This was the invite..
This week, I've pencilled in Thursday 5th March as our weekly walk and I think I’ll risk the weather. The walk will be at Thornham Estate and although I have a copy of their estate map it covers 3 O/S maps and I think I will get lost…..So if you fancy an adventure and a walk of anything between 3 miles and 12 miles depending on who can map read the best….
then pls join me at Thornham (we can start with a cuppa or end with a cuppa). It will be a later start in their free carpark at 11am. I can’t offer a car share but maybe John can from Skyliner Way Sports Centre. You know his email if you want to get in contact with him…he doesn’t work these days you know!!!!
http://thornhamestate.com/index.html
I was sure it was a long time since I'd been there. I looked it up. If found this from November 2008. And I found photos from September 2009 and October 2010, but I don't think we've been since. I hadn't realised it had been that long!
I gave Squints a lift and we set off early enough for a cuppa before we started walking.... or so I thought.
I had checked with Joyce and she meant the Walled Garden Car Park, but I wasn't sure how to get to it, so we went to the main car park to look up the estate map. There I bumped into Jane and we set off to find the other car park, only to discover there were signs "For clients of Beyond the Wall only". Jayne phoned Joyce to let her know and we returned to the main car park and parked in the overflow. And here we found several other walkers had arrived.
Once assembled we decided we would get walking rather than have a drink first - we can always have one at the end.
This was our route.
...well almost. There's about 2/3 mile of straight line from the church where we stopped for a break and when I remembered to unpause my tracker.
Here are some of my photos.
There is now a vistor centre which wasn't there the last time I was here.
We saved The Forge tearoom for later.
A couple of the ladies made use of the Green latrines, also new to me, althought they have been there since 2014.
We didn't get much of a view of Thornham Hall. I hadn't realised it now offers 5* accommodation, although it's not a hotel.
The weather was a bit drizzly and cold but we were all weather-proof. Here are the rest on the path in front of me as we headed for the walled garden.
I admired this hellebore clump, laden with flowers.
Inside the walled garden the apple, pear and medlar trees were still bare.
As the website says...
"Originally the walled garden was part of 25 acres of formal gardens, maintained by 9 gardeners. After the death of the fifth Lord Henniker in 1902 the garden was neglected and during the 20th century it became derelict and overgrown. In more recent years the walled garden has undergone restoration and redesign and it is now the base for Beyond the Wall, a charitable project working with disadvantaged young people with mixed disabilities and behavioural problems. The project aims to be a stepping stone for its learners to move on into future education or employment and therefore improve their prospects."
The tearoom in the greenhouse is not open on Thursdays.
There are some pretty hyacinths in the border.
This is the nuttery. I don't remember finding any nuts when we visited previously.
"It supplied sticks, hurdles and barrel hoops from the prunings and, of course, nuts.", says the website.
And here we are at the other Car Park. "We've been her already, haven't we, John?", said Jane.
And this is what sent us back to the other Car Park.
In the woods further on is an area known as Memory Wood. "Visitors often feel a special connection to Thornham and on occasion they wish to remember loved ones by planting a tree. As a result there are many young trees that have been planted to remember and celebrate lives past and new. We plan to continue this tradition and have dedicated a special woodland area - the Memory Wood - for this purpose."
Here is one the memorials we passed. What a lovely idea.
As we headed further afield we had some good views. These trees are still winter-bare and make a lovely silhouette.
There are signs of spring though. We came across plenty of wild primroses.
We came to a ford just before we got to Wickham Street. Fortunately there was a footbridge
We walked round the back of the village. Everywhere is looking very soggy and we had already had plenty of mud to navigate through the woods.
We managed to skirt some of this path by using the field edge.
We headed East, and into the rain, to Wickham Skeith. Here is the village pond on the green. As you can see, I was now struggling to keep my camera lens dry.
We spotted the village sign and Glen went to photograph it to add to his collection.
As we turned right. Peter checked his map. Where was Joyce taking us?
He needn't have worried. We soon came to the impressive Wickham Hall. It was rebuilt in 1846 and is a classic piece of mid-19th-century brick architecture, especially with its ‘twisting’ chimneys. I stepped a couple of yards through the gates to get a photo.
We stopped at Wickham Skeith church for people to eat their packed lunches, sheltering in the porch. Apparently, whatever was on the site of this church before, and there must have been a church of some kind here since at least the 7th Century, local money enabled a massive rebuilding in the 14th and 15th Centuries.
As we continued, the rain was getting rather persistent. We were glad we were walking on higher ground than the River Dove wet meadows.
This ford across the river, was even deeper than the previous one. I don't think I'd want to try driving through it. The road was definitely living up to its name - Water Lane.
The footbridge stopped us having to get knee deep in water to get across.
Here is one of the Water Houses by the footbridge, one many impressive houses we passed today.
Now we were in Thornham Magna and nearly back. Shall we stop at The Four Horseshoes? We decided to keep going and have a cuppa at The Forge tearoom.
I remember seeing another of these signs on a gate before on our Stowmarket lunch and walk last year.
And then we were back where we started. Now for a refreshing cuppa....
Oh no! The Forge tearoom had had so few customers, they decided to shut early! Maybe we should have visited the Four Horseshoes after all.
In total we walked about 7.8 miles, but it felt like more. But we didn't let the mud and rain dampen our enthusiasm. It was good being out in some beautiful countryside.
Thanks Joyce for leading us and everyone else for their company too. And, of course, despite what she said in the invite, we were never lost
You can see more details of our route here on MapMyWalk and more of my photos here on Flickr.
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