So last week I paid a visit to Norfolk to see the family so thought while I was there I,d do a little bit of exploring around the North coastline. I really do love North Norfolk, in fact I like all of Norfolk, and quite often take a trip up there when seeing the inlays, especially the Coastline road that runs from Cromer through to Hunstanton. On the Friday I drove along this road stopping and exploring anywhere that looked interesting and then spent the night sleeping in my van overlooking Salhouse. I was awake bright and early on Saturday morning and pointed the van towards Southwold as I wanted to start there and drive my way down the coast stopping of in various location on the way. I like to do this sort of trip every now and then so I can find some interesting places to visit and explore more at a later date.
Now as I was driving around the Woodbridge area I drove past a small entrance, and an even smaller sign which said Rendelsham Forest. Initially I just carried on driving but around a mile further along the road I changed my mind and turned the van around and drove back to where I saw the sign. Turning of the main road I then drove up a small track until a car park, surrounded by trees, opened up before me. This looks promising I thought as I found a nice shady corner to park the van in, before getting my kit together and wandering over to a notice board to see what information I could clean about this forest. In a nutshell there was no information about this area just some posters about not lighting fires and keeping control of your dog.
Undeterred I found the nearest track leading from the carpark and strolled of down it. In next to no time I was walking along the outer edge of the forest and along the fence line of a huge field filled with pig enclosures and their porky inhabitants. This track cut into the trees about half a mile further along and from that point onwards I was surrounded by trees, mainly pine I think, with the woodland floor being lightly covered with bluebells. I carried on following this track and every so often a clearing would appear bathing me in sunshine before I walked back into the shade of the trees. I like walking areas like this, sun then shade, as it makes it more comfortable to hike in the shade of the trees rather than in direct sunlight constantly. All the time I was walking there were songbirds singing in the trees and bushes all around as well as pigeon calling from the higher branches and crows wheeling above the trees themselves. Rendlesham is actually a working forest so there is a matrix of roadways that run through the area to allow vehicle access and every so often you’ll walk past a neatly stacked pile of logs which releases that beautiful fresh pine aroma.
In total I walked just under 3 miles through gorgeous woodland interspersed with sun bathed clearings, along narrow tracks and wide gravel roadways, crossing gently flowing streams and passing by pine scented log piles. Its definitely a place I would highly recommend visiting.
The link to my Komoot route planner profile is below if you want to follow in my footsteps.
I’m currently planning a return trip for the near future where I will be more equipped to record more of this wonderful forest, keep your eyes peeled on here…………
