Text contributed by Peter; pics by Simon and Christina.
With the introduction of the well-supported Friday evening ambles to ease all of us into the weekend, this was the third consecutive day’s walk in a packed IOG programme.
The day’s fun started with some of the group missing the entrance to the car park and taking a tour of Aldeburgh by car.
There were 13 people in the group with 3 returnees from the previous day’s bluebell walk.
It was sunny and warm with a light breeze, perfect walking weather, and some people were also buoyed by the thought of Premiership football.
We started off through the allotments, then turned towards the River Alde. After negotiating the inevitable mud, we climbed up to the river footpath, where we sampled lovely views of the expansive Aldeburgh Marshes.
Entering Aldeburgh from the south, we continued along the pebbled beach with the sea on our right. It was high tide and a number of people were using the beach, along with plenty of loud gulls eager for chips.
There was a banana stop at Moot Hall, with a distant view of Sizewell power station.
We left the sea and proceeded inland to sample the delights of North Warren Nature Reserve (RSPB) with the gorse in full bloom. As this was about halfway, we had lunch here with lovely views.
Proceeding at a more leisurely pace after lunch, we took the boardwalk through the area called The Fens for an enjoyable wander through a wooded corridor, where a very young deer spent some time walking alongside us before disappearing into a clump of trees.
Heading east, the panorama became very open with views of the House in the Clouds and the windmill in Thorpeness.
Just before we rejoined the promenade, there was a lovely sighting of three different types of geese.
On the return to the start point, the controversial Aldeburgh Scallop was considered not worth the visit.
The Railway Inn provided a sociable end to the walk, with a good selection of local Adnams brews and a nice outdoor area to chat. A lovely end to a pleasant 10-mile walk in superb conditions.
Thank you, Glen, for an enjoyable stroll.