Reinterred: Aldringham Attractions Walk

This week it was Glen's turn to lead a walk for Joyce's Weekly Walks. He took us to Aldringham near Sizewell for a varied circular walk through heathland, woods and the town of Leiston.

This was the invite from Joyce:

"Tuesday April 18th. Do join Glen for his 'Aldringham Attraction' walk. Common land, heath land, wooded corridors, open farmland and a meander through and around the Leiston urban area feature in this interesting scenic mix of about 10 (but not more than 11) miles. Knodishall Common and Aldringham village are included en route. We’ll be pausing late morning at Aldringham Tea Rooms for a cuppa and snack if required (the lunch break comes later). I haven’t sampled the offering here, but hopefully the link above gives you the idea of what to expect!

Meet at 10.15 hours at an open free parking area near Coldfair Green.Head for the Butcher’s Arms pub at Coldfair Green, Knodishall. Bring packed lunch, water. It’s generally a fairly sandy area but there are potentially some clay soil open sections which could be muddy if there has been recent rain, so boot-wearing is certainly recommended."

Juts four of us today and there was a cold wind blowing in off the North Sea, but it stayed dry. This was our route.

Here are a few of my photos.

I arrived quite early with Tania having allowed time for the roadworks on the A14, but I wasn't held up by them. We parked by the green near the village hall and saw several dog walkers come and go.

The Butchers Arms opposite wasn't due to open until 12.

We needed plenty of layers to keep out the cold win. Here is Glen explaining the route.

We walked over Knodishall Common to start. We saw plenty of gorse today.

A large area of the common was covered in burnt trees, the result of a fire in July last year. Read about it here.

After some pleasant paths and a stretch of woodland we arrived at Aldringham. Tania knew the Parrot and Punchbowl as she had played pétanque there.

After a bit more heathland with colourful and prickly gorse...

...we arrived at our drink stop - Aldringham Tea Room.

They have egg timers on the tables so you can time the brewing of your tea, which comes in stump teapots with removable baskets.

They had photos and local stories on the wall.

An excellent drink stop. But then it was back out into the cold. It wasn't far until we reached St. Adnrew's, Aldringham Church. Simon Knott tells us... " At first sight, the church is entirely Victorian, and might even be contemporary with the terrace. However, a blocked door and lancet in the south chancel wall give us a probable original date of about 1200, and a rood loft stair buttress also tells us of this former, Catholic liturgical age. A very good modern extension leads off from the north doorway."

It is next door to these 19th century Ogilvie almshouses. They are now registered social housing.

Simon tells us... "The Ogilvies were fabulously well-to-do, and their name is all over this part of Suffolk, including those almshouses towards Leiston. The Ogilvies lived at Sizewell Hall, and quite literally shaped the map of Suffolk; theirs was the responsibility for building Thorpeness, the jolly holiday resort on the coast a mile to the east of here, and for the land on which the Sizewell nuclear reactor was built, also a mile away. ". It is the longest row of almshouse cottages I can remember seeing - 20 in all.

We passed a field covered in pink flowers.

They appear to be common storksbill,

On now to Aldringham Common, and more gorse.

We crossed Thorpeness Golf Course, getting close to paths I had walked before.

Another flower we saw a lot of today was Alexanders. It lined the path we walked along and the side of the field that went away from us.

Here we got a view of Sizewell Power Station. The twin strings of pylons coming from it was rarely out of sight today.

Or lunch stop was in a park on the edge of Leiston.

The sun started to appear and we got some blue skies for the rest of our walk. We passed this monkey puzzle tree with fruits on. We saw a larger one of those last week in Melton.

The Leiston Allotments are extensive.

As we left them, Tania asked my to zoom in with my camera on this sign. What did it say?

As we carried on I tried to guess what the initials LAH and GA stood for. I suggested "Leiston Allotments Horticultural and Gardening Accessories." I checked it out before writing the blog, it's actually "Leiston Allotments Holders and Gardeners Association". Close, but no cigar.

We walked through the town centre. Here we passed what used to be the old post office, now the library.

There used to be a railway station here but the Sizewell branch line now is only very rarely used getting nuclear fuel to and from Sizewell power station.

But there are plans to use it support construction activity of the new Sizewell C power station, See here.

We took a short diversion to visit St. Margaret's Church.

We met a man with his copy of Pevsners and an old Olympus 35mm camera taking pictures. Unfortunately the church was closed due to building work so we weren't able to view the interior that Pevsner has so admired.

We left Leiston via the road passing Highbury Cottages.

Our final church was St. Lawrence, Knodishall. Here we found the gardener having a break after mowing most of the churchyard. Unfortunately this church too was locked, so we didn't visit inside.