Boudicca Way Part 1

Not long to Marbella now! Time to get some distance walking practice in. This was the invite from Joyce...

"Monday 30th September will be another long and challenging training walk in prep for Marbella. We will be doing the first half of The Boudicca Way from Diss to Tasburgh. It is a route I’ve walked 3 times before and I really like it…lots of twists and turns. Weather permitting we will meet and park near to Frenze Road (Field House Gardens), Diss and start early at 8.30am. We then walk the 18 miles to Tasburgh and then catch the bus back to Diss. Buses leave at 14.11, 16.52, 17.52 and 18.43."

So. Boudicca Way part 1 it is. Read about the full route here. Here was our route today...

Here are  a few of my photos. We set off at around 8:30 as planned. Our first Waymark Sign,

It was  a beautiful sunny autumn morning with just a hint of mist.

The paths were all good and we had some lovely countryside.

We found one of the original waymarkers that hadn't been replaced with the new red ones.

We passed St. Andrew's Church, Thelveton.

Ther was a bit of road walking, but the lanes were quiet... and even signed as such!

Shimpling Church has a very unusual Tower.

We also some some nice gardens and fruit trees....

...and woodlands.

We crossed the old railway line. There is still a station here!

We found a mirror...

Here we are at  Pulham Market, where we stopped for an early lunch - or was it brunch? It was only 11am.

Then it was off again. We were doing well. It looked like, if we kept going at our current pace, we would get to the bus-stop in time for the 2:11 bus!

A field of parsley.

A narrow bridge.

Tyrrel's Wood...

...complete with boardwalks, but it wasn't muddy.

Morningthorpe Church also has an interesting tower.

Not far to go now.

And here was our bus-stop!

But where was our bus? It turned out the timetable had changed and Joyce had been told the wrong time. It was changed to 2:31!

Never mind. We were soon on our way back to Diss and our cars - thanks Gavin for the lift there and back. And thanks Joyce for leading the walk. I'm looking forward to doing the rest of it.

You can see more details of our route in MapMyWalk here and more of my photos here on Flickr

Chilli Update

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There's an awful lot to follow! Today Dawn cropped the first of this season's chillis.

Here we have some Casabella Hot (top left) Paprika  (bottom left) and Aurora hot chillis

And here are some Apaches and Jalapenos.

Time for Tassel Pickles to spring into action. And there is a heap more to follow of all these varieties... and more!

Meanwhile, I appear to be behind the times. Our walking friend Barry has been growing some Chocolate Habaneros and has made some chilli jam already! He kindly gave me some after our walk on Friday.

Nice jar and nice label... and the chilli jam tasted terrific with some Shropshire Red cheese. I need that recipe Barry! Very yummy!

He also gave me one of his aforementioned chocolate habaneros.

I've taken a sliver to nibble. Lovely flavour. A variety to add to my list for next year, I think.

Meanwhile... I've got a tsunami of chillis to process in the offing. I ought to include some pics to show the scale of my task, but it's dark now. Anybody want some? Just let me know.

Hunter Club Jazz

Now we don't have Friday night West Suffolk Youth Orchestra rehearsals to accommodate, I am free to get out on a Friday night and get to concerts at the Hunter Club.

Last night I went along to this...

It was hilarious.. and some cracking jazz numbers too. We got to hear all sorts of interesting stories about functions where a jazz group was engaged as the entertainment. I particularly enjoyed the number where the sponsor's daughter tap-danced, probably rather less rhythmically than George imitated on the drums. But also the wedding where bride ran away with the best man,

We were treated to lots of lovely tunes. The Girl from Ipanema in 7/8, Dave Brubeck's Take 5, The Pink Panther theme (on bass clarinet), Fly me to the Moon, A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square and many more classics.

A lovely night out. Thanks Chris and the gang. Sorry I'll miss the next one... I'll be in Marbella! More on that anon!

Rattlesden Walk

This was the invite from Joyce...

"Friday 27th September will be a circular walk from the delightful village of Rattlesden via several Halls with moats and a stretch along the River Rat. We will start from the Car Park at the Village Hall, Birds Green, Rattlesden , IP30 0RQ, Grid ref. TL980590 at 10 a.m. Depending on conditions and peoples preferences on the day this will be a 7 or 10+ mile walk and led by John"

I was pleasantly surprised to get 10 others turn up on a day that threatened to be a bit rainy later. This was our route. Alas I failed to start my tracker at the beginning of the walk, but this is it reconstructed.

We headed southwards first past Poystreet Green and Turned North-East to go past Cockerills Hall. (shown on the map as Cockerells Hall). We carried on East and then North East with a view of the Mill at Mill Green, then past Hollybush Farm and  Wood Hall back down to the Rattlesden River. Along Gipsy Lane through the woods and Back Road we turned towards BrookVale Farm and climbed up towards Clopton Hall with views back to Rattlesden Village. We stopped Halfway at Clopton Green for our lunch, part of the Clopton Estate, on the market a couple of years ago for £14.5m.

Onwards towards Drinkstone Green we started to get a little sprinkle of rain, but I cut only about 1/2 mile out of my full planned route. But that meant we missed a sight of our last moated hall - Drinkstone House, no longer on the market, but it was on sale for £2m.

Then it was back along some nice paths to Rattlesden, taking a bit of a detour to avoid walking across a lrage expanse of recently ploughed field where the footpath had become obliterated.

Here are some photos...
At the start. Cats and herds, anybody?

It's a lovely village

Soon we were climbing our of the village. What? Climbing in Suffolk?

We wondered when Happy Hour was, but thought it unlikely to be before midday.

The Mill at Mill Green.

Hollybush Farm

Wood Hall.

Here we are crossing Rattlesden River...

...to get to Gipsy Lane.

The view back to Rattlesden as we climbed up again.

We saw lots of pheasants...

...as we approached Clopton Hall....

...and its moat.

 Our lunch stop at Clopton Green was on a nicely mown bank.

We enjoyed our conversation about the estate with the man on the mower. "Come back in the spring" , he recommended. Hmm one for the Suffolk Walking Festival, perhaps?

We got a view of Woolpit Church...

...as we headed for Drinkstone Green

After a nice secluded path we emerged by these cottages.

By Peggs Farm.

We were nearing our starting point now with a view of the village.

We walked on this path...

 

...instead of this one.

Path? What path?

And finally came back to Rattlesden.

Oh. In case you are wondering... I cheated by interleaving photos from my recces among those from today. It wasn't as sunny as it may appear!

So thanks to all who came. It's always good to explore new routes and places, and even better with friends. You can see more of my photos from my 2 recce walks here and here. You can also see more details of the route of the second half of our walk here and my original recce here  on MapMyWalk. You can get a GPX file of our route on the day here.