Reydon to Ipswich

I woke up just after 7 and figured I would get an early start so was off by half 8. It was another misty morning but my tent was actually dry for once when I packed it down. I walked along the road into Reydon and through down to Southwold before walking out to the river past a big water tower. The river was lined on both sides by loads of jetties and I went over the footbridge to then head down into Walberswick. It was a proper countryside village which was quite nice. Out the other side I started on paths along the edge of some marshes but I noticed quite a few signs about with maps pointing out footpaths that were closed. The paths I was on weren’t closed though, until I came to the big temporary fence beyond which the levees were getting rebuilt. As it was the weekend there was no one working and the diggers were parked up so I just climbed over and walked through because a detour would have taken me on a huge loop. When I got to the fence blocking off the other end I made my way over it and had successfully beaten a blocked path for once. Next up, I made my way through Dunwich to the heath and marshland where all the birdwatchers were about again. There was a mixture of sea walls and dune walking along to the power station at Sizewell. The path went in front of the power station then stopped so I ended up on the beach past a Christian retreat place. It was hard work going along the beach so I came up onto the cliffs at the first opportunity and there was path all the way to Thorpeness. Going along there I managed to catch myself just before I trod on an added thankfully or I might have ended up with teeth in my legs.

Thorpeness was another posh little place and there is a path behind the beach from there to Aldeburgh. At Aldeburgh I had to come in and back on myself a bit because of a river, so I went along the high street to the town steps and onto the main road out of there. After I had got beyond a golf course a coast path took me out to woods, heath land and marshy bits near the river side where I saw another adder. Seeing two adders didn’t make me look forward to camping very much. At Snape I was onto road and got to the bridge with The Maltings on the other side. Once past them the path goes out to the riverside again where there is a big horse and cart statue in the middle of a field for some reason. There were still quite a few people around, most of which were quite rude, not replying if I said hello and generally looking at me like I was dirt. I stayed on the shore until there was no more path then came up to the road to Orford. There were little lanes to Sudbourne, which is basically just a big manor house from what I saw. Paths took me away from the big house and I started looking for a camp spot. I found one and started setting up but then heard people walking about and though I should move somewhere more out of the way. I ended up in a bit of woodland by a road where there were loads of pheasants and during the early evening a deer was walking around the tent barking a lot.

 

There was no more bother from animals during the night so I slept well and had scones for breakfast. I walked out through more fields and got to Chillesford onto a little road. From there I was onto farm tracks and path with the day turning out to be quite sunny in the end with a nice wind still though. I got over a small hill then down to a sea wall and along the last of the river with the occasional group of geese flying over. The next field in had a massive deer herd running through suddenly then further on there were 2 more in another field who then ran for it too. It was all a confusion of rivers flowing into each other then I had to come in a little bit then took the road back out and onto the sea wall once more. There was a Martello fort along there that had been converted into a house. Further on there were a couple more, some converted some not. The beach was lined with a load of fishers in their little tents and there was a good path behind there until I was forced inland because of private property. Coming in on the road was a concrete block with bars in the top and prisoner of war written in metal along the window. From Bowdsey, I headed up towards Alderton eating the last of my food so was in need of a shop. Alderton had a shop but I hadn’t realised it was Sunday and the shop was closed. A little road took me out towards the next river then went northwards towards Woodbridge. It was all road up to the bridge and from there was a riverside path back down with 2 blokes playing bagpipes stood there. I got to the station with the sun still out and was picked up by some family friends who I stayed with in Ipswich.

 

In the morning I packed up and went for breakfast then was dropped back off at Woodbridge. I walked along the riverside to find that the path had flooded and was blocked off so I had to come back on myself and take to the roads instead. Eventually a path took me to the river and onto a levee with the path going all the way to Felixstowe around little bays and stuff. When I got to the coast I went into Felixstowe proper on the path and it was actually quite hilly for a change. After a while I had to come in on what was supposed to be a proper path but there was very little signage and I was mostly on road. When I came to a roundabout I somehow managed to take the wrong road, a lorry on the other side beeped me and the bloke looked to be quite angry for who knows what reason. I basically walked up there then had to get down onto another road and out towards yet another river. I had to walk through docks with lorries surrounding me before I made it out to where a path crossed a railway and went up the river. The path took me through fields then into a wetlands reserve, which were all completely empty of people, except for a car reversing all the way down a very long track out of the reserve.

When I reached a marina the people turned up again, mostly birdwatchers as usual. I then had a boatyard to get through and was back on path again until I came to some private school and switched to road walking up to the A14. My brother had seen that there was a premier inn the other side of the bridge and managed to persuade them to give me a free room for the night. Unfortunately the only one of four premier inns around Ipswich with vacancies was Ipswich north, quite a long way from where I was. I figured as it was free I would get a taxi up and back in the morning and it would still be cheaper than most B&Bs I’ve stayed in. The only place I could see that I could get the taxi to come to was the Premier inn where I was so I ordered it to there. The taxi driver was a really nice bloke and ended up giving me the journey for free so things were looking good. The reception however had heard nothing of me getting a room but was really nice about it. I paid for the room in the hope that I would be reimbursed at some point and thankfully before I went to bed I noticed an envelope under the door with a receipt for the money going back onto my card and a note so it all ended up pretty well.

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