The History of the Fen Rivers Way

The Fen rivers Way come into being in 1993 when a letter was sent out to parishes along the river which were taking part in the Parish Paths Partnership. The Cambridgeshire County Council had got so many people involved with looking after the Footpaths in their own parishes; this idea was a way of bringing the efforts of lots of individuals into something that linked all the parishes together. 

The First Meeting was held in the village hall at Stretham. We were addressed by several parish councilors as well as Francis Woodhead, who was the footpath officer who came up with the idea in the first place. It was quite obvious from that meeting that there was enormous enthusiasm for the project and a working group was formed to plan the details. It was not just the parishes and council either, the Ramblers were also involved, as they had great experience of way marking and recording the routes. 

One of the major obstacles along the route was a missing Bridge at Little Thetford. The old Holt Fen bridge had fallen into disuse and was now impassable and rather unstable. If we wanted to have a path along both sides of the river, then Holt Fen Bridge needed either to be repaired or replaced. One of our early pieces of publicity was a photograph taken of the working group at the site of the old bridge....the dilapidated structure standing precariously in the background. 

Over the winter of 1993 we made preparations for a spring way marking session. We planned to nail up all the way marks in a single weekend, with people covering sections in each parish between Cambridge and Ely. The county council erected finger posts and the parishes attended to any of the problem stiles and difficult stretches of path, which were either overgrown or impassible due to water logging. It was a massive effort, that included one day when a team of volunteers cut 8km of footpath with a Decimator mower and used a punt to get along the river. But it was all worth it and the first section of Fen rivers way was ready for the first walkers by Mid summers day. 

The first guide to the Cambridge to Ely section of the path was prepared by both members of the working party and the county council. It was a very glossy folder which contained lots of information and some wonderful illustrations by Pricilla Barrett, who lives in one of the parishes along the route and produced some quite wonderful illustrations. It also contained a map and a little badge...with the Eel emblem to sew on your rucksack. 

The Working party became an association in 1996, dedicated to maintaining the route and producing a guide book for walkers. We also surveyed the route and took action to ensure that the path remained clear and useable throughout. This website is maintained by the association. 

After this excellent start, some things began to move rather slowly, the replacement bridge was fraught with problems. When costs started to escalate, some members of the group began to ask whether we should not abandon the idea of a bridge altogether and live with the 3 mile diversion to gravel bridge. But the working group kept working away, raising funds and striving to find a better solution to the problem. We tried the idea of strapping a footbridge to the railway bridge, but this proved impractical. Then we explored other designs for a free standing bridge. Eventually the County council reached agreement with land owners to have a new free standing rainbow shaped bridge close to the Fish and Duck Public house. This was the ideal location and the design looked wonderful, so the problem was eventually solved and the new bridge opened in 1997.

Extending the Fen rivers way into Norfolk was always our intention, and when we had initial negotiations with David Mills of Norfolk County Council, he seemed a little skeptical at first. But our enthusiasm for the project won him over and the idea of connecting so many other long distance footpaths together was an obvious development that would improve the footpath network. David drew our attention to some gaps in the route, where rights of way ought to exist, but were missing from the definitive map. He set about filling in the missing pieces.

So at the turn of the Millennium, we now have a route that extends right from Cambridge to Kings Lynn. It has involved so many people in its creation, that it is truly a community project. The first edition of the guide book has sold out and we are publishing a second Edition with all the little corrections and modifications included.

The following people have been on the Committee of the association and steered the development of the Fen rivers way: D Stevens, J Staines, W Wakefield, J Taylor, F Eden, J&R Moreton, D Mackay. They have all been dedicated to the project and worked tirelessly to ensure that we got all the way to the wash.

The opening ceremony in Kings Lynn in 2001 was the culmination of all the effort. The Chairman of Norfolk County Council opened the route by cutting the ribbon by Green Quay. We all felt a sense of elation at that moment when we realised that it really was finished. 

Having achieved our objective and reached the Wash, the association has now changed form and become the Fen Rivers Way Working group. We intend to see that the path remains open and well maintained. We also want to ensure that the guidebooks is kept up to date.