The Index to posts:
Part 1 The Cantii Way; a UK Cycling route
Part 2 Kent to Norfolk; the transition
Part 3 The Rebellion Way; a UK Cycling route
Part 4 Homeward Bound; the return leg
This is my fourth sally into the unknown by bicycle in recent years. The initial decision to cycle around East Anglia arose from feeling utterly wrecked after completing two tours in 2023, both of which I found enjoyable, rewarding and educational, though somewhat demanding. I had spent a month walking the Lycian Way in Turkey in the autumn of 2023 and this followed a month-long bike ride from Saint Malo to Nice in the spring of the same year. East Anglia is surely mostly flat and a three-week cycle tour would be relaxing; that was the general idea. As is my way, some modest yet obscure research was required and this caused me to delve into the archives.
There is a long tradition of authors of fiction turning their hand to travel writing. Daniel Defoe kindly wrote up his "Tour through the Eastern Counties" in 1724, J.B. Priestley documented his "English Journey" in 1933 and Robert Louis Stephenson penned "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes" in 1879. It was tempting to retrace Defoe's tour, though his book only has a vague itinerary and the passage of 300 years means trying to follow his footsteps was probably unwise, though you can see my thought process and in fairness he does visit the main ports and market towns.
Clinging on to my keep it easy philosophy for this tour I elected to use Camping and Caravanning sites as much as possible and these - in my first plan - would dictate a clockwise tour of the main delights of East Anglia. The campsites will be in areas of interest to the tourist and nature lover and will offer an affordable luxury experience; luxury being a relative term when applied to camping. Which brings me to the issue of naming. In 1724 Defoe sensibly referred to the Eastern Counties by which he was referring to the known counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. In 2024 it is still common practice to refer to East Anglia, a name which comes from a much earlier time when the Anglo-Saxons ruled Britain in the 6th century. East Anglia was one of the seven kingdoms along with Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria, Essex, Sussex and Kent. I will leave you to explore this question of geography and naming and will say that for my proposed tour East Anglia is Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Cambridgeshire. Defoe went on to do three other volumes and covered the whole of England and I wonder if that was inspiration for Priestley's much later tour as they both look at the people, their living conditions, agriculture and industry; though in a world before mass leisure time that is all there is. Defoe covers a region or town's main industry, its persons of note, events worthy of mention and any significant historical events. As an example we see that 300 years ago Suffolk and Norfolk were major centres of turkey production and many of these birds were destined for the London market and as with most livestock they (the birds) would walk to market following ancient droving routes. This was an age of extreme pragmatism and the flocks of 300 to 1,000 birds would travel after the harvests so they wouldn't destroy crops and could feed on the stubble and residual corn. 300 years ago they also developed multi-tiered transportation for the luckier turkeys; accepting that being a turkey is not a lucky occupation.
Someone has already asked where the common "...folk" naming convention comes from and this has been handed down the centuries from the first separation of ancient East Anglia into North Folk and South Folk.
Lest I bore you with history let us progress our story and jump to the business of pedalling. There are many cycling organisations and I have listed some in a resources blog. One that caught my attention was Cycling UK who publish cycle trails including the Rebellion Way in Norfolk where I am bound and - he says randomly - the Cantii Way in Kent, both offering a predefined route with the right amount and type of off-road cycling and quiet country lanes. These tried and tested routes benefit from a great deal of information such as this one from adventuring.co.uk which describes the Cantii Way. Cycling UK is one of the EXPERIENCE project partners and as such receives funding to develop tourism experiences (experiencial travel) which in turn support local businesses.
It will now come as no surprise that my itinerary in the newly revised plan is to travel to Canterbury by train then enjoy four days riding the circular Cantii Way which brings me back to Canterbury. I would spend five days cycling through Essex and Suffolk up to Norwich to pick up the official start of the Rebellion Way crossing the Thames on the Gravesend to Tilbury foot ferry. After a day of rest sightseeing in Norwich I will spend five days completing the circular Rebellion Way before cycling home from Norwich. Starting on Sunday 2 June 2024 will allow more flexibility to travel on trains with the bike in the early morning meaning I can complete a full day of cycling on day one.
Cantii Way (Kent) 4
Ride to Norwich 5
Rest in Norwich 1
Rebellion Way (Norfolk) 5
Rest in Norwich 1
Ride home 4
This doesn't explain why my East Anglia tour starts in Kent and I can only apologise for being too lazy to re-title this journey or provide any justification for my random route selection other than the fact that someone on a bike ride mentioned to me that they rode the Cantti Way. In a futile attempt to link Kent and Norfolk I might mention that when Yarmouth held it's annual fishing-fair - which coincided with the availability of herring in the area over the month of October - the fishing barques from Kent (specifically Dover, Folkestone and Rye) would sail north to fish out of Yarmouth. But this was 300 years ago when Folkestone was known as Foulkston.
During my East Anglia research I came across countless examples from Defoe (300 years ago) and Priestly (90 years ago) which demonstrate how the fundamental aspects of life don't change. Defoe talks of the growth and rising cost of housing in Layton and Laytonstone when he starts his journey and the only thing that has changed in this statement is the second letter of those place names, places now subsumed within the London metropolitan area. Sturbridge fair was a huge annual fair which saw goods from all over Britain amassed allowing people to acquire their supplies for the coming year, place orders or build business contacts; processes that are still being carried out today through trade fairs and on-line market places.
For the Cantii Way there are a couple of optional loops east and west and I used the adventuring.co.uk .GPX Tracks which includes the west loop, excludes the east loop, and avoids a rougher off-road section.
Through the planning stage I used a combination of Camping and Caravanning, Pitchup, the Archies mobile app and Premier Inn to find campsites and a few rooms. For my first stay in Norwich I booked direct at the same hotel used by Priestley back in 1933; The Maids Head. I will report back if that hotel has maintained it's standards and reputation. The website cycle.travel helped with routes and Komoot for on-the-go navigation.
It was the website cycle.travel that highlighted the availability of the Gravesend (Kent) to Tilbury (Essex) foot and bicycle ferry which has run in various guises for 450 years. However, as soon as I had locked in my campsite bookings for the tour I received a notification that Jetstream Tours were going to stop operating the ferry service from the end of March 2024. How could this happen? If no other operator steps forward my backup plan is to train it in to Liverpool Street station and out from that same station to Brentwood as the avaliable road crossings are not close and it is uncertain if they would be suitable for bikes. The nearby Dartford Crossing does not allow bikes though there is a transfer service you can call (Dartford Crossing) to take you and your bike across the Thames though this adds over 10 miles to an already full day. To use the transfer service I need to get to the "Kent Point" at the Crossing Offices Roundabout, South Orbital Road, Dartford, Kent, DA1 5PR though not between 9am and 10.30am when the service is closed.
The Rebellion Way gets it's name from two rebels, the first being Boudicca and the second Robert Kett. Boudicca fought against the Romans and was ultimately defeated and punished along with her daughters which gives rise to the statue (Boudicca and her Daughters) on the north-west corner of Westminster Bridge.
The other rebel was the landowner Robert Kett who sided with the common man during land enclosures in the 16th century and was also defeated, tried for treason, and hanged from the walls of Norwich Castle in 1549.
