never been.

http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/peddarsway/index.htm http://-
www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/dont_miss/codename/orford.shtml
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/orfordness/

If you insist on getting above sea level (and perhaps those
areas are too much like Belgium) then the ground does start
to rise in south Bedfordshire : the Ridgeway starts at
Ivinghoe Beacon and there are some pleasant outlooks in the
Chilterns. There's even a Marilyn. Wild camping could be
difficult, though.

http://www.nationaltrails.gov.uk/ridgewayframeset.htm http://www.personal.u-
net.com/~keswick/maryl39.htm#haddington

-adrian

"Mark South" <mark.south@null.invalid> wrote in message
news:40ce0d3a$1_3@news.bluewin.ch...
> "Gert Sclep" <Gert.Sclep@chello.be> wrote in message
> news:Pine.WNT.4.58.0406142218110.1228@kwisbox...
> > Dear walking fans,
> >
> > in two weeks time I will be visiting a Belgian friend
> > who studies in Cambridge.
> >
> > The plan is to leave Cambridge by car on Friday evening,
> > to then head
for
> > a nice place to put up our tent, to do a tough hike on
> > Saturday, to have
a
> > good meal and dito pint afterwards in a nearby village
> > and to be back in Cambridge Sunday around noon.
> >
> > So, what I am looking for is a quiet, beautiful (and
> > preferably still a little bit wild) area within a radius
> > of about a 100 miles from
Cambridge,
> > with a well enough indicated walking path and at least
> > one quiet, cozy village in the near surroundings with
> > eating and drinking facilities.
>
> There's nothing that could be described as "a tough hike"
> any closer to Cambridge than the Peak District....

My choice for leaving Friday and back on Sunday would be
Snowdonia - a lot further than 100 miles, but perfectly
doable on that timescale (there's a guy in my office who has
done a day trip from Cambridge up Snowdon, but he's
bonkers...).

Might be up there myself... What are the midges like at the
moment in Snowdonia and the Peaks?

Ben

As a denizen of Cambridge myself, I normally head for the
Lake District for some serious walking. Mind you,
Eskdale/Wasdale takes about six hours, even in the small
hours of the morning!

Adrian Godwin <adrian.110504@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> Try the Norfolk coast around Cley-next-the-Sea, [snip]

Adrian is right: North Norfolk is very beautiful, and
there's lots of good walking, and good camp sites,
though it's not exactly hilly.

One possibility that suggests itself is Kent; I haven't
done serious walking there, but it's easy to get to
from Cambridge, and again is very attractive.

Hope this is useful! Mark
--
Mark Manning mrm1@msm.cam.ac.uk

Adrian Godwin wrote

> Stuffed for significant hills, yes, but there are still
> plenty of quiet, beautiful places.

All of them and others. Don't underestimate just how out of
the way some parts of the fens can be. Get onto the dykes
that mark out the Old and New Bedford Drains north of Earith
Sutton Gault, for example and within a few miles you may as
well be on the moon. Also, because of the intensity of the
surrounding agriculture, the dykes tend to be important
havens for all sorts of wildlife and plants. Definitely
worth inspecting. I can also recommend a visit to Wood
Walton Fen nature reserve to the south of Ramsey Heights.
One of last remaining traditionally managed fens. They have
an active Marsh Harrier and Barn Olw programme there. Then
there's parts of Thetford Chase as well but it can be a bit
serried ranks of pine with the occaisional Challenger tank.
Don't miss out on Minsmere and Dunwich Heath, either.

Chris

"Chris Gilbert" <chris_gilbert@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:9b6b9d38.0406150441.61b9fbf1@posting.google.com...
> Adrian Godwin wrote
>
> > Stuffed for significant hills, yes, but there are still
> > plenty of quiet, beautiful places.
>
> All of them and others. Don't underestimate just how out
> of the way some parts of the fens can be. Get onto the
> dykes that mark out the Old and New Bedford Drains north
> of Earith Sutton Gault, for example and within a few miles
> you may as well be on the moon. Also, because of the
> intensity of the surrounding agriculture, the dykes tend
> to be important havens for all sorts of wildlife and
> plants. Definitely worth inspecting. I can also recommend
> a visit to Wood Walton Fen nature reserve to the south of
> Ramsey Heights. One of last remaining traditionally
> managed fens. They have an active Marsh Harrier and Barn
> Olw programme there. Then there's parts of Thetford Chase
> as well but it can be a bit serried ranks of pine with the
> occaisional Challenger tank. Don't miss out on Minsmere
> and Dunwich Heath, either.

Good advice. Since I wrote my original reply in this thread
I've been wracking my brains, and the mention of dykes above
reminded me of Devil's Dyke. This is historically
fascinating, not to say mind-boggling. Start at Reach, walk
the dyke all the way to Woodditton, lunch at the Three
Blackbirds, and walk back. It's not very hard going, but the
views are unparalleled in Cambridgeshire and you will see a
variety of flora and fauna.
--
Mark South: World Citizen, Net Denizen

Chris Gilbert <chris_gilbert@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
> All of them and others. Don't underestimate just how out
> of the way some parts of the fens can be. Get onto the
> dykes that mark out the Old and New Bedford Drains north
> of Earith Sutton Gault, for example and within a few miles
> you may as well be on the moon. Also, because of the
> intensity of the surrounding agriculture, the dykes tend
> to be important havens for all sorts of wildlife and
> plants. Definitely worth inspecting.

Is that the area called the Ouse Washes ? I've visited the
RSPB's reserve there and was gobsmacked by the wildfowl .. I
don't know why they bother with hides .. the birds make such
a racket they wouldn't hear you if you approached on a
motorbike.

The Washes are also a very cunning flood defence
scheme, built by a Dutch engineer in the 17th century.
Not many engineering works are still useful after that
amount of time !

> I can also recommend a visit to Wood Walton Fen ... tank.
> Don't miss out on Minsmere and Dunwich Heath, either.
>

Thank you, I'll put them on the list ..

-adrian

Adrian Godwin <adrian.110504@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:<3f34q1-cen.ln1@smaug.toynbee.org.uk>...
> Chris Gilbert <chris_gilbert@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> >
> > All of them and others. Don't underestimate just how out
> > of the way some parts of the fens can be. Get onto the
> > dykes that mark out the Old and New Bedford Drains north
> > of Earith Sutton Gault, for example and within a few
> > miles you may as well be on the moon.
<<<<<snipped>>>>>:-)))

Come to Gedney Marsh (Gedney Drove End and ask for
directions to Riggs Barn) Camp there and walk the Welland
Way. it's NOT hilly, it fact it's so flat you could roll a
marble from one end to the other BUT it can be a good tough
walk if you put enough miles in. With a bit of map work and
vast expenditure of energy (fuelled by Adnams beer
:-))))- THE only beer!) you could walk back to
:Cambridge. I know
these things I live there!!!!

John S-M

Adrian Godwin wrote

> Is that the area called the Ouse Washes ?

Yes, that's in the middle of the Bedford Levels.

> The Washes are also a very cunning flood defence
> scheme, built by a Dutch engineer in the 17th century.
> Not many engineering works are still useful after that
> amount of time !

Cornelius Vermuyden. Clever chap. Brought over the methods
that they were using to create the Polders in Holland. There
were very strong trading links between Holland and East
Anglia at the time and many of the sea-trading towns down
that coast still have many buildings whose designs carry a
strong Dutch and Flemish influence.

Chris