This route is taken from the website (Off the Beaten Track walk). I have copied and pasted their instructions as they were pretty good. We ended up walking a bit more due to the field in the section 8 being overgrown (hubby had shorts on and didn't relish being bitten!) and no diagonal path being obvious so we went carried on rather than turning left and followed the wood around the field until we reached the stile .
We also stopped off at the Walled Garden to see the spectacular wild flower meadows. I think from some of the seed heads we might have been a week or two late for the peak but it was still stunning nonetheless.
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| Wild flowers in the Walled Garden, Ickworth |
Lunch was at the restaurant. Slightly disappointing after great previous visits. They have changed the menu and it is not table service any more which means big queues at the counter and a long wait for our food, which seemed overpriced now compared to other NT places we visit.
Route:
1. From the Porter’s Lodge visitor centre take the path
opposite towards the Albana Wood, follow the path going through two 5 bar
gates. Just after going through the second gate take the path to the right at
the small ‘Albana Wood’ stone. Stay on this path until you reach the large
green Trim Trail sign, then turn right following the trim trail.
2. As the trim trail goes down a left hand slope and you reach
a junction, turn right off the trim trail and leave the woods into an open
field. Follow the path down the side of the field with the trees on your right
and cross the brook on the wooden bridge.
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| Sheep at Ickworth |
3. Once across the brook, turn right on to the wide track, and
shortly through a 5-bar gate. Follow this track until you reach the next 5 bar
gate where you will see a cottage beyond the gate and a bridge to your right.
Do not go through the gate but turn left and walk up the hill until you
intersect the main track and turn left towards Dairy Wood Cottage.
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| Dairy Wood, Ickworth |
4. As you approach the cottage, turn left across the grass and
go through the gate in the corner of the field into Dairy Wood. Stay on this
track and don’t take any turns or junctions. You will exit the wood briefly and
keep on the track as it re-enters near the edge of the wood. The next paragraph
covers the loop into Twist and Horsepool wood, so if you wish you could carry
straight on, missing out step 5 and re-joining the walk just a few metres
further on at the start of step 6.
5. Very soon after you have re-entered the wood look for a
barely discernable track/fork to your right. Follow this track which has a
ditch on your left as you go gently up hill. Just before you exit the wood
cross the ditch to your left and follow the track through the woods. Take the
right fork when you intercept another path and you will eventually meander next
to some stagnant ponds to your left (great habitat). Keep going until you reach
the main path cross roads; turn left for a short distance and left again on a
‘main path’ effectively doubling back into the same woods. Keep on this path
until you exit the woods.
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| Dairy Wood, Ickworth |
6. As the path leaves the wood, you will see a clear path
between the cropped fields going downhill. Follow the path between the fields
to the wide track at the bottom and then turn right. Stay on the wide track for
a while. Shortly after passing the ‘White House’ on your right you come to a
cross roads. Go straight across the cross roads (stone bridge to your
left/cattle grid to your right) following the grass track.
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| Ickworth Park |
7. With the Walled Garden and Canal lake on your left, turn
right through the gate approximately at the centre line of the gardens
(opposite the summer house), and head up the hill towards the wood-line of
Lownde Wood. On reaching the wood, turn left and walk along the front of the
wood with the Canal and gardens at the bottom of the slope and to your left.
8. After approximately one third of a mile, you will reach the
meeting of a number of fences and gates; go through the gate into the field
beyond and then immediately left into the adjacent field. Go diagonally across
this field to the opposite corner and cross over the stile onto the path and
turn left back towards the walled garden.
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| Ickworth Park |
9. Follow this track until you reach the Walled Garden and turn
right keeping the wall of the garden to your left.
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| The Walled Garden, Ickworth |
10. At the end of the Walled Garden take the main road past the
church and back up towards the Rotunda and gardens. Go through the 5-bar gate
turning immediately right, and enter the Italianate gardens. Enter the West
Wing via the orangery and stagger to the restaurant where you definitely
deserve a cake or pudding or two.
Our route was 6.25 miles
See the route on mapometer
Terrain: Grass and dirt tracks mostly, moderate climbs in places. Latch gates, kissing gate. Can be muddy in places in wet weather.
Habitats: Meadows, fields (animals grazing), woodland, lakes.
Facilities: Toilets and cafe at Porter's Lodge entrance and at the Rotunda. Rotunda toilets can also be accessed at the back. Toilets also near the church.
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