A two day hike from my home village of Barrow in Suffolk, along the historical Icknield Way Path to The Kings Forest. The aim of this walk was to trek in part, the footsteps of our ancestors along the Icknield way. This is an ancient pathway that originates in the South West of England and leads into the lands of the Celtic tribe of the Iceni, in East Anglia. It is one of the oldest trade/travel routes in the U.K.
A map of the route me and fellow companion Jason Ingrey travelled. Starting at the bottom of the red line near the A14 we travelled North East to hook up with the Icknield Way. From there we followed the route to Lackford where there is an Anglo Saxon village dating from 420AD-650AD. The Icknield Way then heads North East in a straight line directly through The Kings Forest, part of the ancient Thetford Forest region. Camping for the night amongst the trees, the following day we headed for Icklingham village, then back down to Cavenham, where the Anglo Saxon Black Ditch crosses the landscape. Another eventful History trek in the bag!!
The start of our journey to join up with the Icknield Way.
The Thetford region being at a high altitude, and with sandy soils is covered with Pine trees.
Fertile farmlands.
Some red onions we gathered that were left over after the harvest. (cook them up later for super!)
Winter leaves of an oak tree on a clear winters day.
Strangling ivy.
A distant view of Cavenham church along the Icknield Way.
Sloe berries still hanging.
The River Lark at Lackford.
West Stow Heath Lake.
Ice covered Lake.
Winter Bulrushes.
Jason by the lake.
Me by the lake.
West Stow Anglo Saxon Village visitors centre.
Some views of the Anglo Saxon Village at West Stow.
Back on the Icknield Way heading into The Kings Forest.
The Icknield Way.
Inside The Kings Forest.
A choice spot for rough camping amongst the bracken ferns.
Jasons low level tarp before its camouflaged!
My low level tarp camouflaged with bracken!
Night time cooking. (with those red onions we collected!)
A hot pot of rice, noodles, and red onions.
Jasons new Honey Stove expansion kit called The Hive.
Is Jason feeding the flames.. or falling asleep before his dinner.
Pine is a very hard wood to burn and keep going, with a very low heat and a quick burn time. This is our very keen attempt at stacking the fire to keep it going. Somehow it just wasn't working!
Finally Jason cracked it with a fire stack method, using a criss-cross of wood 4 levels high!
The expansion kit is a great night time warmer, large enough to chuck out plenty of heat.
Me around the flame.
Jason around the flame.
One big stack of pine wood on the honey stove expansion.
Finally roaring.
A pleasing sight waking under the pines to a blue sky above!
A favourite bit of kit is my silver plated Viking tea spoon!
Morning sun amongst the pines and bracken.
A view of the forest avenues.
Back on The Icknield Way lined with pine trees.
A view back to The Kings Forest from the Icknield Way.
Walking to Icklingham.
Icklingham Church.
One of two fords at Icklingham bridging the River Lark.
The final walk back to Cavenham takes us across broad heathland where sheep and pigs graze on sugar beet.
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