Fenland's Big Skies

About trip

A landscape that is as flat and bare as the Fens may seem a dull and uninteresting prospect for a walk, but in fact there is much more to this unique place than first meets the eye, and what you see now isn’t the way it looked in the distant past. Ancient tree trunks known as bog oaks are periodically uncovered from the peaty soil, proving that this apparently treeless country once presented a totally different scene. Until 400 years ago the Fens remained an unwelcoming swampy and impenetrable landscape which local outlaws and tribesmen such as Hereward the Wake, who led his rebels against the invading Normans, could make their own. Small communities such as Manea developed on the pockets of higher ground – the ‘ea’ suffix is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘ig’ meaning island. Draining the Fens. Systematic draining did not begin until the 17th century, when the 4th Earl of Bedford turned to Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to repeat his successful work in the Netherlands. The result was a direct, 20-mile (32km) cut known as the Old Bedford River, which sliced through the lands south and east of Manea taking the winter floodwaters out to the Wash. A rapidly expanding series of drains and dykes followed, gradually turning the ancient bog and swamp into fertile agricultural land, with many of these artificial rivers named after their original width (the New Bedford River is also known as the Hundred Foot Drain, for instance). But not everyone agreed with the draining of the Fens, however, and there was determined opposition from the ‘Fen Tigers’, those wildfowlers and marshmen whose livelihoods depended on the traditional Fenland way of life. Even after the drains and dykes became permanent fixtures there were still, until quite recently, occasional throwbacks to another era. When transport and communication proved difficult, particularly for remote communities during the winter floods, the so-called Floating Church would go from hamlet to village providing religious services. The converted barge was still in use into the early years of the 20th century, when it spent two years tied up at Welches Dam, near Manea, which you visit on this walk. Fenland’s Capital that Never Was. An early supporter of the ambitious drainage scheme was King Charles I, who owned 12,000 acres (4,860ha) of wetland surrounding Manea. He backed the enterprise of the early speculators to such an extent that he even took the lead in designing a brand new capital for the Fens. Complete with a royal palace for himself, the town was to be sited near Manea and would be called Charlemont. Alas, he unfortunately lost his head before his dream could be realised. While you're there: The Wisbech and Fenland Museum in the centre of Wisbech has a fascinating display exploring the landscape and history of the Fens. The museum, housed in a purpose-built Victorian building with many of its period fixtures and fittings, has other wide-ranging displays and exhibits that include the original manuscript of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and an ivory chess set that once belonged to Louis XIV. What to look for: The area around Manea is sometimes known as the Black Fens, because of its dark-coloured soils which are chiefly derived from peat. The high-yielding land means that intensive arable farming dominates, with very little livestock. As you walk through the vast, hedgeless fields look about you – depending on the time of year you may see huge fields of onions, potatoes, cereals, sugar beet, carrots or oilseed rape. Where to eat and drink: The Rose and Crown pub on Manea’s High Street has limited opening hours, as does the nearby fish and chip shop on Station Road. The Ship Inn at Purls Bridge makes a good midway lunch stop, or you can take a picnic to the Ouse Washes Nature Reserve from the supermarket in Park Road at the start of the walk. Directions: With the Rose and Crown pub on your left, walk eastwards along Manea High Street and follow it round to the left as it becomes Station Road, then turn right for the public footpath alongside the primary school. At the football pitch at the far end turn right and go past Manea Wood, planted in 1997 for the local community with ash, oak, white willow, birch and common alder. Continue along the path as it bears right and approaches Bearts Farm. Turn left by the old barns and sheds for the wide track out into the fields, and bear right at a junction of tracks to reach an attractive reedy lake known locally as ‘the Pit’. This was originally dug for clay, which was then transported across the fields on a light railway to shore up the banks of the nearby Old and New Bedford Rivers. The Pit is now a popular place for fishermen and wildlife alike. At the end of the track turn right on to a lane, with the lake still on your right, then, when you reach the junction at the corner of the road, turn left, on to Straight Road, and follow this through the fields to the end. Turn left on to Purls Bridge Drove, signposted ‘Welches Dam’ and ‘RSPB reserve’. Follow this open lane all the way to Purls Bridge, by the Old Bedford River. Continue along the bank to reach the Ouse Washes Nature Reserve, where there’s a visitor centre and public toilets. Return along the lane for 440yds (402m) and turn left for the signposted public bridleway by some dark wooden sheds. Known as Old Mill Drove, this runs directly across the open fields as far as the rusting farm machinery and outbuildings of Boon’s Farm. Turn right and walk along the dead-straight Barnes’s Drove for 1.25 miles (2km) until you reach the road at the far end. Turn left and after 150yds (137m) turn off right through a gate for a public footpath across the fields back into Manea. The route zig-zags between a series of paddocks – just follow the clear yellow waymarks and aim for the fire station tower. At the far side cross a stile and turn right, past the village stores, to follow the main road back to the centre.