Day 132 – Dunwich to Snape Maltings: 19.2m: 6.3h

The COVID restrictions which have been introduced during the last few weeks haven’t affected this month’s expedition. John and Helen drove to visit John’s father in Essex yesterday and so are able to pick up Mike, Ben and Gary from Saxmundham station this morning, and continue back to The Ship Inn at Dunwich. Helen then goes to check in at an AirBnB at Thorpeness which we’ve rented for the night, and kindly takes much of our luggage with her. The walkers set off from The Ship at 11:25.

It's a bit breezy, but the weather is generally set fair for most of the day. Because of coastal damage, the first part of our route takes us away from Dunwich Cliffs, through Grey Friars Wood, across Dunwich Heath and past the Minsmere RSPB Reserve. During the course of this, most of our chat centres on a puzzle posed by John which concerns a group of prisoners wearing black or white hats. Enough said. However, after an hour, we’ve just about answered the puzzle (with a bit of guidance from John) and are back on a path alongside the coast and heading towards the giant golf ball of the power station at Sizewell. We pass beneath this around 1 o’clock and, half an hour later, are approaching Thorpeness. A mile or so after Thorpeness, the official Suffolk Coast Path goes inland to bypass Aldeburgh to the north west before turning west to run parallel with the River Alde. But purity means that we must stay as close to the sea and river as we can, and so we continue along the beach/shingle into a very sparsely populated Aldeburgh, out to the Martello tower to the south of the town, and then back north past the sailing club before turning west along a rather muddy north bank of the Alde. Near Cob Island, the riverside path comes to an end, and we have to walk up through some fields to the road running west from Aldeburgh. Soon after 4 o’clock we’re approaching Aldeburgh Golf Club where we rejoin the official coast path about two and a half hours after leaving it. Fortunately, there’s only another 15 minutes or so of road action before we turn left onto a far more pleasant track which leads across Hazelwood Common and through Black Heath Wood just to the north of the Alde. Our original intention was to finish shortly after emerging from the wood near Snape Warren, but we’ve now decided to continue to Snape Maltings at the bridge over the river. This will make tomorrow’s schedule a bit easier and, conveniently, there’s a pub by the bridge (the Plough and Sail) where we can meet Helen. As we cross the bridge at 5:40 and 19 miles on from Dunwich, the rain is beginning to fall, but Helen is at the pub and it would be remiss not to have a drink before driving to the AirBnB in Thorpeness. The house is spacious and comfortable, and John and Helen have supplied not only provisions for tomorrow’s breakfast, but also liquid provisions for this evening. We have a 7:15 supper reservation at the nearby Dolphin pub, but there’s still time for showers/baths and a glass or two in the sitting room before walking there. No fish suppers at the Dolphin, and we all go (rather unusually) for the prix fixe menu, together with (not so unusually) a bottle of white and a bottle of red. Back at the house, in order to maintain a sense of normality before bed, stickies are available – and taken – from the liquid provisions. A good night’s sleep follows.