There's more to Suffolk than the Sunrise Coast. Inland is an ancient landscape largely unchanged since Constable (amongst others) painted it. We might not have any mountains in Suffolk, but we still have some bewitching mini-wildernesses to explore on foot - and only around an hour by train from London.
Most of my walks centre on the south-west Suffolk villages of Boxford, Stoke-by-Nayland and Polstead. I hope to share some of my favourite routes in these pages, both in this area and much further afield.
It's now June, still the right side of the solstice, and the countryside is a thousand moods of green. It shades from the almost blue of wheat to the almost gold of barley just beginning to ripen. It goes via the almost black of holly to the pure silver of white poplars.
But getting out there this year has been challenging. The rain this flaming June has been relentless and has turned the gentle Suffolk countryside into a tropical rain forest. The footpaths have closed in, nettles jostling with brambles to bully walkers into retreat. The stingers stand shoulder high and find their way irritatingly into any gap in clothing (and often through the fabric). But we won't let that stop us!
The sky changes almost with every blink. From pure blue:
To smudged:
And sometimes to tropical splendour. Last night, around 8.30, we were treated to this:
And what's not to love about walking in a rain forest? There could be a jaguar hiding behind this horse chestnut tree:
Though it will probably have four wheels. This is Suffolk, after all.
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