Stowmarket Beer Festival Walk – Saturday 7th July

Pics contributed by Pete E., report by Ruth E.

Last Saturday members of the IOG headed out in the sunshine for a seven-mile walk. The group included newbies and ‘once-a-year’ walkers lured by the promise of a beer festival at the end.

There was an anxious journey for some who hadn’t believed Pete’s assertion the England game would be shown on a big screen. As it turned out this was the best place to watch the match as a lot of people stayed away and so there was plentiful supplies of beer and cider with two screens showing the game!

We had a wonderful walk in the Suffolk countryside, through the picture postcard villages of Wetherden, Haughley and Dagworth: lovely vistas, quiet roads and open fields – last year’s nettle issue wasn’t a problem this time thankfully.

The two very cute dogs in the gang were extremely well behaved and definitely the superstars of the group, attracting a lot of attention on the way round and at the beer festival. Vicky was convinced having a dog was somehow a great ‘babe magnet’ for whoever was in charge of them 🙂

Highlights of the afternoon included an impromptu origami lesson, hearing the crowd reaction to the England goals and a splendid beer shirt that drew many appreciative comments.

It was an excellent walk with great company and I’m looking forward to catching up with the IOG gang in Scotland!