®Amblers June 2009: Lavenham
After a period of fine weather, Sunday 7th June started decidedly damp and promised more as the day progressed.  Braving the possibility of a wet walk, seven amblers, including a junior member, set off for Lavenham. We started our walk with a visit to St Peter and St Paul’s Church in the village and could easily have spent more time there than on the walk. One ambler had to be, gently, extracted from the second hand bookstall in order to take advantage of the weather which was clearing rapidly. Crossing a field to the south west of the church we passed a small herd of Red Poll cows with an attentive bull. A short stretch on the road led to Slough Farm where we joined the disused railway line which provided welcome shade.
Emerging from the path to the road we headed up the hill to a headland path, passing an ancient deer park. By the time we reached the Bury Road, the sun had sent most birds and wildlife into the shade. We saw the rear of a post mill, purportedly from 1831, which only had the ground and first floor remaining. An extension of the walk took us for a few hundred metres in the direction of Frog’s Hall and back but provided interest in passing elderly farm machinery and the sight of a new lamb. We returned to the path above the disused railway line and eventually crossed it. This was identified on a sign as Dyehouse Lane, presumably the location of dye houses where the product of Lavenham’s past wealth, wool, was processed. Passing by Lavenham Hall we identified lions in the grounds guarding the entrance drive. They could have been stone, of course, but certainly looked very fierce.
Ascending the field to the church the group was presented with a last stile. Your correspondent caught a cramp at the critical manoeuvre. There was some merriment and comments about how it was difficult, sometimes, to get one’s leg over, stiles! We ended our very pleasant walk in the churchyard. Well not quite since it was so hot the pub opposite the church offered an opportunity to water the inner person! Almost as the last drops of shandy were drained from our glasses the rain started and we headed for home.

A rough outline of the walk can be seen on the OS Explore Website (opens in a new window).

Many thanks to John and John who planned the walk and John who led it and was able to do that trick with the weather!