Not the Suffolk Walking Festival Bluebell Walk

Yesterday I should have been leading this walk for the Suffolk Walking Festival, but today, with the lifting on restrictions on travelling to walk, I thought I'd do it anyway, albeit a day late. Dawn came too.

It was a bright partly sunny day, but there was a strong cold north-easterly breeze so I was glad of my fleece, although I was in shorts. We followed the route we took on the same day last year, where I was a back marker on the walk, but without the trip across the dam to the visitor centre and back. Read about that walk here. This was our route today.

Here are some of my photos...

Dawn was a bit worried that we might run into lots of people with the lifting of restrictions, but at the car park at the Suffolk Food Hall even the cars were applying more than adequate social distancing.

Going up the hill to Wherstead we stopped to look at the view down the Orwell river

We passed a field where are growing lawn turf.

Shortly after, the path had trees on each side...

There was plenty of birdsong and, in among it, a nightingale. I stopped to try and record its song on my phone, but it had stopped singing.

There is a lovely willow tree overhanging the pond at Valley Farm.

We came to the path along the edge of Cutler's Wood, which was lined with bluebells.

There were plenty of red campion  flowers too - one of my favorites wildflowers.

Then we came to Great Birch Wood and its mass of bluebells.

Even after we left the wood, we could see more at the other side of the field.

The sign at the entrance to Alton Water said the park is closed due to Covid-19. I took that to mean the water park, we were just on a public footpath, weren't we? But over the next few miles we saw only one mother with her two young sons having a picnic, one lady on a bike, a man walking his dog and two other young men.

Among the trees we heard lots of lovely birdsong. I tried recording some on my phone, but it didn't come out too well.. There was surely some blackcap in there, I thought. This was a colorful bush of broom in bloom.

Alton water was very peaceful.

Poppies are starting to come out.

Looking towards Holbrook we could see  the Royal Hospital School Bell Tower.

We stopped for our sandwiches by the dam and admired the waterfowl and flock of swifts balletically dashing about. This, I think, is a pochard.

And this a goosander?

Now we headed back past Holbrook village and Brown's Farm, crossing bone dry bare fields.

This field was full of oil-seed rape last year and I remember having to escort a walker round the outside of it as he refused to walk through it.

The impressive Grade II listed Bond Hall had bunting up to celebrate the VE day 75th anniversary, I guess.

Passing Freston Lodge,  we got a view through a gap in the hedge of some lovely rhododendrons.

The ancient Freston Wood was our last on the walk, Sadly the bluebells here are almost finoshed, but the wild garlic is in full bloom... and fragrance.

Now we are back down by the Orwell with a lovely view along the river.

Soon we were back at the Suffolk Food Hall.

A lovely walk. One week earlier and the bluebells would have been at their best, but never mind, they still looked great.

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