Stutton, Holbrook and Alton Water Walk

Today it was Roland's turn to lead a walk for Joyce's walking group. It was a repeat of the walk he led during the Spring mini Walking Festival. I was sorry to have missed it then, so was glad of another opportunity.

It turned out that, for the first 1/2 mile and the rest of the walk after the first 4 miles,  it covered the route of this shorter walk from Stutton I had done from Stutton with Dawn a few of weekends back, but in the opposite direction. Well that walk was a favourite, so I didn't mind that.

This was the invite...

"Friday June 11th Roland is leading the 10 mile Holbrook walk. It is a very lovely route and the perfect place to be when the weather is warm. Please park/meet at Sutton Community Hall at 10am. There’s a coffee/toilet stop at Alton Water towards the end of the walk." 

I failed to spot the typo and wondered why Joyce sent me a message saying not to go to Sutton!

This was our route, going anti-clockwise from Stutton, heading south-west to reach the shore of the River Stour then following the Stour and Orwell path for a while before cutting back inland to Holbrook Mill and Alton Water.

It was a very pleasant day for walking being not as hot as earlier in the week and with a bit of cloud cover. We met at the Community Centre as planned and set off on time. Here are a few of my photos.

We got only a glimpse of the impressive Grade II listed 16th century Stutton Hall through the trees as we passed to the west of it.

We reached the shoreline at Stutton Mill, which had a show of rhododendrons, albeit on a much smaller scale than Sheringham Park!

The Mill House has a lovely location and gardens.

Across the river we could see Mistley and Manningtree.

The path was very pleasant and lined with dog roses and wild geraniums, although Roland was bust with his secateurs at times to clear our way.

There was even some honeysuckle.

We walked along the shore for a bit.

We saw a few sand martins. It looks like they nest here.

Teresa found this. No it's not a strange fish, just a fish-shaped patch of seaweed.

We got a glimpse of another Grade II listed stately home, this time Crowe Hall, which dates from c1605, although it was substantially rebuilt c1824-1826. They had the flag out for us passing!

We admired the houses and gardens off Stutton Lower Street....

..and then passed Stutton Church...

..and the lovely Grade II listed Markwell's Farmhouse.

 

We also had a great view of the grand Royal Hospital School. Historically nicknamed "The Cradle of the Navy", it is a co-educational independent day and boarding school with naval traditions. The Royal Hospital School was established by a Royal Charter in 1712. It was originally located at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich. The school moved in 1933 to East Anglia. It is the only UK independent boarding school to have ever been continuously granted the Queen's Banner and it flies its own Admiralty-approved Royal Hospital School Blue Ensign. It is one of only two UK schools whose students have the privilege of wearing Royal Navy uniforms, the other being Pangbourne College in Berkshire.

We left the shoreline again at Alton Wharf...

...and followed Holbrook Creek along the boardwalk...

...to Holbrook Mill.

Then it was through the trees...

...up to Alton Water, where we stopped and admired the people windfoiling on the reservoir.

By now I was having to watch my every step as the soles of my shoes were falling but the stayed on until we got back to the start. Phew!

So thank-you Roland for an excellent walk... and thank-you to Ann and Teresa too for the company.

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