Thornham
Walks
Situated just off the A140 near Eye in the north of the county -
Thornham Walks is easy to find. For ten generations the Thornham
Estate has been owned by the Henniker family, and it was when the
present Lord Henniker came back to the estate in the 1970's that
the walks started to be opened up to the public.
Thornham
Walks
These
days there are 14 miles of footpaths, some hard surfaced and others
through the woodland. There are all sorts of habitats...parkland
where the original Thornham Hall stood (it burnt down in the mid
1950's) and a pinetum where Lord Henniker has planted pine trees
from all over the world. The walled garden has been renovated with
Heritage lottery funds in the last few years and from this year
is licensed for weddings.
Thornham
Walks
In
its heyday the hall was very busy - the gardens covered 25 acres
and it took 9 gardeners to keep them running. All the fruit, vegetables
and flowers for the house would have been provided by the gardeners
and even fresh fish were caught from one of the 9 ponds still to
be found on the estate.
Thornham
Walks.
In
1873 the head gardener Mr. Perkins produced the Lady Henniker Apple
which won the certificate of merit from the Royal Horticultural
Society and Lady Henniker Apple trees can still be purchased today.
The walks
are open every day except Christmas day, and the rangers run special
walks and events particularly for children - from bird box making
to picnics in the summer. They rely heavily on the help of volunteers
for upkeep so if you would like to spend a couple of hours every so
often doing
a spot of clearing or mowing you would be welcomed with open arms.
For more information call 01379 788345.
issy, norwich is there any places were you can go pond-dipping
DAWN near Woodbridge I am disabled and have recently obtained a Power Trike mobility vehicle which can cope with some off-road terrain. I would very much like to meet up with other people with similar vehicles, capable of coping with forest tracks etc, so we can make up[ a small group and support each other. ARISTOCROCKS! Where are you?
