Reinterred: Stanton Walk

Today we had a circular walk from Stanton taking in Wyken Vineyard, Walsham-le-Willows and Stanton Grundle.

This was the invite from Joyce.

"Friday September 25th Stanton Grundle Walk with Woosters bakery a 10-mile circular walk. We will meet at Stanton Community Centre at 10am. The Bus from Diss arrives at the memorial 10ish so we will collect you if you are alighting there. The walk has periods of road walking but also lots off road including a Grundle. We will have an early stop at Woosters Bakery (Wyken Vineyard) for drinks, loos. Pls bring packed lunch and something to sit on as lunch maybe alfresco. We pass thru Walsham le Willows which does have a pub (might be open). Aiming to finish 3pm ish."

This was our route today.

Here are some of my photos.

We met at the Community Centre and were ready to go by 10 am.

Wendy soon joined us as we passed through the centre of Stanton.

It is sad to see how derelict the former Stanton Community Primary School has become, but a bid to convert it into 3 homes has been approved (see here).

We continued along Bury Lane out into the countryside. The back road runs parallel to the A134 until it reaches Wyken Road. We could see some new housing development by the main road. Joyce said she hadn't brought the group along here before, but I recognised it - it was the route I took on my first walk here on my own in 2020 (see here).

We had lots of pleasant paths and dappled sunshine today.

We soon came to Wyken Farmhouse...

And then Wooster's Bakery by the Wyken Hall shop and Leaping Hare restaurant.

We enjoyed our drinks outside in the covered area behind the barn.

We had to go through the shop to get to the toilets, but I resisted buying any of the wine.

Suitably refreshed we carried on. I took a short detour as others started to cross a field to the gate with a view of Wyken Hall.

We passed a lot of blackthorn bushes laden with sloes on our paths here.

I liked these feathery fronds as we approached...

...Vajrasana Retreat Centre.

Tania had joined us at our drinks stop, but was only doing 5 miles today and left us here taking a path we would follow later.

We followed this path parallel to the Ixworth road and Stowlangtoft stream into Walsham-le-Willows. The Domesday survey of 1086 records the village as having 'half a church with 10 acres' and 'a wood for 68 pigs'. Much of the village is in a designated conservation area, which you can read about here.

We didn't visit St. Mary's church. today. As Simon Knott describes, "The chequerwork porch is dated by internal inscriptions on the wood panelling at a fascinating moment in the fever of the Reformation. One one side, the inscription reads Gods wyll be done in Hevyn also Erthe, while on the other is eius ne fueris curiosus MCCCCCXLI ('in his works be not curious, 1541')."

There are some lovely houses in the village.

The bowling green looked immaculate.

The Stowlangtoft stream, a tributary of the Black Bourn, flows right through the village.

We turned north out of the village and stopped at the Wild Wood for our lunch. The Walsham Wild Woods project was imagined in 2010 to create green space for biodiversity and the community. A volunteer group has created two linked spaces in the heart of the village: the Wild Wood planted from 2012 onwards and the Jubilee Wood and Meadow begun in 2022. They currently manage 2 hectares. Species range from birch, bird cherry, hazel and spindle to yew. It includes Scot’s pine, mirabel plum, crab apple and oak, including a young oak tree direct from the Sandringham estate.

I sat on a seat under this apple tree and picked a couple of fruit...

...while other sat on the ground in the shade. It was quite warm in the sun now.

There is indeed a wealth of berries in the wood. Here is some spindleberry.

Carrying on, we passed a field that had been set aside to grow a field seed mix. They are commonly planted in the UK as high-protein game cover and wild bird food for pheasants, partridges, and songbirds.

The mix contains quinoa...

...and sunflowers.

We walked along the edge of some open fields. Here we got a glimpse of Stanton Mill, but didn't go past it today.

Instead we headed for The Grundle "...a deep and mysterious half-mile long trackway, linked in language to the Anglo-Saxon lairs of monsters, demons and man-eating beasts". It is in fact a dry stream bed that was formed by glacial melt-water.