Bures Walk

Today was my second walk with the U3A Bury St. Edmunds Longer Walks group. This time we did a 13 mile walk from Bures, led by Dave. This was the invite from him...

"Hi all. I am planning a walk of about 13 miles this month starting from Bures Community Centre and going via Tiger Hill and Arger Fen to Wissington, returning on the Stour Valley path. Can we meet at 9.30 in Bures."

This was our route.

It was a version of the Dragon Country Walk, described here, (and which I last did, but in the opposite direction,  in June last year - see here) but heading further north as far as Assington Mill. There were 7 of us on the walk today.

Here are a few of my photos.

At the start and ready to go.

From the top of the hill we had a good view back to Bures St. Mary.

A new area for me, we went through the woods by Tiger Hill. We were bemused to see signs like this exhorting us to beware of the trees. They didn't look very menacing.

We thought this was an unusual landscape for Suffolk.

Our drinks break was at the lovely Assington Mill.

They hold courses here... "Set in the stunning Suffolk countryside, Assington Mill offers a wide range of skilled masterclasses and courses. From making jams and chutneys to one-on-one time with some of the country's best-selling authors, we have something for everyone.", says their Facebook page. They also have a holiday cottage set by the lake.

The lake was teeming with dragonflies and butterflies. The water lilies are in flower.

It is a the subject of a case study in  sustainability, as described in this website, which also says... "The Domesday Book mentions a mill at Assington, together with “wood for 30 pigs, 5 horses at hall, 23 cattle, 60 pigs, 90 sheep, 6 beehives, 12 goats”.

Suitably refreshed we carried on through Spouse's Grove towards Wissington. We had a choice of paths here, but Dave found the right one to folow.

The delightful St. Mary's church of  Wissington (pronounced and sometimes spelt Wiston), dates from 1135 or even earlier. This was our lunch stop.

The church was open so we had a look around inside, and found the dragon.

Simon Knott's site describes the other paintings, which date from 1280, but that the dragon is a later addition. "Being a later addition of the 15th Century, he is quite out of scale with the other images, and in quite a different style." I bought a souvenir tea-towel.

Now we were on the Stour Valley Path and after crossing the river we were in Essex. There are fine views from the path as it passes along above the river.

 

We saw Stoke-by-Nayland church in the distance, but our route didn't take us that far east.

Our final church was St. Andrew's Church, Wormingford. You can read all about its history here.

Here we descend one last time towards the river and Bures.

 

Dave had a go at rolling a straw bale, but decided not to get it moving unless it rolled away into the ditch.

We came across the picturesque Bures Mill shortly before the end of our walk.

And here is my souvenir tea-towel.

Thank-you Dave for the excellent walk and the others for the company. My turn to lead next month, I think. And good luck with the Hadrian's Wall walk, Dave.

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