There are more than 2,000 miles of public rights of way here, plus thousands of acres of open-access land. Embracing this, and on the back of research showing people are walking 25 per cent further and for 25 per cent longer than before, the county has launched an app dedicated to walking, cycling and horse riding trails. So off-season be damned; the time was right to head east for a hike or two.
Though the app features routes county-wide, I stuck within the Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB, drawn by its promise of mudlessness and abundant birdlife – plus a handy train line. There is a wider element of “enjoy it while you can” urgency to visit here. Parts of the AONB are threatened by massive development, including plans for a new nuclear plant at Sizewell and a carbuncle of Wembley-sized substations near the village of Friston; I spotted almost as many “Save Our Sandlings!” posters en route as ducks on Minsmere Scrape.
I began in Woodbridge; my aim was to follow the long-distance Sandlings Walk up to Southwold (around 50 miles), with detours to explore other trails. My first foray was one of these detours, an easy loop from Melton station, across the River Deben and around Sutton Hoo. The site was virtually empty on a bright February morning as I strolled through pine and birch to reach the new viewing tower (opened late 2021) to look over the famous Anglo-Saxon burial mounds. Barely discernible at ground level, from 56ft up they’re revealed, spreading rash-like across the low grass – 1,300-year-old pimples once full of treasures.
Plenty more mounds and tumuli kept me company as I zigzagged northwards on the Sandlings Walk – the region is rife with archaeological interest and, given the discoveries at Sutton Hoo, you can’t help but wonder what might lurk under your every footstep. A medieval rabbit warren hid amid the Scots pines and rusty bracken of Sutton Heath, and on Upper Hollesley Common, a Bronze Age barrow burst from the heather. So I kept my eyes peeled as I progressed via abandoned airfields, lonely churches and sheltered woodland (being sure to look extra hard for UFOs in Rendlesham Forest…).
