Sunday Suffolk Woodland Stroll

I finally managed to squeeze in an afternoon in the countryside today.  It's more about not letting the family down these days.  I can't go off gallivanting when there's work to do leaving the good lady to look after the two little rotters, can I?     


Well today I had a pass, to stretch my legs a wee bit in readiness for a jaunt in the fells in the next week or so.  I was convinced to go with my brother-in-law to do a little walk that I love around Moulton, near Newmarket in Suffolk.


I have to say that I do love the hills, and mountains, and valleys, and gorges etc etc, but I can't ignore the treats in my back yard.  Suffolk has some of the biggest skies around, with genuinely pleasing, smoothly rolling swells of fields and ancient woodland.  My walk around Moulton, Dalham and Gazeley fitted this description perfectly.
The walk is only about 6 or 7 miles, so perfect for a afternoon outing.  The setting at Moulton is quite endearing, with a 14th century packhorse bridge in pristine condition taking pride of place at the middle of this little village.

We had a few wildlife encounters, as we always seem to do on these country walks.  A small, young hedgehog crossed the road - we didn't ask him why - but we carefully lifted, and placed the prickly parcel on the other side of the lane to save any squashing by vehicles.


I stopped to take a look at some vines hanging from the bough of an Ash tree which completely covered the bough, and a Tawny Owl burst out from the centre of the foliage straight towards me, over my head, circled beneath the canopy and then flew off through the woodland. My first daytime Tawny encounter - and a good one too.


The last wild rendezvous was a simple one, a common toad crossed our path.  That's it.  She was a lovely one, young and bright - like she had just been unwrapped.  I couldn't resist picking her up for a closer look.  I began to get all philosophical about her, so I brought myself round and let her hop off into the undergrowth.  


I noticed on the walk through the Dalham Estate that every single large tree on the path was marked with a red plastic tag which had been hammered into the trunk at about eye level.  The tag had a five-digit number with the letters PRN printed beneath in white.  
None of the trees away from the path had any numbers or tags, and I pondered what they might signify.  I wondered if they were navigation marks for the Estate's woodland managers allowing them to pinpoint other trees by using these as reference points.  I'd be glad to hear from anyone who can add any suggestions.


The winds were getting up and rain was threatening to dampen our thus far dry afternoon out.  Hurricane Katia was making noises that she might start battering Britain's Western coasts and counties.  On went the Montane Featherlight jacket to shrug off the looming rainfall.  The changes in the weather seemed to add to the atmosphere of the walk.  After just a spattering of fat droplets, the rain had passed us by and the sun began again to shine.  The last mile of road walking was a bit of a shame, particularly given the cracking woodland surroundings we had just been moving through.  There was a silver lining to the macadamed cloud - The King's Head.


One pint of IPA down the hatch, and back to the village hall where our car was parked, via a huge box of Bramley's that was left outside a house beckoning "please help yourself".  We'd clocked the apples on the way out and made a note to collect some on our return.


They were all gone.
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http://www.moultonsuffolk.co.uk/index.html - a bit about Moulton - try the Kings Head!



http://www.dalham.com/ - a bit about Dalham


http://www.onesuffolk.co.uk/GazeleyPC/ - a bit about Gazeley


http://greatbarrowchallenge.co.uk/ - a fantastic challenge through the Suffolk countryside (including Gazeley)