Halesworth to Bungay ~ Griffmonsters Great Walks

Wednesday, 8 June 2022

Halesworth to Bungay

Author: Griffmonster | Wednesday, 8 June 2022 | No comments |

Halesworth to Bungay

A walk through the Suffolk countryside between Halesworth and Bungay

The walk navigates through the Suffolk farmland and incorporates historic churches and the ruins of a Saxon minster. A great way to spend a day walking

NOTE

This is a walk summary intended to provide the user with just the essential information in order to navigate the walk route. Fully detailed information notes, refreshment stops and walk features are not included in this. A full write up will be included in the near future.

Halesworth to Bungay - Essential Information

Walk Statistics (calculated from GPX):

Start location: Halesworth
End location: Bungay
Distance: miles ( km)
Total Gain: ft ( metre)
Total Descent: ft ( metre)
Min Height: ft ( metre)
Max Height: ft ( metre)
Walk Time:
Walk Grade: Easy
Terrain: Footpath, Track, country lanes

Maps:

The following maps and services can assist in navigating this route. There are links to printed maps and links to downloadable GPX route data for importing into navigational software and apps.

Ordnance Survey Explorer Map: OS Explorer 231 - Southwold & Bungay
GPX Route File

Route Verification Details

Date of Walk: 21/05/2022
Walk Time: 09:00:00 to 16:30:00
Walkers: Griff, Kat
Weather Conditions: Bright, warm

Walk Notes

There is a bus tthat links the two ends of this walk. On the day this specific walk was undertaken this was the 99 service provided by First Bus. There is little in the way of refreshment stops until one gets to Flixton, almost at the end of the walk, therefore take drinl and food for the trek. There are seats in the church yards at the churches at St James South Elmham and St Cross South Elmham where one can take a break.

It should be noted that an alternative route can be taken at St James South Elmham using the footpath that leads directly to the church. This seems a good alternative to the plotted route - just head for the church.

The ruins of the Saxon minster are difficult to find, hidden within woodland with no clear waymarkers. The plotted route attempts to navigate to a southern entrance but this was through a padlocked farm gate on the day of the walk. It is better to walk to the gate at the side of the woodland which is difficult to find, hidden in the vegetation. It is well worth seeking out as the ruins are a delight to see.

The footpath that cuts across farmland from Park Road through to the woodland close to Flixton Hall was not easy to navigate on this occasion. The two crop fields had completely obliterated the footpath. The first field is easy to navigate along the field edge and the second field had the crop recently harvested so the actual footpath route could be followed but there was no clear marking of where it should be. This leads to an access road which it crosses and diagonally heads across pasture to the woodland beyond. Unfortunately an electric fence blocked the way into the field and we had to navigate down the access road and through the ground of the food factory. Although we expected to be challenged by their security we passed through without issue. The issues have been logged with Suffolk Council.

Flixton has an interesting church which is well worth visiting before navigating to The Buck Inn, a large pub in front of an aircraft museum. This is worth taking time out to visit both. The pub offered two ales from the local Stow Fen brewery with the Gold being a refreshing and reviving beer.

To avoid the road between Flixton and Bungay a route was plotted using the footpaths across the former Flixton airfield. These have all been blocked up, firstly by a horse paddock where fences have put across the path, then crops that have obliterated the path completely. To get around this follow the track that leads to the left just beyond the paddock. At the end of the track follow the field boundary that dog legs to the right then continues onwards. Once again the issues have been logged with Suffolk Council.

The route ends in Bungay and the Green Dragon brew pub is a great place to celebrate with a few of their own ales. On this occasion we also visited the Old Chequers pub which served a great refreshing pale ale named Vapour Trail from the local Bull of the Woods brewery.