Cambridge Green Belt Project

Walks

Wilbraham Fen Willow Walk

Wilbraham Fen is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a privately owned area which is important for wildlife. Please keep to the footpaths and do not allow dogs to disturb nesting birds. This walk can be joined at any point. The route is marked with small yellow arrows so it is easy to follow. The complete circuit is about 7km (4 1/2 miles) and may take 2 - 2 1/2 hours to walk. The route is flat but can be very wet in winter or after heavy rain. The grass is long in places and rabbit burrows may be a hazard. There is an alternative route along a public right of way and Short Drove Way, which is approximately the same length and offers a different angle on the area.

Instructions for the walk:

1. Start at the layby on the A1303 / Newmarket Road just before the A14 roundabout. Walk 100m along the road verge to join the footpath next to Quy Water beyond Island Bungalow.
2. Continue straight ahead past the wooden footbridge where the circular walk will end.
3. Go past the footpath to Teversham and continue beside Little Wilbraham River.
4. Cross the bridge over the ditch and continue ahead past ponds.
5. Go through Hawk Mill Farm yard and look for a yellow arrow on a high oil tank which marks the beginning of the path across the arable field.
6. Head for the telegraph pole with a yellow arrow and turn left at Fen Road.
7. Go past Frog End Farm along a track which is often muddy. Bear right onto Long Drove and follow this for 1 mile through Wilbraham Fen.
8. Cross the wooden footbridge over the parish ditch boundary between Stow cum Quy and Little Wilbraham. Follow the boardwalk, turn left, and continue ahead to cross the bridge over Quy water.

Points of Interest:

A. Bridge over Quy Water
The path follows Quy Water, also known as Little Wilbraham River. It is an artificial high level channel between the water mills at Quy (now a hotel) and Hawk Mill (a working farm).

B. Wilbraham Fen wilderness and wildlife
There are fine views of the extensive reed beds on Wilbraham Fen. Reed beds occur where the soil is waterlogged for most of the year. Wilbraham Fen was originally a mere or shallow lake that was converted into fen when the level of water fell and peat formed in the shallows. The area was drained and converted into arable land at the end of the 18th century but the subsequent shrinkage of peat led to drainage difficulties and much of the area reverted to fen

C. Lost Fen, Teversham
Reedbeds, scrub and willows now seen on Wilbraham Fen originally covered a much larger area including the area of Teversham Fen on the right of the footpath. These fields, like many others, were cleared and drained for arable crops, but remain low lying and often flood after heavy rain.

D. Hawk Mill Farm
The farm at Hawk Mill dates from 1279 and is private. Please keep to the public footpaths. The water mill on this site was used to grind corn until the 1940s, and was one of several mills driven by water power.

E. Windmill
The converted windmill retains its circular brick tower, but is without the four sails which were ised to harness wind power to turn stones in order to grind corn as late as 1936

F. Long Drove
Droveways are wide grassy tracks used for taking sheep and cattle to grazing areas or market.

G. A Farming Past
Wilbraham Fen is crossed by many ditches which were part of an 18th century drainage scheme to use the fen for agriculture. The drainage ditches were neglected, and part of the fen returned to its wild state.

H. Duck Decoy
On the left of the footparth among the reeds, opposite the line of willow trees is a circular area of willow scrub. The Decoy would have been used by wildfowlers with dogs for catching ducks.

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