It should be noted that in 2017 the bus service was severely slashed for this part of Suffolk. There is now only a single service in each direction between Snape and Bromeswell each weekday with no service at all during weekends making it very difficult to perform this walk without assistance from friends or family with a car. The alternative is to start the walk from Melton adding another 1.5 miles to the start and curtailing the walk on the Blaxhall road and walking the 3.5 miles along country lanes through to Stratford St Andrew, or to continue onward from Snape to Aldeburgh which will add another 5.5 miles to the walk.
This route was served by Anglia buses up until 2013 and they provided a popular and friendly service. When the company was taken over by the national Go-Ahead Group the route was immediately axed stating that it was unprofitable. First Group subsequently stepped in and supported the route as an extension of their existing 64 service but have now cut back the 64 and all but removed the 65. This has left villages and communities along the route without any buses whatsoever and deprived walkers of using the long distance Sandlings footpath without having full over night gear. This issue has been brought up with the appropriate authorities who have responded by stating that First Group is a private company and therefore need to make a profit and as a result unprofitable routes will be axed. This certainly does not encourage tourism or the use of this under-rated gem of a trail. It is notable that when Anglia buses ran this route they returned a profit but the big nationals deem it unprofitable. No doubt there are many more layers of management to support in these huge organisations.
Despite this lack of transport, I will continue with describing this part of the Sandlings area and footpath. There are little signs of civilisation and the only time any other walkers are encountered are in the popular Rendlesham Forest. But even here there are only a few people most of whom are dog walkers.
The route on this particular occasion diverted away from the Staverton Park area in order to take a break and refreshments at the Butley Oyster pub, a little treasure to search out. This pub reopened in 2017 after an extended period of closure.
Throughout the route there is plenty to see with both flora and fauna as well as more man made artefact's. Gobblecock cottage is worth a snigger just because of its name. The remote Wenhaston church is something one would not discover without walking the Sandlings Path. Both Woodbridge and Bentwaters airfields contain a certain eeriness with little signs of life behind their tall fences.
The route passes the official start to the UFO trail which is something probably no other trail can boast. It is worth taking time out and reading the triangular marker board and taking in what happened way back in 1980 and which has become known as Britain's Roswell. Although there is still debate over exactly what happened during those nights around Christmas 1980, to my mind there are far too many witnesses and too much evidence to discount that it was purely fantasy and mistaken identity of the obvious Orfordness Lighthouse which sits directly east on the horizon. This, together with hearing the testimony from acquaintances who were around at the time, all go to add to the weight that this was a lot more than a mistaken regular flashing light in the forest. We will probably never discover exactly what happened, the event downplayed by the authorities and official documentation safely hidden away in top secret repositories.
