"Monday 20th July: Lavenham to Long Melford . A 14 mile circular walk using the St Edmund Way + Stour Valley Path. There will be some downtime in Long Melford for lunch/drinks. We will meet at Lavenham public car park next to the Cock Horse Inn CO10 9SA at 9.30am. Pls bring plenty of drinks/food with you."
That sounded good. Some of the walk would be familiar, but some wouldn't. I asked to join. Only the one group today and they were all familiar faces you will see in the photos from plenty other of our walks. The countryside scenes were familiar too, from a Ramblers Walk from Long Melford this time in 2018 and my reprise of it in July last year.
We met as planned and it was a lovely sunny summer day, but not too warm and with a gentle breeze at times. Perfect!
This was our route. We headed southwest towards Long Melford and then through the village before heading further west and then looping back to Lavenham.
Here are a few of my photos.
We assembled in the Car Park, Peter had is OS Maps app at the ready to assist navigation as required, but I had brought the wrong map so was content just to be led.
We went through the churchyard of Lavenham Church to start...
...but we were soon in golden fields under a blue sky.
A pair of horses and riders burst onto our path just in front of us. I don't know who was more startled - us or them.
Now we are on the path along the route of the dismantled old Long Melford to Bury St. Edmunds railway line. Here we found some lovely bellflowers.
I liked this meadow of wildflowers and grasses.
We passed some maize that was taller than all of us.
Secateurs in action as we went through this hedge.
Nearing Long Melford now.
A nice broad path through this field.
We took a detour along the back of some houses. These blackberries looked rather tempting, but even the blackest are still quite sour. There's going to be a good crop this year, though.
This garden had a profusion of apples and pears coming.
We caught a glimpse of Kentwell Hall, famous for its Tudor re-enactments. They are wewll worth a visit, especially if you have children.
We crossed the driveway for Kentwell Hall, Joyce said she thought it had featured in a pop video, but I can't find any reference to it.
Holy Trinity Church. Long Melford is very impressive. According to this article, "The nave, at 152.6 feet (46.5 m), is believed to be the longest of any parish church in England. There are nine bays, of which the first five at the western end are believed to date from an earlier structure."
Here we stopped for an early lunch break.
Trinity Hospital was originally built in 1573, but was largely reconstructed in 1847.
Some of us stopped for a drink at The Bull. We were rather unimpressed. Jane failed to finish her beer - it didn't taste as it should, and the tea and coffees were rather expensive.
This barbers shop in the high street had seating outside for people waiting.. and umbrellas on the table for when it is raining.
By the time we left Long Melford we had done not much more than 6 miles - another 8 to go. We got some lovely country views.
Crossing the River Glem.
We found some oil seed rape that hadn't been harvested yet.
We liked this house.
The oil seed rape had been harvested here, leaving a desolate landscape.
Our final drinks break, just north of Kentwell Hall.
We saw plenty of butterflies today, but I only managed one photograph - of this peacock butterfly.
We still had those lovely fluffy clouds in a blue sky.
We caught a glimpse of Alpheton Church on our way back to rejoin the St Edmund Way.
Suddenly, through a gap in the trees, we saw Lavenham Church. Not far to go now.
Journeys end.
So thanks, Joyce, for a lovely walk and the rest for their company. A little over 14 miles and a lovely day for it all along. Next walk on Thursday. Hoping for some better beer then.
You can see more details of our route here on MapMyWalk amd more of my photos here on Flickr.
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