Stisted Walk

A walk from where we live to Stisted Golf course and back via Lyons Hall Road. At this time we were in lockdown and as we could not travel so we decided to make up a walk which started from our house which have done parts of it before but never all of it and it seems strange we had not down it before as it is right near us. The walk is through  woods down very quite By Ways and the time of year we done it was just right as a lot of wild flowers had just started to flower.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 18/08/2019

• Distance: 5.76 Miles

• Car Park: Roadside Parking Gilbert |Way CM7 9UD

• Refreshments: Hare & Hounds slight diversion up Sunnyfields Rd

• Photos Taken on Walk

We left the house and headed down to the river which we do every day taking Rudy for a daily walk and crossed the river which used to be the site of Straits Mill which was built in 1781 and was demolished in 1974 which was three years before we moved in. Over the bridge we turned right and walked along the road towards the sewage works and then turned right to follow the river which took us to the steps that take you up to the A131 by pass. When we had crossed the road we kept to the footpath but we did go wrong we followed what looked like a path across the field and into another field without checking the map

We finally thought we had gone wrong and checked the map and yes we had and had to back track to pick up the proper route, I think the path had been made by cows over time going from field to field to the farm to be milked. Now on the right route which was almost the same way but on the other side of the hedge until we had to turn right and cross a field taking us to Covenbrook Hall Farm which is owned by the Pease family which also own the Peugeot garage in Braintree. We turned left at the main road and walked up hill for a little while to a entrance in to the wood and here we saw loads of Bluebells so it was a ideal time to have done this walk.

It is a lovely wood to walk through and having the Bluebells out made it even better. After leaving the wood we followed the path that brought us out into Lyons Hall Road and here we turned left and walked down the hill but unfortunately we missed the footpath sign on the left and realized we had gone wrong and had to walk back up the hill to the sign and to be honest the sign was well hidden in the bush. Then it was not long before we yet again crossing Lyons Hall Road and following the brook called Coven Brook, a bit further on we had to go round Alder Wood where we had to keep a eye on Rudy as you could see they kept Pheasants.

There was a field where you could see they were in the process of erecting solar panels taking up much of the field.We soon got to the next way point where we turned left on to a Byway taking us past Willoughbys Farm and then out on to Willoughby's Lane and then yet again crossing Lyons Hall Road. I should have said that the weather was fantastic for the time of year and for some reason we had over dressed for the walk. After crossing the road we were again on a Byway which came out at the A131 bypass which we had to cross. Now we were in Thistle Green Road and getting nearer and nearer to our normal walk we do with Rudy which takes us through a wood and round two lakes and back to the bridge at Straits Mill.