_Where to find the Brecks Pingo Trail
Enjoy the Pingo Trail in the Brecks
Not to be confused with the cute clay penguin Pingu beloved of young children, these water-filled depressions in the ground have their highest UK density in the Brecks in East Anglia and were created at the end of the last Ice Age.
English Longhorns grazing on Thompson Common
Where are Pingos found?
Pingos are found in Alaska, Greenland, Siberia, Tibet, possibly Mars… and in the Brecks on the Suffolk-Norfolk border in East Anglia.
What is a Pingo?
Pingos are formed by the freezing of groundwater, pushing the ground above it upwards to create a hill. Pingos are natural ice formations, mounds of earth-covered ice that can grow up to 230 feet tall and 2,000 feet wide.
In colder parts of the world, they are still intact, but in the Brecks they have been impacted by the dynamic processes of permafrost landscapes. The Brecks’ Pingos were created at the end of the last Ice Age, when rising temperatures caused the hills to melt away.
Thompson Water, Brecks
Why are Pingos in the Brecks?
The Pingos in the Brecks were originally low hillocks that formed in permafrost (tundra) conditions 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age when water beneath the surface froze to form lenses of ice pushing soil upwards, forming a small hillock. During the summer thaw, the soil on the surface would sludge off and accumulate around the periphery of the hillocks. Shallow craters were left when the ice finally melted, causing the hillocks to collapse.
The Brecks has the largest density of Pingos in the UK. Elsewhere in the UK most Pingos have been ploughed up but the unique landscape of the Brecks, ancient woodland and heaths, has left many intact. In fact, in the Brecks groups of them form what is known as ‘Pingo villages’.
Information board at Thompson Common
So Pingos in the Brecks aren’t really Pingos?
Pingo is actually the Canadian Inuvialuit word for ‘conical hill’, rather than pond, but we know they were originally permafrost ice. The proper name for them should be kettle lake, Pingo scar or fossil Pingos.
Where are Pingos in the Brecks?
Pingos in the Brecks are focused around Thompson Common, managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. In the area it’s thought there is a collection of approximately 400 Pingo ponds. They are historically and ecologically important, but also of international value for their wildlife.
Thompson Common on the Brecks Pingo Trail
What is the Great Brecks Pingo Trail?
The Great Brecks Pingo Trail is a gentle and flat 8 mile (12.9km) walk of tracks and trails exploring the eastern edge of the Brecks.
Start at the Pingo Trail car park on the A1075 Watton-Thetford road near Stow Bedon, Norfolk, NR17 1DP, three miles south of Watton. OS map No 229 is helpful.
Thompson Carr, Brecks
The trail continues down through Stow Bedon Common, where beautiful flowering plants and butterflies can be seen in abundance. The heath then opens up as it crosses Stow and Breckles Heath, with views over farmland and forest. Then, down through Cranberry Rough SSSI, a basin mire that has developed on the site of a former lake. Watch out for dragon and dameselflies, as well as several species of waterfowl.
The track then passes along a cutting and up some steps onto Hockham Heath, where vibrant displays of heather make a colourful scene in late summer. It's then onto the Peddars Way and past The Battle Area, known as Stanford Training Area, which is the country's main battleground and amounts to 17,500 acres of unofficial nature reserve.
Thompson Water is owned and managed by Norfolk Wildlife Trust and is a shallow lake of 40 acres which was artificially created in 1845 by the draining of a tributary of the River Wissey. Yellow water lily is abundant on the open water, as well as wintering wildfowl.
On the Pingo Trail, Brecks
Thompson Carr is damp woodland with alder and oak and you may be lucky enough to spot an elusive roe deer through the trees.
There are many small natural ponds on Thompson Common, the best location in the country to see the scarce Emerald Damselfly, among other more common species.
Thompson Common is lowland grassland, which is enhanced by the open water and fen communities of the pingos. Parts of Thompson Common are grazed by a herd of Shetland ponies and you might discover long horned cattle.
Ponies on Thompson Common
The trail then continues back to the car park for a well-earned rest.
Please note that the pingo habitat is an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, so insect repellent is recommended, especially in the summer.
Dogs are allowed on this walk, but they must be under control, especially on Thompson Common.
Where to stay: College Farm, Thompson.
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