Relatives at Timworth in Suffolk

Looking at the weather forecast and knowing I was in for a busy day I decided to switch my long run to Saturday from Sunday this week.  We have had a lot of rain, heavy rain and there a number of flood warnings in the region.

For this morning there was a slight drizzle as I set out on a 12 miler. I decided to visit Timworth in Suffolk. I ran out to Fornham St Martin and for me this run really begins here at the place known as The Drift which is opposite St Martins Church.

After running between some houses you have a good view of the Sugar Beet factory before crossing over the A14. It is here at this point that the former railway line used to run taking passengers from Bury up to Ingham and on to Thetford.

Crossing over the A14 you are then onto open farmland and there are several paths named as drifts . I decided on the Livermere Drift offering as it does a more direct path to Timworth.

The drift way finishes at Barton Bottom and I immediately crossed over the road taking the Livermere road. On reaching a crossroads I took the left turn towards Timworth.

Once in Timworth I headed to St Andrews Church, which is reached down a long pathway. Timworth really is just a few houses that you can count almost seemingly on two hands.

In tracing our ancestory one branch of our family tree links to Timworth. My great great grandfather was from Timworth and his father was also born here. Throughout the 19th century relatives lived in this tiny hamlet as labourers working on the land.  I haven't as yet got any further back than 1800 but we are following the surname of Parish.

Most of the row of cottages are in Suffolk Pink with this one selling free range eggs.

There is a tranquility and peace to to this place, it feels remote and lost in time though it is just 3 miles from Bury. The village was never highly populated with the doomsday book recording a total of 45 in 1086 and 50 in 1327 . Following the Black death in the 14th century it would seem the village was almost unoccupied with just 16 people being recorded in 1524. At its height in 1851 a total of 241 people lived there and today I suspect it is back to its doomsday level.

I ran ok today though slowly.

Timworth Suffolk

7.45am 11 miles in 1hr 33 mins 09 seconds
Week to date mileage 29 miles
Month to date mileage 82
Average weekly rate 30.4 miles
Average monthly rate 132
Year to date 1120
Lifetime 10713

I ran out to Fornham St Martin and for me this run really begins here at the place known as The Drift which is opposite St Martins Church.

After running between some houses you have a good view of the Sugar Beet factory before crossing over the A14. It is here at this point that the former railway line used to run taking passengers from Bury up to Ingham and on to Thetford.

Crossing over the A14 you are then onto open farmland and there are several paths named as drifts , previously I have always run along farm drift and then clay drift. However for a change today I decided on the Livermere Drift offering as it does a more direct path to Timworth. At Hall Farm there is some impressive looking machinery, there were also a multitude of pheasants this morning in great numbers on the pathways.

The morning had a autumnal chill which was just perfect for running, bright skies and cool. The drift way finishes at Barton Bottom and I immediately crossed over the road taking the Livermere road. On reaching a crossroads I took the left turn towards Timworth. Here there were a great number of blackberries or at least there were as I returned later in the car and picked a good supply.

Once in Timworth I headed to St Andrews Church, which is reached down a long pathway. Timworth really is just a few houses that you can count almost seemingly on two hands along with a business called Pineworld.

Most of the row of cottages are in Suffolk Pink with this one selling free range eggs.. There is a tranquility and peace to to this place, it feels remote and lost in time though it is just 3 miles from Bury. The village was never highly populated with the doomsday book recording a total of 45 in 1086 and 50 in 1327 . Following the Black death in the 14th century it would seem the village was almost unoccupied with just 16 people being recorded in 1524. At its height in 1851 a total of 241 people lived there and today I suspect it is back to its doomsday level.

The end of my run I decided would be at St Andrews Church in Timworth and here I turned for home and retraced my steps though I decided on bit of a detour to run into Bury along Risbygate Street before returning home.

23rd July Hawstead Church Out and Back Run

8am 8.8 miles in 1 hour 13 mins 20 secs. Year to date mileage 636 and for July 101. Average miles per week for this year is 21.8 and average monthly mileage is now 95.

Weather continues to be overcast

The course: Head out of Bury on the Horsecroft Road, this takes you past Horsecroft Hall and Hardwick House. Keep going straight (as there are no turnings on this course) through Pinford End until you get to All Saints, Hawstead Church. I reached here in 37.30 minutes expecting to return in the same time but surprisingly returned a lot quicker as there are 2 hills to climb on the return.

I hour 13 mins represents my longest run at the moment. I am planning to build up a few minutes each week until the middle of September when I plan to enter a 10 mile race.

Pictures above - All Saints is a big church and has more monuments and memorials than any other church in Suffolk including a memorial to a knight dating from 1271 apparently the oddly named Eustace Fitz-Eustace. There is also apparently medieval stained glass.

The traditional colour for house walls in Suffolk is pink, and nowadays it is at least as common as ever it was in history. This cottage was a good example that I passed on the run . Of course in days gone by they didn't buy their paint at the local DIY store they would have mixed it using a mixture of buttermilk and pig's blood. if you go over the border into Norfolk they have traditional green houses.