The weather has been uncommonly fine and a cycle ride round the lanes of Norfolk brought us close to nature and refreshed our minds.

The recent Sponsored Cycle Ride in aid of Norfolk’s many medieval churches provided a Nice Day Out for many families and individuals in the area.
Your Editor set out on a bike for the first time in many years to join the happy wanderers and was enchanted by the quiet lanes, the beautiful hedgerows and country views and the friendly people he met, out enjoying themselves too.
A church tower is always on the horizon in Norfolk.  They are on average only 21/2 miles apart.
Seeing the inside of so many fascinating old churches on this day is a big bonus, but it was only part of the day’s enjoyment.
There are many beautiful homes in the countryside too, some of them spectacular. 

Accompanied by my elder son we went through Foxley and past Foxley Wood to Themelthorpe.  There we joined Marriot’s Way, part of National Cycle Route 1, to take us to Reepham.  Marriot’s Way, in case you didn’t know, is part of the old Midland & Great Northern Railway.  It makes a fine flat cycle track, and we left it at Reepham Station where the Platform Café tempts one to stop for refreshment.
We headed north on the Salle road.  The magnificent, almost cathedral sized church can be seen from miles around.  It is usually open during daylight hours too.  Don’t miss the old schoolroom or chapel up some winding stairs.
There is not much in the way of a village at Salle, just a huge church, a few estate houses and three very fine mansions in beautiful settings.
Heading north from Salle we arrived in Heydon for a picnic lunch on the green and a pint from the pub.  Heydon is one of those unspoiled villages very popular with the film-makers.  The road stops there for motor cars but pedestrians and cyclists are permitted to cross the estate on one of its several roads and tracks.  We went through the parkland to the Saxthorpe road.
It was time then to head west to Thurning where there is a wonderful little church with rows of box pews all labelled with the names of different farms.  To get there we took a shortcut by a long bridleway shown clearly on the ordinance survey map.
All along the lanes the hedgerows were thick with ripe blackberries, with rosehips and with sloes.  At one farm entrance there was a box of eating apples with a notice saying “Please help yourself”.
We returned home via Wood Dalling, Guestwick, Foulsham, Bintree, Billingford, Bylaugh and Elsing  Lane, only getting off our bikes to cross the occasional main road.
It was A Nice Day Out.

If anyone else has enjoyed A Nice Day Out, no matter how different, please share it with us.    The Editor