Walk #3: Littleport to Downham Market

General Data

Date Walked	09/01/1999
County	Cambridgeshire, Norfolk
Start Location	Littleport Station
End Location	Downham Market Station
Start time	09.15
End time	14.25
Distance	14.0 miles
Description	A walk from Littleport to Downham Market following the river. Initially the walk was over the banking, but about two-thirds was road walking follwing the river.
Pack	Full pack minus tent. Water and food carried, plus walking poles.
Condition	About 2 miles from the end the underside of my left knee started aching. This was a good excuse to get my walking poles out, which eased the situation slightly. There was no pain from my hips, and my legs were reasonable. It was the knee that gave way. Also note that I covered the raw, burst blister that I had gained on a previous walk with a plaster and this protected it well and infact developed a hard skin during this walk.
Weather	Mainly sunny, although the roads were frosty at the start and there was ten minutes of snow about a third of the way through.
OS map	Landranger number 143 (Ely & Wisbech, Downham Market)

Map of the walk

Maps courtesy of Google Maps. Route for indicative purposes only, and may have been plotted after the walk. Please let me have comments on what you think of this new format. For a detailed table of timings for this walk, please see the table file.

Notes

This was part of my back-to-fitness campaign. So far the longest walk that I had done since my operation seven months before was about twelve miles; I wanted to do more easy walks before tackling anything more strenuous. Looking at the map, what could be easier than a stroll along the banks of the River Great Ouse northwards? I had walked the stretch north from Waterbeach to Ely on many occasions, and the stretch between Ely and Littleport twice. A few more days of walking would get me to the sea at Kings Lynn.

It mostly follows the banking at the eastern side of the river, which can be a little overgrown in summer. The exception is a three mile stretch between Ten Mile Bank and Denver Sluice, where a road is followed along the base of the bank.

Directions

For more details on this walk, see my pages on the Fen Rivers Way.

Distances

From	To	Distance (m)	Ascent (ft)	Descent (ft)
Littleport station	Brandon Creek	5.5	59	59
Brandon Creek	Denver Sluice	6.5	105	105
Denver Sluice	Downham Market station	2.0	16	7

This makes a total distance of 14.0 miles, with 180 feet of ascent and 171 feet of descent.

For more information on profiles, ascents and descents, see this page

Transport

There are regular train services between Downham Market and Littleport, which run on the electrified Kings Lynn to Cambridge and London Liverpool Street railway line.

Disclaimer

Please note that I take no responsibility for anything that may happen when following these directions. If you intend to follow this route, then please use the relevant maps and check the route out before you go out. As always when walking, use common sense and you should be fine.

If you find any information on any of these routes that is inaccurate, or you wish to add anything, then please email me.

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And finally, enjoy your walking!

This walk was mentioned in the following routes:

A walk around East Anglia

Nearby walks

#	Title	Walk length (miles)
4	Downham Market to Watlington	6.2
18	Waterbeach to Ely	10.9
20	Waterbeach to Ely	12.2

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