GRISTON

Stan's Walk is a non-motorised access route that links Griston with Watton. It opened in 2013 after a concerted local campaign for a safer route for non-vehicular traffic than using the A1075.

It follows the route of the old Watton Road that linked the two before the establishment of the RAF Watton airfield during the Second World War. The new airstrip cut across the route and it was lost, making the only viable route Thompson Road and the A1075 main road. At the Watton end where the route meets Norwich Road, it is still signed as Griston Road, despite it not having actually gone to Griston for the seventy years of the airfield's existence.

The path is named after Stan Langridge, the leading local campaigner for the route to be reopened. When the Ministry Of Defence sold off the disused airfield in 2012, the mile-and-a-half route was opened following the result of a public vote and was funded by a £25,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund. 

Plans for the path were formed as early as 2000, with the grant allocated in 2007.

The key bodies that eventually made it happen were

    Griston Parish Council
    Wayland Partnership
    Sustrans
    Norfolk County Council
    Breckland District Council
    Watton Town Council
    Ministry of Defence
    Ministry of Justice (HMP Wayland)
   

The route was officially opened in February 2013 by Baroness Gillian Shepherd, NCC Councillor John Rogers and Griston Parish Chairman John Hall. The first official user was credited as 15-year old Watton-born national cycling champion Declan Davis. 

At the opening, Councillor Rogers declared Stan's Walk to be "By far, the best footpath in the whole of Norfolk.'


The Sculptures
Around the mid-point of the route - and close to the border between Watton and Griston, is a series of three sculptures, which are part of a national artwork celebrating 'Local Heroes'. The three pieces are cut from 1" steel plate and depict a 1930's Farm Worker, a WW2 Bomber Pilot and 'The Babes In The Wood'.

The sculptures are supplemented by a pair of polished stone Portrait Benches with an etched stainless steel plaque celebrating their selection via the nationwide voting contest.

National Cycle Route
Stan's Walk is designated as a link of the National Cycle Network, and is part of National Cycle Route 13, which runs from Tower Bridge in London to Fakenham in North Norfolk. The project was part of the Sustrans 'Connect2' link programme.

It is also now included on  the OpenStreetMap overlay, so it appears as part of any cycling route plan passing through the region.

Sustrans
Sustrans is a leading UK charity enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make each day. They work with families, communities, partner organisations and policy-makers to help everyone choose healthier and cheaper journeys with better public spaces to move through and live in.


More than a decade after it opened, Stan's Walk continues to be a vital link between Griston and Watton, used by hundreds of runners, walkers, dog owners, families and cyclists daily.