Dunwich Walk

Today we had visit to Dunwich for a walk.

This was the invite from Joyce.

"Thursday 21st August Dunwich for the Heather and a swim if warm enough....we will meet at Dunwich free Beach Car Park IP17 3EN at 9.45am (toilets here). We will walk 2.25miles over to the Coastguards Cottages at National Trust for a morning coffee. Bring your own or treat yourself. We then follow The Suffolk Coast Path to ‘The Sluice’. You can choose to walk the shingle beach or the sandy path. We go inland to the Eels Foot pub for lunchtime drinks and we can usually find a spot to eat our packed lunch here too (at 5 miles). Then it’s back to Dunwich via a different route. The circular walk is approx 9.5 miles with plenty of stops and views. The paths do have the normal trip hazards from tree roots so watch your step (I can’t warn you with no voice). Then you may fancy a swim when we are back at Dunwich. Nick and I have a 90-minute drive so we want to start early but bear with us if we are on the drag due to holiday traffic. Please bring a sandwich/drink as usual."

This was Joyce's route.

My knee problem has got worse so Dawn and I drove to the Coastguard Cottages and met everyone else there and did a short version of the walk, returning from the Eel's Foot via the Sandlings Walk to where we had parked.

Here are a few photos.

We parked at Dunwich Heath.

We found a friendly face in the cafe. Hello Rachel.

The others arrived soon after and joined us for coffee.

Some went upstairs for the view. No seals were spotted, though.

Assemblign to continue.

It was down to the beach to start.

At The Sluice, I had to decide whether to carry on or go back. I decide to carry on.

I took the shorter original path that gets very muddy in winter but it was OK today and I got here before everyone else.

Here some went to see the the ruins of  Leiston Abbey Chapel and  glass art installation, A Wing and a Prayer by Arabella Marshall. Here it is when we last saw in in March.

So I could take my time, Dawn and I carried on towards the Eels Foot. We managed to spot a marsh harrier on the way.

The others arrived and we had our lunch stop by the Swift tower. Read about it here.

A little further along we left everyone else to take our shorter route back to the Coastguard cottages.

WSe enjoyed our heathland walk back.

Look at all the blackberries!

Joan was with the main group so didn't pass this chair with the little plaque that says "Joan's View".

We finished by crossing Dunwich Heath. The heather and gorse were lovely.

At the end we came to one of the statues on the Sandlings Walk. The name of the walk, The Sandling, as described here, refers to "the Suffolk Sandling that used to stretch from the outskirts of Ipswich to Southwold which is an area of lowland heath, Britain's rarest wildlife habitat, and the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". Henry Tebbutt was commissioned to create Nightjar and moth sculptures at 12 points along the walk  This is a nighjar chick.

And now we were back where we started.

At 5 1/2 miles that was plenty long enough for me. Thanks Joyce for letting us join for part of the walk and it was great to see everyone else too. You can find more details of Joyce's 10.1 mile route here on OS Maps (or download a GPX file here).

Other related walks you can find on my blog include

• Dunwich and Minsmere Walk (Jan 2019)
• The Flower of Suffolk (Oct 2019)
• Sizewell Walk (Mar 2020)
• Dunwich Walk (Aug 2020)
• The Flower of Suffolk (Aug 2020)
• Thorpeness Walk (Sep 2020)
• Dunwich Heath Walk (Dec 2020)
• Dunwich Walk (Sep 2021)
• Dunwich Walk (Feb 2023)
• Eastbridge Walk and a Game of Pétanque (Sep 2023)
• Westleton Walk (Dec 2023)
• Dunwich Heath Walk  (Mar 2025)