Thetford Warren Lodge, Thetford Forest, Santon Downham and Santon.

Rabbits, sand, trees and churches… all providing markers and targets for a sunny afternoon’s riding, deep in the forest.
I visit the Brecks, where sandstorms were once common.
Rabbits, yes rabbits, were once a big deal around here.
They were farmed in warrens for their meat and fur. The land hereabouts was fit for nothing else.
I ride to the medieval ruins of the lodge to one such warren.
Then on to the forest villages and little churches of Santon Downham and Santon.
Here today, deep in the forest, it’s amazing to think that in the late medieval period the very existence of these places was threatened by a great inundation of sand.
Motorcycle: Honda CB500F
© John Dunn.

[@mbhambleton]

Another excellent video, thank you so much

[@drjohndunn2898]

@@mbhambleton Thanks for your kind words.

[@banginghats2]

Was it always a barren wasteland, or did the ancient Neolithic people who first came here cut down an earlier forest?

[@drjohndunn2898]

Might well have happened. Britain was one vast forest before the first farmers. I suppose the sands might have been glacially dragged in the Ice Age…