A cycle ride to Great Saxham Suffolk

At 8am I set off on my cycle for a shorter ride of 9.3 miles to Great Saxham. This morning was warm and dry which was welcome after yesterdays rain. I hade to compete a bit with the traffic on the road going out of Bury St Edmunds to Little Saxham.

Once I had turned up the hill to Great Saxham it was traffic free. The minor road between Gt Saxham and the A143 Horringer Road is shown as unknown and it is not possible to get directions following this route for some reason.

There was a nice downhill stretch back to Lt Saxham along the A143 before turning back to Bury.

Thats day 2 of Juneathon and so far so good.  What I have noticed so far is that cycling just doesn't give you that buzz, that runners high that you can sometimes get during a good run. Perhaps it will come if there is such a thing as a cyclists high? I am still getting pain in the heel so I am not ready yet to try running unfortunately but may be in a week or so.

A Cycle ride to Tuddenham Suffolk

My cycle ride today turned into a little longer ride than I planned. I forgot to take a map and the route I planned wasn't possible as I missed a turn. Still I came up with an alternative circular ride of 20 miles my longest yet.

My route took me from Bury St Edmunds through the villages of Risby, Cavenham and out to Tuddenham. The name, Tuddenham, dates back to AD 854 and is derived from the Anglo Saxon ‘Tudda’s home’ and is about 10 miles out north west from Bury St Edmunds. The icknield way passes through the village which is on the edge of heathland

I had planned to turn towards Higham and Gazeley but instead found myself 10 miles out. Rather than directly turnaround and follow the same route back I instead followed a road back to Higham, Barrow, Gt Saxham and Lt Saxham and then back into Bury.

The verge on the route between Lt Saxham and Bury  was covered in poppies and other wild flowers.

Total time for the ride was 1hr 43 minutes for the 20 miles for a 5.10 mile pace

10 miles around Great Saxham Suffolk

This morning I did my last run of week 10 of my half marathon training programme. I felt sluggish this morning not helped by the large curry and beers the night before. I had intended to do another 13 miler today but I forgot to restart my watch when I got to Gt Saxham .

As I ran uphill I saw a couple emerge froma field having feed their horses and immeadiately two labradors came bounding towards. I stopped at this point not knowing how friendly they would be. As it turned out perfectly harmless. However I couldn't run again , I tried but this only set the dogs off again so I walked up to the couple who were friendly and turned out to be the owners of Great Saxham Hall .

They were interested in what I was training for and explained that there daughter had run the London Marathon  a year or two ago. The hedgerows at Gt Saxham are carpeted in snowdrops but there is little sign of the daffodils at the moment which are late this year. This concerned the lady as she said they were holding an open day at their hall and gardens in 3 weeks time.

After this I forgot to restart my watch so I don't have a time or exact distance for my run but I believe it was around 9.5 miles.

My run had begun in Bury St Edmunds and I had run out to Little Saxham before taking the Barrow road and heading left up hill into Gt Saxham.

Further photos of Gt Saxham including some of the hall are avilable at my flickr photo site here

Gt Saxham and Barrow Suffolk

1.pm 7.5 miles in 1 hr 1 mins 48 secs

Week to date mileage 7.5 miles

Month to date mileage 35

Average weekly rate 33.9 miles

Average monthly rate 143

Year to date 174

Lifetime 9767

After my recent run to Little Saxham I decided to visit her near neighbour Gt Saxham. I traveled out by car and went through Lt Saxham and took the Barrow road. Practically the next turning left takes you up hill to the village of Gt Saxham. I parked in woodland known as the Park just before you reach the church.

century so in 300 years theGt Saxham is named as the village of the Saxons. It is a small scattered village along a minor road which is surrounded by parkland. Population records show little change from 1674 when there were 17 inhabited houses , 52 in 1851 and 68 in 1981. I read somewhere that the average household would have been around 5 in the 17th/18th century but this dropped in the 19th population has grown from around 100 to 250.
I started my run from the church of St Andrews which has a commanding position in the centre of the village opposite the Gt Saxham Hall. As so often around these parts the grounds were designed by Capability Brown. Today the entrance through a small gate into a small woodland was covered in snowdrops.


I set off on my run through the Park an area of woodland which proved to be extremely wet and rutted. The path evidently well used was ankle deep in mud and more like a paddy field. However I was soon through it and continued past Lower farm. Here the ground begins to rise and I was able to look back at the Park woodland.


Faced with a choice of paths I rather lost the plot and decided to keep straight rather than turn left which I should have done to take me around the Hearse Wood. Instead carrying on I passed the Wilsummer Wood and I recognised the path I had run last year as being the one to take me into the village of Barrow.

I decided to run through Barrow and take the main road back to Gt Saxham. After the village green and opposite the pub almost is this unusual house.



I was able to run along pathway for some distance but found the road quiet and I was able to run along the road side without problem.


I turned back into Gt Saxham at Twite's Corner and ran past St Andrews Church and on to a small hamlet called Frizzelers Green and then Cob's Hall and on to the main road to Chevington at Potash Cottages. I turned back to the car i the bright but cold sunlight.