Walking Hiking Navigating | Martyn Walker | Software Architect

Mersea Island, Essex, Circular Walk

Coastal Walks, Essex, On The Front Line, Sailing, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Jan 212012

Fifteen years ago I regularly visited Mersea Island with my eldest son while taking the RYA Yachmaster course. Our teacher was Jim McNaughton of the Mersea Island Yacht Club. I don’t think Jim liked us. He passed us grudgingly, certainly making us work harder than his Mersea Island chums in class.

I think my Master Mariner qualifications were testing for him. The “rights of way” subject was a tricky discussion! But I liked him and I still hold fond memories of his anecdotes.

My father lived on Mersea Island for a short time during WW2. His mother worked in a Colchester department store and cycled each day. That’s an impressive 20 mile round trip and with a full days work in-between. It must have been a trek, especially in the winter setting off in the dark and not getting home before dark too. With no lights avoiding ditches and the Strood itself must have been tricky. Still, I remember my Granny always had a smile and was a plucky woman who never complained.

This is a 12 mile walk that can get muddy in parts, especially along the bank of the Strood, therefore take care if it has rained. Ample pubs, clubs and cafés so no need to pack a lunch.

I changed route avoiding the busy roads by turning right instead of left on the B1025 (at the end of the Strood section) and then using the public footpaths to cut through to Blue Row.

mersea route 1024x460 Mersea Island, Essex, Circular Walk

Mersea Island Route

Distance: 12 Miles
Elevation Range: 0 to 70 feet
Weather Check: Colchester, Essex
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Mersea Island, Essex, Circular Walk
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010
Local Website: www.mersea-island.com

Southwold Reydon Sandlings Walk Figure-of-Eight Circular Walk

Coastal Walks, I can't think of a category, On The Front Line, Sport, Suffolk, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Jan 152012

Southwold Pier has a performing water-clock, a café, tourist shops, slot machines and a room full of peculiar machinery such as a rent-a-dog walking machine.

From the Pier I walked south and turned into Ferry Road and along and unmade road beside the Blyth where you can get boat trips, fish and chips, and shell-fish.

The countryside is not thrilling and still slippery and muddy from the rain a few days ago. The town and seaside make up for it and there are plenty of pubs and café’s around, each a convenient stumbling distance from each other.

Southwold reminds me of Fowey in Cornwall. Anyone who has visited both will wonder how I come to that conclusion. Fowey is on a steep hill and Southwold, apart from a mini cliff is flat, Fowey has no beaches (apart from Readymoney cove but that doesn’t count) and Southwold has them everywhere, Fowey’s nearest lighthouse, Gribben Head, is several miles away and Southwold has one parked in the heart of the town, the differences go on.

The similarity is the atmosphere. Friendly people, the sound of gulls and the smell of fish. They are both insular too, the only people who visit them come because they want to, and that’s why I think they are similar.

Distance: 8½ Miles
Elevation Range: 0 to 50 feet
Weather Check: Southwold, Suffolk
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Southwold Reydon Sandlings Walk Figure-of-Eight Circular Walk Route Card
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010
Local Website: http://www.southwoldpier.co.uk/

The difference between walking north easterly and a south westerly wind

On The Front Line, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Jan 082012

This picture shows a confusing environment. I was walking North Easterly with the sun behind my right shoulder when to the right of me I saw these trees.

My mind played tricks as I considered the wind that caused them to lean into the sun, normally I would expect a group of trees, all leaning in the same direction, to lean away from prevailing winds.

The sun reveals the direction. This picture taken around 10.30am early January in Suffolk. Yet the group of trees lean toward the South East and not North East as you would expect.

I couldn’t see the wood for the trees!

A momentary lapse in understanding the naming convention used with wind the cause of my confusion.

When we walk, sail, fly and drive in a direction it is that direction that determines the description. I am walking northerly means I am walking toward the north. However if I am experiencing a northerly wind it is coming from the north.

The reason for the trees angle due to a bank reflecting prevailing winds toward the South East (which, if I were to describe as a wind would be North-West wind, but just 500 yards might be stretching the rule too far).

Circular walk from Stoke-by-Clare, Clare Castle, through Ovington and Boyton End

On The Front Line, Sport, Suffolk, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Jan 072012

Clare is a small Suffolk town that continues to support local shops which makes it a practical visit as well as pleasant. Parking was free on my visit but suspect this may change as the tourist season begins and for this reason being a walker or hiker will stand you in good stead as there is plenty of free out-of-town parking within easy walking distance.

Having been wet recently mud was a regular feature and as a result a stick was useful for testing depth and sharing weight along muddy banks. Coppice trees and loose sticks along the route provide the necessary equipment so do not worry if you do not own professional equipment (I do not carry a stick, I carry enough extra weight already).

As you can see from the map if you park in Stoke By Clare you can easily split this walk in two. If 12 miles is too much then just do half. I parked outside the Lion Pub which made a good place for lunch.

Distance: 12½ Miles
Elevation Range: 138 to 278 feet
Weather Check: Clare, Suffolk
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Circular walk from Stoke-by-Clare, Clare Castle, through Ovington and Boyton End
Local Website: www.clare-uk.com
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010

A circular walk around Eye Castle to Yaxley, Thornham Parva and Occold, Suffolk

On The Front Line, Suffolk, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Jan 022012

I would not like to have been in Eye Castle during a siege. Better to be the besiegers than the besieged. If they refused to surrender a fire built around the base would soon persuade the inhabitants to open the gates. Not a 13th century planning success, although emptying the bins couldn’t be easier.

If you are a chicken or bantam fancier then enjoy this short video as it shows a few clips of chickens (I can’t believe I am writing this). The first a handful of “Kentucky Fried”, the next a bunch of bantams hanging out with a goose and finally a fun parade of vulpine entertainment.

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

Distance: 10½ Miles
Elevation Range: 85 to 182 feet
Weather Check: Eye, Suffolk
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Eye Castle to Yaxley, Thornham Parva and Occold, Suffolk Circular Walk
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010

Raydon Railway Great Woodlands Circular Walk

On The Front Line, Sport, Suffolk, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Dec 282011

There is a small free car park beside Station Farm at the beginning of the walk. The disused railway makes firm footing in the wet but if you follow this route when wet be ready for log-hopping along the way. The northern part of the walk is the most likely to bog down but at least at that point in the walk there is easy access to alternative routes on roads.

Distance: 7½ Miles
Elevation Range: 60 to 120 feet
Weather Check: Hadleigh, Suffolk
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Raydon Railway Great Woodlands Circular Walk
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010

Foxhall to the Nacton River Orwell Shoreline Circular Walk

On The Front Line, River Bank, Sport, Suffolk, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Dec 262011

12.9° C by mid morning, if it wasn’t for bare trees it would be difficult to distinguish from an early summer morning. This walk took me from Foxhall to Nacton, directly past my sons old School Orwell Park and to the river bank shoreline in Nacton, a popular place with walkers, runners and twitchers. Nacton shoreline is the River Orwellian equivalent of Piccadilly Circus on bank holidays, not even the mud was keeping people from enjoying the mild weather.

More photos

If you don’t like walking in mud then avoid this walk when wet. Even dry hot sunny days there will be muddy areas around the creeks and streams. Avoid the mud by walking on the high ground. My advice would be if you see the deep holes created by cattle full of water then turn back and use the road for that part of the walk.

Alternatively if you are the kind of person who takes string with you on a walk you will find plenty of old wood to strap to your boots to over the tough parts.

Distance: 12 Miles
Elevation Range: 0 to 120 feet
Weather Check: Bucklesham, Suffolk
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Foxhall to the Nacton River Orwell Shoreline Circular Walk
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010

Perihelion: The northern hemisphere is closer to the sun in winter

On The Front Line, Travel, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Dec 232011

winter solstice pivato Perihelion: The northern hemisphere is closer to the sun in winter

Winter Solstice Northern Hemisphere

In the early 70′s I went to Belmont School near Abinger Hammer, Surrey. Major Irwin took us for history, geography and for those of us with parents abroad took us orienteering on weekends while others went home. On one trip he explained Earth was closer to the sun during the winter solstice for the northern hemisphere.

Over the years I lost the detail in his explanation (that lesson took place more than 40 years ago) and each time we reach the winter solstice I berate myself for not looking up the facts and reacquainting myself with the magical story of how nature balances life with seasons.

Today, Tristan Gooley posted The Cloud Compass on his blog which includes a brief explanation of Perihelion (the closest point) and Aphelion (the furthest point). These words triggered the missing details from Major Irwin’s explanation so now I have something to search for in Wikipedia.

Major Irwin did not go in to detail, I was 10, but I do remember on a freezing cold morning doubting we could actually be closer to the sun than in summer. The following abridged text from Wikipedia explains Apsis.

An apsis, plural apsides, is the point of greatest or least distance of a body from one of the foci of its elliptical orbit. In modern celestial mechanics this focus is also the center of attraction, which is usually the center of mass of the system. Historically, in geocentric systems, apsides were measured from the center of the Earth.

The point of closest approach (the point at which two bodies are the closest) is called the periapsis or pericentre, peri, around, and kentron. The point of farthest excursion is called the apoapsis, apocentre or apapsis (the latter term, although etymologically more correct, is much less used). A straight line drawn through the periapsis and apoapsis is the line of apsides. This is the major axis of the ellipse, the line through the longest part of the ellipse.

A hike from Brookhill Woods Foxhall to the Maybush Pub Waldringfield, Suffolk

On The Front Line, River Bank, Suffolk, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Dec 112011

The weather report said ice so I decided to start my walk from my front door. Fortunately I live in the suburbs and less than two minutes away from a Footpath sign. I have walked this path many times but because of its location, beside the largest municipal tip in Europe, I’ve not been encouraged to do more than a couple of miles.

SDC12767a 300x225 A hike from Brookhill Woods Foxhall to the Maybush Pub Waldringfield, Suffolk

Saltmarsh on The Deben

Today I decided to walk past the tip, cross the dual carriageway, and beyond. All the way to Waldringfield where I would stop for lunch and then back along part of the Deben I have not yet walked.

That was the plan and it all worked up to the pub. A couple of miles down the river from the pub a signed warned that anyone continuing on the path would have to return the way they came because land erosion had claimed the path.

As I walked along the small country lanes around the lost river-paths I considered why the paths have suffered from erosion. The Deben moves fast and shifts a lot of sand at its mouth but inland its muddy and tidal. By the time the tide reaches Waldringfield there is little energy and the river flow itself is not fast. It is natural for a river to change course as it seeks the shortest route to sea but as it changes can we not walk around it? Perhaps that’s Naïve.

Suffolk Coast and Heaths are restoring the saltmarsh which will reduce energy from waves and help protect the remaining paths.

Distance: 12 Miles
Elevation Range: 0 to 120 feet
Weather Check: Bucklesham, Suffolk
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Brookhill Woods Foxhall to the Maybush Pub Waldringfield
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010

Bromeswell to Gobblecock Cottage a Circular Walk Through Rendlesham Forest

Forest, On The Front Line, Sport, Suffolk, Walking Hiking Navigating No Responses »

Dec 042011

I didn’t see a UFO, or indeed the lighthouse beams from Orford Ness lighthouse, and the only attraction in the forest is Gobblecock Cottage.

gobblecock hall Bromeswell to Gobblecock Cottage a Circular Walk Through Rendlesham Forest

Beyond the name Gobblecock there is little of interest (the cottage owners have chosen not to display the name, but the hall next door fortunately obliges should you be using it for a waypoint).

I would have liked to add this post to the Ancient Woodlands category but the area I walked was plantation all, but for a few scraps along the way. In woodland terms there is little to learn except for any natural event that collides with unnatural which in my case was to step aside to let a Land Rover Discovery pass.

A few vehicles were collecting north of the airfield where preparations for a motorcycle rally had begun. As this is a plantation I whole-heartedly approve and see no reason they do not open the entire forest to free vehicle access. Nothing within its boundaries bares any resemblance to ancient Britain and is a haven for non-indigenous creatures that have already replaced what was once here. Not a red squirrel to be seen. Why preserve something meaningless?

Dog walkers fill this forest, along with dog-shit, which is more damaging than motorbike and off-road vehicle tracks which at least do more to cut disease than spread it.

Other parts of this public area are reserved for activities such as shooting and archery. As these are not fenced off a different set of warning signs are used to scare off would be passers-by, although the chance of being hit by a bullet or arrow are enough to keep me away and I think they should allow them to be fenced.

“Smart Water” is used to protect against theft but theft of what? Wood? Surely hunters and archers take their kills and targets home with them? A Smart Water sign only proves there must be something worth nicking then, and I think I would admire any thief who tries to strip a hunter of his gun!

On one public footpath a “Members Only” sign is displayed but members of what is not clear. I suspect it’s an old sign as following through the path revealed nothing but a path through woods.

I detect an air of greed in plantations. Yes we need wood for practically everything we do (the chair and desk I use to write this for example), but do we need “KEEP OUT” signs, barbed wire and electric fences to protect them? These are tools used to define ownership and a desire for exclusive use. Without these delineations few would venture onto the land anyway, the plantation having destroyed the lands value for ordinary people already.

Distance: 14 Miles
Elevation Range: 3 to 100 feet
Weather Check: Rendlesham, Suffolk
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Bromeswell to Gobblecock Cottage a Circular Walk in Rendlesham Forest
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010

Older Entries Newer Entries