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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2886 |
29th August 2019 Hiking - Walking: Flatford to Dedham Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny and warm Max Speed: Distance Covered: 4 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Thursday 29th August – bike ***** Flatford to Dedham – sunny. With an insurance accessor coming to give us a price for our collapsed hall ceiling ( not overly impressed with his performance) this morning and with light winds forecast I had a couple of ideas which I put to Mag for the afternoon out as I wanted to pick up my repaired 7m sail from the repairers in Brantham. First make use of our National Trust membership by parking at Flatford and going for a walk to Dedham or take the bikes to Alton water and bike round? We chose Flatford and after packing a picnic lunch we tried to ring the sail loft but got no answer so decided to take a chance and leave anyway. Luckily, we got through on the mobile on the way and he was open so picked up the sail no problem, it was then only a couple of miles to Flatford. The NT carpark was full again but we managed to find a spot near the entrance where they swiped our membership cards for the £5 parking, we are now getting close to the cost of the membership! It’s only a short walk down hill to the River Stour in the heart of Constable country:) Being a sunny day in the last week of the school holidays it was pretty busy with families out walking, picnicking, rowing, canoeing and stand up paddle boarding. Crossing the bridge, we turned left walking down to the mill where the pool was full of dace in the crystal-clear water as a couple of canoes headed downstream! Back at the restored lock where as a lad fishing I remember when that side of the mill was tidal being full of large mullet which were next to impossible to catch! The lock was covered in green duck weed and a small dog thought it was grass and jumped in, he got a big surprise and the owner was able to just reach his collar to pull him out! We then headed upstream towards Dedham which is only 1.4 miles away stopping for a lovely chat with a Dad and his two kids preparing for a paddle in their recently bought inflatable canoe. We soon found a shady spot under a willow for our picnic what we thought was a safe distance from a large herd of bullocks. We were entertained by the large number of rowing boats with several of the rowers having little idea how to keep in a straight line, spending lots of time rowing backwards, into the bank or just around in circles! We even had the electric tourist boat go past a couple of time as the herd of cows got closer and closer making Mag a little nervous! I had a couple come close and sniff my feet and one got really close to Mag but we lived to tell the tail! Refreshed from a yummy salad we continued on and instead of crossing the wooden footbridge we turned left ending up in Dedham high street. We visited a large craft/art market before a look around the large impressive church. Then down to Dedham Mill avoiding the temptation of the ice cream shops. The mill was busy with kids out swimming and messing about on boats. Crossing the road, the other side was even busier with crowds of holiday makers. We were starting to get our six-mile legs as we set off back to Flatford, must be the biking we have been doing lately! We were entertained at the footbridge with kids jumping off and completed the mile back to Flatford with a noticeable breeze picking up! The same kids were now jumping off the bridge at Flatford right next to the rowing boats as we then made our way back to the van knackered despite only walking 4 miles being out nearly three hours! It was then just a matter of driving the 20 miles home sustained by a bay of liquorice all sorts! I discovered I had missed some windsurfing at The Dip where the wind had suddenly filled in at 2.20 but never mind as Mag and I had had a great time out and hopefully we have a few days of breeze to come! Photo Gallery Here National Trust – Flatford |
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