Length: 17.3 km (10.7 miles) 4/10
This week we are heading back to the Suffolk/Essex border for this walk in the Stour valley. It passes numerous settings of Constable paintings along with his birthplace and a possible tea stop at Flatford Mill. More of the relevant paintings are mentioned here.
Last year there were complaints of excessive road walking on the full route. It seems to me that although there is an unavoidable road through Stratford St Mary, there is a footpath from there to Bergholt which might make an alternative – we could investigate today.*
Travel: Take the 1000 from Liverpool Street arriving at Manningtree at 1055 (note there is also a 1002 which is quite a bit slower, getting in at 1112). Three return trains an hour at approx 03, 20 and 52.
Lunch: Two pubs in Stratford St Mary after 9 km on the full route (assuming the 2023 building works at the Swan Inn reported on the introduction page have finished!). The shorter route (see below) misses out Stratford so for lunch in Dedham (some 6 km into the walk), a fairly upmarket pub lunch is available at the Sun Inn, (tel 01206 323 351), serving lunch daily from 12 noon to 3.30 pm. The Dedham Centre tearoom (tel 01206 322 677) in the Arts & Crafts Centre serves vegetarian food from 12 noon to 2.00 pm daily (groups of more than ten should phone to book). The Essex Rose tea room (tel 01206 323 101) is another alternative for lunches served from 11.30 am to 2.30 pm.
Tea: The suggested tea place is the National Trust’s Bridge Cottage Tearoom, by Flatford Mill (tel 01206 298 260), open up to 5.30 from May to September. At Manningtree station, the Station Buffet (tel 01206 391114) may also provide a welcome snack before the train home.
Short walk options: If you look at the map you'll see that the walk is nearly a figure of eight, so it is possible to miss out the smaller loop cutting out 4km. Turn right along the Stour Valley Way after Dedham - directions are given in the text.
It may also be possible to catch a bus from one of the villages en route to Manningtree or Colchester.
L=1.39
*Of course it's possible this has been tried before and rejected for some reason – if anyone knows, please comment below.
#2026-06-17T10:00
2 comments:
N=10 at the station . A day that promised cloud with a few sprinkles soon morphed into a w=pleasant-sunny day.
By the time Lawford church was reached, 9 were ahead and yours truly wasn’t. And so it was all the way to Dedham.
There was a grand reunion there. But not for long. The group was about to be split into multiple shards Short walk, full walk, pub visit, no pub visit. Get the picture? No prizes for guessing Mr Tiger’s preference.
A look inside East Bergholt church was thwarted by there being a funeral in progress.
So on to Flatford Mill and for Mr Tiger, a big sticky doughnut. No others there but, earlier, walker n=11 (missed train) had caught up with one of the shards there. They were already at the station.
Mr Tiger was thrilled to see a sssnake ssswimming across the Haywain pond. And a heron standing in it. Then he got pecked by a duck. Nature, eh?
Some of the long walkers caught him up on the last stretch. The Stratford St Mary loop had been deemed tedious , even with the proposed variation.
A quick drink at the platform bar followed, bringing another Grand Day Out to a close.
Though I say it myself, the “alternative”
path from Stratford church to East Bergholt worked very well but as Mr T says, it probably isn’t enough to make up for the long road section through Stratford which was a drag. The long walkers didn’t realise the Flatford Mill cafe closed at 4, got there just before but decided to press on to the station anyway
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