Day: 202 4/4/99 Hopton-on-Sea to Great Yarmouth

Weather:  Misty, some sunny intervals

Distance:  16km (9.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2618 miles

In the morning after breakfast we went to St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church for mass.  The young priest did a good job with a packed church. I almost tripped him up as he was coming backwards around the church sprinkling the Holy water over us and I was standing in the aisle, as my legs were uncomfortable.  The kids were given a small Easter egg each on the way out. 

Margaret dropped me at Hopton-on-Sea before heading off to Caister and Horsey.  I started off along the cliff tops past a caravan site and then a golf course.  I hardly had to walk along the sand at all that section.  I had lunch – a sausage roll, coffee and piece of bread pudding (£2.50) at the first café I came to on the promenade into Great Yarmouth.  The man serving me managed to knock a big jar of coffee over just as he was taking my money. 

From Gorleston-on-Sea up into Great Yarmouth was along the quays.  This side was not too bad with some access right down to the waters edge and an interesting mix of craft including trawlers etc.

The road heading south along the quays was depressing.  The highlight was the north end where I was able to walk right up near the moored ships which included a couple of naval training boats and the Sir Winston Churchill tall ship used for young people.  After that access to the quays was blocked by buildings and the road was industrial and dusty. 

As soon as I turned the corner and started heading northwards I was expecting it to be a seaside town but in fact it was quite desolate, full of industry and deserted and derelict caravans.  There was a car park near the tip packed with cars pointing out to sea and people reading newspapers.

The first signs of crowds were at the pleasure beach with its roller coasters and water slides etc.  Even then it was like looking at the crowds from behind a screen as they were concentrated on the pavement and I was on the promenade on the seaward side of the activities. 

The front was packed with people but I kept to the lower promenade that was much less crowded as it was not exactly seaside weather. 

The police were out in force on the front and there appeared to be trouble at one of the pubs on the front. 

I got back to the Youth Hostel just 10 minutes before Margaret and the boys.  They had been travelling around north of Great Yarmouth and had climbed Horsey Mill.  I took the boys over the park next to the hostel for a half-hour run around. 

That evening we went to see the pedestrian precinct in Great Yarmouth but were not at all impressed.  It was full of cheap shops.  We bought some fish and chips and ate them back in the hostel.  I watched Great Britain make a valiant go of beating USA in the tennis’s Davies Cup and then went to bed.

Day: 201 3/4/99 Kessingland to Hopton-on-Sea

Weather:  Misty

Distance:  15km (9.3 miles)    Total Distance:   2608 miles

The family dropped me at Kessingland and headed off for another morning in Southwold, so taken were they by it yesterday.  I headed off into the mist.  Visibility was very poor and all I could see was the waters edge.  I hardly saw anything else until I reached the outskirts of Lowestoft and saw a church appearing through the mist.  

I came off the beach and onto the start of the promenade.  I passed another series of very smart beach huts and was admiring them when I got talking to an elderly man who told me that the council were having trouble letting them on a weekly basis.  We agreed that people should get out and enjoy the countryside more!  As I got further into Lowestoft the number of tourists increased to the point where I crossed the bridge over Lake Lothing where I had to battle to get through the crowds.  I had chosen not to stop at a café fully expecting there to be somewhere on the north side of the town.

I got back to the coast via an industrial estate and it was desolate, just concrete sea defences and what looked like a Bird’s Eye factory.  The one highlight was a large circle on the ground marking the most easterly point in the country and depicting which direction it was to all the European capitals and the distances. 

The concrete gave way to beaches with cliffs.  At one stage I almost got bowled over by a black labrador, no apology from the owner, just a giggle between her and her daughter.  Access along the beach gradually got more difficult because of the tide breakers and it was only possible to walk at the bottom of the cliffs along narrow paths.  I then came across a beach designated to nudists near Corton.  The improving weather meant two gents were enjoying the privilege of not needing to wear clothes.

After Corton the beach opened up and I returned initially walking on concrete promenade and then walking on firm sand.  I had arranged to meet Margaret at Hopton on Sea. We had driven to the village in the morning on our way to Kessingland in order that we fully understood where the meeting point was!  I got to Hopton in three and a half-hours and a bit early so walked up the track that led down to the beach to save Margaret driving down.  I stopped on the turning into the housing estate and Margaret soon turned up. 

From there we went to spend the afternoon at Fritton Country Park.  It was very pricey to get in, £17 for the family, but pretty good inside.  We watched a falconry display with a barn owl and a bald eagle called Margaret! The adventure playground was good and then we had a go on the putting.  When it closed we headed back and stopped off at a pub, the Church Farm, down by the broads in Burgh Castle.  Again the kids tore around the garden and we stayed as long as we could with the mist coming down again and it getting colder and colder.  We then went back to the hostel and Margaret made corn beef hash.

Day: 200 2/4/99 Southwold to Kessingland

Weather:  Mild & overcast

Distance:  11km (6.8 miles)    Total Distance:   2599 miles

This was to be an Easter family holiday staying in Great Yarmouth Youth Hostel.  Gareth woke at 7.00am due to a loud clap of thunder outside.  We left Coventry by 10.30am in rain but fortunately by the time we got to Southwold it had stopped raining and was a mild but overcast day.  I took the A14 route via Ipswich for the last time.  Although this was probably a long way around I knew it was a fast road.  We drove though the village and down to the quay and had our sandwiches and a mug of tea and chocolate flapjack from the kiosk.  I was walking by 1.15pm. 

Margaret went into Southwold with the boys and was impressed with the shops etc. She also took them to the beach.  I set off along the beach and then up onto the promenade by the smartest beach huts I had ever seen, all well maintained and all with their own names. 

Once the promenade ended I took to the beach again and kept down by the tide line on the firm sand.  There were not too many people around outside Southwold,  just the occasional sea angler and I had to be careful not to walk across their lines.  I watched the low crumbling cliffs that are a feature of this area.  I stopped for a rest on a tree trunk and a drink from my rucksack near a lake some three-quarters of the way along.

I arrived at Kessingland just some five minutes early but there was no sign of the family.  I figured that the café that was on the bend in the road just as it came down to the sea was the best place to meet her so ordered a coffee and drank it outside.  Margaret and the boys soon arrived and joined me at the café. We played on the promenade for a while and then headed for Great Yarmouth. 

We had a warm welcome from the warden Duncan to this town house in a relatively quiet part of town.  We had a dorm to ourselves but the top bunks did not have any side bars so we pushed them together so Margaret felt safer.  One thing about the dorm was that it was hot which meant we slept with the windows open – but that made I very noisy!

Day: 199 16/2/99 Sizewell to Southwold

Weather:  Sunny, windy and cold

Distance:  15km ( 9.3 miles)    Total Distance:   2592miles

I paid my £40 B&B bill and drove down the road to Sizewell to park in the car park.  It was a good walking day especially as the wind was blowing off the land and I could walk near the shore out of the chilling breeze.  The whole day was pretty much the same, walking along the sand and shingle.  I had hoped to see something of Minsmere bird reserve but there was not much to see from the beach.  I sometimes came up to the top of the beach because there was better footing there. The cliffs all along here were low and crumbling and the noise of mini-rockfalls could sometimes be heard.

At Dunwich I had hoped to get a cup of coffee but the café was deserted and a sign said it would not open till March. I read about the old village that had been buried in the sand. I had a drink from the rucksack before heading off across the heath-land rather than the beach itself.  When the heath got watery I went back onto the beach again. Near Walberswick there were two mechanical diggers piling up the pebbles again.  I am just glad they saw me approaching otherwise I may have been buried by a shovel-full.

Just short of Southwold, I spotted a tea kiosk ahead but as I was nearing it I realised it was on the opposite side of the river!  I still felt good so decided it would be easier next time to start at Southwold, so  I walked up the river bank, over the footbridge and down the other side.  This would have been quite pleasant in summer but in the cold wind of February it was a bit of a struggle.  I had a great cup of coffee and chocolate flapjack at the kiosk before about turning and going back up the river and over the bridge into the village of Walberswick.  It seemed as if it would be easier to get a lift from there back to Sizewell than from Southwold. 

I had to wait about 15 minutes to get a lift to Middleton from a man in a Mercedes who used to work in 'The City' but now lives in Suffolk and just goes into London occasionally.  I was lucky and soon got a second lift from a builder in a transit van who was six weeks off retirement and had just been to see his son in a pub in Middleton.  He was kind enough to take me all the way to Sizewell.

I got home at 4.30pm to hear the phone message on my answer machine from my boss to tell me that my job was safe but a number of others in my department were being made redundant.  Good news and bad news I guess.

Day: 198 15/2/99 Snape Maltings to Sizewell

Weather:  Cool, calm and calm.

Distance:  21km ( 13.0 miles)    Total Distance:   2582miles

A smashing cooked breakfast served with a copy of the Telegraph in a warm breakfast room confirmed that this B&B was difficult to fault.  It was so new that the toaster provided to make my toast gave off that new electrical appliance smell when I turned it on to make my toast.

I parked at Snape Maltings car park where the weather was cold, still and misty.  I walked over the river and then turned right down eastwards.  The Environment Agency were working on drainage work and making a right mess of the path but I got past without too much trouble.  From then on for the next hour was a fantastic walk via what I later learnt was the Sailors Path, the path trodden out by sailors who’s boats came into Snape and they then walked down to Aldeburgh to get accommodation.  The mist was slowly clearing and the sun getting through.  That combined with the stillness of the morning made it spectacular walking weather without anyone to be seen.  There was loads of bird-life around both in and out of the woodland areas.

The path came out on the Aldeburgh road a couple of miles before the town.  For the next hundred or so yards there was no footpath, but things improved near the golf course and things became safer.  Just before the town I took a right turn through a park and then another right to head once again out onto some sea defences.  Something made me think that these would be the last sea defences I would see for quite a while.  

After another half an hour or so I came out on the sea wall at Slaughden.  I turned right and walked up almost as far as I was allowed to the Martello tower, around that and then about turned and headed North.  I knew that from now on I would face minimal detours inland compared with what I had faced in the past couple of years.  To try to celebrate this fact I tried to find a tea shop in Aldeburgh but failed.  The town looked busy enough but the only busy shop I saw was the queues outside the Fish and Chip shop as it was lunchtime.  Having failed in my search I turned back down to the promenade, and stopped on the outskirts to have a snack from my rucksack. 

I was heading for Sizewell and seemed to be making very good progress, so decided to take the next bit very leisurely.  I was walking along a heath-land nature reserve and was walking so slowly that I was overtaken by a middle aged lady who walked up to the outskirts of Thorpness around a post and then back again. 

I tried at Thorpness once again to find a tea shop and was much more successful this time – I seemed to have a choice of two!  I chose the first I came to and it was an OK choice.  At this time of year you stumble upon those properties that have just been taken over and are full of owners trying to make the best of it.  This was one of those and the new owner was in evidence trying to sell his new style to anyone who would listen – how much money he had put into it, the new carpet, his long hours and what a success he hoped it would be. Judging by the number of people the on a blustery February afternoon – he was onto a winner, but judging by the fact that he charged £1.74 for a piece of average chocolate cake, he may find their custom short lived.  I bought a copy of the Daily Express because I had just got into doing Codebreakers – those type of crosswords where each letter had a number and you had to work out the crossword using only the numbered letters.

From Thorpness to Sizewell I walked along the beach which was comparatively easy because the tide was out leaving some hard sandy areas neat the bottom of the beach.  Slowly the power station at Sizewell got bigger and bigger.  I was still feeling good but decided to stop there because there was nowhere more sensible to stop for quite a while after that. 

I strolled up to the top of the beach, past the public conveniences perched on the beach itself and the closed up tea-rooms called very amusingly Sizewell T.  Sizewell has nothing more to it than a small fishing fleet, a row of houses and a pub, and of course the power station and a pub, outside which I started to hitch.  I got a lift no trouble from a man who worked at the power station and was taking a half-day to go to the dentist.  He took me to Leiston where I walked to the outside of the village and hitched again.  This time it took longer to get a lift and I eventually started walking.  I was in the next village by the time I got a lift – from another contractor at Sizewell A who had been on a job of welding up the boiler there.  It seemed to have been a long and technically difficult job performed by doing the whole weld at elevated temperatures and heating up the weld and cooling it down in one go rather than in small sections – I think I understood what he meant anyway. 

He dropped me at the turning off to Snape and after a few yards walking I did nor hitch any more because it was too short a walk to go.  At Snape Maltings I changed my shoes and then explored one of the craft shops, bought a card to send to my parents and then went back to the B&B for a hot soak.  For tea I went to a pub just a mile down the road, the Parrot and something, and had a great meal of duck in black cherry and ginger sauce, and a nice pint of Adnams bitter. It was only spoilt by the fact that the young waitress put me to sit next to another couple rather than in a quieter part of the dining area which meant that I was eavesdropping on their conversation.

I then drove back and parked the car at the B&B before going to explore the town again.  I passed a couple of pubs that did not look too inviting and ended up in the King’s Head at the other end of the town.  This too was not too good, the beer was acidic and both the bar and the lounge were occupied by people speaking at the top of their voices. 

Day: 197 14/2/99 Chillesford to Snape Maltings

Weather:  Cold and cloudy.

Distance:  24km ( 14.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2570miles

It was half-term and Margaret and the boys had gone to visit the grandparents in Ireland.  Even on my own I managed to wake early and get on the road to Suffolk by six o’clock.  The A14 was very quiet needless to say and it was a simple journey.  I parked in the car park of the Froize Inn where we had had a meal at the end of the last holiday.  I was surprised to see that there were a number of cars in the car park and a couple of caravans in the camping field.  These caravaners do come out in all sorts of weather these days.

From Chillesford I took a footpath down towards Orford. Soon I came across a right hand turn in the path but it was very sensibly marked a no-through path, saving me a mile or so wasted time exploring it. I therefore carried on straight down through Sudbourne Park.  The weather was very cold and temperatures overnight had been well below freezing meaning that the paths were frozen and solid underfoot.  It was a well marked path all through the estate some of which had evidently been turned into a golf course. 

Just before Orford I came out on a farm track and took a right hand turn away from the village again past some woods.  I could see Orford castle and church in the distance but would not get any closer because I would walk around them.  I hit a minor road, took a right turn and then a left onto a path that took me down to the River Ore with Orford Ness in the distance.  There were starting to be a few more people around out for a Sunday morning walk.  Margaret had told me that when she had come here with the boys she had been to a good tea shop.  I was hoping it was open for morning coffees and indeed it was.  I think the timing was just right and I arrived between opening time and the time when they served Sunday lunches.  It was good; a filter coffee and a dense rich chocolate cake for £2.30. 

I could see from the map that the next bit was straightforward, along the sea defences, so I put my map away and headed off. The last thing I wanted to do on this long stretch was to keep looking at my map every few minutes to see what progress I was making.  I soon lost the couple of groups who were out for short leisurely strolls and was in the wilds of Sudborne Marshes.

A couple of boats came up and down the River Alde and there appeared to be still some military activity on the Ness.  I understand that the Ness was completely owned by the military before it was turned over to the National Trust.  Slowly Aldeburgh appeared in the distance.  The path was easy to walk as the grass and vegetation was short, it being winter.  I then headed west to start my trek inland up the last significant estuary for quite a while.

The sea defences ceased being a public footpath after a mile of heading inland and I had to cut inland up towards High Street.  Half way up to the road the public footpath signs disappeared and try as I might to see some there were none around.  I guessed as best as I could but ended up walking up a gravel path in an estate.  As I was exiting the estate a people-mover type car appeared and a very well spoken lady asked me if I was OK (in other words, what the hell am I doing on her land).  It transpired I was only 50 yards off the path that still appeared not to be sign-posted.  

Soon I was on a quiet minor road and heading towards Iken where I picked up the footpath along the estuary again up to Snape Maltings – another place we had visited on our previous holiday.  This was pig-farming country now and the smell that went with them was all around. 

At Snape Maltings – the old buildings now used as a concert hall and craft village, I did not have the energy to do much exploring so quickly headed off down the minor road to Sudbourne hitching as I went.  It was quite a while before I got my first lift, from a young couple who were down on a holiday renting a cottage and had been out for wood – their car was so full that the tail gate was open! At Sudbourne, I cut across the woods asking a local couple to confirm that I could get through, and then got another lift quickly in something like a Mercedes sports car from a middle aged man and his young partner, up to Chillesford.

It was still light fortunately so I drove to Leiston where I had a B&B booked and explored the town, stopping to check out the Indian restaurant and look for other likely watering holes.  It turned out I was the first real guest at the B&B – Field End, since it had been taken over the previous year and done up.  The first guest apart that is from the Inspector who had called the previous week and given it a highly commended recommendation.  It had been done up very nicely indeed and I did no begrudge paying the £20 per night. 

That night I went to the local Baptist Church up the road and received a warm welcome.  The minister’s daughter was studying medicine and was presently in a hospital in Coventry.  The lesson was from 1 Peter.  It was very much a small old-fashioned Baptist church in a building like the old church at Lawrence Saunders church in Coventry.

After that I went to the local Indian Restaurant which was not so good – partly because it was Valentines Day and being on my own I was not made to feel overly welcome,  especially when I asked to move table so that I could read my newspaper.  Added to that the curry was not the best – nothing wrong with the taste- just one of those that was barely hot enough and you wonder for the next 24 hours if you are going to come down with food poisoning.  

Day: 196 30/10/98 Shingle Street to Chillesford

Weather:  Fine, cool and windy.

Distance:  15km (9.3 miles) Total Distance: 2554miles

I got dropped by Margaret and the boys at Shingle Street. They then went on to Orford and visited the castle and a nice tea shop on the front – something for me to look forward to when I do my next days walking.

The weather had improved and the strong winds had died down.  The walk started along the beach looking into the houses in various states of repair – some modern minimalist decoration and others in a state of disrepair.  The path then took to the sea defences, a little detour up a little estuary back to the road and then out again down to the sea.  For much of this stretch it was far easier to walk on the farm tracks just on the landward side of the sea defence than onto of the sea defences itself which were overgrown. 

At Butley River I turned inland for what is by Essex & Suffolk standards a minor estuary.  The path followed the river for a while before I was forced to go inland again, this time over Burrow Hill – yes a hill!  Down the other side and into the hamlet of Butley Low Corner and then along more farm tracks – not public footpaths but marked on the ground as rights of way. 

Eventually I got to another group of houses and workshops in Butley Mills and then onto Chillesford where I met Margaret just arriving at the pub!  We had lunch in the pub and it was another excellent choice – good beer and award winning sea -food and lots for the boys to look at whilst waiting.

Rather than rushing home we I took them to see Felixtowe docks in the afternoon.  I thought the boys would be fascinated by the cranes loading and unloading the containers off the boats.  Unfortunately they were not as nearly taken by it as I thought but they did go for a stroll and I had a cup of tea from the café before we made our way back to Coventry.

Day: 195 29/10/98 Ramsholt to Shingle Street

Weather:  Fine, cool and very windy.

Distance:  15km ( 9.3 miles)    Total Distance:   2545miles

We drove to Ramsholt and I left Margaret and the boys having a quick walk on the beach.  I then backtracked up the road and then turned right along another quiet county road.  

Near Alderton House I had a decision to make; whether to take the long way around by the road or risk the farm tracks all the way to Middle Barn.  I chose the latter.  I half guessed that this was a private track but there were no signs saying so and it looked more like a minor road than a private track.  Halfway along however after a mile or so I came across a farmer and son in a Range Rover and a farm laborer on a tractor.  They were working in a field next to the track I was walking along.  I thought I would get away with it and be ignored but I was wrong. The farmer and son came leaping across the ditch asking me what I thought I was doing. In order to diffuse the situation I told them I was walking around the coast of Britain and had made a mistake in thinking this was a road as opposed to a private track.  Eventually I was allowed to carry on having convinced them I would never be back.  I was warned however that the owner of the next piece of land was not as kind to trespassers and risked getting turned back.  This meant that for the next couple of miles I feared coming across the farmer. I did indeed pass a tractor and a couple of game shooters but neither stopped me.  It was a relief however to get back onto the main road. 

I turned right and made my way down to the quay at Bawdsey Point.  A row of houses clung to the shore looking as if they received a good battering from the weather for most of the winter.  I was also relived to see that there was a path around the point and back northwards along the beach.  Bawdsey Manor appeared a large and strange building looking out of place on the coast.  It was great to be walking on the beach again with waves washing in. 

The beach continued for a couple of miles and when the going got tough, a path appeared at the top of the beach and continued past three Martello Towers in various states of disrepair.  I was gradually being forced inland by both the path, fences protecting dunes and small areas of water.  The fierce wind coming in off the sea did not help either! Eventually I arrived at Shingle Street and another row of houses looking isolated and lonely.  Margaret and the boys were there waiting for me huddled in the car out of the wind.  They had been to Woodbridge where Margaret had bought a ring (didn't she buy one yesterday?) and the boys a couple of activity books.  Gareth really liked his book of flag stickers. 

We went onto Snape Maltings in the afternoon – a collection of old buildings converted into craft shops etc. Then we went to explore Aldeburgh where we had tea and cakes and a quick walk on the beach.  Back at the youth hostel the boys were harder to amuse because the other children had gone. Gareth seemed to be following us everywhere with his flag book. 

Day: 194 28/10/98 Woodbridge to Ramsholt

Weather:  Fine, cool and windy.

Distance:  15km ( 9.3 miles)    Total Distance:   2536miles

Half-term and the first time Margaret and the boys have joined me for a walking holiday since the New Forest.  We were to stay in the Youth Hostel at Blaxhall. The weather had been awful all week and there was bad flooding in Wales.  I thought any walking would be a bonus and was not too optimistic.  

This morning however the weather looked OK so we got going at about 11 o’clock and drove to Woodbridge, stopping to eat our sandwiches on the way.  We parked at the station where I had stopped walking last time and I tried to find somewhere to change.  I gave a lady a hand with a pushchair containing her sleeping grandchild over the bridge.  Margaret and the boys tried to walk the first bit with me but it was through the back of a small industrial estate and looked like it may be a blind ally so they turned back and went up to the town to look at the shops.  It was the correct way and soon opened up to a path through boat yard etc up to the bridge over the River Deden. 

I had estimated without measuring that the walk would take me a couple of hours but it soon became apparent that that was an underestimate.  It took me about an hour to reach the opposite side of the bank from where I had started.  I had walked south after crossing the river and then turned into the Sutton Ho estate which included an Anglo Saxon burial ground.  The notice said that it had recently been purchased by the National Trust but was not opening to the public for another couple of years.  There was however footpaths through the grounds and down to the river. 

Not long after joining the river the path cut back inland again and along the side of a wood then along past some fields.  I passed a couple of large fields with what appeared to be very short grass in.  In fact one was being mowed by a tractor. I could not make out what the crop was. Maybe they were just growing grass for turf.  Past the hamlet of Methergate the path cut down to the rivers edge again and continued all the way to Ramsholt where I was to meet Margaret and the boys.

There were some woods just below Nether Hill which were tricky to get through.  It was fortunate that area had been cleared for new planting and I was able to trace a way through but there was no clear path.  The light was failing and I was glad to get out again and onto open fields.  The last couple of miles was along sea defences and at the end there was another small piece of woodland.  I was almost an hour late and panicked a bit when I could not see the car but Margaret was parked in the pub car-park just out of sight.  They had spent most of the time in Woodbridge and picked up some things to keep themselves busy and Margaret had treated herself to a new ring.

We found the Youth Hostel that was not easy in the dark.  It was an old schoolhouse.  We had an eight-bedded dormitory all to ourselves.  There were a number of other families staying and the boys made friends with another boy but he only stayed the one night.  Margaret made us a tasty pasta dish for tea. 

Day: 193 25/9/98 Felixtowe to Woodbridge

Weather:  Sunny and hot for time of year.

Distance:  15.5km ( 9.6 miles)    Total Distance:   2526miles

I was up at 7 o’clock, packed washed and collecting my £5 deposit for the toilet block at 7.40am. There had been a very heavy dew and I had to pack my tent soaking.

I parked near the pier and set off for the day.  It was still grey when I started walking but showed great promise.  The fist mile or so was along the promenade and then cutting inland briefly before rejoining the coast and a mile or so of beach huts.  At a place which appeared to be called Felixtowe Ferry I checked out the time of the ferry out of curiosity rather than and interest in catching it. There were no ferry on weekdays in the second half of September.  

I had a cup of strong tea and piece of buttered toast in the Ferry Café before heading off up the River Deben.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the path in good condition but it only lasted a couple of miles before it got not bad but covered in long grass. This meant I took to the farm track on the landward side just to keep my feet dry.  Before I left the sea defences I say a heron with an eel in its mouth fly off as I passed but it dropped its eel whilst flying over a ploughed field.

After Mirton Creek the sea defences gave way to a path along the estuary floor itself which looked like it would flood at very high tide.  Just beyond this point the sea wall had been washed away so I was sign-posted inland through the village of Hemley across some fields and down into the village of Waldringfield.  I found exactly what I was hoping to find,  a quiet pub overlooking the water, this time called the Boat Inn.  I drank a pint of IPA outside and put on some sun cream as it was now getting very hot. 

Past Waldringfield the sea wall was once again breached.  I had been told this by the Ipswich rambler I had spoken to on the phone a couple of weeks previously.  This meant going inland again but the minor roads were ever so peaceful.  At Hill Farm I made my way down to the estuary again by way of a series of paths around fields and through woods.  Just as I climbed the last stile onto the sea defence a passing jogger made me jump.  I was not expecting to see anyone there! 

At the head of Marlesham Creek I thought I was running short of time to catch the 2.35 bus but discovered there was a path on the north side of the creek not marked on the map. The signs said it may not be passable at high tide but even though the water was high it was OK and saved me a walk inland.  I stopped at the railway station and headed into the town to find the bus.  When I eventually found the bus station, the Turban Centre, there was no indication that the bus whose details I had found on the internet actually existed but it did turn up a little late and took me on a tortuous route back to Felixtowe. 

I got home at about 6 o’clock having had a fine couple of days – just what you need to say goodbye to the summer. 

      

Day: 192 24/9/98 Ipswich to Felixtowe

Weather:  Fine, warm, mainly sunny.

Distance:  25km ( 15.5 miles)    Total Distance:   2511miles

The weather was unseasonably warm for the time of year so I decided to take a couple of days off work to do a little walking.  

I left home at 7.30 and had a good journey down the A14 even though it was a weekday.  I parked at the car park for Orwell Country Park just behind the Little Chef.  

The first part of the walk was to get to where I had stopped the previous time which meant going down through a lovely wood onto the foreshore and then up to the Orwell Bridge towering above. It was then about turn and back down the foreshore and around the perimeter of the wood back up to the car park.  

There was no choice now but to head inland, up the drive for the country park, right under the A14 and down the quiet road towards Nacton.  I turned right and went past Orwell Park School; certainly not a comprehensive by the looks of it!  I found the bridleway through woods which bought me out in the village of Levington.  I had lunch in the Ship Inn, an old pub specialising in food.  I chose the king prawns which cost more than my usual lunches but were excellent along with the pint of Green King IPA straight from the barrel.  Two elderly ladies asked me if I recommended the prawns as I was ordering them but I told then I had never been there before.  When I was leaving I had a quick chat with them explaining what I was doing walking around the coast and therefore only calling in pubs once.  Down onto the estuary and the sea defences once again I came across a lovely lake full of ducks and swans etc.  

Things were going pretty well and I was in good spirits watching the container ships at Felixtowe when the path ran out.  A week or so previous I had phoned up a man from the Ipswich Ramblers whose name I had got from the internet and had asked him about this walk.  As well as telling me about the path near the Orwell bridge he had told me that the Felixtowe docks had been extended backwards.  He was indeed correct and the path on the map was not there. 

I had to walk a mile inland through nature reserve and farms then back south again to get back to the dock area.  A man was stationed on the side of a railway line to help pedestrians cross.  The roads were busy with container lorries as I guess they were continuously 24 hours a day.   Just past the end of the A14 I passed a sign for a campsite and went up the drive to make inquiries.  I was told it cost £5, just about my limit and told her I would probably call back. 

I was determined to go down to Langland Point and well worth it was too.  I had a cup (polystyrene mug) of tea near Langland Fort and watched the cranes loading and unloading the container ships at a rate of about one container every minute.  I could not walk on the shore around the fort as it was blocked off but a short trip inland and then on shingle beach out to Langland Point.  The highlight was walking back north up the beach to the pier at Felixtowe. What a joy it was to be off the sea defences and onto sandy beach for a while.

I asked at the TIC about buses and was directed to the bus station near by.  I caught the bus to Ipswich and got off in the outskirts leaving me a mile and a half walk back to the car.  I decided that the Felixtowe campsite would be the bast place to stay.  A warden was on duty who tried to charge me £6 but I told him I had been quoted £5 and he accepted that.  After a hot shower I went to the McDonalds at the end of the A14 which was the quietest McDs I had ever seen.  The nights were closing in and after I had eaten I listed to the Man Utd - Liverpool match before having an early night.  A sign in the shower block said they had been vandalised the previous week and when I was lying in the tent (the only tent on the site!) it was a little scary with noises of fast cars and bikes and shouting in the distance.

Day: 191 31/8/98 Shotley Gate to Ipswich

Weather:  Fine, warm, sunny intervals.

Distance:  15.5km ( 9.6 miles)    Total Distance:   2495miles

I was up a 6 o’clock, packed up the tent and was walking by 7.00am.  The reason for the early start was that I wanted to make sure of catching the bus at 12 o’clock.  I parked the car outside the Bristol Arms at Shotley Gate.  

The first part of the walk was to the large and expensive looking marina.  I spent much of the time looking over to the large freighters at Felixtowe.  I thought what a nice place the marina would be if it were not for the background noise of the large boats at Felixstowe. 

The first hour or so walking was quite tough with long grass on the sea-defences. Just before Chelmodiston National Trust land, there was no path marked on the map but I was pleased tot see it was marked as a permissible path and in fairly good condition on the outskirts of some fields. This saved a walk inland. 

It was then onto the beach briefly – past some fishermen and their boats before climbing up into the National Trust woods.  Views out of the woods back down to the beach were of a medium sized-boat graveyard.  At Chelmondson I sat in the pub garden for a while and had a drink of water and some biscuits – everywhere was still closed up.  A few boaters were up making the most of the bank holiday.  I used the public toilet and then headed along the well-walked path to Wolverstone which is another boating area full of private yacht clubs.  Here the path ended so it was time to head inland.  I called into the chandlers shop neat the caravan park.  I opened the fridge to get a drink and was surprised to see a tie in there in the top shelf.  I asked the shop assistant why it was in there but she did not know.  She had worked there for a couple off months and had been meaning to ask but never had! 

After a mile or so across fields it was back onto the road again near Freaton Park.  At the Orwell Bridge I was pleased to see that it was relatively easy to clamber up onto the bridge and I did not have to walk up to the interchange.  I had a headache and did not particularly enjoy the walk over the bridge but was impressed but its height. Signs for the Samaritans demonstrated it was a pace to attract suicide bidders.  On the other side I could see people walking underneath on the banks of the Orwell even though there was no path on the map.  I also found steps down off the bridge that was nice. 

I walked back over the bridge and started to hitch.  It was not long before I got a lift from a woman who was on her way to meet a friend who had sailed his boat back from Holland and was moored at Shotley Gate.  She said she never usually stopped for hitchhikers but I looked like a walker.  She dropped me off at the turn-off for Woolvestone marina but she picked me up a couple of minutes later saying she had made a mistake and got the wrong marina and meant to go to Shotley.  So I ended up getting two lifts back – both off the same person! She was telling me how she was walking the Thames footpath. 

I picked up two hitchhikers on my drive home to Coventry and dropped them off at Corley services before going to see a neighbor who was in hospital recovering from pneumonia.  

Day: 190 30/8/98 Cattawade to Shotley Gate

Weather:  Fine, warm, sunny intervals.

Distance:  19km ( 11.8 miles)    Total Distance:   2486miles

I was up by 6.30am and walking by 7.00am.  I parked the car near a disused bridge in Cattawade and headed off down through an industrial estate.  The path was hopping with wildlife, in particular rabbits, on this fine dry morning.  I was surprised that the fence around the ICI factory was full of holes and not very secure.  The path went by a picturesque pond and then doubled back around the factory before going over the railway and onto the riverbank.  I was very impressed by the fine condition of the path that had obviously been well maintained just recently.

Sutton Mill was a fine house with lots of interesting buildings and gardens.  The path sort of led through their front garden but there were no nasty anti-rambler signposts up.  At Dovehouse Point the path led inland up to Sutton through fields.  Turning right into the tranquil and well to do village.  

At the church the path once again went through someone’s back garden and gave excellent views of the very impressive Royal Hospital School which itself had views over the estuary.  The path now lost height again down to the coast. 

From here on the state of the path deteriorated and was either along the muddy / sandy banks of the estuary itself or along the edges of fields many of which had been ploughed up to the edge putting off would be walkers. Fortunately the crops had been mainly cut so there was no forcing myself through wheat fields.  Some places even had signs up saying private land even though there is a footpath on the map.  The potato fields were about the worse with their deeply rutted nature.  At times the path led through woods which was much more pleasant.  Towards Shotley Gate the path again improved and I got there an hour before the bus was due to depart.

Being early I decided to hitch and very slowly strolled out of the village up the main road.  I was picked up by a young couple in a BMW who had been out house hunting.  A relative of his was a Sunderland fan and it was he and the fan I had seen at the station yesterday who was the happier following the 2-0 win over Ipswich last night!  I got dropped at the turning for Holbrook and soon got another lift into Holbrook from a middle-aged man living in the village I think.  I got dropped outside a wonderful tea shop and went in for a coffee and a piece of chocolate cake and a read of the papers!  

I walked to take a look at the Royal Hospital School and ran into people doing a treasure hunt who stopped to ask me if I recognised pictures but were not the sort to give me a lift. Once I got as far as Sutton I got a lift from a Wolves supporter whom was down visiting his mum and had been out on the beach in Harkstead.   I got dropped off at Cattawade and went to the pub and watched the Belgium Grand Prix over a Guinness.  I missed the first start that ended in a multi car pile up.  The restart and rest of the race was also full of incident.  Hill eventually won his first win since joining Jordan. Shumaker got very upset with Coulthard and blamed him for a crash in which Schumaker ran into the back of Coulthard. 

Back at the campsite I got talking to a Dutch couple who were camping next to me.  They had bikes and I thought they had just got off the ferry for a short ride around Essex, but they had been 1200 miles all over England and were very impressed with the Yorkshire Dales. 

I tried to eat in the pub that night but it was not serving food so instead I drove to Ipswich to have a look at the Orwell Bridge to make sure I could walk over it and got a Chinese take away and took it back to the river side at Manningtree to eat before going back to the camp site for an early night.

Day: 189 29/8/98 Harwich to Cattawade

Weather:  Fine, warm, sunny intervals.

Distance:  19km ( 11.8 miles)    Total Distance:   2474miles

The forecast was for fine and dry weather all weekend so I headed off with the tent in the boot of the car.  We had just had a very pleasant two and a half weeks holiday in Ireland and done some walking in both Kerry and Wicklow.  I therefore felt relatively fit.  Nevertheless I aimed to have a relaxing weekend and only do short walks and hopefully not get blisters.

I parked on the front in Harwich by 9.30am, used the public toilets and headed off at a leisurely pace.  I read that Harwich was the place the Mayflower set off from.  The container port of Felixstowe was busy as ever. Passing a storage area for buoys I was then on busy dual carriageways for the next half-hour.  Passing over a tall bridge I stopped to look at a fox exploring a railway line. It was being followed by four magpies one of which sat on its back!  The road down to the International ferry terminal was busy as one of the new HSS ferries unloaded. 

I found the path through Parkeston which took me through and past the Carless Oil terminal and a golf course.  The next couple of miles was along a dirt track and then briefly onto a B-road before eventually turning off down through a nature reserve and towards the sea.  I stopped once I got to the coast and had a very pleasant sit down under an oak tree whose roots were exposed by the effect of the tide.  

Through some fields and it was then onto the beach at Wrabness.  Here was a mile of chalets much larger than normal more a Californian tree house style.  Towards the end of this line of chalets I was worried about the lack of path on the map and tried to cut up through the huts but a lady stopped me and said I should go on and rejoin the path further on.  This I did and it was good advice.  Much poorer advice was received from a couple of cyclists near Nether Hall who advised me to carry on even though there was no path on the map but there were styles.  The path ran out however and I was in a mud bank quite soon.  I turned back and got up onto the road to Mistley.

Coming into Mistley I passed a signpost to a secret bunker which seemed a bit strange because if there was a signpost to it how could it be secret.  I went to investigate it and it was the place that Essex would house its nuclear war command post.  I decided it was not my sort of thing so did not pay my money to go in.  

Coming into Mistley that was a wonderful smell around which I at first thought was food but it turned out to be coming from a malting operation.  Mistley was full of redundant malt housed plus Edme’s current operation housed in a fairly run down building.  I had thought Edme only made home brew kits but I guess it must supply malt extract to other breweries.  I spotted a second hand book shop and bought a Margaret Attwood novel then went over the road to a tea shop and had a wonderful pot of fresh coffee and a piece of fruit cake.  I am very taken by this relaxing walking pace. 

It was then onto Manningtree skirting most of the town, onto a riverside walk and then over the River Stour into Suffolk.  The end of Essex at last!  I explored briefly where I would start the next day and made sure there was somewhere to park.  I re-crossed the river and went to the station to see if that was easier than getting a bus back to Harwich.  The station was full of Sunderland fans that I found a little confusing but later realised that they were playing Ipswich in an evening kick-off. 

Once I collected the car I went to the campsite I had booked in the village of Bradfield.  It was in a field behind the Stranger’s Home pub and only cost £3.50 per person and was very acceptable indeed.  An aviary next to the toilet block added a touch of the unusual. I ate early in the pub – chilli con cani and went to bed early after a very enjoyable bay!

Day: 188 26/7/98 Walton on the Naze to Harwich

Weather:  Fine, warm, mainly sunny.

Distance:  35km ( 21.7 miles)    Total Distance:   2462miles

I had a date with a photographer today so I had had my eye on the weather forecast, my health and the clock for the weekend.  It was an early Sunday morning and not much traffic on the road for my trip down to Walton.  I was due to meet Tony at 10 o’clock at the Naze car park and so left myself plenty of time to drive, find somewhere to park and walk the couple of miles to our meeting place.  I was surprised that I could park on the promenade all day so close to the pier free of charge but it definitely said that there were no restrictions on a Sunday so off I set.

Most of the walk to the Naze was along a promenade but there petered out and I climbed onto the cliffs – the first bit of high ground I think I had seen since Kent!  I was early to meet Tony so went into the café and ordered a bread and butter pudding and cup of coffee. I must say the café was top notch and it was the best bread and butter pudding imaginable!  

Tony turned up on time despite relating the story to me that he returned from his Morris dancing session late last night to find his toilet blocked! He was a pleasant fellow – knew Bray from taking his daughter over to see Dublin University and recommended a café Escape in Bray which he described as an oasis – and very correct he was too when we visited it a couple of weeks later!  He took quite a lot of photos of me walking towards him, posing with a map etc but it was all over in 10 minutes and I was on my way on a circular walk around the Naze.  That took about an hour and I was then back where I had started from in Walton.  The path took me through a couple of caravan parks and then a small industrial estate.  

Orientation was a bit tricky in Walton but I got onto the main road to Kirkby and followed that till a track took me down towards the sea.  I had expected it to be deserted on the sea wall but there were a couple of groups of people walking and fishing.  I had an encounter with a disgruntled householder a Kirkby when I was trying to find the footpath.  I had crossed the creek as marked on the map no problem but then the path was supposed to turn immediately seawards again, but in real life a house blocked this.  He appeared and told me the map was incorrect and that I would have to go up the lane then through a hedge before backtracking in effect back past his house. It was only a few yards so I was in no mood to argue even if he had diverted the path himself.

From there to White House I hardly met a sole – I wished this section had been more popular because it was heavy going being overgrown in parts and uneven underfoot.  It was the first time I was wearing anti-blister socks and was impressed how they were behaving in very bad conditions – hot weather and uneven under-foot. I was getting very concerned at this stage that I was falling behind my time – I had a deadline to meet – the only bus of the whole week between Harwich and Walton left Harwich at 5.20 on a Sunday afternoon!

Fortunately, from Beaumont Quay onwards the paths got a lot better.  Instead of sea defences it was paths through fields and along roads for about five miles.  My concern for maybe missing the bus meant that I did not stop and ate and drank on the hoof pushing myself hard.  On the road at Great Oakley I passed a port-a-cabin acting as a gatehouse for a company called Exchem Organics.  This company was obviously up to dangerous work as they placed themselves literally out in the middle of nowhere – I think they specialise in nitration reactions.  The path that took me back to the sea was past a fruit-picking farm.  I wondered at the brand new Jaguar parked there – why did someone who could afford a Jag want to go fruit picking?  Once on the sea defences I soon came within sight o Harwich and became less panicky about getting the bus but I was still to concerned to stop walking for any length of time.

The last couple of miles were along promenade and scrubland.  I asked at the lifeboat station the way to the quay that is the place the bus was due to start its journey from.  Once at the quay which was at the very tip I tried to find a bus stop but nobody could remember seeing a bus stop there and advised me to go to the bus station instead. 

There were great views of large freight carriers inching their way into Felixstowe.  I found the bus station without too much trouble but there was not too much sign of life there either. Never mind I thought the timetable there definitely said there was a bus.  Soon a number of elderly ladies appeared who also planned to catch that bus and we stared chatting.  There were great, relating their travels on the buses of Essex which they got for a very knock down price.  They appeared to spend much of their time jumping on and off the local buses visiting the local seaside resorts.  I told them what I was doing and they said they had seen me earlier in the day from the bus as it passed near Little Oakley.  The bus did tun up and did go down to near the quay but not quite, and showed no signs of stopping anywhere near there – it looked like it was some annoying little detour that it was forced to take. I'm glad I had walked back up to the bus station.

My car was still at the now very busy Walton promenade and without a parking ticket.  I comforted myself with a Solaro ice-lolly before driving home.  My feet were sore, even with my new anti-blister socks, but I was not too disheartened – it had been a long, hot and at times difficult walk almost without stopping so I would probably had even worse feet if I had not had the socks on.