On a bright and sunny morning in early November we decided to visit Wicken Fen. I had this in my sights for years, never quite understanding what the ‘Fen’ was or what it represented but intrigued and encouraged by snippets from the media and a growing interest in nature and walking amongst it.
I guess the climate crisis was prominent in this weeks news and maybe that triggered our response which was to visit the National Trust’s oldest nature reserve!
As soon as we alighted the car when we arrived at the reserve I immediately felt we were had entered an environmental ‘safe habour’. The sense of history emanating from the charming cottages and other structures around the visitor centre combined with a real feeling of being protected from the catastrophic, stormy world outside.
As I’d forgotten my NT membership card I first had to have conversations with some of the wonderful volunteers as to how to get around that ;-o. Easy. Everyone we met there was friendly and very helpful, enthusiastic too. We could not have received a warmer welcome!
We launched onto the boardwalks with the excitement of small children playing. Investigating ‘hides’ and windmills while constantly learning about the local ‘inhabitants’ from the numerous story boards punctuating the route. I think the ‘marvel’ at the centre of all this is the fen itself. Referred to as ‘the old girl’ by one of the staff we began to soak up the benign benevolence seeping from this beautiful area of wetland.
Of course, as is standard for us two we also went for a walk. Simple enough to do as there are numerous PRoWs intersecting the venue.
I have included a link to our circuitous 4.8 mile route which I simply recorded on the OS Maps app.
