Tiffey Trails Project

Tiffey Trails is a partnership of community groups working to increase awareness of the special heritage and environment of Wymondham’s Tiffey Valley, and ensure that they are preserved for the future.  

 

Tiffey Trails was devised in October 2004 by Wymondham Arts Forum, which saw the valley as a source of inspiration for all forms of artistic creativity. The project soon developed into a much broader and more ambitious enterprise, involving many local groups and individuals.  

 

Concentrating on the natural environment and historic heritage, and using the arts, crafts, music and creative writing, the Tiffey Trails partnership has drawn together the skills and efforts of different groups to organise a very varied programme of events to appeal to everyone in the community. The common focus of all these events has been to draw attention to the beauty, history, and natural environment of valley. Because of its success and the interest generated, the programme is being extended through 2007. A programme leaflet is available from the Wymondham Tourist Information Centre and the library.  

 

These special events are just one aspect of the project. The Tiffey Trails partnership is also working to improve access to the valley with new maps, signboards, observation points, boardwalks and seats, and by organising repairs to bridges and stiles, extra grass cutting and better signposting of footpaths and trails.  

 

Many different organisations have recognised the value of what Tiffey Trails is trying to do and are supporting us with expertise and finance so that we can improve everyone’s awareness of the value and history of this special area.  

 

Other pages of this website give details of the program of events, news of plans and actions taken, and updates on what we have achieved so far.  

 

We hope you will support us by joining in one of the many activities in the events programme, or just spend some quiet time on one of the walks or open spaces near to Wymondham. By supporting Tiffey Trails you are supporting your local community, and helping to safeguard the local environment and preserve it for future generations.  

 

Aims of the project  

 

• to provide a focus for the activities of local arts organisations during 2006  

• to encourage diverse local groups to work together in spirit of partnership  

• to raise public awareness of the valley and what it can offer  

• to foster a sense of local pride in the valley  

• to encourage visitors to Wymondham  

• to strengthen the infrastructure of the valley - footpaths, bridges, signposts etc.  

• to identify and protect the sensitive environmental areas of the valley  

 

General description of the project  

 

Wymondham has its own river, the Tiffey, which offers a variety of landscapes, nature reserves, walks and other leisure activities. Much of the Tiffey Valley is of high landscape value, displays a wealth of flora and fauna, and is easily accessible to us all. The river runs within just a few hundred yards of the town centre, yet it is still known only to comparatively few people. Why don't we make more of this natural asset?  

 

The Tiffey rises in the Hethel area, enters the parish as a brook running through Oxford Common and under the bypass, then along the edge of the Lizard open space and under the railway to Tifford Bridge on Station Road. It runs through Toll's Meadow nature reserve, is joined by the Bays River at the old A11, and passes through gardens and under Damgate Bridge to Becketswell, offering fine views of the Abbey across the meadows. The Tiffey Valley walk leads to Chapel Bridge, and the river then then skirts Crownthorpe hill and runs through attractive fields and parkland to enter the Kimberley estate at the lake behind the hall. Leaving the parish, it flows down to Marlingford where it joins the Yare.  

 

The river and adjacent high ground must have defined the location of the original Wymondham settlement in Saxon times, and influenced the choice of site of the Benedictine monks who built the abbey in 1107, and of the Wodehouse family when they built the new Kimberley Hall in the early 1700s. So it has played a part in more than 1,000 years of our town's history, and much of it is still unspoilt today.  

 

Wymondham Community Partnership's second action plan for the town has a section on cultural activities. Under the title 'Celebration of Wymondham through the arts' it suggests 'using the arts and music to help promote and appreciate the natural environment of the Tiffey Valley', and it identifies Wymondham Arts Forum among several local groups who might have an interest in this. The Arts Forum has responded enthusiastically to this challenge, and after nearly a year's preparatory work it launched the Tiffey Trails project in March 2006.  

 

Music and drama already take place in the open air at Becketswell and Kimberley Hall. Artists take their inspiration from the views and the wildlife of the valley, as local art exhibitions demonstrate every year. For local schoolchildren the Tiffey offers artistic and creative opportunities of all kinds. The Tiffey Trails project will tap into this interest, and develop it to increase local appreciation of one of our finest natural resources.  

 

An important aspect of the project is the velley's infrastructure - getting into the valley, walking along it and knowing where to look and where to visit. Much practical help has been received from Norfolk County Council's Countryside Access Team: new boardwalks have been constructed and fences, bridges and stiles repaired, and during 2007 fingerposts, waymarkers and information boards are being repaired and replaced.  

 

To add interest and enjoyment to a walk along the valley, new benches are to be installed with carved motifs representing valley flora and fauna and Wymondham heritage. Two small viewing towers are being erected in May/June, one on the Lizard and one at Toll's Meadow. Both are made of green oak, and will echo features of the town's two best known 'icons', the Abbey and the Market Cross.  

 

A programme of activities of all kinds was arranged and run successfully in 2006, and a new programme for 2007 was published in March. This may be seen on this website, (Click Here) and paper copies are available at Wymondham Tourist Information Centre in the Market Cross, and at other information points in town. A fully illustrated valley guide, with a map and lots of historical and environmental information, is also available.  

 

Further details from:  

Barbara Randall  

Secretary Wymondham Arts Forum  

St Edmunds, Norwich Common,  

Wymondham, Norfolk NR18 0SP  

Tel: 01953 601939  

Email: st.edmunds@onetel.net

 

Contact Details

Contact: Secretary

Telephone: 01953 601939

Address: St Edmunds  

Norwich Common  

Wymondham  

Norfolk  

NR18 0SP

email

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