Hadleigh and the Layhams Walk

Today we did a walk from Hadleigh out to Upper and Lower Layham taking in some of the sights of Hadleigh along the way.

This was the invite from Joyce.

"Tuesday Apr 5th: Please park/meet at Corks Lane, recreation ground, Hadleigh IP7 6DA for a 10am start. We will then walk to the public toilets before venturing to Upper and Lower Layham. It’s a new walk of around 9 miles and involves some pavement/quiet roads and field edges too. Please bring lunch with you and afterwards we can stop for a coffee in Hadleigh if you wish."

This was our route today, going clockwise.

We met up at the car park, although Roland had to walk from the High St due to Bridge Street being closed by roadworks. I had Sarah with me too today.

Here are a few of my photos.

We met up with Glen at the main car park...

..before heading along George Street, which I last visited on the Hadleigh Threads Trail walk in January (see here).

The Row chapel, dedicated to Blessed Mary Magdalen and St Catherine, was open as they have a service here on Tuesdays.

Inside, we met a couple of people already there for the service and had a pleasant chat.

Continuing on to Lower Mill Rd we found a huge building site....

...before we got out into the country. Her, as well as wild primroses, we found plenty of cowslips.

We stopped for drinks on the path of the old Hadleigh line. You can read about its history here.

Between Upper and Lower Layham we came to the Grade II listed Layham Mill. The listing tells us "An early C20 red brick building built on the site of a larger mill which was burnt dorm. Roof slate. Two storeys and attics. Iron casements with glazing bars. A weatherboarded turret rises from the roof. The original waterwheel is still in place on the south side."

You find an estate agent's brochure for the Mill House and Mill, as seen in the photo at the top of blog post here.

We stopped in the recreation area nearby for our lunch. But where was Kathy?

There she is!

The wheel of the watermill.

Just along the river we found a sleeping swan on its nest.

Soon we reached St. Andrew's, Layham Church. 

In the graveyard Kathy spotted this gravestone.

Remarkably, Lilian had been alive in the 1800s, 1900s and 2000s.

We continued back towards Hadleigh.

We crossed Toppesfield Bridge, "built in the 14th century and widened in 1812, said to be the oldest working bridge in the county". 

Here we saw these birds running free.

We continued past the  Deanery Tower, dating from 1495,  St. Mary's Church. and the Town Hall and Guildhall. "The building fronting the churchyard is the Market House, probably built in the 1430s and either incorporating or replacing the original Market House. In the 1450s, part of the market lands were purchased for the building of the Guilds Halls. Following the reformation, these Halls were purchased for the town and joined to the Market House." ...

...before visiting Huffers Café.

We returned to the car park, crossing the River Brett one final time.

A lovely walk with lots to see. Thank-you Joyce for leading us and the others too for the company.

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