The secret Suffolk only we know

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Everybody has one – a favourite hidden spot that they don’t want to share with the rest of the world. We persuaded two countryside experts and our team to spill the beans

Staverton Park
Maybe it’s just me but I’m sure the trees are watching us! You cannot help but feel that you are being spied upon as you step past the ancient oaks in Staverton Park, near Rendlesham Forest. It is a truly special landscape, just imagine yourself lost in a magical land. Take a good map as you’ll be off the beaten track.
 

David Falk, Countryside Manager, Suffolk County Council. Discover more hidden parts of the county at Suffolk County Council’s official countryside website www.discoversuffolk.org.uk

Fritton Lake

Tucked away in the north east of the county Fritton Lake is a two and a half mile lake surrounded by reedbeds, woodland with beautiful displays of bluebells and rhododendons. Go gently about the waterside and you may be able to spot kingfishers, dragonflies and a variety of butterflies.

John Seery

The Rocks on the River Deben

Late afternoon at the Rocks – a small, unspoilt anchorage on the River Deben midway between Felixstowe and Waldringfield.
It’s the perfect place to take a barbecue on a summer’s day, even better if you’ve called in at the Ramsholt Arms, or the Maybush at Waldringfield. The Deben isn’t just my favourite river on the east coast, it’s my favourite place in the whole world.

Georgina Wroe

Around Newmarket

Newmarket, the home of racing, is well known to all but try exploring some of the villages around it, in particular Ousden, Lidgate and Cowlinge and Wickhambrook. There are enough undulations in the terrain to make the landscape – a tapestry of fields, paddocks and woodland – interesting. There are good pubs to visit at Ousden (The Fox) and Lidgate (The Star), plenty of wildlife to spot and an array of footpaths to take you closer to nature.

Claire Cavendish

Near Falkenham

My Suffolk secret is practically on my doorstep – several square miles of woods and open fields bounded on one side by the eastern end of the A14 which sweep down to the estuary of the River Deben. The hamlet of Falkenham is not far away.
It doesn’t attract the same attention as some of the county’s more fashionable beauty spots, but that’s to its credit. The path less trodden is almost always more intriguing and ultimately more rewarding.
Here footpaths and quiet lanes criss-cross ancient land once owned by some of the most powerful English noblemen and there are spectacular views over the river which once carried great fleets of ships built further inland for kings.
A circular walk takes me along the banks of a man-made sluice, whose name is a reminder of that early marine activity. It’s home to scores of swans peacefully cruising the waters or grazing the neighbouring fields. This area is abundant in birdlife – hedgerows of chattering finches, skylarks and seagulls overhead, buntings flitting among the reeds. Usually my only encounter is with someone making the most of a quiet fishing spot, or a collie dog at a farmyard gate. And that’s the way I
like it.

Jayne Lindill

Rendlesham Forest

Could the play area at Rendlesham Forest be one of the best in the county? It’s great for children and for adults! After exhausting ourselves climbing through logs and over climbing frames we head into nearby Orford for lunch and a visit to Orford Castle (hence the costume!).”

David Falk

Arger Fen

Immerse yourself in nature at Arger Fen near Bures, where the heady woodland scent, blossoming summer flowers and scurrying activities of local wildlife make a refreshing change from a trip to the seaside.
Cooled by the shade of ancient trees, Arger Fen is a ramblers wood – a place for a walk rather than a leisurely picnic (although there are a few picnic benches dotted here and there).
In springtime the fen is painted lilac by a carpet of bluebells. Visiting now in the height of summer, however, offers wild cherry trees blushed with fruit, butterflies darting about the wildflowers and, in the evening, a free light show from the resident glow worms.

Charlotte Smith-Jarvis

Bradfield Woods

Hidden away in the west of the county (somewhere between Felsham, Smallwood Green and Bradfield St George) exists a beautiful and ancient woodland. It has been managed in a traditional way – using coppicing – since 1252 and comprises 72 hectares. Although diminutive compared to other forested areas, this woodland is appreciated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and managed in a sustainable way for the benefit of the abundant wildlife and the local community. Deployment of coppicing – when stems are cut close to the ground thus encouraging profuse re-growth – is not only good for the health of the trees and the local habitat but also for providing a sustainable source of wood-based products including firewood and materials for thatching, hurdle and basket making. Walkers – and dogs on short leads – are welcome to explore the woodland paths and to take in the fresh air, not to mention the teeming wildlife, flora and fauna. This ancient site is complete with a small, modern car park (but not a loo); opening hours are between dawn and dusk.

Alex Licence

Polstead

From a walker’s point of view, the relatively unspoilt picture-postcard village of Polstead offers a little bit of everything. Like spokes in a wheel, public paths radiate to all parts of the surrounding countryside, providing a fair measure of slope and variety along the way.
For instance, entry to Dollops Wood, just off Heath Road, is down a steep-ish bank and leads to a pleasant stroll through woodland, where the valley floor is often carpeted with seasonal wild flowers.
Walking downhill from the village green, there are delightful period cottages and gardens to admire, ending at an attractive duck pond. Interestingly enough, Polstead’s name derives from a place of pools.
Pass through a kissing gate opposite the pond and you cross a lovely green area known as The Horsecroft. An adjoining road passes over the slow-running River Box. Here you can join a nearby grassy path that progresses through the pastoral Box valley, later leading to Thorrington Street and Stoke by Nayland.
Marten’s Lane is a reminder of the murder of servant girl, Maria Marten and the Red Barn mystery. The notorious murder took place in 1827 and retained a hold on popular imagination throughout the country. Although the original barn was eventually burnt down, the locally-known Red Barn Path takes you close to the alleged spot where the murder took place. 
 Leaving the best till last, take a walk up and over the large green mound at Bell’s Corner. There’s nothing quite like it elsewhere in Suffolk. You may have to find a little extra huff and puff and bend the back a bit more but you are rewarded with some stunning views over unspoilt countryside.

Cyril Francis

Suffolk villages

Flagging up favourite parts of unspoilt Suffolk is tempting fate, perhaps, but happily mine can be visited by anyone at any time. The hamlets and villages of Suffolk are sprinkled like jewels across the landscape, each one unique in its evolution and many encapsulating history as far back as we can visibly go. Each of the 400-plus parishes can boast at least one architectural gem – perhaps thatched or pargetted cottages, an ancient village inn, or Georgian mansion – though the flint walled rural churches, many with Anglo Saxon or Norman origins, bear testament to living, breathing communities that have inhabited here for two millennia.

Carol Twinch

Knettishall Heath Country Park

I love this spot in the Waveney Valley. The open grass and heathland, mixed woodland and riverside meadows are really unspoilt. I can really unwind and relax here. And close by is Lopham and Redgrave Fen, one of the largest wetlands in Britain and another favourite of mine.                                                    

David Falk

Ipswich town centre (yes, really!)

As a child growing up in the far north of Scotland I used to read my Enid Blyton books and dream of playing in woods. Proper woods with glades, bowers, and shady secret places to hide – the kind of exciting woodland that just didn’t exist in the tall coniferous forests of the Highlands. So imagine my delight on finding myself living right next to such a spot here in the centre of Ipswich. It’s a nature reserve in one of the town’s parks and it’s tiny – no more than a few hundred square metres in size. But wander in along the woodland path and stop in the centre and you are slap bang in Secret Seven territory. The trick is to position yourself carefully, out of sight of the paths that run below and above and shielded by the tall trees from even the tiniest glimpse of high buildings and houses.
Get it right and you could be in the lushest, deepest countryside with only the faint sound of traffic and the gentle bip bop from the nearby tennis courts to remind you how close to civilisation you really are.

Sandra Roberts

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