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.
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