Felixstowe Ferry Walk

Felixstowe Ferry is a hamlet in Suffolk, approximately two miles northeast of Felixstowe at the mouth of the River Deben with a ferry to the Bawdsey peninsula. The village has a timeless atmosphere with its collection of residences, shacks and houseboats, alongside a pub, church, fresh fish for sale, boatyard and sailing club.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 15/03/2015

• Distance: 7.06 Miles

• Car Park: Cafe Car Park IP11 9RZ

• Refreshments: Ferry Boat Inn, Ferry Cafe & Winkles At The Ferry

• Photos Taken on Walk

The day we done this walk was Mother's Day or as my Mum liked it to be called Mothering Sunday, Tracey and John had asked if we would like to go for a walk and they suggested Felixstowe and as this was one of our walks in Suffolk which we had not done sounded a good idea. They had walked along the sea wall and back over the golf course before but the walk we were going to do was a lot longer. We did not park in the ferry Car park but parked in Golf road where we did not have to pay but it meant walking a lot further along the sea wall  to the start of the walk. When we got to Felixstowe Ferry we decided to have a hot drink and a cake before we started the walk as we had been walking into a head  wind to get there and the sea air was very cold. We choose to have this in the Winkles At The Ferry. cafe which was situated right by the sea next to the ferry. We started the walk by taking the tarmac path along an embankment behind the Ferry Cafe car park where we passed the boatyard carrying along the wall looking down on abandoned boats lying moored in muddy flats.

We had to turn right through a squeeze gate stile to walk alongside the Deben Estuary and then after half a mile the path swung left and then right and as you looked over to the left you could see swans in the fields and then passing the inlet at the entrance to King's Fleet which is now blocked and is all that is left of the port of Goseford. It was one of the most important ports on the East Coast in medieval times. Just a little bit further we descended a embankment on to a a broad track running alongside the King's Fleet with farmland to the right and passing a old wind pump. We walked for a mile before the track bared to the right, when reaching  Deben Lodge Farm the road became tarmac this is where first aid was given to Tracey as she had managed to get a blister on her ankle so not having any plasters we cushioned it with some tissues. At the next T- junction we turned left across a field to a ridge then dropped down through the next field to The Wilderness which is a belt of trees beside Falkenham Brook where we turned left to go through the trees and followed the path alongside the stream. At the end of the path through the trees we bared right over a stile across a meadow and then keeping the fence on the right until we got to a footbridge over a stream, in the field there was quite a lot of wild geese.

Over the footbridge we continued on a grassy path Felixstowe Ferry 34 01 between two fields when we got to the end of the field we turned left with a hedge beside us then we turned right to climb a track to Brick Kiln Cottages. At the top of the track we then turned left along a lane past Gulpher Hall farm which had a duck pond on the opposite side of the road. And yes being a duck pond it did have ducks on it and John was very observant and could see a water rat on one of the branches of the willow tree. We carried on and as the road bends to the right we turned left at a footpath sign and walked along a field edge path from here the path ascends and turns right around a field and cuts straight across the field corner until we got to a gate passing a house which had geese in the garden and they were as good as guard dogs with the noise they made and Rudy did not help by being very inquisitive trying to get right up to the fence. We crossed the road and headed down the lane for about 150 yards just before a house to join another path that runs between fields until we reached a pill box. We joined a road where we turned right on to Ferry Road where there was some houses which had great views over to Felixstowe Ferry and the Deben Estuary. There were Bungalows and these interested Tracey & John as they are in the process of buying one in Sudbury. We crossed over Cross Road then left past the golf course clubhouse then right across the golf course until we reached the sea wall where you would normally turn left and follow the sea wall back to the start of the walk where if you look across the estuary you can see Bawdsey Manor, but as we had already done that we turned right and walked back along the sea wall to where we had left the car.