Our off road trip on Marriotts Way followed the course of the disused Midland and North Western railway line which loops back on itself at Themelthorpe in the north and ends close to the centre of Norwich in the south.


Attlebridge to Themelthorpe
Campsite: The Station, Station Road, Attlebridge. As its name implies, this first-class 2½ acre campsite is part of the old railway station at Attlebridge and the cycle track is just the other side of its boundary hedge.

A few yards from the campsite entrance, the cycle track will be seen as it crosses Station Road.
From here, the track to Reepham is initially quite wide and well surfaced and dotted with oak benches bearing unusual and thought provoking inscriptions.

After about 4 miles a road bridge passes over the track and direction signs indicate the start of the loop section.
We chose to leave the track at this point and cycled about a mile along Whitwell Road to the small market town of Reepham.

After a walk round the town, we cycled up Station Road to the old railway station where we again picked up the off road cycle track.

From here the track runs toward Themelthorpe and then loops back toward the road bridge where we had previously left the track.

With the return journey to the campsite, this was a round trip of 17 miles.


Attlebridge to Norwich

The track from the campsite to Norwich passes through wooded and open countryside and crosses the river Wensum in several places.
At Drayton the track crosses a road where, for the first time in my experience, the cyclist has right of way.

There is also a short, well signed on road section which leads the cyclist to the busy A1067 where great care should be taken.

On nearing the outskirts of Norwich, the track is surfaced with tarmac giving a more comfortable ride toward the well signed on road section that leads toward the centre of the city.

There is much to see and do in this ancient capital and the three hours of exploration we had allowed ourselves was over all too quickly.

With the return journey to the campsite, this was a round trip of 20 miles.