Thurlow Walk

An easy walk across high farmland between twin villages of Great and Little Thurlow and three churches along the way. Great Thurlow is a village and civil parish in the St Edmundsbury district of Suffolk in eastern England. It is situated in the far south-west of Suffolk, with the River Stour passing through the centre of the village. A few rural villages are relatively close-by, with a sister village of Little Thurlow immediately to the north, and Haverhill, the closest urban location, just over 3 miles to the south.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 26/06/2016

• Distance: 3.5 Miles

• Car Park: Reading rooms or Village Hall (Free) CB9 7LA

• Refreshments: The Cock Inn

• Photos Taken on Walk

As I am writing this three years later I am afraid I can not remember to much about the walk except the main directions. From the Reading Rooms we walked north along the main street passing the post office and a village hall and then turned right on a narrow path between houses. We crossed a stile to bear left across a meadow to reach another stile.

At a junction of paths we went straight ahead across a wide track and kept left to cross two more meadows, each with stiles. We walked behind the school and then we had to bear right to pass through a gate. Crossed a concrete footbridge and stayed on the fenced-off path to reach St Peter's Church in Little Thurlow. Then we walked through the churchyard and the turned left to cross anther road and continued on a narrow footpath beside the River Stour. The path was lined with hedges at first then fields. We kept to the right to walk beside the river. Although the river rises only a short distance away, the Stour has already gathered pace though it is nothing like the river you can see downstream at Sudbury, Flatford or Shotley Gate.

When we came to a wear we turned right along the road into Little Bradley and followed it round to the left to the next church on the walk called All Saints Church, whose round tower dates back to the early 11th century. The road now bent right and climbed gently between farmland to the left and meadows to the right. We had to turn right at a footpath sign along a farm drive.Walking past the stables and barns of Hall Farm, then we went through a gate to cross a meadow. Leaving the meadow through another gate we kept straight ahead alongside a hedge to reach a road where we turned right. Now we were walking along Broad road into the hamlet of Little Thurlow Green and at the green we went downhill past some modern houses and the thatched Old Inn.

Before we reached the thatched pink cottage or as they say a choclate box house we had to turn left on to a concrete farm track with a hedge to our right. The path passed a wonderful site a sewage works and then turned right and left around a field to enter a belt of woodland beside the River Stour again. Now we kept straight ahead and when we saw an arched footbridge across the river to our right. We crossed a stile here and bared right around a meadow, then passed through a gate to enter a small graveyard which was opposite the third church on the walk, Great Thurlow church. We turned right at the road alongside the high brick wall of Great Thurlow Hall and crossed the river to the the start off the walk