Text contributed by Anneliese; pics by Anneliese, Lou and Simon.
When Ed Sheeran sees the “castle on the hill”, Framlingham Castle, he knows he is on his way home. For us, it was the majestic backdrop at the start of Glen’s Framlingham Fringes walk.
This 10-mile stroll in the sunshine quickly turned into a boggy traipse near the Mere, where a young boy gleefully exclaimed “it’s not muddy at all!” while shaking his mud-caked boots at us as we passed. Those of us who could briefly look up were rewarded with views of the impressive Grade II listed Framlingham College.
We traversed slightly drier fields and undulating (for Suffolk) countryside, admiring the blossom and noticing the leaf buds with optimistic comments that spring had sprung.
Our lunch stop was scheduled in a lovely open park with curiously positioned benches dotted around the perimeter, forcing our normally sociable group to temporarily separate into small parties of 3 or 4 to dine and relax before the excitement of the second half.
When I volunteered to do the write up for this walk, I expressed a hope for “something interesting” to report. I ought to be more careful what I wish for as the afternoon saw us discovering a bridge we needed to cross….lying downstream, on its side, having been washed away, presumably, by the devastating floods that Fram has suffered recently.
The resulting climb down the bank, precarious rock balance in the stream, and scramble back up the other side was aided by gentlemanly proffered hands and ungainly shoves.
All in all, an entertaining, interesting, beautiful walk with lots of banter and a small amount of intelligent conversation, which I am sure Mr Sheeran will be upset to have missed when he hears that the IOG were in the neighbourhood.