Norfolk, Thorpe Forest Foraging Courses

Thorpe Forest is a beautiful part of Thetford Forest, situated along the banks of the River Thet, close to where the Norfolk and Suffolk borders meet. The patchwork of conifer and broadleaf woodland with grassy verges, provides a home for a rich variety of wildlife and we hope to find a great range of gourmet mushrooms there this Autumn.

Thorpe Forest is within reach of Bury St Edmunds, Downham Market, Norwich and even Cambridge. 

We’ll be meeting outside the Forest Holidays Retreat building. The course starts with a short introduction on what to look for and a brief general talk about countryside codes and where they relate to foragers.

Then we’ll set off on a roughly 2.5 hour, slow-paced walk around the woods, teaching you how to identify the different plants, flowers, fruits and mushrooms that we find.

We will stop along the way for some seasonal homemade refreshments, such as our lovely hogweed and wild garlic soup, elderflower champagne or fruit leathers.

After the walk we will end the day with a tasty wild food lunch, based on what we have found. All of our food is seasonal, so what we make depends on recent weather and what is around at that time of year. In Spring we will be making use of the fresh wild greens and in Autumn, we’ll enjoy the array of tasty wild mushrooms that the woods have to offer.

After the course, we will email you a list of everything we talk about on the day, to help you remember what you have learnt.

The Retreat
Forest Holidays
Thorpe Forest
Shadwell
Thetford
Norfolk
IP24 2RX

We will meet outside the Forest Holidays Retreat cafe/shop.

The Forest Holidays Thorpe Forest access road is clearly marked running north off the West Harling Rd, to the East of the junction with the A1066. The postcode will get you there using a sat nav or mapping app. The holiday park is 0.4miles down at the end of a long, straight drive.

Please park behind the Retreat – as you go down the drive, there will be parking for 20 or so cars, to the right, outside the Retreat. There is overflow parking if you follow the road and take the next right after the Retreat.