Viewing 32 posts - 1 through 32 (of 32 total)
  • Anyone live near Downham Mkt- nice to live?
  • rockhopperbike
    Full Member

    As above really, any must avoids or other commentary on the area?, might be heading down that way- never been beyond the Yorkshire border!

    MrNutt
    Free Member

    apparently it great if you don’t like hills and are a mormon with a penchant for incest.

    Not my personal opinion, just one a friend who lived there held.

    richmars
    Full Member

    All I know is it has a very nice pub on it’s railway station.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    On the plus side it’s quite close to Thetford Forest, which has some decent single track trails.

    On the down side it’s in what is know as ‘The Fens’. The local registrars used to write NFN on hospital notes, when a local came in. It stood for ‘Normal for Norfolk’ and covered all sorts of genetic abnormalities associated with in-breeding such as 6 fingers, webbed feet, two heads, one eye, three ears. You know the sort of stuff that happens when your sister is the mother of your child….

    TuckerUK
    Free Member

    Firstly, Downham isn’t in the Fens. Close to (depending on your definition of close), but not in.

    I live in Lynn just up the road.

    Positives: Little traffic, lovely countryside, big skies (no tall buildings).

    Disadvantages: High unemployment, and the locals can be very intolerant of outsiders…still. Very pleasant people mind. Little nightlife.

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Downham Market is best summed up by removing the ham

    rockhopperbike
    Full Member

    really selling it ain’t ya!

    where is a little more NNFN then (not normal for norfolk) 🙂

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Tucker sums the place up pretty well.

    My advice on where to avoid is Downham Market. There are some nice enough villages about, the immediate area MTB options are generally pants.

    piemonster
    Full Member

    I’d be heading north east, or somewhere between Downham and Thetford forest.

    Some of the villages are good, some are dumps. I’d steer clear of the Fens unless you like neighbours with ramshackle Nissen huts, CB radio masts, numerous rusting knackered cars. One of which will be in use as a car. And the ability to see for 20-30miles by standing on a chair(just enough to see over a hedge)

    stu170
    Free Member

    Im about 10 mins between lynn and downham. Being a lincolnshire lad anyways im used to the flat. There is a few little spots of decent riding. And downham aint bad really.

    scandal42
    Free Member

    My mate moved out that way, we visited him twice, then told him it was his choice to move so he can come to us.

    In all seriousness it seemed a tad backwards, the drive there from Leicestershire is interesting though, it’s like you have been abducted and placed on the great plains of the US, well apart from the odd row of terrace houses in the middle of a field (not joking) no wonder it’s one big family when a row of houses is the only thing for miles and miles.

    He stayed for approx 6 months I think.

    teadrinker
    Free Member

    Not a bad little place. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes once looked a buying a place there but it wasn’t big enough. I have family in Denver, a small village down the road and it’s nice little spot. Clearly an MTB haven it isn’t but boating and Fishing are plentiful.

    rockhopperbike
    Full Member

    fooooooook

    stu170
    Free Member

    Its not half as bad as these scaremongering fools are making out. I’ve been here 6 months and love the area.
    What brings you this way?

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Stu, you anywhere near Runcton Holme?

    And is that massive off licence still going?

    piemonster
    Full Member
    rockhopperbike
    Full Member

    stu170 – Member
    Its not half as bad as these scaremongering fools are making out. I’ve been here 6 months and love the area.
    What brings you this way?

    POSTED 26 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

    may have a job – nowt definite yet – just testing the water

    RopeyReignRider
    Free Member

    I grew up 7 miles away and went to school there from 11-18. My parents still live close by so I pop in quite often.

    PM me if you’d like an alternative to the inbred yocal stereotype point of view!

    stu170
    Free Member

    Not far off piemonster. And I believe so. The one in setchy?

    scandal42
    Free Member

    I would like to add balance to my post. The village itself seemed nice, the locaks didn’t seem too warm in the pubs but I suppose that’s not a real issue.

    As I said though, the surrounding area is a bit sparse.

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Not far off piemonster. And I believe so. The one in setchy?

    Aye that’s the one. Must remember to make a visit when I’m down at the folks for crimbo in Runcton.

    cheers_drive
    Full Member

    I moved to Ely which is 15 miles away in January. Ely is nice for the fens but I’m not sure I’d live anywhere else in it. The road links are a shite to get out and mtb is limited to Thetford which is ok but not worth driving to every week. The fens are always windy so ride riding is tougher than the pan flat elevation hints at. I don’t know Downham Market myself but I can say King Lynn is a dump, and Wisbech is much worse.

    richmars
    Full Member

    But it is one of the driest areas of the country.

    slowjo
    Free Member

    Buy a road bike.

    jamiea
    Free Member

    Buy a road bike.

    And endure a constant head wind! It’s a really soul destroying place to ride, mile upon mile of straight roads and no shelter from the wind 😥

    Cheers,
    Jamie

    scud
    Free Member

    I moved to Norfolk (Great Dunham) 8 miles east of Swaffham about 9 months ago as my wife is a Norfolk lass and wanted to move back this way and property prices mean that we can get 4 bed house for the price of our 2 bed flat back in Surrey.

    To be honest, I like the area, it’s true that the mountain biking is never going to be gnarly, but Thetford, Bacton Woods etc have some charm and are great when the weather is good, there are a surprising number of MTB’ers living here and if you ride a road bike as well, there is some great riding through lovely countryside and up along the coast.

    For me, I used to live near Guildford and had a 128 mile round trip to work on the M25 in to Croydon every day, I now have a much nicer drive into Norwich each day (which is a great city), loads of country pubs to choose from, some great places to eat and loads of good places to take my daughter without having to queue in traffic everywhere.

    Bit true about the locals though, my father in law makes it clear i will always be an interloper and most people in Norfolk would like it to be “The Peoples Republic of Norfolk” if they had a choice.

    scud
    Free Member

    ….and Jamie is right, what they lack in hills, they make up for in headwinds.

    cr500dom
    Free Member

    Thetford is much maligned, and if you stick to High Lodge and the waymarked trails I can kind of understand that.

    If you got someone to show you round the other trails I think you would change your mind.

    Yes you have to work for it, but it has some of the best woodland singletrack in the country.

    http://www.easternbikemonkeys.co.uk/forum/index.php are a great bunch and very welcoming / friendly and always willing to show people around.
    The emphasis is always on having a laugh with lots of banter too

    konagirl
    Free Member

    We’ve lived in a village near Ely for the last 2 years, so I can’t comment on Downham itself but I would agree that, it’s a bit of a pain to get to major roads (~45 minutes to get to the A1(M)), and the flatness and clayey ground means there isn’t a lot of interesting off-road routes except Thetford and the other side of Peterborough. But you can road ride (yes its windy, but you get used to it). Lots of country houses and nature reserves around and the waterways and north Norfolk coast nearby is great for canoeing / sea kayaking. Or you can get the train to London in 1:30 if you are missing a bit of culture!

    teadrinker
    Free Member

    And further to richmars post the pub has just won the Camra award for best Cider – even made the TV last night!

    http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/what-s-on/lifestyle-and-leisure/downham-market-s-railway-arms-is-the-best-cider-pub-1-5546201

    richmars
    Full Member

    Last time I went there (cycled from Ely, but got the train back) there was a model train going around the bar.

    dantsw13
    Full Member

    I grew up in Norfolk, in a village between Kings Lynn and Downham Market. It was a great childhood, and my folks still live there now.

    Some villages are great, some are awful, but it is a friendly, easy going part of the world.

    Try the Hoste Arms, in Stow Bardolph, just outside DM – lovely food and good beer!!

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