Belchamp St Paul Walk

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 14/01/2007

• Distance: 4.79 Miles

• Level of Difficulty: A easy walk 

• Car Park:  The Half Moon Inn CO10 7DP

• Refreshments:  The Half Moon Inn

• Photos: No Photos taken on walk

This is a short one but it takes you through the beautiful Stour Valley on the Essex/Suffolk border. On this walk you have three pubs to choose from if you need to stop for refreshment.Walking is up and down along quite roads and fields.The walk starts in Belchamp St Paul and this is one of three Belchamps, the other two are Belchamp Otten and Belchamp Walton with Belchamp St Paul being the largest village with a populations around a couple of hundred. As always the walks start from a pub from this book and it started at The Half Moon Inn which is a beautiful thatched building.

From here we turned left and walked up along the long green stopping to have a look at the water pump the green also had some interesting houses and just past a old garage we turned right down a bridleway which was a wide path with ditches on both sides. At the end of the lane the bridleway turns right and we turned a little to our left passing by a red 'no horse' sign and the hedge to our left. A bit later at the hedge corner we had to take a line across to the field corner followed by taking another diagonal line across the second field. This path is well walked by the local dog walkers as it is well defined as it passes under the power lines. From here the views are really good looking over to Ovington and Ovington Hall and as you look to the right you can see Butlers Farm.

We joined the path running along the side of the hedge heading south along the Headland. We then had to go through a hedge turning half right to follow the path downhill across another field to the trees. We went along a visible track through the trees to a unusual bridge made out of telegraph poles with stepping treads cut out. We carried along now in a narrow field to reach a road where we turned left along a country lane with a incline up into the village of Knowl Green and at the T junction we turned left past the post box which is opposite Hole Farm.

Going down hill we passed the Cherry Tree pub and went over a stream then we turned right at a footpath sign, this led into a field and at the end of the field we followed waymarks to the corner. Then turning left to a planked bridge crossing the stream where we turned left and followed the stream going past a nature reserve. Carrying on past the Nature reserve we ignored a concrete track to the left and continued on to a metal bridge which we crossed. Here the route showed walking north east to a field corner across a field but we decided to take the concrete track around the field heading up hill to reach the same point.

Once we reached the corner we walked over a earth bridge into a wide grassy area, leading to a tiled old stable building passing a pond on our right. Seeing a way-mark sign at the end of a garden we walked to the right of the house bringing us out on a made up road and we passed the Red Lion pub which was the third pub on this walk. At the end of Fowes Lane we turned left along the road passing another pond and Windmill House on the right. We carried along this road passing the Belchamp Otten sign telling us we were now leaving the village, we kept following the road till there was a bend to the right here we left the road and carried straight onto the headland path and under the power lines and kept heading for the timber farm buildings.

We had to go through a gap in the hedge and keeping the hedge on the left of us until we reached the road beside the farm buildings of Lambert's Farm. We kept on the road for a few yards till we came to the next bend which went to the right. Here we turned left on to a well mowed track crossing the hedge line and turning right keeping the wood on the right.

At the end of the field we turned left and then right to follow the school boundary fence now we were looking for the duck sign for the Belchamp St Paul school nature reserve where we had to turn right to cross a concrete bridge to bring us out on to the road and then it was just a matter of turning left and walking just a little way to the Half Moon Inn and the end of the walk. Sorry no photos on this walk it was not until later when I started taking photos once we had decided to have a website.