MARPA LINE WALKS

WALK 11 - Newmarket to Soham

Re-opened Soham station provides a convenient break point for walks between Ely and Newmarket; also the opportunity to explore the town’s historic features from an extensive network of local paths. All Ipswich to Peterborough trains via Bury St Edmunds and Ely call, including Sundays.
Chippenham Fen National Nature Reserve is of great botanical interest, a reedy ‘wildscape’ where fens and breckland merge. The public path through the fen is often wet underfoot and may be boggy or even flooded in winter. Access is limited to the path unless you have a permit from Natural England.
Fordham Woods Nature Reserve and a network of short paths within the village repay exploration, ­notably the Ironbridge Path leading to the Townsend arboretum.

Distance 11 miles (18.5km) - allow about 5-6 hours, but add on time for refreshments, visiting nature reserves and churches Download the PDF format A4 trifold leaflet (1652 kb)

WALK 12 - Soham to Ely

Soham’s reopened rail station provides a ­convenient starting point for a riverside walk to Ely along the banks of Soham Lode and Gt Ouse, the cathedral (‘the ship of the fens’) dominating the landscape ahead.
Soham’s station also gives access to local features of historic and natural interest including the ­impressive church tower of 1500-4 and beautiful hammerbeam roof straddling the nave. The famous steelyard is opposite the church. The town’s Millennium Walks and Art Trail invites further exploration, including a feature commemorating the great explosion of 1944 when a wagon in a trainload of bombs caught fire. The bravery of three railwaymen who managed to detach the wagon saved the town from catastrophe.
All trains on the Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Ely and Peterborough route call at Soham, including ­Sundays
.

Distance 6½ miles (10.5km) - allow about 3-4 hours, but add on time for refreshments, visiting nature reserves, churches, etc. Download the PDF format A4 trifold leaflet (2338 kb)

WALK 14 - Fordham to Landwade and Newmarket

The idyllic parkland setting of Landwade church is a highlight of the walk. Old guidebooks locate it in Cambridgeshire, but it has since migrated to Suffolk! Spring snowdrops and aconites abound. Locally quarried ‘clunch’, a hard form of chalk, can be seen in older buildings and walls in Fordham and Exning. Clear waters from St Wendred’s Well flow beside Church Lane in Exning.
Surfaced paths, tracks and minor roads make for easy walking along much of the route and the HQ of British horseracing is approached by Cycle Route 51, providing a vehicle-free route into Newmarket town centre.
Experienced long distance walkers can combine this walk with part of MARPA Walk 11 (see above) to make a circular route of about 15 miles.

Distance 8 miles - allow about 3-4 hours, but add on time for refreshments, visiting nature reserves, churches, etc. Download the PDF format A4 trifold leaflet (486 kb)

See also Walk 7 - Kennett to Newmarket 11 miles (5-6 hours) and Walk 8 - Dullingham to Newmarket 7 miles (3-4 hours)

Walks selected by Roger Wolfe