A small herd of deer stand motionless, staring through the Scots pines in the silent 7am Rendlesham Forest. I move and they scatter.
Emerging from the forest, I’m not quite sure what to make of the statue at Capel St Andrew, depicting the patron saint of fisherman holding an eel.
A lonely cross sits near the edge of Butley River. There’s no name and a bottle of beer lies at the foot of the cross. Apparently a man died of a heart attack while fishing here, being his favourite spot. I assume he liked his beer.
I’m back to counting Martello towers along the coastline, including this cheerful chap.
There are some striking holiday homes near Bawdsey.
Resting for a drink in the heat, a runner passes, flanked by his faithful hound, and carries on along the clifftop. Although the Suffolk Coast Path heads inland, I follow. He must be a local and this is presumably his regular route.
This is proving a little more hazardous than expected. There’s only a narrow strip of sandstone between the tall field crops and the crumbling cliff edge, which has slid away in places. I keep as close to the crops as possible.
Round the headland there is only overgrown scrub, a large ditch to cross, and a wheat field — no path. Eventually I reach a sign which says the footpath is closed in the direction I have walked from. Did I miss a sign at the other end? I abandon the clifftop and follow the road to the ferry over the River Deben.
I meet the runner again on the small ferry. Laughing, I accuse him of leading me astray. He’s no local and the area is new to him. He actually managed to run all the way round the clifftop, with several cuts on his legs for his troubles. He offers to buy me a pint at the Ferry Boat Inn as compensation.
The walk into Felixstowe is along a promenade that seems to stretch for miles. A few locals are out for a stroll.
I take the ferry across to Harwich, which is a little more inviting than the last time I was here, sheltering from the wind and rain, soaked to the skin.
Cutting through the side-streets to catch the train home, I’m delighted to stumble across street art by Aroma One.
Suffolk was lovely. I won’t be back on my coastal walk until mid-September due to family holidays, which do include a few days hiking in Cornwall and the Samaria Gorge in Crete. I’m also planning something a little more challenging for the last week of August: Arctic Circle Trail.
Walk distance: 20 miles.
Total distance: 2,139 miles.
Hi Tony,
What great blog & photos. We did the Suffolk coast path in September 2020 & really enjoyed it, apart from the road walking into Bawdsey.
If you get a chance walk both banks of the River Deben. The north bank from Ramsholt is glorious as is the whole the south bank from Felixstowe ferry to Woodbridge.
Good luck with the Samaria Gorge in Crete. We did in about 5 years…. It was the hardest & most exhausting walk we have ever done…. I couldn’t walk properly for 3 days after…. I think that the problem the long journey back the hotel…. No warm down 🤷♂️
All the best, Mike Otoka
Hi Mike. Thanks. I’ll add Deben to my list, as everyone says Woodbridge is lovely. I’d better not tell the kids about Samaria Gorge. I’ve just managed to persuade them to wake up at 4am to catch the bus! 🙂
😂🤣😂
Ah I remember the tiny little Butley ferry when I walked here. There is certainly a lot of erosion on the coast of Suffolk. I guess people that *look* like they know where they are going don’t always! Hope you are going to write up the Artic Circle Trail, I would love to hear about. I should also be north of the Arctic circle for the last week of August (going to the Lofoten Islands in Norway) and Greenland is also somewhere I planned to visit (I probably would have done by now if not for Covid restrictions, I originally had it pencilled in for this year and should have got to Lofoten in 2020).
Your trip sounds interesting, so we should swap notes afterwards. I will certainly be writing up my trek.
Wow, you have some ambitious plans – looking forward to reading about the Arctic Circle.