Wednesday 27 January 2016

The Ovington Ramblers: Thetford Heath

Maureen Simmons

Breckland Thyme

Our walk today took us to Thetford Heath.  The temperature was hovering around 0 deg, but it was a bright day with some weak winter sunshine.  The vast Norfolk skies, dotted with clouds, were particularly stunning.

The trail around the heath provides a pleasant walk and is easy to follow.  It took us about an hour and a half, with lots of stops along the way to admire the scenery and investigate the tiny plants among the grassland.

We were very lucky to spot the rare Breckland Thyme, which you can see in the photo,  a tiny wonder mixed in with the moss and heather.  Unfortunately it is not in flower at this time of year, unlike the gorse – forever in flower and covered in frost!

Lichen covered the old oak trees and we found numerous patches of lichen on the ground in many beautiful colours.

Coffee back at the car was very welcome on this cold day, but we all agreed it was an excellent morning's walk.

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