BBC Audio – Ramblings – The Icknield Way
Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside. In this episode she walks with David Falk, Green Access Manager at Suffolk County Council on parts of the Icknield Way in Suffolk. This section goes through a large pine forest and open heathlands and is lovely walking terrain.
Icknield Way Path in pictures
How England’s Oldest Road Was Nearly Lost
A video by Tom Scott, using the Icknield Way to talk about Lost Ways. The Icknield Way, in south-east England, is a road and footpath that’s been part of the landscape for millennia. But if parts of it hadn’t been legally marked down, then those parts would have become private land, gone forever. Who has the right to walk where?
The Icknield Way: a journey
A century after the poet and writer Edward Thomas published his book on the Icknield Way, this short, quirky documentary traces the route of the ancient trackway and drover’s road, setting out to encounter some of the people who live and work along it, and who are still inspired by it. Features the excavation of a Neolithic henge monument, and a haunting, original soundtrack.
Edward Thomas
A talk about ‘Edward Thomas’ given at the 2013 AGM by Richard Emeny can be read here. Edward Thomas wrote a book The Icknield Way published in 1913. The AGM in 2013 was the centenary of the publication and a joint meeting was held between the Icknield Way Association and the Edward Thomas Fellowship which exists to perpetuate the memory of Edward Thomas and foster interest in his life and works.
ITV Dog Walking
ITV Anglia’s Countryside Dog Walk in East Anglia featuring IWA member Phil Prigg talking about the Icknield Way on an historic Three Churches trail in West Suffolk. ITV News Anglia reporter Tanya Mercer joined cameraman Chris Warner and his West Highland terrier Oscar in the villages of Dalham, Moulton and Gazeley near Newmarket.
Dalham is a picture postcard village with its pretty cottages, three-quarters of which are thatched – more than anywhere else in Suffolk. The Icknield Way is thought to be the oldest road in Britain – dating back to the 1st century. Its ancient pathways have led millennia of tradesmen and travellers all the way from Dorset to north Norfolk.
Flint logo
The logo adopted by the Icknield Way is a Flint Axe reflection the historic connection of the Icknield Way and the flints from Norfolk. See how a flint axe is formed…
Professor Thurstan Shaw
Professor Thurstan Shaw was the Icknield Way Association’s founder and Chairman from 1985-1989. Following his death a Memorial was held at Sidney Sussex, Cambridge. Here are links to contributions made at the Memorial. A variety of YouTube videos are available covering his 96th birthday and memorial event. His obituary was published in the Times in March 2013.
Prof Thurstan Shaw walked the Icknield Way in 1979, his account is reflects the route at the time.
Susan McIntosh’s McDonald Institute Keynote Lecture by Professor Susan Keech McIntosh entitled The Enigma of Igbo Ukwu: exploring the origins of West African Civilization in tribute to Professor Thurstan Shaw’s work in the region.