Editing Peddars Way

{{Short description|Long-distance footpath in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox hiking trail
 |name=Peddars Way
 |photo=Peddars Way near Thompson.JPG
 |caption=Peddars Way near [[Thompson, Norfolk|Thompson]]
 |location=[[Suffolk]] and [[Norfolk]]
 |designation=[[National Trails|UK National Trail]]
 |length_km=74
 |trailheads=Knettishall (near Thetford)<br>{{coord|52.3906|0.8549|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline|name=Peddars Way (Knettishall Heath trailhead)}}<br>Holme-next-the-Sea<br>{{coord|52.9629|0.5281|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline|name=Peddars Way (Home-next-the-Sea trailhead)}}
 |use=[[Walking]]
 |elev_change=
 |highest=  
 |lowest=[[Holme-next-the-Sea]]
 |difficulty= Easy
 |season= All year round 
 |sights= 
 |hazards= 
}}
The '''Peddars Way''' is a [[Long-distance trail|long distance footpath]] that passes through [[Suffolk]] and [[Norfolk]], England.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Peddars+Way+and+Norfolk+Coast+Path+National+Trail |title=The Peddars Way |publisher=[[Long Distance Walkers Association|LDWA]] |access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref>

==Route==
The Peddars Way is 46 miles (74&nbsp;km) long and follows the route of a [[Roman road]]. It has been suggested by more than one writer that it was not created by the Romans but was an  ancient trackway, a branch or extension of the [[Icknield Way]], used and remodelled by the Romans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maxwell |first=Donald |date=1925 |title=Unknown Norfolk |location=London |publisher=The Bodley Head}}</ref> The name-type, which recurs in medieval records from other parts of East Anglia, derives from Middle English ''pedder'', meaning an itinerant trader. It is first mentioned on a map of 1587 [[AD]]. It starts at [[Knettishall Heath]] in [[Suffolk]] (near the Norfolk-Suffolk border, about {{convert|7|km|0|disp=or|abbr=on}} east of [[Thetford, Norfolk|Thetford]]), and it links with the [[Norfolk Coast Path]] at [[Holme-next-the-Sea]].

Combined with the [[Norfolk Coast Path]], it forms the Peddars Way & Norfolk Coast Path National Trail, one of 15 [[National Trails]] in [[England and Wales]], and the two paths together run for {{convert|133|miles}}.

It is one of four [[long distance footpath]]s which, when combined, run from [[Lyme Regis]] to [[Hunstanton]] and are referred to as the [[Greater Ridgeway]].  At [[Knettishall Heath]] the Peddars Way links with the [[Icknield Way Path]] for 110 miles south west to [[Ivinghoe Beacon]] in Buckinghamshire.<ref name="Icknield Way Path">{{cite web |url=http://www.IcknieldWayPath.co.uk |title=The Icknield Way Path |publisher=Icknield Way Association |access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref>

==Guide and waymarks==
A detailed 144-page guide, including 1:25&nbsp;000 maps from the [[Ordnance Survey]], and described south to north, is published in the series of National Trail Guides.<ref>{{cite book |title=National Trail Guides: Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path |first1=Bruce |last1=Robinson |first2=Mike |last2=Robinson |publisher=Aurum Press |location=London |date=2015 |isbn=978-1781315019}}</ref> The trail is very well marked with two general types of waymarker along the length of the route. At junctions there are signs marked ‘Peddars Way’ on plain wood fingerposts. Elsewhere white, yellow and green discs are used bearing the acorn sign used on such long-distance routes.

==Public transport==
The Peddars Way may be accessed by [[public transport]].  There is a path linking the southern end, at Knettishall Heath, to the nearby [[Harling Road railway station]].  Holme, at the northern end, has a regular bus service to [[King's Lynn]] and [[Hunstanton]].  Holme also has a regular bus service to [[Sheringham]].  Both King's Lynn and Sheringham allow onward connections using their regular rail services.
{{clear}}

==Folklore==
The Peddars Way was traditionally supposed to be a haunt of the ghostly East Anglian hound [[Black Shuck]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Day |first=James Wentworth |date=1958 |title=The Ghost Hunter's Game Book |publisher=Frederick Muller |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hiddenea.com/shuckland/introduction.htm |title=Shuckland |work=Hidden East Anglia |first=Mike |last=Burgess |location=Lowestoft |date=January 2005 |access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" perRow="3">
Image:Peddars Way Signpost.JPG|Peddars Way signpost
Image:Peddars Way - Knettishall Heath.jpg|[[Knettishall Heath]]
Image:Peddars Way - Little Cressingham.jpg|near [[Little Cressingham]]
Image:Peddars Way - Massingham Heath.jpg|[[Great Massingham|Massingham]] Heath
Image:Peddars Way - Sedgeford.jpg|near [[Fring, Norfolk|Fring]]
Image:Peddars_Way_at_Magazine_Wood_Sedgeford.jpg|by Magazine Wood, [[Sedgeford]]
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Long-distance footpaths in the UK]]
*[[Recreational walks in Norfolk]]
*[[Castle Acre]]
*[[Sheringham]]
*[[Beeston Regis]]
*[[River Heacham]]
*[[North Pickenham]]
*[[Slíghe Chualann]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Peddars Way}}
{{GeoGroupTemplate}}
*[http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/peddars-way-and-norfolk-coast-path  National Trails' Peddars Way/Norfolk Coast Path page]

{{coord|52.7198|0.6786|dim:50000_region:GB|display=title|name=Peddars Way}}

{{UK Trails}}

[[Category:Footpaths in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Roman roads in England]]
[[Category:Long-distance footpaths in England]]