Great Eastern Pingo Trail

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Great Eastern Pingo Trail
Footbridge over marshy ground - geograph.org.uk - 824965.jpg
Great Eastern Pingo Trail
TypeLocal Nature Reserve
LocationNorth Walsham, Norfolk
OS grid TL 929 934
Area4.2 hectares (10 acres)

Great Eastern Pingo Trail is a 9.2 kilometres (5.7 miles) long footpath along a disused railway line north of Thetford in Norfolk. [1] [2] It is a 4.2-hectare (10-acre) Local Nature Reserve, [3] [4] and it crosses three Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Thompson Water, Carr and Common, Breckland Forest and Cranberry Rough, Hockham. [5] [6] [7] It also crosses Thompson Common, which is a nature reserve managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust [8] and is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. [9] It further crosses Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation [10] and Breckland Special Protection Area. [11]

This site has around 300 pingos, shallow pools formed when ice melted at the end of the last ice age. There is a mosaic of habitats with a large lake, Thompson Water, at the western end. [3] [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norfolk Wildlife Trust</span> British nature reserve

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts covering Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Alderney. Founded in 1926, it is the oldest of all the trusts. It has over 35,500 members and eight local groups and it manages more than fifty nature reserves and other protected sites. It also gives conservation advice to individuals and organisations, provides educational services to young people on field trips and organises entertainment and information events at nature reserves. The NWT reserves include twenty-six Sites of Special Scientific Interests, nine national nature reserves, twelve Nature Conservation Review sites, sixteen Special Areas of Conservation, twelve Special Protection Areas, eleven Ramsar sites, two local nature reserves, four Geological Conservation Review sites and five which are in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martham Broad</span>

Martham Broad is a 60-hectare (150-acre) national nature reserve north of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. It is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, and is part of the Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is also part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and The Broads Special Area of Conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suffolk Wildlife Trust</span>

Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) describes itself as the county's "nature charity – the only organisation dedicated wholly to safeguarding Suffolk's wildlife and countryside." It is a registered charity, and its headquarters is at Brooke House in Ashbocking, near Ipswich. It was founded in 1961, and is one of 46 wildlife trusts covering the Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As of March 2017, it has 13,200 members, and it manages 3,120 hectares of land in 60 nature reserves, most of which are open to the public. It had an income of £3.9 million in the year to 31 March 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breckland</span> Natural region in Norfolk and Suffolk, UK

Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a landscape region it is an unusual natural habitat of England. It comprises the gorse-covered sandy heath that lies mostly in the south of the county of Norfolk but also in the north of Suffolk. An area of considerable interest for its unusual flora and fauna, it lies to the east of another unusual habitat, the Fens, and to the south west of the Broads. The typical tree of this area is the Scots pine. Breckland is one of the driest areas in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thompson Water, Carr and Common</span>

Thompson Water, Carr and Common is a 154.7-hectare (382-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Thetford in Norfolk. Most of it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust as Thompson Common. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation. It is crossed by the Great Eastern Pingo Trail Local Nature Reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wangford Warren and Carr</span>

Wangford Warren and Carr is a 67.8-hectare (168-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Brandon and Lakenheath in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, and Special Protection Area An area of 15 hectares is managed as a nature reserve by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Wretham Heath</span>

East Wretham Heath is a 141.1-hectare (349-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Thetford in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and it is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. it is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weeting Heath</span> Nature reserve in Norfolk, England

Weeting Heath is a 141.8-hectare (350-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Thetford in Norfolk, which is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and a National Nature Reserve. It is also part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roydon Common</span>

Roydon Common is a 194.9-hectare (482-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of King's Lynn in Norfolk. It is also a Grade I Nature Conservation Review site, a National Nature Reserve and a Ramsar site. It is part of the Roydon Common and Dersingham Bog Special Area of Conservation and Roydon Common and Grimston Warren nature reserve, which is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breckland Forest</span>

Breckland Forest is an 18,126 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in many separate areas between Swaffham in Norfolk and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. It is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It contains two Geological Conservation Review sites, Beeches Pit, Icklingham and High Lodge. Barton Mills Valley is a Local Nature Reserve in the south-west corner of the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavenham–Icklingham Heaths</span>

Cavenham–Icklingham Heaths is a 419 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Icklingham in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Breckland Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Cavenham Heath is a 203.1 hectare National Nature Reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thetford Heaths</span>

Thetford Heaths is a 270.6-hectare (669-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and parts of it are a national nature reserve, and a Geological Conservation Review, It is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, and Special Protection Area A large part of this dry heathland site is calcareous grassland, and some areas are grazed by sheep or rabbits. There are several nationally rare plants and an uncommon heathland bird, and many lichens and mosses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnham Cross Common</span>

Barnham Cross Common is a 69.1-hectare (171-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the southern outskirts of Thetford in Norfolk. It is owned by Thetford Town Council and is registered common land. It is also a Local Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1. It is part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgham and Brettenham Heaths</span>

Bridgham and Brettenham Heaths is a 439.9-hectare (1,087-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Thetford in Norfolk, England. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. Brettenham Heath is a National Nature Reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cranberry Rough, Hockham</span>

Cranberry Rough is an 81.1-hectare (200-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the parish of Hockham, east of Attleborough in Norfolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and the Great Eastern Pingo Trail, which is a Local Nature Reserve, goes through the site. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is part of the Breckland Special Protection Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southrepps Common</span>

Southrepps Common is a 5.6-hectare (14-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of North Walsham in Norfolk. A larger area of 12.9-hectare (32-acre) is a Local Nature Reserve. It is owned by Southrepps Parish Council and managed by Southrepps Common Group. It is part of the Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes</span>

Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes is a 1,185.9-hectare (2,930-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. Part of it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and The Broads Special Area of Conservation. Two areas, Hickling Broad and Martham Broad, are national nature reserves managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Pingo Trail Walk". Explore Norfolk. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  2. "Great Eastern Pingo Trail". AA. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Great Eastern Pingo Trail". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  4. "Map of Great Eastern Pingo Trail". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  5. "Designated Sites View: Thompson Water, Carr and Common". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  6. "Designated Sites View: Breckland Forest". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  7. "Designated Sites View: Cranberry Rough, Hockham". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  8. "Thompson Common". Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  9. Ratcliffe, Derek, ed. (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. Vol. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 138–39. ISBN   0521-21403-3.
  10. "Designated Sites View: Norfolk Valley Fens". Special Area of Conservation. Natural England. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  11. "Designated Sites View: Breckland". Special Protection Area. Natural England. Retrieved 25 May 2018.

52°30′14″N0°50′28″E / 52.504°N 0.841°E / 52.504; 0.841