Experience Diss: Two churches

This is one of three routes starting from the Cycling UK EXPERIENCE hub in Diss.

Have a look at the other routes: Sands and trees and Zoolander.

The shortest of the three routes from the Diss Experience Hub is designed as an ideal introduction into light off road or ‘gravel’ riding. To achieve that it mixes short and easy sections of farm track (the only ford has a footbridge option) with deserted back roads. The short distance and the flat profile also make it a great option for all ages of riders who want to try some ‘rough stuff’ but only have a basic bike or skill set. 

It takes you in a completely different direction to the other two routes as well, heading out of the town centre eastwards onto the Anglian way. You soon swing north though, jinking along roughly parallel to the Roman Road to Norwich. Sandy centred single track back roads and broad all-weather farm tracks link together past ancient trees and farms to take you to the village of Tivetshall. Here you’ll take a leisurely lap of the villages scattered layout to visit the churches of St Mary and St Margaret. 

Bird busy copses and prosperous farmsteads are your companions for the next couple of back road km then it’s up and over the London to Norwich railway and into the charming village of Gissing. Then it’s on to Burston with its fascinating modern social history before taking the final section of off road singletrack down a tunnel of trees before the final km into Diss.

The development of these routes has been funded through EXPERIENCE, a €23.3 million project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, €16 million) through the Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme 2014-2020, boosting visitor numbers in six pilot regions across England and France. This project will harness the experiential tourism trend to extend the season (October – March), generating 20 million new off-season visitors spending €1 billion across the Channel region by June 2023.