Stour and Orwell Path Part 1

 The Stour and Orwell path runs from Cattawade, just up the road from Manningtree and Felixstowe.  Going up one side of the Stour, around the bend and then up one side of the Orwelll to Ipswich and back down the other to Felixstowe, around 40 miles.

We have done a couple of bits of it, but on Sunday set off from the start in Cattawade

Here I am at the start standing on the old Cattawade bridge with the Stour in the background, looking back towards Manningtree.

From here we walked past the pub, garage and vets surgery and then down Factory Lane.  This used to be a narrow lane with a row of factories on the right.  Margaret Thatcher worked in one of them many years ago and so did my late father-in-law, but not sure that they were there at the same time.  These factories are no longer, but the buildings have been upgraded and house other businesses.  The lane is no longer either, but has been made into a proper road and new housing is springing up on the left side.  At the end of the road, the path goes through a gap in the hedge and around The Decoy Pond.

From here along the path next to the railway line, this is the main line between Norwich and London, normally with trains going past every half hour.  Up a hill, then we looked back at the view across the river

we crossed the railway by a footbridge and then followed the footpath across a field and down to the river, spotting the first WayMark for this path

Along the side of the river, then up onto the bank with amazing views across the river, we carried on as far as the Stutton Mill and then turned back, as this is where I want to start the next walk.  

The sun was bright and warm, the views amazing, the river looked so big.  We could see the cars parked along the walls at Mistley in the distance.

Back to the footpath that leads uphill and away from the river to the main road. we left the Stour and Orwell Path at this point and headed towards our starting point. This is the road from Brantham to Ipswich.

Shame the pub is shut, we could have stopped for a drink, however we walked back towards Manningtree along the road,, spotting the first Daffodils of the year on the side of the road.

We turned down Church Lane, to the left past some houses, saw these snowdrops in the hedgerow

On to the church, were we stopped for a quick rest in the porch 

just after the church was a footpath, which we took, leading to a field and a steep hill going down and up and this bought us out on the housing estate at the top of Brantham, we walked though the estate and back to our car.  We passed more people out walking than we ever have on any of our walks, some days we haven't passed anyone, but it was a warm day.

A grand total of 9.75 miles.  A lovely walk with lots of different things to see., looking forward to the next stage.

Winter weekend

Hey!  Guess what?  I am back.  After a 7 year break from blogging I am back.  A few weeks ago I realised that I missed my blog and wanted to start again, however I could not find my passwords, but tonight I cracked it and I am back in.  So where to start?  I think that I will just start with today - why not?

After a very busy few weeks, the ones leading up to Christmas and those following with 2 birhtdays there was lots going on, but this weekend there was nothing planned, no where to go as we are once again in lock down, so a quiet lazy weekend.  Saturday morning we woke up to snow, always exciting, and I love watching the flakes flutter down from the sky, so I stayed in bed and watched for a bit.

Had a parcel to post, so we wrapped up warm and walked to the post office and then a bit further, the snow then turned to rain and it was cold, we headed home to the warm and stayed in all afternoon.  Early evening we popped out to get our Tesco click and collect shopping and on the way reminisced that we used to go out on 

a Saturday night, out dancing, where I would get dressed up, hair and make up done and dance the night away.  That seems like a life time ago, even though it is only 11 months since we last went.  I miss it so much, and wonder if we will ever go again?

Today, Sunday was a much different day, with clear skies, sunshine and a bit warmer, we headed out for a long walk.  Debating how far we could go decided on Alton Water.  A short drive from home, only 6 miles but we had never been there - why ever not, no idea.

Leaving the car park we walked alongside the reservoir and across the dam, the wind was blowing across the water and it was quite chilly,  Then down a very muddy track through the woods and alongside a stream

 It was very pretty through here, after a while we came out on the road, near the Mill, crossed the road and headed down another footpath

At the end of this footpath we emerged from the trees onto the bank of the river Stour

 

Beautiful views along here, looking out across the river, to the side we are more familiar with, our own side of the river.

 We climbed down the bank to a little beach and sat down to eat our picnic lunch, just a roll and snack bar.  Looking to the far left we could see the industrial silos at Parkstone.  Directly opposite on the other bank, with binoculars we could see the beach huts at Wrabness, and to the right the TV mast at Bradfield.  After a short break we headed off to the end of this path along the bank and then across the fields to Stutton Church.

 Quite a pretty church at the end of a dead end lane, which was lined with some big grand houses, some had tennis courts and I am sure all had lovely views of the river.  Past an interesting wall

And on into the village of Stutton..  Along another lane and across fields until we reached the reservoir  and back to the car.

 I loved this walk, so many different things to see. I found this walk, whilst researching The Stour and Orwell Path, which we picked up along the river bank.  We also followed part of this 40 mile walk a couple of weeks ago when we walked in Pin Mill.  So would love to do more of this walk and I am planning on buying a map of the area and marking off where we walk.

Today's walk - 8KM or 5 miles, 2 1/2 hours, including stopping for lunch.  Parking £3.70