LODESIDE WALK - WICKEN & UPWARE

Wicken Fen To Upware - Lodeside Walk

Easy, Interesting Two-Mile Stroll Along Fen Lodes

Easy walking (or cycling). 2 miles. (Or 4 miles there and back)
Follows Wicken Lode and Reach Lode.
Can be a bit muddy in places after wet weather.
Dog poo bins are at either end.

In summer - wildflowers, birds, Koniks, fish, butterflies and dragonflies.

There are 4 options:
∗ Starting from Wicken Fen there is a large car park, toilets, a cafe and a picnic area.
∗ Starting from Upware there is a small free car park, a picnic area and a riverside pub nearby.
∗ Starting from Upware or Wicken Fen and walking there and back
∗ Starting from Upware or Wicken Fen and following a circular walk. Ramblers walk details here

This version is taking you from the Wicken Fen Nature Reserve car park in Lode Lane, Wicken.

Wicken Fen Car Park and Toilets (National Trust) - a parking charge for non-members.

♦ From the car park head further down the lane until you reach the visitor centre, more loos, the Docky Hut cafe and the picnic area.

♦ Keeping on the main pathway to the left of Wicken Lode, follow this path until you reach a low bridge crossing Monks Lode.

♦ The main path goes left but here you turn right, continuing the follow the tow path, or haling path, beside Wicken Lode.

♦ Shortly you will pass the entrances to hides which look out over pools created for migrating birds passing the fen. On the opposite bank of the lode is the thatched tower hide on the edge of Sedge Fen.

♦ To the left of the tow path is Adventurer's Fen, which is considerably lower than the path. In the past this fen has been drained for agricultural purposes. When peat fen is drained it shrinks and the land level drops.

♦ To the right, on the opposite bank, once you have passed the scrubby growth, the fen opens out. This is Verrall's Fen, together with Sedge Fen, one of the only areas of managed undrained fen in Britain.

♦ Off to the left you get a view of the vast Adventurer's Fen reed beds. You then come to the junction with Harrison's Drove which leads through to Priory Farm.

♦ Follow the twists and turns of the lode until the wooden Cockup Bridge comes into view. This is the junction of Wicken Lode and Reach Lode.

♦ Here you go right, over the bridge, following the track passing the moored boats.

♦ Upware Lock and sluice is on the left. Beyond is the River Cam. You meet the road here - there is no footpath.

♦ To go to the car park and picnic area, go right, beyond the bungalows and you are there.

♦ To go to the pub, the Five Miles From Anywhere No Hurry, go right and in about 50 yards there is a footpath to the left which leads to the pub car park.

Neil Ford
Ely, Cambridge