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.
No comments:
Post a Comment