10 Things to Do in Thetford That You Shouldn't Miss

Please bear in mind our opening hours are limited: 10am - 3pm Saturdays Easter to November & Tuesdays in Norfolk school holidays. Museum visits at other times by prior arrangement, subject to availability - we are a volunteer run organisation. For 9 years from 1968 Thetford, Norfolk became Walmington on Sea - home of Dad's Army. A guided location tour was launched in 2004 and proved so popular that a museum was founded in 2007. Housed in the Old Fire Station to the rear of the Guildhall - the building itself featured in several episodes as Walmington on Sea Town Hall - it is independently run by an enthusiastic platoon of volunteers. Over the years the museum has developed and expanded to include a 1940s inspired Marigold Tea Rooms. In 2010 a full size bronze statue of Captain Mainwaring was unveiled in the town by David Croft and in 2012 the original Jones's butcher's van returned home and is now residing with our good friends at Charles Burrell Museum, just a short walk away.

The original and still the best. Set in the heart of Britain's largest lowland pine forest, our first ever course is centred around 30 miles of bike and walking trails from which to explore 50,000 acres of forest. And the mother of all our courses features our classic Tree Top Adventure, Forest Segways and Tree Top Junior. Our Tree Top Adventure features a NEW Tarzan Swing, back-to-back black crossings (don't worry, they're optional!) and an Alpine zip (that goes from tree to tree). Now that's worth shouting from the tree tops! And the adventure does not need to stop there. You can get off the beaten track and enjoy our forest adventure with Go Ape Forest Segway - an epic experience with a down to earth twist. And Thetford Forest is also home to our Tree Top Junior Adventure for Mini Tarzans. Release your little monkeys onto a Go Ape course designed for them. No one loves adventure more than kids!

One of Thetford's largest employers manufactured steam engines until the 1920s.

Thetford's Ancient House has recently benefitted from a £1.6 million renovation, which has gone towards conserving the Grade I listed Tudor merchant's house and creating up-to-date displays. The atmospheric crooked house tells the remarkable story of Thetford and the Brecks. Discover rich collections alongside audio guides, films and animations. Meet local people from Thetford's past, from the revolutionary philosopher Thomas Paine to the Sikh hero Maharajah Duleep Singh and from rabbit warreners to railway workers. Take time out in the re-planted garden and don't miss the brand new museum shop in its oak pavilion. Allow about an hour and a half for a visit.

Grimes Graves is an English Heritage site with 433 Neolithic flint mines - one of which has been excavated and is open to the public. A fantastic opportunity to experience real history from 4600 years ago, and enjoy a truly unique landscape with its lunar-like craters above the in-filled mine-shafts There is a small exhibition centre, with a shop that has coffee facilities and packaged snacks, and there is a 96 acre grassland area of special scientific importance for walking and picnics (dogs, on leads, are welcome). Children are provided with a bag of binoculars, bug-boxes, colouring-pages and pencils to help them enjoy the site The exhibition has wall displays, samples of the tools and materials being excavated and videos that explain the history of the site and flint-knapping A very special geological feature is visable from the site: periglacial striations (which were caused by freezing and thawing the chalk substrate in the last ice-age) have created amazing straight lines of alternating vegetation and were formed over 10,000 years ago Whilst the site is open to everybody, with a small carpark, the mine, which is accessed by a robust 32-step ladder to a depth of over 7 metres has, for health and safety requirements, an age restriction for children who have to be 10, or over. It is also a requirement that a helmet (provided) is worn at all times whilst in the mine-shaft Whether you are an archaeologist with a special interest or a family looking for a unique experience, the team at the site welcome you and encourage you to ask questions and learn about Neolithic-man and the importance of flint as a Stone-age tool The site is open from April to September, everyday from 10.00am until last entry at 5.30pm, and is also open in October but only Wedneday to Sunday from 10.00am, with last entry at 4.30pm

The memorial is dedicated to all who served in the 7th Armoured Division (The Desert Rats), the 4th Armoured Brigade (The Black Rats) and the 7th Armoured Brigade (The Green Jerboa), throughout history. In 1944 the men of 7th Armoured Division (The Desert Rats) arguably one of the most famous units in the British Army was based here and in the nearby countryside and towns, before they left to take part in the Normandy Campaign, landing late on 6th June 1944. These few months are the only time the Desert Rats were ever in the UK. The Memorial and main plaque inaugurated on the 23rd October 1998 by Field Marshal Lord Carver is located on the A1065 two miles north of Mundford, Norfolk, England. The additional plaque commemorating the Desert Rats of the 4th & 7th Armoured Brigades from 1945 to 2003 was added to the plinth and inaugurated during the Open Day on the 27th June 2004 in the presence of Brigadier Adrian Bradshaw, commanding 7th Armoured Brigade, and other senior officers from both brigades. It is the 7th Armoured Brigade who are now the modern day Desert Rats, while the 4th Mechanized Brigade continues to wear the Black Rat, after since 2007. In 2015, the 7th Armoured Brigade has been disbanded and the 7th Infantry Brigade has been created to still wear the Jerboa and carry on the traditions of the Desert Rats and the Desert Rats Association will continue to be associated with it. Throughout its history the Division and the two Brigades not only consisted of Armoured units, but also Infantry, Artillery and Engineering units, plus other support units, all of whom are commemorated by this memorial. In the woods close by the Memorial, which consists of a Cromwell Tank on the plinth and two memorial stones, can be found what remains of the bases of the building the Desert Rats used in 1944. A special trail through the woods is available, along with information boards. A larger museum is being planned at present and information about this will be made public nearer its inauguration.