The Rebellion Way – Bikepacking in Norfolk, UK

In this video I take my gravel bike to Norfolk in the UK and ride along the Rebellion Way
This is a CyclingUK route which follows small paved roads and some gravel off-road sections for 230 miles around Norfolk, taking in Norwich, Diss, Swaffam, Thetford, Kings Lynn and some picturesque coastal villages.
It takes its inspiration from a number of historical events which played out in this area, notably:
Boudicca’s Rebellion in AD 61 – an uprising by the native Icenii tribe against Roman occupation
Ketts Rebellion in the Tudor period around 1549 when Kett led a revolt against wealthy landowners who were enclosing the land.

Hi everyone and welcome back to my channel. Um, I’ve just been back a couple of days having been to Norolk and I’ve been doing a bike packing route called the Rebellion Way. It’s a cycling UK route. Uh, that’s the uh one of the national cycling bodies, charities, and they devised a route fairly recently. Um, as I say, it’s 230 mi and it runs around a circuit through through Norolk. Um, I took the gravel bike which was perfectly adequate. It’s um 700 by 45 mil tires, so that worked perfectly well. I did a fair bit of um wild camping whilst doing this trip. Um it’s named the Rebellion Way because of the rebellions that happened uh in different parts of the route. First of all, you’ve got the Bodis Rebellion against the Romans or Buddaca. She led the Eini tribe back in AD60. And then also in the mid 1500s, there’s a guy called Ket um and he led the peasants in uh the area against the English crown uh Ket’s rebellion and that was against land owners who were actively um moving people off the land as they were enclosing the land. Anyway, so those are the two rebellions. It was a interesting route, not particularly arduous uh or grueling in any any way, but it follows minor roads, very traffic-free, and also through fairly big forested areas uh on gravel, sandy type trails. So, hope you enjoy what follows. Morning. I’m in the Norolk uh on the Norfolk coast near Sheringham Chrome area. I’ve just started on three or 4 day uh Rebellion Way, which is a cycling UK route and I’m just heading past this stately home on the way towards uh Norwich. So I’m about 8 or 10 miles away from Sharingham heading towards Alcham. Very windy today. These are the kind of uh riding conditions just rolling countryside. I’ve made it into a village called Itingham and I saw this handy structure here. Whether it’s for tying horses or for bikes, I’m just indexing the gears. So, this is ringingham and the village shop is just there. Got a nice cup of coffee. bit flapjack and ready to go. Got the bike index in properly. So, we’ll set off and uh trust that the gears work. Not something you come across every day in a forest. It’s the National Trust place. Forget the name of it, but it’s got a mosium in the middle of it. Little detour off the route. I’ve just come down this track here. Nice little bit of uh off-road section here in the National Trust Estate. So, just passing the uh Bickling estate. That’s what the uh mo morale thing was attached to. That’s the big estate house. Just uh continuing on, rejoining the road here. So, that was Alam, home to the Buer Valley Railway. Lots of places for uh getting some coffee, tea, whatever. Hot drinks, meals. The train. Wow. How lovely. Wow, that’s a noise. Hi. Oh, that smell of steam train smoke. That’s amazing. So I’ve just come off the Buer Valley Railway Path and arrived in Roxom on the Broads. That’s Roxom Broad. I didn’t realize that the route came down towards the Broads, but I guess they kind of come inland quite a bit. So, I’m just arriving into Norwich. I’m in the grounds of the cathedral. All these uh blinkf faced properties and walls. Right, I’m going to try and aim to get through Norwich and then find somewhere to camp. It’s about uh half 5 now. [Music] Morning all. It’s the start of day two. I’m just having a quick look around the center of Norwich. Not been here before. Castle up to my right. Today we’re heading towards this and then Theford. See how we get on. So about 15 minutes later and you’re out of Norwich. Fairly straightforward getting out. Anyway, onto a bit of a bit of a road. Not too busy. Quite a headwind at the moment, but maybe a bit less than yesterday. Yeah. See how we go. So I’m just uh approaching the site of Venta Ikanorum which was the Iron Age stroke Roman uh township just outside Norwich. So let’s have a look up here. Ah not a great deal to see just here. There is a big church just over there. But within these sort of ramp parts must have been the uh the township. Look at the roof pitch on that cottage. That’s nearly vertical. So, I’ve just come through a place called Long Stratton. Uh maybe 10 miles out of Norwich rather. And this is the first bit of off-road, but it’s nice and easy so far. Some of the off-road sections have been a little bit overgrown, but that’s because it’s uh growy season at the minute. Lots of brambles sticking out, but so far so good on this trail. and staying dry, which is okay so far. [Music] Right. I don’t think I don’t think I want to ride through there cuz it looks a bit deep in the middle. But it looks like there could be some little stepping stone type things there. Oh god. I’m about a mile outside of D and I’m ready for me dinner. Oh dear. Look at all the flint in those walls. Oh, there’s somebody repairing the wall here. Look. It needs a bit of attention. Hi there. Wow. Must be a big estate around there. So, the landscape’s changed quite a bit. We’re uh into more kind of forested Heath area. This is Middle Harling Heath. We’re still about 10 miles short of Settford. But uh yeah, this is a nice diversion from the quiet country lanes that I’ve been cycling along since this. Wow. So, the sun’s blazing and we’ve arrived in Theford. And Theford is well known as the filming location or the base for um Dad’s Army. And here’s a statue of Captain Maning. rather good I think. Bit small boy. I see just uh north of Fetswood. I was just taken by that uh church tower in the Thatch cottage. All Saints Croxton. Lovely. This is rather a nice bit of uh track here. They’re in the forest now on the heath. And these are the areas where, you guessed it, all of the dad’s army stuff was filmed. Who knows whether it was here or not just at this point, but uh it kind of looks very familiar. I’m cycling into the evening a little bit. It’s uh getting up towards 6:00 p.m. Uh going to try and make the following day a little bit shorter towards Kingslin. [Applause] So I’m beginning to look for a campsite now. So it’s approaching uh yeah, it’s just gone 10 7. I found a bit of a pitch here. Bit of a clearing on the edge of a forest. There’s a military zone there, but I’m on the right side of the fence, I think. Well, I know I am. Hopefully, nobody’s going to bother me. Um, so yeah, I’m just short of Swatham on the uh section between Fetford and um Kings Lin about 14 miles in and the route continues off up there. That’s tomorrow’s though. So, time to get a brew on and uh yeah, get organized for the camp. Bliss. Plenty of water, a meal, and some water on the boil and my shoes off. Great stuff. Morning all. Welcome to day three. I’m heading from my campsite here across to uh Swaffam where I’m hoping I can get some breakfast or something and then on to Kingslin and uh maybe a little bit further. So, nice start to the day. Some crunchy gravel. Bit overcast, but no rain, so that’s great. Apparently, this uh concrete here is where the tanks did the training uh in the 1940s. just trending along not far from Swatham and uh a lot of the roads around here have got these uh pine trees along the length of them. Feels a bit unusual to see pine trees in uh in this part of the world. Kind of in my head associate them more with Scotland. I don’t know if these are Scotch pine or a different variety. Uh-oh. That sign says deep water. And further back there’s a road closed sign. So, uh I’m not sure if that means road closed to cars and whatnot. Hang on. There’s a bridge. Great. Oh, yes. Perfect. That’s nice clear water. Look at that. Wow. There we go. That’s this one. So, we’re on the uh Pedes Way National Trail. I’ve just seen some signs back there. We climb up through this village. Interesting gateway up there. Yep. [Music] I think this place is called Castle Acre. And that’s the uh remains of the the old fort. Quite deep uh deep moat. Ah, thanks very much for watching. If you’ve enjoyed the video so far, that’s great. But if you could do us a favor and press the like button, that’ll help with the YouTube algorithm and give this uh video a little bit more exposure. Also, if you’re interested in the content of the channel, please consider subscribing. It’s absolutely free to do. Anyway, on with the video. [Applause] Just coming into Kings Lane. I’ve run out of water, so it’s good time to be here. Need to find something to eat and get some water and resupply ready for the afternoon’s ride. Cost complete. I just made it to the seaside at Hechum. Got some uh bits and pieces for camping. Going to continue up the coast now somewhere up there. Listen to the skyark somewhere up there. Anyway, this is my camp spot for the evening. Oh, wow. Barnau. Look, do you see the barnau? It’s got something in its claws. Wow. It’s a while since I’ve seen a barn now. Anyway, I know it’s the little gate into this sort of unimproved pasture full of lovely wild flowers and bits of uh I don’t know. There’s like bits of shrubs growing up here. So, I think I’ll be all right. I’m on this foot path. Strictly speaking, it uh feels a little bit uh bit sort of naughty. It’s one of those places where you might get sort of pulled up, but it’s about 8:00 in the evening and I’m ready to camp now really. So, I’m a long way from any um any dwellings. The last village was probably about two two and a half miles back. So hopefully this is my spot for the night. End of day three. Yeah, should be all right. I’ve left a bit of space for people to get by on the foot path if they come. Right, see you tomorrow. on. So, this is the start of day four. I’m uh getting away from the little campsite there in the field. I’m somewhere between Kingsling and Wells next to Sea. So, I’ll uh get to Wells next to Sea. I think that’s the next port call. Anyway, bit of a climb to start the day. Nearly there. Right. Got a nice tailwind. Always helpful. Right. So, this is the uh Hulcom or I think maybe pronounced Hookham estate. The grounds seem to be enormous. And that looks like the big stately home down there. I don’t know if I don’t know if it’s anything to do with uh Nelson who was born in the village I’ve just come through. It’s a great uh great place to cycle through. Anyway, fantastic place here. Here we are approaching wells next the sea. Nice looking spot. So that’s uh Wells next to the sea behind me. Just heading on to on this next section now towards Sharingham. If anybody knows what this plant is on the left hand side, seems to be everywhere. I’ve not seen it from where I come from. Please put your comment in the comment space below. What is this stuff? Is it hemlock? I don’t know. Anyway, nice little gravel track here. It’s not too sandy. Got a bit of a tailwind, which is great. Little village called Waram. All the flint in the walls. We go down here now. Oh, a hill. That is a field full of puppies. How lovely is that? Wow. Little bit of a detour, but it’s um an Iron Age fortified encampment built 2,000 years ago. Oh, wow. So it’s well fortified. Just arriving into Halt. the first big place on this section of the ride. Looking forward to finding something to eat and drink. Kind of run out of water really and have a bit of a rest. [Applause] So, this is arrival back in Sharingham. Hope you’ve enjoyed watching this 4-day bike packing tour on the Rebellion Way Cycling UK route. That’s the end of it for me. If you’ve enjoyed it, please give it a thumbs up and uh please consider subscribing to the channel. But until the next one from uh sunny Sharingham on the north coast. Bye for now. [Music] So let’s go. So many ways.