A Fresh Start

Nice waistcoat, eh?

It was A Day Out With Thomas Day at the Bure Valley Railway today. That’s not why I went - the forecast was good and I didn’t know how many more fine days there’d be before the winter closes in. I was there to do what I’d resolved earlier this summer and walk the length of the railway.

Many photographers were around, mostly taking “family shots” or, as in this case, pictures of the locos with their ridiculous faces. I’d like to say that the chap on the right was there to entertain the kiddies, but … for goodness sake! Rather than risk walking the line and arriving after the last train back had left, I’d decided to ride to Aylsham and then walk back to the car at Wroxham - I’m not quite as daft as I look, you know.

As I left Aylsham, the first of many trains to pass me was coming up out of the tunnel under the A140. It was a beautiful day yet the foot/cyclepath was very quiet. Over the whole walk only four people passed me, two of them on bikes, and I passed each of the couples again before reaching Wroxham. Yes, even the couple on bikes. To be fair, they passed me again too, but I think I had the moral victory in that particular encounter. The other couple only passed me as I’d stopped to photograph this first train and they’d stopped at the first station and were waiting for the train when I passed them.

I’m not sure what’s going on in this last photo above, but I don’t think the dragonfly on the right was too happy about it.

Two miles? Is that all?!

Purely for scientific reasons I tested the blackberries along the track as I went. They were generally good, slightly sweeter on the eastern side, nearer to Aylsham (the footpath switches from one side of the railway to the other about halfway down).

I finally reached Wroxham three hours and twenty minutes after leaving Aylsham. I was never going to set any records but I was expecting to get there in three hours so was a little disappointed at first. Then I thought to myself: Hang on, you’ve just walked nine miles for the first time in absolutely ages. You deserve a cornetto to celebrate this.

And who am I to disagree?