This week, I wanted to head Norwich-way, to make more in-roads into the cluster of events in the Norwich area, while also claiming an "8" for the Fibonacci sequence!
The area
North Walsham has been a settlement since Anglo-Saxon days, and was perhaps most famous for its weaving industry, which brought significant wealth and prosperity to the area. The area was also the home town of Horatio Nelson, the fabled naval leader, who was educated in the town.
North Walsham Memorial Park was sold to the town council by its previous owner in 1947 for the explicit purpose of building a war memorial park. Interestingly, the council shares everything, including the original contract on it's website.
The park also features a sculpture which was carved from a 120-year-old oak tree which was due to be felled. The sculpture commemorates the Battle of the Peasant's Revolt in 1381. The park also features a memorial to those soldiers who fell during World War 2, however, it was being renovated at the time of my visit.
The course
The course begins with a lap of the perimeter of the school playing field, before runners pass through a gate to complete a lap of the attached North Walsham Memorial park before returning to the start. This route is completed two-and-a-half, with the half lap consisting of only the school playing field. The run is entirely offroad, and mostly on grass with a short trail section through the trees in the park, and although there is a slight gradient, the route is mostly flat.
Paid parkring is available at New Road car park (£1 for 2 hours), and public toilets are also available in the car park.
The run
Unseasonal temperatures and sun had set this week's event up to be a pleasant one, however, the low-lying fog which covered much of the fields on the journey to North Walsham would make today's run quite a challenging one due to the humidity!
The run began with the first timer's briefing, which was attended by over 30 people - a lot for an event whose average attendance is around 80! The course was described based on the many cones strategically placed around the school sports ground, which sounded daunting to begin, but was actually quite intuitive once we got underway.
Being located in the centre of the town, it was nice to see that many people were in the park during the run, and more seemed to appear as each lap progressed, all of whom seemed very happy to lend their support to the participants.
Thank you to all of the volunteers, who made this a super friendly event!
After the run
After the run, I took the opportunity to explore the town centre, which was just starting to get busy as I arrived.
Perhaps the most obvious landmark in the town centre is St Nicholas Church, which dates to the 14th century, and was commissioned by the weavers who were based in the area from the 12th century, and generated significant propserity from their craft.
The church's tower collapsed in 1724, and the only significant plans to rebuild it fell through with the outbreak of the second world war.
Links: Run report | Results | Strava