Log No 340. Mon 9th Jun 2014 - Shottisham to Hollesley, 17 miles (5248 miles walked)

Taking the tent down this morning I folded back the front of the groundsheet and saw a toad had made a home for himself underneath it, there was just the top of his head visible in the grass and then when I folded the back of the groundsheet there was Mrs Toad, they'd obviously had a falling out and weren't speaking to each other.

The campsite had been very quiet but I was close to a fenced off area of hens, ducks and a peacock and they more than made up for the lack of noisy campers, though they were quiet when it was dark.

I left the campsite at 07.40, there was no sun but it was dry and warm.

I retraced my steps a bit from yesterday then took footpaths back to the river, the embankmrnt footpath only went for a couple of miles to Ramsholt then I had to come back inland on the road.

I wanted to get to the mouth of the River Deben where the ferry across from Felixstowe Ferry came in, it was quite a detour by road but it looked I could take farm tracks to shorten the distance.

There were 3 miles of tracks and I had gone half distance when the track ended at a wide stream, the track used to go over it but with the track in the next field having been ploughed up the bridge had been removed.

If I could help it I wasn't going to go back and then take an even longer route on the roads, I was only about 500m away from the river at this point and although there was no footpath I felt sure I could walk on the embankment if I could get to it.

The problem was the wide drainage ditches round all the fields and then the extra wide irrigation channel next to the embankment, but the map did show one gap in this which wasn't too far away.

There were 2 fields to cross, both having a chest high rape seed oil crop, the yellow flowers had all but gone so the smell wasn't as strong as it might have been. I could see where a tractor had gone through the field in the past and I took this route but it was still a struggle through the crop and by the time I did manage to cross both fields I was covered in yellow dust/pollen.

Finding the gap to the embankment turned out quite easy, even with the thick vegetation. I had seen the odd deer prints and I just followed what I assumed was a deer trail and it led me to the gap.

The embankment wasn't easy to walk on with no footpath but it was easier at the bottom of it at the river side and half an hour later I got onto the road, my shorts were some filthy after that and would have to be washed.

I got to Bawdsey Quay at 11.00 and the cafe had just opened, I felt I deserved a pot of tea after that.

I had been sitting at a table for a while when a couple came in and went to sit at a table outside on the porch, I was sure the chap had Parkinson's and I pondered whether I would go and speak with them, it didn't seem right to go up to them and say "Hello, do you have Parkinson's?"

Well I did go and talk to them and had a very pleasant chat with Carol & Chris who were here on holiday, Chris had been diagnosed with it 16 years ago when he was 50 and is determined to lead as normal a life as possible.

The footpath signs now were for the Suffolk Coast Path, along the beach, but they did warn that the beach wasn't accessible at high tide. High tide had been 2 hours ago so I walked on the shingle for nearly 2 miles until I could get onto a proper footpath at a Martello Tower.

There were 4 Martello Towers in the 2 mile stretch between Bawdsey and the aptly named Shingle Street and 3 of them had been converted into houses.

Walking on the shingle in front of the houses I saw what I thought was a painted white line on the shingle going from one of the houses to the sea, it turned out to be a long line of shells.

Tonights campsite was inland and I had to take a longer route than I needed and go through Hollesley so I could get to a shop for something for tea.

I got to the campsite at Bailiffs Cottage at 15.40 and the owner waived the site fee, thank you very much.

This campsite is only 1 mile east of where I camped last night in Shottisham but it had taken me a circuitous 17 miles to get here.

There is another river to get round tomorrow.