Glemsford Circular Walk

Looking for somewhere to take the kids today I came across the Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley Project website. They have a set of leaflets you can download (from here), including a circular walk around Glemsford. It's not far from Bury St Edmunds - only about 12 miles (see here), but we had never been there. Perfect for a morning's expedition. I downloaded and printed off the leaflet and we set out. From the town centre we took the A143 towards Haverhill but turned onto the B1106, a pretty back road through a number of villages. We parked by the sign on Tye Green.

I didn't think the kids would manage the full 5 miles so we adapted the walk by heading up Shepherds Lane to Mill Hill Farm and joined the route there. The walk is not too demanding and the country views are good. We weren't the only ones out enjoying the country - we spotted this balloon in the distance.

According to the leaflet, this area along the valley bottom...

is apparently...

...known locally as "the queech", an old Suffolk word meaning an irregularly shaped field.

That made me laugh. My Mum has always mis-pronounced the French work quiche as "queech". Now I can tell her what it means.

The walk also takes you past some interesting buildings. Here is "Chequers" in Chequers Lane.

But the most impressive building must be the timber-framed Monks Hall, built in 1614.

By the time we got back to the village centre the kids were getting hungry, so we got a snack at Post Office and general store before heading home for our lunch of, wait for it....
...Quiche!