My Local Walk

As we have been escaping the garden and going for a walk around our local fields in the last week I thought I might document one and at the same time bust the myth that Suffolk is flat. If you want flat go to Cambridgeshire and the Fens. 

Sadly no bird pics as I only had a little lens on the camera but we did see Buzzrd, Skylark, Swallow, House Martin, Robin, Chaffinch, Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit and heard Green woodpecker.

At the top of our drive we look across the churchyard down to the River (?stream) Glem and across to the next village Stanstead, no it does not have an airport!

Turn left and walk along the boundary of the last garden in the village to the start of a footpath around a field where we see & hear Skylarks singing from the garden. This is the first view you get stepping out onto the start of the path, complete with Blackbird and a pair of Collard Doves and loads of Cow Parsley. The view shows the field sloping down towards the rolling fields across the other side of the river (stream).

Further along the path the view opens out to Suffolk big skies.

The field edge is full of Hawthorn blossoms 

And under the hedge Cow Parsley.

We are about to walk around the 3rd side of the first field to cross the stream into the next field.

In the corner of the field a chestnut tree in bloom.

The next fields crop is broad bean, I think being grown as a nitrogen soil fixer. Colourful flowers

Looking down the path to the bottom of the hill and the next filed rising into the big Suffolk sky.

Stitchwort in the hedge row of the next field.

Looking back across the fields to the church opposite our drive.

Looking in the opposite direction across the valley to the church in the next village. At one point on this walk in the winter you can see 4 local churches.

Looking back down the hedgerow of the 4th field with Cowslips along the edge and my least favourite yellow crop.

A the top of the field looking across to where we live and the church just visible on the skyline.

Any direction you look from this field junction you can see crop fields sloping down into small valleys 

Back along the valley towards home there is an area with quite a lot of Cowslips

Back home to find the Moorhen on the pond.

I hope you enjoy a little wander around my local fields and paths and see that Suffolk is not flat.

  • Brilliant set of photos Tony and the stunning countryside around you; we are renting in a similar rural location seeing Skylarks dancing along with Swallows perched up on overhead telegraph wires and landscape with a variety of wildflowers. Makes social distancing so much easier in these locations so continue to enjoy and bring us photos !
  • What a lovely looking area Tony :o) And glad the Moorhen reappeared after your fox concerns in another thread :o) And the broad bean flowers are reet luffly too
  • Lovely photos and it looks a beautiful area to live.

    Of course, as someone living on the edge of the Pennines, I'm officially obliged to say that is still considered flat. I climb bigger hills coming back from the supermarket, although not so green or pretty Slight smile

  • Lovely tour of your local patch Tony!

  • Thanks. Hazel, we are so lucky to live on the edge of open fields even if half of them are rapeseed. This does make social distancing much easier, especially if we go out around lunch time when most people are busy. I think I know the area where you are renting as I nearly moved from Suffolk to a job based in Trafford Park many moons ago, The housing market was bad at the time & mortgage rates high. We were looking at houses between Mobberly, Styal and Holmes Chapel, but thankfully the company went down the pan in a year and we never had to move.
    I love hearing the soaring sound of Skylarks singing but find it increasingly more difficult to spot them these days.
  • Thanks PB, it is a great area to live surrounded by fields of arable crops, very rarely do we see livestock around this way. Although not a great fan of yellow Rapeseed fields, especially if the footpath goes through the middle. Its all most like the Moorhen has moved in recently, seeing it most days and have not caught the fox on the trail cam since that last post although have had to clear two piles of fox poo near feeders on the other side of the garden.
  • Its booufull round here as a well known Turkey breeder once said. OK so the Pennines are a different challenge so we'll say our countryside is "gently rolling" but its still hilly to me and our nearest supermarket is 8 mls so not a walking visit and certainly not now. It really does not seem flat around here when on your bike, not that I've don that for many a long year. Not a pretty sight in lycra ... ha ha
  • Thank you Wendy, I might walk the opposite direction this week but not sure you'd notice the difference if I posted pics, still rolling hills with wheat, broad beans or rape seed, smelly stuff.