Tickety-Boo Walk

"This Friday, November 9th will be a simple out and back from Bury St Edmunds to Thurston (refreshments at Tickety Boo Cafe in Thurston) and back again on the cycle path. Possible 12 miles and I intend to walk briskly to keep us warm. We will meet at Wyevale Garden Centre, Bury St Edmunds (IP33 2RN) - pls park on the road outside the car park for an earlier start of 10am.", said the invite from Joyce.

Hmm. Well I was due to take the missus to hospital for an appointment at 9:30, but this walk was right in my back yard.. due to pass within 200m of our house! So I arranged that I would try and intercept them and join the walk some where. We got home just after 10:30. I texted them to find out where they were - and they were just round the corner! So I put my trainers on and walked up the road to meet them.

"Thank-you for waiting for me", I said, smiling inwardly remembering our Marbella walking chum Chelle telling us that it goes down better with people than saying "Sorry I'm late". "We've been waiting for you for hours", said Jane, teasingly. You know you're among friends when you get teased like that. We also had among us some members of the Ipswich Outdoor Group again.

We continued up Mount Road past the impressive  Flight of Peace sculpture and  Rougham Airfield on the cycle track I knew so well from riding my bike - it was part of my regular route back in 2006 when  I cycled most days.

Since then, of course, the railway crossing has been replaced by this magnificent footbridge - designed for not just pedestrians, but cyclists and horseriders.

We walked on through Thurston, past the Community College where the missus would have been teaching had she not had a hospital appointment, and along the Norton Road to Tickety Boo. And here was an extraordinary sight. Snowdrops under an apple tree - in November!

What a nice cafe! Here we are, with our drinks and comestibles.

Steve declared the scones to be the best ever experienced on a walk (..so far - the search will not stop here) and Tina had a very interesting Turmeric Latte.

Alas my phone battery wen flat so I wasn't able to track or photograph our route back, but we took an alternative route via Oak Lane and some footpaths past the church before retracing our steps through Thurston and back to the Flight of Peace sculpture.

Here I hijacked the walk to take people though the new park by Airfield road. By now the drizzle that had started as we passed the airfield had turned into steady rain, and I had no coat with me, so as the cycle path passed home I turned off and said goodbye to my fellow walkers. But it's not like I didn't know the rest of the route I was missing out on!

So thanks to Joyce for organising the nice walk and the others for their pleasant company.