Walk Cambridge is an active walking club and social group, aimed at working age people living in Cambridge and the surrounding area.
A linear walk from Brandon to Thetford, following the River Little Ouse.
IMPORTANT! We are using Meetup to handle attendance. Please do not turn up unless you are confirmed as attending on the event page. Being on the waitlist does not count as attending.
https://www.meetup.com/walk-cambridge/events/300111107/
Meet in the car park of Brandon railway station (postcode IP27 0BA) for an 11:30 departure, and a 9½-mile walk to Thetford, through beautiful Thetford Forest. From Thetford you can get the train back to Cambridge, Ely, or Brandon - wherever you started from.
If you are coming by train from Cambridge you should buy a return to Thetford, but get off at Brandon. Catch the 10:50 from Cambridge, which is also the 10:55 from Cambridge North, and the 11:07 from Ely, and which arrives into Brandon at 11:25.
For drivers: parking at Brandon station is free for rail users (that's us).
There are no toilets at Brandon railway station, so if you are travelling by train and feel the urge, you should use those on the train. There are public toilets 2.75 miles into the walk at Santon Downham, but then none for the remaining 7ish miles of the walk, until we reach those at Thetford railway station and the adjacent Station pub.
Bring a packed lunch, as we'll have a lunch stop by the river about 5½ miles into the walk. There may not be enough dry and clean places for everyone to sit down there, so you may also wish to bring a plastic bag or something else to sit on.
From Thetford there are trains back towards Cambridge at 15:36, 16:36, 17:22 and 17:36, although I somewhat doubt that we will reach Thetford in time for the first of those. They all stop at Brandon, Ely and Cambridge North, although the 17:22 for Cambridge involves a change at Ely.
While waiting for our train we could visit the Station pub, which is just outside Thetford railway station. If it has been a warm day (fingers crossed!), a pint of shandy could be just what the doctor ordered.
Finally, this walk is likely to be quite dry underfoot. I reconnoitred it on 29th March in a pair of holey old trainers, and did not get my feet wet. That said, a pair of proper walking boots would prevent your feet from being bashed about by the uneven ground, in the way that mine were.
Brandon railway station
Thetford railway station
