Walk 8 : Bures to Sudbury

Gainsborough country

Length	16 km (10 miles), 4 hours 50 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 9 hours 30 minutes.
OS Landranger Map	No.155. Bures, map reference TL 903 338, is in Essex, 13 km north-west of Colchester and 8 km south of Sudbury, which is in Suffolk.
OS Explorer Map	Nos.196.
Toughness	4 out of 10.
Features	This walk has few hills and some pleasant scenery. It should be quite easy going, with simpler route-finding once a couple of farmers en route have been persuaded to maintain their overgrown footpaths. Sudbury lies at the heart of the Stour Valley, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Much of the walk is along the Stour Valley footpath which is well waymarked. On the final approach into this historic town, you cross the Sudbury Common Lands, a traditional pastoral landscape which has the longest recorded history of continuous grazing in East Anglia, where the painter Thomas Gainsborough is said to have played as a child, to tea in a converted millhouse on the banks of the river
Shortening the walk	If you are not having lunch in the suggested pub, you can avoid the detour to Bulmer Tye by carrying on northwards up the road at point [5] to rejoin the route, in 200 metres, at the asterisk [*] below. Or you can take the delightful Stour Valley – St Edmund Way path from the church at Great Henny [4] to rejoin the route at point [6] following the Short Walk Directions which follow the main Walk Directions in these notes.
Lengthening the walk	For those who like to walk “long”, try adding the Short Walk version of this walk to Book One , Walk 46 – Wakes Colne to Bures, making an excellent long walk of some 20 miles.
History	St Mary’s Church in Great Henny has a tower with parts dating back to the late eleventh century, although most of the church was rebuilt in the middle of the fourteenth century. Thomas Gainsborough , the eighteenth century portrait painter, was born in Sudbury in 1727, the youngest son of a wool manufacturer. He studied in London under Gravelot and Francis Hayman. On his marriage in 1746, he moved to Ipswich, where he remained until his move to Bath in 1760. Gainsborough’s House (tel. 01787-372958) in Sudbury is now a museum with the most extensive collection of his paintings, drawings and prints in the world (the house is open until 4pm daily in winter, otherwise until 5pm daily, closed Sunday ). Entrance fee £ 4-00.
Saturday Walkers Club	Take the train nearest to 9- 15 am from London Liverpool Street Station to Bures ( pronounced “Bewers ”), chang­ing at Marks Tey, journey length about 1 hr 10 minutes. If doing the Short Walk, you can take a later train . Trains back from Sudbury to Liverpool Street run about once an hour, again changing at Marks Tey. Rail Ticket: buy a cheap day return to Sudbury Suffolk. The Marks Tey to Sudbury Branch line does not always operate on Sundays in the depths of winter: check the National Rail website for operating times. This walk comes up in the Book One walk schedule each year in late February, when some paths can be muddy. In summer the short walk makes for a good late morning / early afternoon walk, but note several of the paths can be very overgrown, so be armed with a walking pole.
Lunch	The suggested lunch place is the Bulmer Fox pub (tel.01787- 312277 ) in Bulmer Tye. It is a bistro -pub cum restaurant and welcomes walkers. A variety of main courses and lighter fayre is served between 12 noon and 2 pm Monday to Saturday and until 3 pm on Sunday. Alternatively, late starters can stop early in the walk in Lamarsh at the Red Lion pub (tel.01787-227918), which serves food from 12 noon to 2-30 pm (until 4 pm on Sundays). Remember : if doing the Short Walk, there are no pubs or facilities once past Lamarsh until you arrive in Sudbury (unless you detour some way off route to the Henny Swan at Henny Street (tel. 01787-269238) .
Tea	The suggested tea place is the comfortable Mill Hotel (tel.01787-375544) in Sudbury. Tea is served 2 pm to 5 pm, with scones, pastries and toasted teacakes on offer, at reasonable prices. The Hotel’s bar is also open in the afternoon for alcoholic drinks. After tea, allow 20 minutes to get to the station. There are a number of pubs in the centre of Sudbury, including the Anchor pub (tel.01787-372680) in Friars Street, and the Eastern Station Lounge (tel. 01787-374241) on Station Road, just before the railway station.

Travel by Train	Out: Back:
Travel by Car	Start: Bures Station is near : CO8 5DQ [gmap] Finish: Sudbury Station is near : CO10 2SU [gmap] Return to your car by train: (park at the start) at 4pm (park at the end) at 10am
OS Explorer Map	196 : Sudbury, Hadleigh & Dedham Vale [Amazon]
Revised	This walk was fully revised in : Sep-08 For the walk map, please see the Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Other Suffolk Walks	Wivenhoe (round walk), Manningtree (round walk), Wakes Colne to Bures,

Walking Instructions 

[Numbers refer to the map]

1. [1] Coming off the platform at Bures Station, go down steps, walk through the station car park and bear left down The Paddocks. In 30 metres, you come to a T-junction where you turn right into Station Hill, due east. In 100 metres, you pass Water Lane on your left-hand side. 40 metres further on, the Swan Inn is on your right-hand side, just before the T-junction with Colchester Street . Opposite the pub, turn left off the road and follow the public footpath sign down the wide gravelled lane along the left-hand side of a building, your direction 20 degrees.
2. Keep following the high brick wall on your left-hand side, ignoring other ways off. In 180 metres, the path comes to an end of the hedge on your left-hand side, where there is a wooden post with public footpath arrows on it. Turn right and follow the Stour Valley Path along a car-wide track, your direction 350 degrees.
3. Follow this track for the next 1 km until it brings you down to the River Stour . Where the track swings to the right towards a bridge with metal railings , ignore the bridge and keep ahead, to follow the direction of a footpath post along a narrow path into a clump of trees. 40 metres further on, the path wends its way down to a stile, which you cross over into a field. Ahead of you and over to your right is the River Stour.
4. Once over this stile, keep ahead and follow the riverbank, keeping close to the fence on your left, your direction 280 degrees. In 300 metres, you will see a concrete pillbox down by the river below , and directly ahead a wooden stile. Cross over the stile, which leads you on to and over the railway track and over a stile the other side. 70 metres up the footpath ahead, there is a wooden telegraph pole on your right-hand side, with footpath signs on it. Take the footpath going straight ahead along the car-wide track, heading in the same direction as before.
5. Along the track you pass a thatched cottage, a barn and a tiled house, all on your right-hand side, and the foundations and slab of a demolished property on your left-hand side, and after 370 metres you come out on to a road. Turn right along the road, in 60 metres passing the Red Lion pub, Lamarsh, on your left-hand side. In 150 metres follow the road as it curves around to the right, past the turning on the left signposted Horne’s Green. In 110 metres you pass a turning on the left signposted to Alphamstone and Pebmarsh. Continue straight on for Sudbury and Henny.
6. 250 metres further on, there is Lamarsh Village Hall on the right-hand side, and a house called Green Hills on your left-hand side. 10 metres beyond, turn left off the road, following the direction of a concrete public footpath sign down a car-wide track to the right-hand side of the house, your direction 260 degrees. In 270 metres, walking uphill alongside a tall hedge with a field on your left-hand side and a large house over to your right, where the hedge ends, and by a footpath post , the path takes a sharp turn to the right, following the right-hand edge of the field. 50 metres further on, it takes a sharp turn to the left to follow the direction of the footpath post along the right-hand edge of field, initially uphill .
7. In 200 metres by a footpath post you come to a small dip where the path goes down into the next field. Follow the left-hand edge of this field, your direction 250 degrees initially. In 200 metres go under the overhead cables and down through a wooden kissing gate into the next field, and follow the left-hand edge of this field, in the same general direction as before.
8. In 350 metres you come to the far left-hand corner of this field, and out through a wooden field gate on to a country lane [2]. On the other side of the lane, you will find a public footpath sign; ignore the stile to the right and follow the directions of the footpath sign going gently uphill (in the same general direction as before, now 310 degrees) on a vehicle-wide grassy track.
9. In 80 metres you pass a wooden fieldgate on your right-hand side and go straight ahead beneath some overhead cables, on a narrow path, now with hedges to your left-hand side and a low wire fence to your right-hand side.
10. 180 metres further on, you come to the corner of the field, and go over a wooden stile into the next field.
11. In 70 metres, cross over a stile on to a single carriageway country lane. Turn right up the hill, your direction 50 degrees. In 300 metres you come to a T-junction at the top of the hill, with a farm building on the right-hand side. Turn left, your direction 355 degrees. In 150 metres you come to another T-junction, signposted left to Twinstead, and right to Lamarsh. Go straight over the road, following the public footpath sign, through gateposts and in 10 metres over a stile.
12. You then go half right across the field, your direction 20 degrees [3]. In 30 metres the field dips sharply downhill. Aim for the wooden stile which is now visible ahead of you, in the far right-hand corner of the field. In 130 metres down the hill, you go under some overhead cables. 20 metres further on, cross over the stile, and turn left along the car-wide track, gently downhill, your direction due north. In 130 metres take the right-hand fork, to follow the direction of the footpath sign more or less straight ahead , your direction 350 degrees, towards the farm.
13. Continue down the track and in 100 metres you go directly past the farmhouse. Beware of a boisterous dog at this point. 45 metres further on go through a gap where previously there was a stile and fieldgate and walk straight ahead, downhill , following the left-hand edge of the field, your direction due north.
14. In 140 metres, and 25 metres before you reach the end of the field, turn left and cross over three wooden planks, then over a stile with a public footpath marker on it, and finally over three more planks across a small stream.
15. On the far side, turn right, following the direction of the footpath along the bank of the stream. In 30 metres the stream turns sharp right, but you continue straight ahead across and up the field, towards a stile on the far side, your direction due north (away from the sun). The path takes you directly under electricity cables on pylons. 65 metres beyond the pylons you come to the top of the field, to go up steps up the bank and over the stile at the top.
16. Turn left, following the yellow pointer on the post for the Stour Valley Path, your direction 280 degrees. The path now follows the direction of the electricity pylons off to your left. In 140 metres cross over another stile and follow the path on the other side in the same direction as before. Keep as close as possible to the hedge on your left-hand side and, in 150 metres, you come to a car-wide track.
17. Cross the track, turn left and follow the path around the right-hand side of a house. Follow the edge of the garden for 25 metres until you come to its far corner, under electricity cables, and by a footpath post. Branch right in the direction of the footpath post, diagonally across the field, following the line of the pylons, your direction 265 degrees.
18. When you reach the first pylon, the field splits into two levels (originally two

    fields, with the bank as the hedge). Follow the edge of the lower field, in the direction of the footpath post, along the foot of the bank. Note: this lower field is often waterlogged.

19. 340 metres further on, you come to the far end of the field. The official route down onto the tarmac road is to go left down the ridge, parallel to the road on your right-hand side, and then down on to the road itself. Cross over it to go up a car-wide gravelled track, following the public footpath sign, in the same general direction as previously (320 degrees). 35 metres up this track, you pass Loshes Woodland visitor car park on your right. [If you wish you can enter Loshes Woodland through the gate in the deer protection fence some 25 metres to the right of the car park and walk on a permissive path through this Forestry Commission conservation area, to exit through another, similar gate some 250 metres away in the far left-hand corner of the woodland, to re-join the Book’s route]. Otherwise, keep ahead up the track, pass under overhead cables and in 50 metres, you come to another Forestry Commission gate. [Again, you can enter the woodland at this point and walk parallel to the public footpath on a permissive path]. The public footpath is to the left of this gate. Follow this narrow, often very overgrown path, with the Forestry Commission fence on your right.
20. In 250 metres you come to the far left-hand corner of the field, where you go over cross poles and over a stile to the right of an electric fence . Ignore the stile on your left, with “Private” painted on it, and continue straight on along the left-hand side of the field, your direction 280 degrees.
21. In 400 metres pause and look right, where 85 metres across the field you can see where your way ahead continues [!] uphill through a wooded area. But the official route is to continue down the left-hand edge of the field for a further 100 met res until you come to the far left-hand corner of the field. Cross the overgrown stile (or go through the metal fieldgate to its right) , and turn right, your direction 20 degrees, with a wooden fence on your right-hand side. In 80 metres, keep to the fence and the path as they veer right. [!] In a further 125 metres, where the fence does a four metre dog-leg left, you go left uphill, initially quite steeply , on a potentially very overgrown path, your direction 50 degrees. Keep the line of conifer trees on your left.
22. In 100 metres you come to the end of the trees and to a crossroads with another path.
23. Go straight on up the hill, ignoring paths to the side, and carry straight on, aiming always for the church spire (your interim destination) with your direction 15 degrees, soon keeping the wooden fence to your left-hand side.
24. In 60 metres, where the wooden fence goes sharp left, carry straight on downhill along the left- hand edge of the field, towards the church spire which you can soon see in front of you. 120 metres further on, you come down to a stile which you cross on to a road ( if the stile is overgrown, climb over the wooden slat fence to the right of the nearby fieldgate ). Turn right along the road and, in 40 metres, turn left uphill, following the public footpath sign towards the church spire. You pass Great Henny Rectory on your right-hand side.
25. 150 metres further on uphill you come to a wooden gate. On its left there is a smaller wooden gate.
26. [4] This is the entrance to St. Mary’s Church, Great Henny. To visit the church – or if you are taking the short walk – go through this gate into the churchyard.
27. Here you have a choice of 2 routes.

    1. To continue the main walk

       Can be muddy at times

       1. turn left before the gate, your direction 275 degrees. In 15 metres, the hedge on your right-hand side goes sharp right. But you head straight on across the field, on what may be a clear path (depending on the time of year) and aiming for the two houses on the far side. [ If the field is in crop or looks very muddy, go back to the church- yard, go through it and turn left on to a road, walk along it in a westerly direction for 300 metres to re-join the route by Henny Parish Room ]. In 250 metres you come to the perimeter fence around the houses. Follow the direction of the footpath sign around to the left , along the fence, to another footpath sign 40 metres ahead, where you turn right. In 60 metres you come out on to the road.
       2. Turn right along the road . In 60 metres, you pass The Thatched Cottage on your right-hand side and, 15 metres further on, ignore a turning to the right signposted “Henny Church”. Follow the road as it curves around to the left, past Henny Parish Room on your right-hand side. In 140 metres further on, turn right, down two steps, following a public footpath sign, along the right-hand side of the field, your direction due north.
       3. In 300 metres [!] you come to an oak tree (where there used also to be the stump of a large oak tree). 20 metres ahead, cross a ditch and by a footpath post turn left, following the right-hand edge of a line of trees, your direction 295 degrees. In 200 metres you pass a farmhouse on your left-hand side (on the other side of the hedge) and, 30 metres further on , pass through a gap in the hedgerow , straight over into the next field. Walk along the edge of this field in the same direction as before. [!] In 140 metres, turn left over the ditch, then turn right along a car-wide gravel drive, continuing in the original direction, now within the well maintained grounds of a farming business . 125 metres along this drive, you come out to a T-junction, and turn right into Little Henny. In 160 metres, as the road swings to the right , you pass a house on your left-hand side called Pitfield Green. 200 metres further on, the road curves around to the right, heading towards some trees. Just 5 metres beyond the curve, there is a public footpath sign on the left-hand side of the road. [5]
          • If you are not having lunch in Bulmer Tye, keep on the road northwards for 200 metres to rejoin the route at the asterisk [*].
       4. Otherwise - turn left off the road and [!] follow the direction (300 degrees) of the concrete footpath signpost across the field (which can be very muddy when not in crop) on a path which you may find poorly maintained and or scarcely visible at some times of the year.
          • Note: if this field is very muddy and looks too unpleasant to cross, stay on the road for 200 metres, and at the road junction with Ryes Lane, turn left - and reverse the walk directions from the Bulmer Fox pub, your lunchtime pub, in the directions below
       5. In 150 metres, halfway across the field, turn a quarter right, and aim for the short footpath post with a yellow arrow in the first gap in the hedge from the right , by a large oak tree, some 40 metres from the right-hand edge of the hedgerow ahead .
       6. By this footpath post, cross over two wooden planks into the next field. Continue straight on across the field, your direction 315 degrees.
       7. In 150 metres you come to the far side of the field, where there is another wooden footpath post. Cross on two planks over a ditch to go straight across the next field, in the same direction as before, for 250 metres, [!] aiming for the trees with a long red-brick building behind them. Once at these trees, turn right, following the left-hand edge of the field, with the trees on your left-hand side.
       8. 150 metres further on, go through a wooden swing gate, following the direction of the wooden footpath post just before the gate . Keep ahead on a grassy path through a paddock with young fruit trees and in 70 metres exit the paddock by another wooden swing gate. Turn left, following the direction of the arrow on the gatepost, into the car park of The Bulmer Fox pub-restaurant, which is the suggested lunch place.
       9. Coming out of the pub after lunch, turn right along the road. In 100 metres you pass Church Road on your left-hand side. 70 metres further on, turn right into Ryes Lane, which takes you back to Little Henny. Walk down Ryes Lane for 1 km, until the road enters some trees and curves sharply around to the right. Directly opposite is the entrance to Henny Lodge (formerly known as The Hall).
       10. Turn left on a road at this junction [*] following the sign for Ryes House, your direction 55 degrees. In 60 metres you pass Lodge Farm on your left-hand side. 100 metres further on, where a small postbox faces you, take the left-hand fork which is signposted public by-way. Walk straight down this car-wide track, your direction 35 degrees, past two brick cottages on your left-hand side.
       11. In 800 metres the path leads down and out of the trees, and on your right-hand side there is a wooden post with various yellow markers on it. Ignore this and continue straight along the existing path.

    2. Short Cut Avoiding Bulme Tye

       This route of just over a mile is along a section of the St Edmund Way / Stour Valley path (which you have been following from time to time earlier in your walk) and is shown by the dotted line on the TO map. It is easy to follow – just keep ahead, due north, as you descend then gently ascend through interesting countryside – latterly a golf course that isn’t.

       This route by-passes Bulmer Tye and the lunch stop on the main walk. For those wanting a pub lunch and not wishing to do the Bulmer Tye leg (muddy at times) you can detour in an easterly direction (right) from Great Henny Church to follow footpaths down to Henny Street with its pub on the banks of the River Stour, the Henny Swan. You will need OS Explorer map 196 to plot a way back from the pub to re-join the short walk up on the golf course that isn’t.

       1. Enter the churchyard, walk through it and exit by the lychgate. Cross a concrete drive, with a public road to your left and a house with garage called The Old Hatchery on your right.
       2. Take the signposted footpath directly ahead, down a narrow path between hedges and fences on either side. In 75 metres you come out into a field, and descend its left-hand edge, with a hedge on your left.
       3. In 125 metres turn left to cross a stile. Pass a horse training/jumping paddock on your left, and keep ahead along the right-hand side of the field, with a hedge on your right. (!) In 125 metres your path swings left to cross a stile and you follow the yellow marker arrows around to the right. Follow the hedge on your right and in 110 metres your way swings left.
       4. In 65 metres bear right over a three plank bridge with a metal hand rail and follow the path ahead as it swings to the left, gently downhill to a dip and then up the other side.
       5. Keep ahead, uphill now, with a low hedge on your left-hand side, and in 100 metres you pass a memorial seat under a large, single oak tree. Follow the direction of the two-armed footpath sign on your right, ahead, now with a low hedge on your right, gently uphill, then downhill.
       6. In 350 metres go through a gap in a wooden barrier and cross a ditch. Keep ahead, uphill, with a ditch and hedge/ treeline on your left. In 100 metres go under overhead electricity cables. Ignore a path to your right and continue ahead, uphill, passing through hawthorn bushes in 50 metres.
       7. In a further 80 metres pass a pond on your right-hand side (with Deep Water warning notice) and continue ahead. In 100 metres you reach the start of a line of oak trees on your right.
       8. In a further 160 metres cross a stile to the left of a pair of wooden fieldgates, to rejoin the main walk route at point [6] Note: coming from the short walk, your way ahead is directly ahead at the four-arm footpath sign.
28. [6] In 600 metres, having gone down the hill and up the other side, at the crest of this hill you have a fine view of Great Henny Church; and at this crest you come to a four-armed footpath sign (where the path straight on goes through trees). The short walk from Great Henny Church re-joins the main walk here. Turn left along the car-wide public footpath, going due north. This car-wide track takes you steadily downhill. In 500 metres you come to the foot of the hill (where there are extensive farm buildings off to the right of the path) and to a footpath sign. Ignore the way to the right and go straight ahead along a car-wide track, due north, uphill, along the right-hand edge of a field. In 110 metres, where the hedge turns right, keep ahead, a quarter left, uphill and in a further 100 metres at the top of the field, pass between a gap in the fence into the next field.
29. Walk straight down this field on a path between low fences and bushes to a dip and then up the other side , your initial direction 340 degrees. From here you have a good view of Sudbury away to your right-hand side. In 250 metres, you come to the far side of the field and exit it.
30. Follow the path through some trees, your direction 300 degrees, as it winds its way downhill. You are now on the outskirts of Sudbury and can see some houses down on your right-hand side. Ignore ways off and, in 200 metres, the path takes you up to the back of a row of houses, and you follow the path sharp right down the hill, parallel with the row of houses.
31. In 100 metres you come out on to a residential street, by a public footpath sign. Turn right down the street, your direction 60 degrees. In 100 metres, you come down to the bottom of Pinecroft Rise and turn left. In 100 metres follow the road as it curves around to the right, past Hall Rise (road) on your left-hand side. 70 metres further on, you come to the bottom of Meadow View Road, where you reach a T-junction with the main road.
32. Cross over the main road and on the far side go through a wooden kissing gate near a sign saying Kone Vale. Go straight ahead down the path through lawns and into the trees. In 250 metres take the right-hand fork in the path, next to a Babergh District Council sign. 15 metres further on, fork left up the slope with metal railings on to the disused railway line.
    • At this point, those in a hurry to catch the train can turn right and follow the path along the top of the disused railway line for just over 1 km, passing over a number of bridges, until the path descends, narrows and exits on the flat through a sports centre’s car park, at the end of which you turn right for the railway station.
33. For those making their way to the Mill Hotel for tea, and a walk through the town, turn left on top of the disused railway line , your direction 310 degrees initially. In 65 metres a bridge takes you over the main road. 125 metres further on, continue straight on over a metal bridge. 250 metres beyond that, you come to a brick bridge with a metal railing and take the steps (with a wooden banister on their right-hand side) down to the right before the bridge.
34. Go round the wooden barrier at the bottom of the steps and head straight across the field towards the bridge across the river ahead, your direction 80 degrees. In 120 metres cross the bridge ( with metal gates at both ends ) and, on the far side, turn half left, heading for the Mill Hotel (the large white building to the right of the church tower), your direction 60 degrees. In 300 metres, having crossed two minor streams , you come across the field to a gate leading on to a brick bridge, going alongside a large duck pond, and out to the Mill Hotel, Sudbury, on your left-hand side, the suggested tea stop.
35. Coming out of the Mill Hotel, go straight up to the top of Walnut Tree Lane. Turn left on the main road, going into town. In 200 metres ignore the road left to Bury St. Edmunds and Colchester. Carry on down Gainsborough Street. In 170 metres down on your left-hand side is Gainsborough’s House. 100 metres further on, you come out into the Market Square. To get to Sudbury railway station, turn sharp right and, in 40 metres, with the Anchor pub on your right-hand side, turn left into Station Road. At the bottom of Station Road, the Eastern Station Lounge is on your left-hand side, and follow the signs straight across for Sudbury railway station.