Stanton Walk

No organised walks this week until Joyce's mini walking festival starts on Saturday, so I thought I'd find somewhere I hadn't walked before and have a walk on my own. Somewhere not too far to try was Stanton. I looked at the map and saw plenty of paths. I also wanted to visit Wyken Hall, which I hadn't been to for some time. So I plotted and printed out a route and set out to have a morning walk starting at 10am. I also came across a leaflet on Discover Suffolk for the Stanton Rides which I printed and took with me, although I didn't need it.

This was where I went, heading anti-clockwise.

Here are some of my photos.

The centre of Stanton has a war memorial and a village shop...

...opposite All Saints church.

It has a couple of benches and a bus shelter outside too... hmm maybe useful for a lunch stop on a two-part walk. There is also a fish&chip shop, bakery and pub.

I heeded the sign not to feed the donkeys here.

There was about 1/2 mile of road walking on the way to Wyken Hall, but it was a quiet country lane. I spotted a late butterfly.

Wyken Farmhouse is a curious colour.

The Leaping Hare restaurant was open and people were taking coffee outside under the fig trees.

The shop was open too, but I resisted buying any of the wine and beer.

They also do pizzas between 12 and 3, using tables in the Saturday Market area.

I didn't visit the gardens, but still got a couple of good views of the Hall....

...once by crossing a bridge and through a gate, and then at another gate at the end of the grounds, where I had my drinks break.

From here there were some lovely country paths.

This stretch was lined with blackthorn bushes laden with sloes.

In fact there were all sorts of berries to be seen.

I passed Potash Farm and the Vajrasana Retreat Centre. A lovely peaceful location for it.

At the end of the drive, on the other side of the road, I found a field of sunflowers...

...and in the verge opposite a tree with big apples - and they are eaters! I took 4 of them home with me.

Heading back towards Stanton at the edge of open fields...

...the windmill came into view in the distance.

But now I descended into The Grundle. It was a bit spooky and quite deeply sunken.

I started on the footpath but then swapped to the valley floor....

...until I came to a bridge. Ah! That was my planned route going over the top.

I had to scramble up the steep sides and backtrack a bit to get to it.

Passing the school I reentered the village, but took a short diversion to visit Stanton Mill.

It's not currently open to visit, but looks quite impressive.

Soon I was back at the village centre.

Time for a celebratory beer at The Cock.

That walk was a little under 7 miles. I reckon a good second part would be to add a loop to Badwell Ash and see the windmill there. Hmm. I think I'll have to try that soon.

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