Lt Whelnetham to Bradfield St Clare Suffolk

2pm 8.4 miles in 1hr 10 mins 10 seconds

Week to date mileage 18 miles

Month to date mileage 137

Average weekly rate 30.2 miles

Average monthly rate 131

Year to date 1564

Lifetime 9584

I drove out to the village of Lt Whelnetham with the thought of finding the old Railway Station House which is clearly marked on the OS map 211 Explorer edition of the ordnance survey map. Coming of the A134 just after Sicklesmere along the appropriately named Water Lane I parked close up to where the Old Station House is marked on the map.

Where I parked there must have clearly been a bridge but this has long gone with the ending of this railway line between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury back in the early 1960's.

I set of up hill and must have run past the Station House as the marked pathway takes you on a bit of a detour around it. I didn't worry to much and continued on my run through apple orchards and past Maynard House. Maynards Wine Orchard produces a range of English wine and fuit juices and the orchards even in December were pungent smelling of old apples it was like being inside a bottle of cider.

I reached a minor B road but continued my run on passing over another former railway bridge.

The level of the field must have been considerably raised as there is very little clearance under the bridge here now and hard to imagine a train passing underneath.

I entered the small village of Bradfield St Clare and ran as far as the church called St Clare.
I was tempted to run to another of the Bradfields called Combust but the light was already beginning to fail and even this mnor road had a fair amount of cars so it wasn't worth the risk and I returned back to Maynard House.

I took a different turning with the objective of finding the old railway station. This path took me across a wet field and what would have been the old track and eventually through to the station itself. This has now been converted to a private residence. Further down track there are some old buildings here that once would have straddled either side of the railway which was a single line. It looked pretty derelict with the doors boarded but nevertheless it was possible to get a good impression of how the station would have appeared.

With time on my hands I decided to continue my run in the opposite direction along the restored Lt Whelnetham Line. This is a stretch aboot 1.5 miles long of restored pathway along the former railway line to Bury St Edmunds. A beautiful walk with lots of wild flowers this is worth visiting. Although a little muddy I ran to the end of this walk and then returned to do it again before returning to the car.