Stowupland and Gipping Walk

 

This is a walk we were going to do on Thursday 29th October... until Lockdown 2.0, which started that day. Although it wasn't a walk I had done before, Joyce sent me a map so I could lead a second group of six, starting 15 minutes behind the first group. Hmm. Well that didn't happen and may not happen this year, so I thought I would try it out.

This was the route, pretty much as planned except I ended up the wrong side of a hedge a couple of times, not that it made any difference really.

The route starts and finishes at Stowupland Village Hall and includes plenty of quiet country lanes as well as some pleasant paths. I stopped about 1/2 way round to visit St Nicolas' Chapel at Gipping, which I was pleased to find open. Some of the walk overlapped with the second part of the Mid-Suffolk Footpath we had walked in March last year, as described here.

Here are a few of my photos.

There is plenty of parking at the Village Hall. Not having to wait and meet others I was on my way by 9:40a.m.

I passed the 19th century Holy Trinity, Stowupland church, but didn't go in.

The early part of the walk has a path that now goes through a new housing development...

...but I was soon out in the countryside. I came across this lady walking her dog off lead. Look. The dog is going the wrong side of the hedge! She had to persuade him to jump across the ditch a little bit further on.

I passed Nutshells, but despite the sign saying it is open there was nobody there. Maybe I was too early to get a takeaway coffee - it was still before 10 when I got there.

The road past Gipping Farm was familiar, although we walked it in the opposite direction last March. This pillbox has a good view....

...over to Gipping Great Wood.

The drive up to Palgrave Farm is a private road, so I had to go on the path round the field before getting to this leafy lane.

The farmhouse had some lovely pots of yellow chrysanthemums.

The path descended to cross the fledgling River Gipping before ascending again past Old Hundred Lane Farm.

Here again the path was enclosed on both sides.. and with plenty of berries on the bushes.

I stopped here for a few minutes to pick some sloes.

This solitary puffball mushroom was in the middle of the path.

I don't think this rabbit was well. It didn't run away from me.

Approaching Gipping chapel, I could see light shining through the windows lit from the other side.

Simon Knott describes the church very well -

"You’ll notice that St Nicholas is styled a chapel. This is because it is not a parish church, and never has been. The history of England’s medieval parish churches is complex enough, but suffice to say that they were built as Catholic parish churches before the Reformation, and translated directly into the new Church of England in the middle years of the 16th century. The imagery, style and iconography of St Nicholas will clearly demonstrate it to be pre-Reformation, but it was actually the private chapel of a Big House, Gipping Hall, home of the Tyrrells. 

It is like a finely-crafted jewel. Forget the glum little tower at the west end – this was an unfortunate addition of the 17th century, presumably by a Tyrrell of the time. The rest is a superb example of late Perpendicular architecture; the flint-becrusted walls soar to heaven, and great expanses of glass shimmer in the late afternoon light." 

Read more here.

Some lovely stained glass.

...and a bench outside facing south into the sun, which would make a great picnic stop on the walk, although it was only 11:20 when I got there and I was planning on having lunch when I got home.

Now it was back onto road walking for a while down towards the River Gipping.

I got a view of Stowmarket in the distance and some growing road noise from the A14, which was upwind.

I crossed the River Gipping but decided to avoid the path along the river edge as it looked a bit muddy and stayed on the road.

I turned onto a path that headed up towards Thorney Green. This was the muddiest bit of the walk, although it was only very muddy for about 50m. At this stretch, I came across a couple coming the other way.

Towards the top of the hill I passed these picturesque bales of hay.

At the wide expanse of Thorney Green... 

...I kept to the path round the outside going past some colourful houses.

One last path...

...and I was back at the Village Hall. The walk measured 9.2m, which is just what the route planner had said, and I was home by 1:15 for my lunch. A lovely walk on a sunny day and I can't have had more than half a dozen vehicles pass me on the country lanes.

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