Aldeburgh Walk

Today we had a lovely sunny walk from Aldeburgh via Snape Maltings to Stratford St. Andrew.

Nine of us met the Ipswich contingent of four others on the bus at Stratford St. Andrew which we took to Aldeburgh, and we then walked back, but not before having a drink at Munchies.

This was the invite from Joyce.

"Wednesday 1st May.  An early start but hopefully worth it. Aldeburgh to Stratford St Andrew using The Sailors Path. We have permission to park at The Riverside Centre, Stratford St Andrew IP17 1LF. We then catch the 9.10am bus to Aldeburgh which is £2 and takes 30 minutes. The interesting 11.5 mile route back should include lots of bluebells, Snape Maltings and plenty of stops. Lifts from Skyliner at 8am. Finish by 16.15." 

This was our route.

Here are a few of my photos.

The bus timetable. Our bus was due at 9:10 but didn't arrive until 9:29.

I let others get on first so the clock would pass 9:30... and I could use my bus pass for the first time.

Our bus where we got off in Aldeburgh.

It was a bit hazy and the sea was very calm as there was hardly any wind. I was glad I was wearing shorts and T-shirt.

After a toilet stop...

... before we went to Munchies.

The owner Susie...

...was very accommodating and let us take over the room at the back.

Suitably refreshed, off we went.

We were soon in the countryside with the Aldeburgh marshes on our left.

We got a glimpse of the famous Maggy Hambling scallop sculpture, a memorial to Benjamin Britten with a quote from his opera Peter Grimes ‘I hear those voices that will not be drowned’.

We came across another smaller memorial by our path. The quote here is from the poem by Tennyson, used in the Nocturne from Britten's Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings.

This is the Red House, which was Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears' home. The Britten-Pears Foundation is a major heritage site and archive based at The Red House It is open to visit in the afternoons from Tuesdays to Sundays between March and the end of October.

We had deviated from the Sailors' Path for these extra sights, avoiding walking up the main road from the centre of Aldeburgh, but now we were back on it.

In the sunshine the lilac here smelt very fragrant...

...as did this gorse.

We got a bit of boardwalk here.

The rhododendrons here are just starting to come out.

In Black Heath wood..

...we encountered our only significant bit of mud, but it was easily circumnavigated.

Then we were along the edge of the river for the rest of the way to Snape Maltings where we had our lunch stop.

An oystercatcher, I think.

Off we go for the rest of the walk.

We admired these furrows.

We were on familiar territory from our walk in February now.

We passed a large clump of Solomon's Seal.

We crossed the marching double line of pylons...

...before we got to a large pig farm.

Across the railway line now and some paths that were new to me.

We took a detour into an ancient woodland with a permissive path.

Wow! What a fantastic display of ramons (wild garlic) and bluebells!

We passed the impressive Farnham Hall.

Not far to go now as we reached St. Mary, Farnham church.

We laughed when Jane struggled to get back out of the box pews.

And here we are back at the Riverside Centre where we parked, leaving the Ipswich contingent to wait for their bus.

Thank-you Joyce for arranging and leading us on a lovely varied walk with so much to see and to everyone else too for the company. Such good weather too - the best day of the year so far. You can see more details of our 11.5 mile route here on MapMyWalk (or download a GPX file here), and see more of my photos here on Flickr.

Other related walks you can find on my blog include

• Sailors' Path Snape to Aldeburgh (Jan 2020)
• Snape Walk (Sept 2020)
• Sailors' Path Walk (May 2021)
• Snape Walk (Feb 2024)