Walberswick and Southwold

 October 2026

These two Suffolk towns were once important shipping and trading places, prominent on the Suffolk coast. 

Jenny and Duncan stayed at The Bell, Walberswick, which was very comfortable and busy, and where the Walking Boys have stayed in the past. Food, drink and accommodation excellent.

There are ample opportunities to stroll around in what appears to be a thriving village though the warning signs are that second homers are shedding their properties now that they are more heavily taxed. How much will this change the nature of the village?

We walked first to Dunwich which is now a cluster of houses, a church and a pub but once was a major east coast town. We took the Suffolk Coastal Path, supped a drink at The Ship (very busy indeed)  and back via the long beach, walking on shingle. 6-7 miles.

The next day we spent the morning in Southwold, the larger of the two towns with a variety of shops and eating places, plus the Adnams brewery and its shop. Southwold is a busy and attractive town, with Georgian and Regency buildings providing echoes of grand sailing. The Battle of Sole Bay (England v Netherlands) took place off here.

From Walberswick Southwold is reached by a ferry comprising a strong man in a rowing boat. £2.50 to be rowed across the river against a powerful tide. After that, via the lifeboat station, is a country path to the outskirts of Southwold. A very pleasant trip!

Fonthill

 October 2026

We started in the direction of home and stopped at Fonthill for a morning walk  around the Fonthill Park estate in beautiful autumnal weather. Starting at the Beckford Arms (SP3 6PX) we walked clockwise around the estate through Fonthill Gifford, Stop Farm, stables, a grotto and back to the pub. There are plenty of signed tracks and it’s easy to create a walk of your chosen length. Look out for the Fonthill Arch and various grottos and beware a rather steep section just north of Stop Farm. 

John was thrilled by a dam and hydropower, then we took lunch in some luxury at the Beckford Arms in Fonthill. 

Yet another good walking trip though Mark’s unexpected return on Tuesday and Tim’s unwelcome steak pie plus various phone calls did take off some of the shine.

Salisbury

 October 2026

Miserable weather today. We appreciate the importance of rain after such a dry and hot summer but we could not cheerfully walk in it so we decided to take a bus to Salisbury where we spent much of the day in and around the majestic cathedral. It holds an original 1215 Magna Carta in a special exhibition. 

The cathedral has a very fine spire and is lofty and airy. We joined a well informed guide on an hour-long tour and saw many things we would have missed. I particularly liked the exquisite model of the cathedral in process of being built. 

A snack lunch then the adjacent museum has plenty of interest and we spot the grave and house “Arundells” of ex prime minister Edward Heath.

In the evening, having cancelled our booking elsewhere, we stayed in at The Grove and enjoyed our evening meal followed by a great quiz. We did well enough to win three packets of pork scratchings!

Shaftesbury

October 2026

Mark left us, feeling unwell, but we three walked from Ludwell into Shaftesbury, approximately 2.5 miles. Ludwell is in south Wiltshire (as is Salisbury) and Shaftesbury is in Dorset. 

We found several stiles to be challenging but overall the walk was pleasantly varied through farm land, fields, isolated houses and the built up edge of Shaftesbury. Lunch at The Mitre was very good (we enjoyed the coronation chicken and the pleasant waitress) plus a fine view over the hills.

Gold Hill, made famous by Ridley Scott’s Hovis advert, was a delight and the adjacent museum equally so.

Popping in to the Abbey grounds (the Abbey itself having been demolished by Henry VIII) we are met by a genial local reporter for Alfred local radio who quizzes us on our impressions of Shaftesbury – which we are pleased to give. You can hear it here https://thisisalfred.com/podcast/the-alfred-daily-8th-october-2026/ (Listen from 43.50 to 48.00)

We return by a partly different route though we can’t avoid the tricky stiles.

Supper at the Benett Arms in Semley. Approaching the village, on single track roads in near total darkness we find the road closed, necessitating a retreat and a long diversion.

The steak pie has pastry like mdf and Tim can’t finish it. Worse, it revisits him overnight. There is little atmosphere in the pub and we leave early, returning to the Grove for a final pint. 

It promises to rain tomorrow morning so we may reconsider our walking plans.

Dorset & Wiltshire Border

October 2026

John drove us to the Woolpack Inn at Totford for lunch, followed by 3.7-mile circular walk in the Candover Valley (WW4903). From Totford (SO24 9TJ) we walked clockwise up to Brown Candover (The Wayfarers Walk) then turned south at Moth Farm, west along the Oxdrove Way then south again on the Wayfarers Walk back to the Woolpack.

 It’s further than you think from home in Cambridge when driving takes in the M25 but we experience no hold ups and this walk is a useful break on the way to just outside Shaftesbury. The Candover Valley walk is suitably varied in warm weather and our sandwich lunch is substantial.

After lunch we headed on to The Grove Arms in Ludwell, where we were staying for the next three nights.

The Grove Arms is welcoming, providing double rooms and a single. Evening meal is good.

South Downs, Shere and Gomshall

 May 2026

A bit away from the South Downs, actually, but on our way home to Cambridgeshire.

We started from the village of Shere, between Guildford and Dorking. The circular walk of just 3.5 miles, (Walking World 2953) offered extensive views, including the North Downs. 

It also led us past the church of St James, Shere. There was almost certainly a Saxon church here, but the current church of St James dates to around 1190 and is cruciform in plan. The church is approached up a cobbled lane, through a lych gate designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1902.

For lunch we visited Gomshall Mill, which offered a wide range of menus.

Our trip home was, predictably, slow, as it so often is on the M25 on a Friday.

To round off another very good few days walking and talking, John produced a map showing where we have stayed, approximately south of The Wash, over the years - as an aid to deciding where to go next. Any great areas that we might have missed? Where next?

South Downs, Cissbury Ring

 May 2026

Thursday was our day at the Cissbury Ring.

The mighty earthwork of Cissbury Ring has a history going back over 5,000 years, yet still stands out and provides a broad panorama from its crown. It has been a neolithic flint mine, a bronze age burial site, an iron age hill fort, a Roman mint, a Tudor vantage point, a Victorian archaeology site and a second world war gun emplacement.

Lunch was at the Black Horse at Findon.

Supper was at the Five Bells, West Chiltington.