Hatfield Forest, Essex (3.5 miles)

Needing to drop our daughter off for an early flight to Rome from Stansted Airport we thought we’d make the most of the early start and explore Hatfield Forest just a few miles away.

Hatfield was once a medieval royal hunting forest now owned by the National Trust.  This large site has numerous possibilities for walks but as it was our first visit I downloaded a 3.5 mile route from the website.   Needless to say despite the instructions and a map we got lost and ended up doubling back and going off track enough to add a further 2 miles to the walk!

Although we visited in February and most of the trees are deciduous and bare it was a cold and frosty morning and the parkland looked beautiful in the early rising sunshine.

Early sunshine at Hatfield Forest

There are lots of deer in the forest and we were lucky enough to see quite a few, although mostly in the trees and they always saw us before we saw them!

Deer at Hatfield Forest

Don’t be put off by the forest’s close proximity to the airport runway.  The planes are only really visible for the first third of the walk and although I noticed the noise initially after about half an hour I forgot about it completely.  It is an interesting contrast of nature and machine when they fly over as you are watching a herd of deer.

Hatfield Forest is close to Stansted Airport

We parked in the first car park which is free if you are a NT member.  There is another car park further into the forest but as we were early this was not open. According to the website the second car park is often shut if the weather has been wet.

Hatfield Forest

The National Trust website gives the directions for the walk we were intending to do.  We went wrong somewhere around point 5-6 and ended up coming back through Street Coppice and out looking across at point 4 again. We went back the way we came walking straight through the woods and 'rides' until we got to point 7. The forest is kept as natural looking as possible so there are very few markers to help!

Deer in Hatfield Forest

Our route should have been: 3.5 miles

Our route was 5.5 miles

See the route on NT website

Terrain: Mostly flat, grass paths and woodland. Boardwalk and gravel drive in places. Parts can get very muddy in the winter or wet weather. Boots advised! Dogs are allowed but must be kept on a lead if livestock are present.

Habitats: Meadows, grassland, woodland, lake, wetlands

Facilities: Car parking (front car park is 24 hr. Parking is free for NT otherwise chargeable); toilets (24hr), shop and cafe (check website for opening times) near the lake. Pubs in Takeley.

Swavesey Lake and River Walk Loops (5.2 miles)

This is another of the walks around the RSPB reserve in Swavesey and Fen Ditton.  Part of this route is detailed here as a shorter walk.

We once again started in the car park but you can pick the route up from the guided busway or Swavesey village.

1. Starting in the car park take the gateway ahead and then take a gateway on your right.  Follow the track passing a lake on your right.  When you reach the signpost go through the gate on your right.

2. Follow the bank past the hide with the lake on your right and the river Great Ouse on your left. 

Ferry Mere, Swavesey

3. Eventually you will come to a small lock with a bridge. Go over the bridge and carry on forward down the riverbank.  Again follow the bank keeping the river on your left.  On your left you should see two churches – the spire belongs to Over church and the square tower to Swavesey. 

River Great Ouse towards Over

4. When you find the bank bearing right and the river left continue on and go over a weir and turn right.

River Great Ouse

5. Continue along this bank until you get to a small thicket. We rested for a while here as there is a convenient fallen tree.   After the tree turn right leaving the tall spire of Over church behind.  Continue through a small woodland until you come out in a field and cross over towards the roadway.

6. Once through the gate turn right and walk along the roadway until you reach the guided busway and turn right before crossing the busway.

7. Walk along the busyway with Swavesey church (The Priory) on your left.  Continue on until you reach a small crossing on the track.  Cross over the track and go down slightly before taking a footpath through a gate on your left.

Swavesey Church (The Priory)

8. Follow this path keeping the stream on your left and the meadow on your right.

Continue on until you reach a wider channel.  Climb up to the bank and turn right.  Walk along a short distance until you reach the small lock that you crossed in point 3. Cross the lock and turn left.

9. Follow the bank to the end and go through the gate. Bear slightly right and go down the slope, bearing right at the end, go through the gate.  You will now have a large lake on your right and the busway beyond the hedge on your left.  There are picnic tables along here if you wish to stop.

10. Continue on this track until you reach a busway crossing at the corner of the lake.  Take the track on the right that runs alongside the lake.  Continue until you reach the end and take the gap on the left back to the car park.

Our route was 5.2 miles

See the route on mapometer

Terrain: Flat grassy paths. Can get very muddy in places and some areas prone to flooding. 

Habitats: Meadows, river, lakes.

Facilities: No toilets or other facilities on site. Close to guided busway stops.

Burnham Overy Staithe to Wells-next-the-Sea (Stage 3 Norfolk Coast Path) (7 miles)

The weather was grey and misty when we arrived in Burnham Overy Staithe  for stage 3 of our Norfolk Coast Path walk.  Apparently Nelson learned to row here and once we turned down the harbour road it was clear the tide was right in.  There is parking here at the harbour but do not leave your car without checking the tides!  Having recently taken delivery of a new car we were reluctant to see it floating out to sea so went to plan B.  We drove on to Wells-next-the-Sea and parked up in the car park before catching the first Coasthopper bus of the day (Sunday – 9.40am but do check the timetables) back to Burnham O.S.

Burnham Overy Staithe

Once we were off the bus at The Hero pub we took the road opposite down to the harbour and turned right.  This part of the walk is along a bank which winds its way towards the sea.  The air was still with not a hint of breeze this morning but you are quite exposed and I imagine, like our previous walk, it could be cold on a blowy winter's day.

Burnham Overy Staithe

Despite the restrictive parking, it was nice to see the tide in for a change.  On our previous two walks (Stage 1 & Stage 2) we had been surrounded by mud and all the boats were stranded in the marshes.  

I’ve never really seen Small Egrets until I walked this path and today there were lots making the most of the food bought in on the tide.  There were a few serious photographers out too, long lenses balancing on monopods pointing towards a group of what I thought were Egrets as they fished in the lagoons. (I later zoomed in close to the photo I took - they were a long way away so it's not clear enough to post up - and have decided they were actually Spoonbills, another first for us)

Dunes leading onto the beach

After about 1 ½ miles the bank became a boardwalk and we headed into the dunes.  After a short climb over the top we stopped to take in the view - a spectacularly beautiful sandy beach.  The official coastal path goes through the dunes but we went down onto the sand.  The tide by now was just starting to go out and we turned right walking along the edge of the shore for a few miles as the sun started to burn through.  It truly is a stunning unspoilt stretch of beach.  We crunched over millions of shells, especially razor fish shells which litter in drifts along the high tide mark.  This beach, and many of the North Norfolk beaches were badly damaged by the storm surges in December 2013 but you can see the dunes starting to re-establish themselves already.

Razor fish shells on Holkham beach

We followed the line of the dunes for a while in the now warm sunshine.  We actually started to find walking on the sand got tougher as it dried out and, knowing we had quite a way to go, we took a path on the right, cutting through the dunes slightly early, and walked along the inside edge of the pine woods coming out in the nature reserve near the bird hide.  The hide was full with people watching large noisy flocks of geese out on the marshes.  The official route goes a bit further along the sand/dunes coming out at Holkham Gap.  Either way you will eventually come out at the top of Lady Anne's Drive in Holkham.  Again you have a choice, you can walk through the pine woods or as we did cross the road and follow the bike trail along the outside edge.  You could also just keep to the sand and walk right to Wells if your calves will take it, although again do watch the tide times as there are many sandbanks and strong currents along here.

Holkham beach

We had done this part of the walk before, albeit in the opposite direction.  As it is close to the car park at Holkham and to Wells holiday park it was busier than the first part.  As well as walkers, we passed dog walkers and cyclists, all enjoying surely one of the last warm summery Sundays of the year.  We stopped for a while on a bench and watched a pair of buzzards circling over head.

Buzzard at Holkham/Wells

Eventually the trail bends round to the left, passing some holiday chalets and then at the signposted junction we took a right towards a car park. We stopped briefly here for the toilets but decided to carry on to the town for something to eat, although the café near the car park is good.  We climbed the steps onto the pathway that runs alongside the harbour and Beach Road and followed it towards the town just as the clouds began to gather again.  (There is a little train that runs up and down here too sometimes)

The walk to Wells-next-the-Sea town

The car park we started at is just to the right at the end of the road but we stopped to pick up our lunch in the excellent Wells Deli opposite and ate it on the harbour wall before heading home.

Route:
1.              From The Hero pub in Burnham Overy Staithe follow the road opposite to the harbour. 
2.              Take a right and follow the path along the top of the bank.
3.              At the dunes either follow the path on the right along the top of the dunes or go down onto the beach and turn right.
4.              Follow for a few miles until you reach Holkham Gap on your right (not signposted)
5.              Follow the boardwalk away from the beach and either go through the woods or along the marked path on the outside of the woods.
6.              Follow the pathway until you reach a junction.
7.              Take a right and go through the gateway into the car park.
8.              Walk between the café and the toilets and take the steps up onto the pathway.
9.              Follow the pathway into Wells town.
10.          At the main road turn right to get back to the car park.

Our route was 6.96 miles.

See the route on mapometer

Terrain: Grass paths and boardwalks from Burnham O.S. flat and easy although small climb into the sand dunes, beach is mixture of wet and soft sand, through the nature reserve and along the edge of the pine woods the paths are wide and sandy and easy going.  Flat tarmac path to the town. 

Habitat: Marshes, coastal, pine woods, nature reserve, ponds, harbour, urban

Facilities: Toilets at car park in Wells, Coasthopper bus stop near car park.  No toilets that I could see at Burnham O.S. although there is the The Hero pub.  Toilets and café at the beach end car park of Wells.  Numerous shops, cafes, fish and chips in Wells town.

You can see my photos from the other stages of our Norfolk Coast Path walk on my Flickr album

Houghton - St Ives - The Hemingfords - Houghton, Cambridgeshire (4.5 miles)

This walk starts in the village of Houghton at Houghton Mill, goes through St Ives and onto Hemingford Grey, Hemingford Abbots and back to Houghton.  Parts of the walk are on the Ouse Valley Way. 

The car park is free (for National Trust members).  We attempted this walk once before (without a map or instructions!) but went wrong somewhere and ended up walking around Houghton Meadows - which are nice but not where we were aiming for!  Anyway, the instructions below are taken from the National Trust website and were pretty good.  We stopped in St Ives at The River Tea Rooms for refreshments but there are numerous shops cafes and pubs on route in St Ives and and the National Trust cafe at Houghton Mill.

I can’t say it was the most exciting walk we’ve done, it didn't go along the river as much as we thought it would but it’s a fairly easy 5/6 miles.  

It was a dry warm day but you should be aware that some sections of the walk are prone to flooding in wet weather.

Houghton Mill

Houghton Mill is open to the public (check website for opening times) and if you want a nice view take a quick detour along the caravan site field to the river bank and look back towards the mill.

Take the path diagonally across Houghton Mill car park and through the kissing gate and turn right into the narrow path called Love Lane.

Turn right onto Thicket Road and follow it straight on until it becomes a path.
This path is tarmac right the way to St Ives.  Half way down you come to ‘The Thicket’ which is an short alternative pathway up into woodland if you wish.  If not just carry on along the tarmac pathway.

Continue on this path alongside the river to St Ives to come out opposite All Saints' Parish Church. Holt Island Nature Reserve is over the bridge on your right (Holt Island was closed and appears only to be open weekends and Bank Holidays) and the Norris Museum is just ahead.

St Ives, Cambridgeshire

Walk along The Broadway to the Victoria Memorial and take the right branch along Merryland.

Take the first right hand turn down Bridge Street, St. Ives just before you get to Market Hill and go over the bridge.
The River  Tea Rooms are down a small passageway on the right just before you cross the bridge.

Turn right through The Dolphin car park and out onto Hemingford Meadow. Walk across the meadow, following the path diagonally left.  Keep to this path until you reach a stile at the far side This is now a metal gate. 

Follow Meadow Lane until it bends sharply left and a track comes in from the right.

Take a small path straight ahead that comes out on a road. Follow the path ahead until you reach another road.

Turn right at the road to Hemingford Grey church.
Turn abruptly left alongside the graveyard to follow a path along the riverbank. 

Hemingford Meadows

Follow the path keeping the river on your right to the far end of the High Street then turn right to continue along the riverbank.

The path crosses two meadows then leads alongside a mobile home park into Hemingford Abbots.

Turn right along the road until you reach the Axe and Compass pub.

Take the next road on the right after the pub (this isn’t immediately after the pub but about  100m down the road) beside the post box and follow this over the Black Bridge. 

Cross Hemingford Meadow to a lock and follow the path back to Houghton Mill.

Our route was: 5.47 miles
See the route on mapometer.com
Terrain: Flat (if miss out The Thicket), tarmac and grass paths
Habitat: Meadow, River, Woodland, Urban
Facilities: Cafe and toilets at Houghton Mill (check website for opening times), Refreshments in St Ives, Axe & Compass Pub in Hemingford Abbots

Southwold to Walberswick, Suffolk (6.3 miles)

Although we have been to Southwold many times we’ve never been to Walberswick so we thought we’d do one of the popular walks in this area.  I had found various versions of it online and thought I had it all planned out but we did get lost - twice at least!  The map shows the version we ended up doing - we went wrong somewhere in the Walberswick nature reserve and never did walk through the reed beds as I had anticipated!  As we weren’t sure where we were, or how far we would have to go to eventually get back to the village, you’ll see we ended up doubling back while we could still see the church.  We stopped for lunch in The Anchor - a bit of a shame they don’t just do sandwiches but the fishcake and chips were lovely.  We both really liked pretty Walberswick, a contrast to the madness of Southwold at this time of year, so we will go back to get lost some more!

Although there is parking in various places around Southwold, we parked in a free car park on Ferry Road and because we needed a toilet stop and had just past one we went left towards Southwold first.  We then cut down a footpath that runs along side the road and comes out at the Harbour.  If you don’t need a toilet detour (and don’t worry we later found some at the Harbour - near the caravan site - anyway!) then take a right out of the car park and walk up to the end of Ferry Road.  

The ferry crossing from Southwold to Walberswick

Turn right down the harbour wall.  Here you will find the ferry if you wish to cross this way (the ferry operates in the summer only and closes for lunch). However, we walked alongside the River Blythe with its boats and fish shacks, passing The Harbour Inn, until we reached a metal bridge to cross over to Walberswick.  

Once over the bridge we carried straight on up a well-trodden track.  This will eventually become a tarmac surface.  We followed this until we came to the village.  Here instead of going into the village we followed the bridle way and then a pathway to the right going into the nature reserve.  It was around here, an open access area, we became unsure of which direction we were heading and how far it was going to be.  We followed a path through some heathland until we came to a bench in the corner on the left where we took stock and seeing that it was nearly lunch time decided to return back to the village. 

Once back on the road we followed Church Lane past St Andrew’s church and ruins turning left onto The Street.  We walked right down this road (no footpath) until we reached The Anchor on the right hand side where we stopped for lunch.

St Andrew's Church and ruins, Walberswick

After refreshments, we crossed the road and turned left past a few shops and the green and walked down Ferry Road.  At the car park we went left across the grass to get back to the ferry.  As this was closed for lunch we went left along the bank of the river until we reached the bridge.  Rather than walking down along the river again we took the bridle way on the right.  It runs alongside the harbour roadway and joins up with the Suffolk Coastal path we took in the morning.  We however, rejoined the harbour roadway at The Harbour Inn, and walked back to the car along the Ferry Road.

Our route was: 6.33 miles
See the route on mapometer.com 
Terrain: Flat
Habitat: Marshland, Heathland, Reed beds, Coastal, Harbour, River, Estuary, Village
Facilities: Toilets along Ferry Road and at the caravan park in Southwold, various shops, cafes, pubs in town.  The Harbour Inn Southwold side of the river.  The Anchor and The Bell in Walberswick village along with various cafes, tea rooms and shops.  Ferry crossing (summer months only, check opening hours)

Why not have a look at the rest of my photos from this walk, and also from previous visits to Southwold.

The River Cam from Clayhithe, Cambridgeshire (3.5 miles)

Today I just needed a stroll for some fresh air.  N had been out this morning playing golf and he wasn’t really up for a long walk too far away.  We decided to go along the river starting at Clayhithe which is between Horningsea and Waterbeach.  Although it can get busy at times with joggers and cyclists also sharing the towpath, it is a lovely stretch of the river.  We have seen herons, swans, moorhens and cormorants, dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies.  

The River Cam at Clayhithe

There are parking spaces for a few cars by the entrance to the towpath (opposite The Bridge pub); in the pub (check first and only polite to purchase a drink and/or meal first) or at weekends there will probably be space in the station car park (fee payable).  

This walk is a little different to the others I have written about in that the mileage you do is really up to you.  Once you get on to the towpath, just follow it as far as you want.  If you stay with the river you can't really go wrong.  The length of The Cam from Clayhithe to Quayside in the centre of Cambridge is about 6 miles so, remembering you have to walk back to the car, you can walk anything from 1 mile to 12.  

The River Cam, Horningsea

Today we walked just under 3.5 miles round trip.  This took us almost to Bait’s Bite Lock (1.9 miles).  You can carry on past the lock and under the A14 to the Green Dragon Bridge in Chesterton (4 miles).  If you want to keep going then cross the bridge and follow the path along Stourbridge Common, past Riverside, under the Elizabeth Way bridge, along Midsummer Common, Jesus Green and onto Quayside (6 miles).  As the first refreshment stop after The Bridge at the start is not until The Green Dragon pub (4 miles) I recommend taking supplies if you are doing anything further than Bait's Bite Lock.  (Also see this route from The Green Dragon pub into Quayside and back)

Quayside, Cambridge

Our route was: 3.47 miles (this time!)
See the route on mapometer.com
Terrain: Flat, gravel towpath and tarmac
Habitat: River, Urban, Meadow, Park
Facilities: The Bridge pub, Clayhithe; The Green Dragon pub; various restaurants, bars etc on Quayside.