Day 11 – Sunday 27 February 2000 - Waldringfield to Landguard Point, Felixstowe

13.5 miles walked today

149.5 miles walked in total (average 13.59)

I seriously didn’t want to get up today.  The alarm went off at six, but I didn’t surface until half past.  I managed a quick cup of coffee, to make up a packed lunch and be out of the house at seven, trying not to wake Mum and Dad in the process.

It’s been very grey today and I felt quite cheated as it was gloriously sunny on Friday and Saturday.  It’s also been very breezy inland and very blustery on the coast.

No road walking at all this morning – all public footpaths and bridleways.  Lots of signs made the route very easy to follow.  Some of the paths went through the middle of fields – there are obviously some very tolerant farmers in Suffolk.

Some of the houses I passed were huge, although I’m not sure I’d like to live here.  It’s very bleak and there didn’t seem to be any real communities or village shops for provisions.  Presumably, as everyone seems to have a car now, everyone travels into Ipswich or the bigger out of town supermarkets.

I didn’t see too many people before I got to Felixstowe Ferry.  One birdwatcher told me he’d been fooled by the good weather the last couple of days, but had very little visibility today.  I also met some barking mad walkers – about seven of them – walking with two sticks each (possibly like ski poles?) but walking along the tarmac!

I arrived at Felixstowe Ferry to find lots of people buying fresh fish from the local stalls – the smell was wonderful.  I spotted the Ferry Boat Inn, but it was closed so took advantage of their sheltered seating to eat some of my lunch and watch the world go by.

As the pub opened, there was a queue of us battering on the door, demanding to be let in – obviously a very popular place.  I couldn’t quite understand the odd looks I was getting from the bar staff until I realised what my new fleece hat had done to my hair which, once freed, made me resemble Worzel Gummidge!

After a quick pint of orange and lemonade, I left the pub to walk the rest of the way to Felixstowe.  I felt fairly confident I could do it without the map, so packed it in my rucksack to just enjoy the walk and leave the concentrating until later!

The walk took me through a golf course (which the taxi driver who took me back to Waldringfield said was the fourth oldest course in Britain) and past a couple of Martello towers.  The front was littered with beach huts – if the numbering system is anything to go by, there were approximately nine hundred of them and they’re laid out in terraces all the way along the front.

It didn’t take too long to get into Felixstowe and I immediately made my way to the Tourist Information Office to get a local map to Landguard Point which is a nature reserve at the entrance to the Orwell River.  I also acquired the numbers of a couple of local taxi firms to get me back to the car at Waldringfield and bought the obligatory postcards.

At Landguard Point, from where you can see the Rivers Orwell and Stour and across to Harwich, there is a small free car parking area.  I went to chat up the man who runs the coffee and tea stall and he’s promised to watch out for mine and Amanda’s cars next weekend when we walk to Ipswich.

I enjoyed today very much indeed, despite the nagging pain in my left bum cheek – probably heralding an attack of sciatica!