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 ELY (MALTINGS)TO LITTLEPORT (STATION)
If arriving at Ely by car, park in the Maltings Long Stay Car Park and walk down to the riverfront. Turn left following the river and look out for signs for the Fen Rivers Way/Ouse Valley Way just before the bridge. If arriving by train, follow road signs to the Maltings and the River. Follow the river away from Ely waterfront with the railway line on your left. This is a particularly lovely part of the Ouse, the river is wide and slow-moving passing through water meadows and is a popular haunt for fishermen and dog walkers. Go through a wooden kissing gate (signposted Fen Rivers Way and Black Fen Waterway trail) and follow the narrow hedge-lined path. After about 0.5 mile/0.8 km, the path moves away from the river. There are lovely views back to Ely Cathedral from here. Pass through a narrow chicane and turn left along a hard-surfaced track. The path runs alongside an industrial estate (on your right) and eventually comes out near a car park. As you come out on to the road that leads into the industrial estate, turn right (if you turn left here you can do a loop back into Ely and join the Easy Access Path at this point). Walk past the buildings (Ely depot and Environment Agency compounds) until you come to a wooden kissing gate. Go through the gate and follow a narrow fenced path. Following the footpath signs, cross over Cuckoo Bridge (a green metal bridge built in 2000) and follow the path as it passes through hedgerows and winds through a little wooded area. The route then follows a gravel path with a fence on your left (the river is out of sight behind trees on your right) and takes you over a large steel bridge, crossing the Ouse and meets the road to Queen Adelaide. Turn left and walk along the road for about 0.5 mile/0.8 km (using the verge where possible) under a railway bridge until you reach a “T” junction. (It is best to cross over to face oncoming traffic. Although this is a minor road, it’s quite busy and fast and has no pavement or footpath). Turn left (B1382) towards Queen Adelaide, crossing a stone bridge and look out for a signpost on the right taking you back on to the riverbank. **Alternatively, if you don’t want to walk along the road, follow the slightly longer but mostly off-road route given below from the large steel bridge: Cross the large steel bridge to a footpath sign and turn right along the road for 100m. Cross the road and turn sharp left at a “Hereward Way” sign to follow the track below Middle Fen Bank, with overgrown settling lakes from the former beet sugar works above the bank on the left. After 0.5 miles, the high bank on the left ends. Take the next farm track, turning left (look for a way mark on a stout post under a willow tree) and follow it to the B1382 by a “public footpath” sign. Turn left towards Queen Adelaide, cross the railway and then over the Great Ouse, then turn immediately right by a Public Footpath sign.** From here onwards the walk follows a straightforward course along the banks of the Ouse with the railway line on your left. After about 1 mile/1.6 km, where The Black Fen Waterways diverts across the railway line to the left, The Ouse Valley/Fen Rivers Way dips down below the embankment by the river and continues on towards Littleport passing tall hedgerows and big, open areas of thistles, which attract big flocks of goldfinches in the autumn. (At this point, there isn’t much between you and the railway line and there are a lot of rabbits about so if you’re with a dog, it might be as well to keep it on the lead). After about 2 miles/3.2 km you approach the outskirts of Littleport, cross over a stile and pass a collection of mobile homes on your left until you come to a little wooden gate. Follow the path to the right through the gate, go over a little bridge and cross through several gardens which back on to the river. After passing through the gardens, go through a metal gateway near Sandhill Bridge. Cross the road, passing through the car park of The Black Horse pub and look for a stile (and Fen Rivers Way signboard) which takes you back along the embankment with the railway line to your left. After a short stretch, cross two stiles and follow the path as it leads you behind a house and through the garden. Bear left towards the Marina. Look out for the white signal box of Littleport Station on your left. Turn left, cross the road and then right down the approach road to Littleport Station. | |||||||||
| This section of the walk ends here. Return to top of page. To continue along the Ouse Valley Way, go to next section: Littleport Downham Market | |||||||||
Detailed Map (pdf file)
Print Walk Instructions