Ahead of the 2023 Suffolk Walking Festival, Ben Heather, photographer, nature lover and Green Access Officer for Suffolk County Council, explored floristically rich Mellis Common and an ancient Drove Road Cowpasture Lane.

He walked with Patrick Barkham, nature writer and Guardian journalist, Marie Lagerberg, floral specialist, and David Falk, the Director of the Suffolk Walking Festival.

Together they discussed changing landscapes, ancient rights of way and the life and times of famous nature writer, and one time Mellis resident, Roger Deakin.

Music by Olexy from Pixababy.

https://pixabay.com/users/olexy-25300778/

Jon Tyler is an experienced forager and bush-craft practitioner with a natural passion and enthusiasm for wildlife, wild food and outdoor living. His interest in wild-food began at an early age munching blackberries and sorrel leaves from the hedge at the bottom of the garden. In a career spanning over 20 years he has worked on community, education and conservation projects in a variety of urban and rural locations. Now as a freelance practitioner of outdoor activities and hedge-craft, Jon's company Wild for Woods offers an array of wildlife awareness, mushroom identification and wild-food courses across East Anglia.   

In our final episode of this series we meet Jon for a twilight walk at Thornham Walks. Jon shares his passion for the outdoors with tales of wild nature encounters, reveals the noisy world of bats, and uncovers a variety of subtle changes as we transition from day to night. Jon provides tips and advise on how to plan your own night walk and during our twilight adventure we spot 'the silent assassin' of a barn owl, get close to territorial tawny owls, and hear the distant barks of muntjac. Far above us we search the night sky for stars, spot magical flashes of passing satellites, understand the monthly full moon, and watch in wonder as the International Space Station silently glides across the heavens.  

Thornham Walks is located in the heart of Suffolk and offers over 12 miles of walking trails though beautiful parkland and ancient woodlands. The walks take in an historic walled garden, a nuttery and pinetum, bird hide and water meadows, and a restored folly and pet's cemetery. There is a new visitor centre, fun children's play area, parking, tearoom and restaurant. Please visit their website for information on visiting including opening times and car parking fees.   

The Suffolk Walking Festival is one of the country's largest and longest running walking events. The festival takes place every May with over 100 walks and countryside events across the county.

Thank you to David Stainer and Scott Dolling of the Suffolk duo Silbury Hill for the use of their music in these podcasts.              

Dr Mike Brock is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of East Anglia. He lectures both undergraduates and post graduates in Environmental Economics and his specialist area of research is in the field of Behavioural Economics.       

In this episode of the Suffolk Walking Festival Podcast we visit Brandon Country Park to meet Dr Mike Brock and learn about his research. Our discussion includes talking about the physical and psychological barriers that exist when visiting the countryside, how behaviours can be 'nudged', and how 'gamification' can influence behaviours in teenagers. Mike explains 'opportunity costs' and how they affect visits to the countryside, and explains the principles of 'soft fascination' and 'hard fascination' and the terms 'green space' and 'blue space' and how each of these affect how we restore our attention levels. We also discuss 'Human Mismatch Theory' and 'Intention Behaviour Gap Theory' and how these help us understand modern life. Mike ends by describing the 'Easterlin Paradox' to explain how we are all striving for happiness.

Brandon Country Park sits within the vast Thetford Forest near the border with Norfolk. The park retains much evidence of its history as a country estate with a fascinating arboretum of rare and unusual trees, a magical Walled Garden, open lawns and a small lake, a mysterious mausoleum, and miles and miles of walking and cycling trails. The park is open at all times. Visit the Brandon Country Park website for full details of visiting, the tearoom opening times and current car park charges. 

The Suffolk Walking Festival is one of the country's largest and longest running walking events. The festival takes place every May with over 100 walks and countryside events across the county.

Thank you to David Stainer and Scott Dolling of the Suffolk duo Silbury Hill for the use of their music in these podcasts. 

Jayne Lindill is the Editor of the Suffolk Magazine, a monthly magazine that celebrates the county's people and places, arts and culture, food, fashion and homes, wildlife and nature. As well as being the editor, she also writes the magazine's 'Walk of the Month' article. Jayne also performs and directs in community theatre and has written a play called 'Surge' that was inspired by the 1953 east coast floods, and was performed in venues across Suffolk in 2019.  

In this episode we join Jayne on one of her familiar walks around the Trimley Estate. We admire the beauty of the River Orwell, chat about the wildlife seen at Trimley Marshes Nature Reserve, enjoy the view from Fagbury Cliff, hear about Jayne's love of art and theatre, and learn of some of the fascinating places she's walked in Suffolk and the stories she's discovered including the fantastic tale of the Bures Dragon!

The Trimley Estate contains numerous footpaths and bridleways allowing you to follow a variety of trails, or simply use the Discover Suffolk Trimley Circular Walk leaflet to guide yourself around the estate. The estate is also home to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Trimley Marshes Nature Reserve where a number of bird hides overlook shallow water 'scrapes', home to many species including avocets, bitterns and Marsh Harriers. 

The estate can be reached by public transport with Trimley train station under half a mile (10 minutes) from a small car parking area at the end of Cordy's Lane where you'll find an information board and site map.     

The Suffolk Walking Festival is one of the country's largest and longest running walking events. The festival takes place every May with over 100 walks and countryside events across the county.

Thank you to David Stainer and Scott Dolling of the Suffolk duo Silbury Hill for the use of their music in these podcasts.  

Melissa Harrison is an award-winning novelist and nature writer, contributor to the monthly Nature Notebook in The Times and writer for the FT Weekend, the Guardian and the New Statesman. In 2020 Melissa began her podcast 'The Stubborn Light of Things' based on her daily walks near her home in rural Suffolk.

In this episode of the Suffolk Walking Festival Podcast we go for a walk with Melissa and her dog Scout around National Trust Sutton Hoo. During our walk we talk about the state of nature in the UK, we exchange tips on bird identification sounds, discuss the changing seasons and our 'firsts' and 'lasts', and we learn what inspires Melissa's passion for the countryside, nature and writing. 

National Trust Sutton Hoo is an awe-inspiring Anglo-Saxon Royal Burial Ground. Burial mounds were unearthed here in 1939 revealing the imprint of a ship and exposing treasures, including an iconic helmet, that are today displayed in the British Museum. Those excavations were the subject of the recent film 'The Dig'. There are various walking trails around NT Sutton Hoo, an excellent exhibition hall, guided tours of the burial site, and a cafe and gift shop. Visit NT Sutton Hoo website for the latest visitor information.

The Suffolk Walking Festival is one of the country's largest and longest running walking events. The festival takes place every May with over 100 walks and countryside events across the county. 

Thank you to David Stainer and Scott Dolling of the Suffolk duo Silbury Hill for the use of their music in these podcasts. 

Lesley Dolphin is the afternoon presenter on BBC Radio Suffolk and the Patron of the Suffolk Walking Festival. 

In this first episode of the Suffolk Walking Festival Podcast we join Lesley on her morning walk around Landguard Nature Reserve next to the seaside town of Felixstowe. During our walk we discover why this location is so very special to her, learn of her love for Suffolk and her career in radio, and hear about some of the Challenge Walks she's completed.  

Landguard Nature Reserve is 33 hectares (81 acres) of vegetated shingle, a globally rare habitat found in the UK, especially here on the Suffolk coast, in Japan and in New Zealand. The reserve is home to unusual plants including sea kale, sea pea and sea beet. A healthy population of rabbits keep the grass closely cropped creating the perfect environment for miniaturised wild flowers including Scarlet Pimpernel, Early Forget-me-not and Common Storksbill. The shingle is nesting habitat for Ringed Plovers, and in spring many migratory birds stop here en-route to their breeding and summer feeding grounds.

The reserve's military history dates back to the reign of Henry VIII and the Fort is the site of the last seaborne invasion of Britain by the Dutch in 1667. Around the reserve is evidence of its final use in the Second World War with tank traps, gun emplacements, searchlight buildings, rifle butts, and dips and troughs for practicing trench warfare. 

The site is very accessible with a number of benches, a network of surfaced paths, and a boardwalk over a section of the shingle beach.   

Landguard Nature Reserve can be easily visited with parking available by the Fort and a frequent bus service from Ipswich.

The Suffolk Walking Festival is one of the country's largest and longest running walking events. The festival takes place every May with over 100 walks and countryside events across the county.

Thank you to David Stainer and Scott Dolling of the Suffolk duo Silbury Hill for the use of their music in these podcasts.

If you love walking and Suffolk then this is the podcast for you! 

David Falk, Director of the Suffolk Walking Festival, introduces the festival podcast where he'll walk and talk with authors, broadcasters, wildlife experts and academics to discover why walking in Suffolk is so special.