Ixworth Walk

The weather was a bit murky but rain wasn't forecast till later so we decided to do a post-brunch walk. I thought it would be nice to do one we hadn't done before, so I had a look in my AA 50 Walks in Suffolk book and selected number 30 - Ixworth and Pakenham. Curiously, although we had been to Ixworth many times (particulalry to eat at The Pyckkerell) we had never walked from there (although I did pass through on the Theatre Royal 200 for 200 last day walk last April). Perfect.

This was our route:

Pretty much as in the book, but with a little extra visit to Mickle Mere bird hide. Here are a few of my photos.

We started from Ixworth Village Hall Car Park and headed past the impressive St. Mary's church...

... and Ixworth Abbey, a Georgian mansion built around the ruins of a 12th Century Augustinian Priory.

We crossed the Black Bourn a couple of times.

There was an optional shortcut on the route, but we were glad we hadn't taken it when we came across these deer.

What sort of deer are they? They look like Fallow deer to me, but I'm no expert (to say the least).

We had a bit of a muddy path in places, e.g. here as we come to Gameclose Covert.

... but it was nothing like as bad as the recent Norton Walk, and once we were past this bit we were on firm surfaces and back lanes.

Our first view of the Windmill.

We walked right past it....

...and then down to Fulmer bridge, "a bucolic spot of meadows and streams", according to the book.

We soon arrived at the Water Mill.

Dawn hadn't seen the topiaries before.

We took a little detour.

Plenty of birds on the mere.

It's snowdrop time of year.

Soon we were heading back into Ixworth with a final view of the windmill.

Another crossing of the Black Bourn....

...and we were back in the centre of the village.

We measured at about 5 miles rather than the published 4 1/2, but it was close enough. And the rain didn't start until we were on our way home. I think we'll have to do more from the book.

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