EAT Day 0 – 1

It’s not really surprising I turned out the way I did, I grew up in the remote mountainous region of Suffolk, East Anglia. After a childhood of raw, unbounded adventure, knife-edge derring do and multiple first ascents , all thwarted by the unpredictable weather patterns in the East; I relocated to Somerset, South West England, where I hoped I’d have better luck in my search of unclaimed and unnamed peaks.

I return now to the counties of my childhood (Norfolk and Suffolk) with plans to once again attempt some of the most challenging routes up some of the most challenging slopes on this (self named) trail, which connects three long distance trails (which have already been given names).

To complete the EAT, (East Anglian Triangle) If the weather holds for this unimaginable feat, we should make the 200 mile round in 10 days- with a little day off in the middle at the beach.

The rather inaccurately named (by Snake Legs) ‘East Anglian Triangle’ (EAT) is less of a triangle and more of a wedge. It connects the Angles way ( named after the invasion of ancient Germanic people in the 5th c) the Peddars way (derived from the Middle English word “pedder,” meaning an itinerant trader 1587) and the North Norfolk Coastal Path (the origins of this name , remains unclear).

We make a clockwise loop starting and finishing mid way along the Angles way in Bungay, (the green blob in the image above) a location selected for its proximity to my parents house and my father’s excellent cooking of sweet potato cakes.

We’ve (I’ve) selected a simple tarp and bivi approach to this trip and we’ll be predominantly wild camping – much to the utter disgruntlement of Snakes who can barely tolerate putting one toe on private land, let alone her whole body for many nights in a row. I on the other hand was brought up to trespass. Not because I particularly enjoy rule breaking, but because I like being where other people aren’t.

Winnie the poodle, (who most of you know as Flat Eric) of course will be joining us, and, as ever has provided very little help with planning and preparation but just promises to show up when required.

Flat Eric is an independent and relatively self sufficient young lady who can, we’re told, carry 10% of her 23kg body weight. However , she is also a princess who will absolutely not be carrying anything like 10% of her boy weight. What she does carry will be immediately reduced by her overbearing parents at the first sign of her flagging. She’s a sturdy girl though so undoubtedly our biggest concern will be all that wool she’s covered in and that ridiculously joyful weather forecast.

Her saddle bags are little tardises, and in addition to her snack bars, dehydrated dog food, bowl and spoon (no she doesn’t eat with a soon) she also carries a fleece, some poo bags and her harmonica.

Where is Snake Legs’ kit did you say ? Well, she couldn’t be arsed to empty her entire bag and lay it out neatly on the floor for a photo shoot – which is fair enough.

After a hearty brunch, we loaded our things into my Dad’s van and transferred to our selected start point outside the town of Bungay.

The river Waveney forms the boundary between Norfolk (North folk) and Suffolk (South folk) and we follow this river west now, until it joins the Peddars way.

We thought we’d begin our walk this Sunday afternoon so as to get a 5 or so mile jump on the trail, thus alleviating a big mile day further ahead. Also, Bungay sits at the neck of a meander of the river Waveney, the trail follows this meander and as we know, Snake legs is famous for her short cuts, to avoid her desire for such a cut, I figured if we started with this ‘pointless’ meander, she’d be less inclined to cut it off.

At the start of our walk we met several pals who would join us for the first few miles and who would provide much in the way of entertainment when we made it to the first pub, which is at mile 3.

After a mere 3 minutes of walking we were met by the local victor , James and some disciples on a ‘day pilgrimage’ of their own, after a brief , friendly interlude they blessed our hike and we parted ways. Unfortunately the direction in which we parted from them, was not in fact the direction we were supposed to go, but obviously the way we were destined. Unfortunately I only realised this a further mile and a half further, on at which point we decided the blessing was more important than following the trail accurately and we would push on this unmarked path on the wrong by side of the river and see where we ended up.

Before long we popped out onto the main road, crossed it and had a short pleasant and sunny tarmac walk to the Queens Head in Earsham. Lovely. After a couple of pints in the sun with pals and an inordinate amount of Nick Nacks , Snakes and I waved goodbye to our chums and headed off into the chilly sunny evening in search of a Coppice to reside.

After a selection of sunny fields we delved into a Coppice, reassured we were out of view to the scattered farm buildings in the nearby vicinity.

We dipped in and swiftly erected camp, lit the stove and a fire had a few moments calm before dark and bedtime.

Unfortunately we weren’t tired at 8:30pm having only walked 6.5 miles so sleep didn’t come easily. Eric is usually a bit skittish the first few nights of camping and alerts at every rustle, she wasn’t tired either. After an inordinate amount of shuffling from all three of us I turned the tarp into a semi tent, closing the door so Eric couldn’t be distracted by the outside world, it worked a treat and she was belly in the air ready for tummy rubs.

6.5 miles on the day

Day 1 (proper)

The day began with a magnificent sunrise , blue skies were above and after a fairly disturbed sleep we were up and packing down , Eric had her face in a bowl of dog cereal immediately after standing up, we performed ablutions and were walking ny by 6:45

You die-hard blog fans will know we like to walk a ways before breakfast, to feel like we’ve earned it, so in the two hours walking before said earning we indulge in baby food fruit pouches – one of the happiest points of the day.

It was a bright cloudless day but cold and took us a good while before we were warm enough to deglove. We past newly hatched little lamb chops, mushroom farm, plenty of houses we wanted to live in and enough derelict interest to keep Snakes going for months- Suffolk is stunning.

Before too long we arrived at Mendham, where we found a sunny bench in a church, the church provided water and a loo, much to my satisfaction! We breakfasted on dehydrated meals and coffee and Eric had some protein heavy chicken delight to keep her going.

Day one is usually a struggle. All your little physical niggles come to greet you and your routine is off – we were making good progress and good time but I was suffering from a little drop of leg chafe as I’d forgotten to pack my undershorts. Most unpleasant.

2 miles on we got to the town of Harleston and thanks to an annoying path diversion while new houses are erected we had to walk the roads for longer than anyone would have liked – this did however land me in front of a ‘Factory Shop’ in which I purchased a pair of delightfully soft leggings to completely solve my chafe problem -hooray!

A bit more road and then we were off back in search of the Waveney river so Eric could have a big drink. Eric responds to the high pitched question ‘little drink?’ with a lick of her lips then goes in search of the water she’s been alerted to. Sweet girl.

The walk from here was nothing short of beautiful, rolling Telly Tubby mounds to the left, flat , wide grassy path filled with of perfect camp spots head and behind, and a lovely meandering river to the right .

We landed in Brockdish for midday where we built sandwiches out of plastic food and devoured them readily. Don’t judge my Primula ‘cheese’, it doesn’t sweat because it’s not made of real food..

From here we shoved our ridiculously overweight bags back on and trundled off into the sunny afternoon. The weight of our pack was noticeable and hard work. The continuous flat was also fairly hard going on calves and soles and souls. But the birds were happy, the glimpses of the Waveney were rejuvenating and joyful. Eventually we stopped for a foot dip and a snickers by the river edge and I fell asleep…

Another few miles of pretty exposed and blaring hot tracks and paths before emerging in Scole where we visited the Scole Inn, horrifically altered since I was last here, but the beer was cold the staff friendly and listening to country music in a 17th century inn and one of Norfolks oldest hotels wasn’t that irritating.

We killed some time here with cards and blogs and chips and then left off into the sunny cool early evening . By 6:30pm the sun was low and the temperature dropping. We made it to my intended spot by 7 and Snakes was , for the second night, remarkably relaxed about being there, even after a human walked by on the footpath just in our vision. Have I cured her of her trespassing fears ?

We swiftly erected camp, changed into warmer clothes, ate dehydrated meals again and went to bed by 8:30 -this time, tired, Eric didn’t move a muscle all night.

19 miles on the day