Crawford Bridge to Bryanston (Stour Valley Path 4)

Crawford Bridge

We resume the Stour Valley Path after a hiatus since November. Starting out near Crawford Bridge (photographed last time), we headed across fields, away from the river, to reach the tiny church of St Mary at Tarrant Crawford at the end of a quiet valley.

There was once a rich nunnery here, but nothing of it now remains. The simple 12th century church (restored of course in Victorian times) has very faded 14th century wall paintings.

Then we headed back towards Spetisbury on a different angle passing across fields which according to our guide were once vineyards. Sadly no trace now remains. When we reached the main road (the A350), we briefly detoured left to see the imposing Spetisbury Hall.

Interestingly, according to Pevsner, it was built in 1716 as the rectory, and when he was writing it was called Johns House. The facade was changed later in the 18th century in what he describes as a "bland Adamish" style.

The nearby church of St John Baptist of 1859 is by T H Wyatt, although the north arcade is partly 13th century.

We returned to the route and followed a side street to join the line of the one-time Poole to Blandford railway and walk along it parallel to the road. As you would expect this was straight, flat, easy walking, without too much of interest to distract you from progress. In fact we may have gone too far as we reached this rather poignant former station, or at least halt, at Charlton Marshall. 

We turned right and headed towards the village, possibly going further off route, but arriving at the main road again opposite the church of St Mary.

This was rebuilt, apart from the base of the tower, in 1713 by Thomas Bastard, father of the celebrated Bastard Brothers who rebuilt Blandford after the great fire of 1731. I also recently saw their church at Wimborne St Giles.

The next stage was a boring mile along the A350 to reach the Blandford ring road and head on past Tesco to pass the Hall and Woodhouse brewery.

A little further on, we arrived at the late 18th century gatehouse of Bryanston school.

Rather splendidly, the estate was once owned by Bryan - Bryan de L'Isle (he came from the Isle of Wight) was registered as the owner in the Domesday Book.

The final stage was a mile or so uphill along the side of a shallow valley to the scattered village of Bryanston. The view across over the rape fields was quite pleasing.

Conditions: reasonably warm and sunny.

Distance: 6.75 miles. Total now covered  32.25 miles.

Guide: The new Stour Valley Path by Edward R Griffiths, Greenfield Books, 1998, but sadly out of print.

Map: Explorer 118 (Shaftesbury and Cranfield Chase).

Rating: three and a half stars. Too much road.

Ipswich

The Waterfront

We were in Suffolk for a family visit and decided to stay over to have a look at the county town. We started our walk on the redeveloped quayside of the River Orwell, now called the Waterfront. Where we admired the view and the Old Custom House of 1844. The tower off to one side of the street side is a nice touch.

We headed towards the town centre along Fore Street where there are a number of fine 16th century houses. We especially liked this one at number 24.

We doubled back into Foundation St, passed the scanty ruins of the Blackfriars Abbey, and went to to see Tooley's Almhouses.

This is a large a picturesque group designed as a double quadrangle with a small central gatehouse. They were founded nearby in 1550, but rebuilt in 1846.

We retraced our steps and followed Tacket St and St Stephen's Lane to reach the Buttermarket with the impressive tower of St Lawrence church ahead of us. It dates from the 15th century, but the tower was rebuilt in 1882.

On our right was the extraordinary Ancient House (once known according to Pevsner as Sparrowe's House). The outside is covered with pargetting which Pevsner dates to 1670. The house itself is older and goes back to the 15th century. It is now a branch of Lakeland Plastics.

As we headed up Dial St we spotted this extraordinary shopfront on the right. It is now Pickwick coffee shop, but was once an opticians and although in a 16th century building was given this wonderful art nouveau makeover around 1900. On the wall to the left an advertisement of that time which has just been uncovered.

Oak House in Northgate St was a wonderful example of a late 15th or early 16th century timber-framed house. A plaque explains that it has been much restored and in fact contains elements take from other old houses.

Further up the street is the Pykenham Gatehouse of 1471. Pykenham was Archdeacon of Suffolk and this was the entrance to his mansion.

At the end we crossed the road to come to Christchurch Park and the Christchurch Mansion. The site was once occupied by an Augustinian Priory which was sold after the dissolition of eh monasteries. The new owners built the mansion in 1548-50. It is now a museum, with a strong collection of works by Constable and Gainsborough, butwe resisted teh temptation to explore. We also ignored St Margaret's church nearby.

Instead, we headed back into town past St Mary-le-Tower, mostly of 1860-70. The 176ft high spire is impressive.

And followed the Buttermarket to reach the Town Hall. Pevsner is pretty scathing ("quite - i.e. totally - undistinguished"), but we thought it did the job well. The central projecting columns were very effective.

In nearby Elm Street were Mrs Smith's Almshouses of 1760, a very simple construction.

And not far a way was the remarkable Willis building. It was the work of Norman Foster and dates from 1970-75. You can just see a hint of the grassy roof garden. It still looks remarkably modern.

Finally, we walked back to the start along College St where we admired this beautiful pair of houses.

The one on the left carries a plaque explaining that Cardinal Wolsey lived nearby and there is a statue of the great man sitting on his throne on the pavement opposite.

Conditions: a beautiful sunny morning. Great for walking, but it made some photographs very difficult.

Distance: about 2 miles.

Rating: Four stars.

Albi

The Cathedral

Our final day in Gaillac and we spend the morning walking around the beautiful city of Albi, now a World Heritage Site. We parked in an underground car park near the Cathedral and emerged outside the wonderful covered market built in 1903.

Then we visited the cloister of the nearby church of Saint-Salvi. It dates from 1270, but only one side remains the rest having been destroyed during the Revolution.

Outside, the church has an unusual tower of stone topped with a brick section and a small castellated turret.

From here we walk down to the cathedral square to face the inspiring bulk of the Cathedral of Ste Cecilia constructed in brick between 1287 to 1480. It is said to be the largest brick building in the world.

To the right is the fortified Bishop's Palace, the Palais de la Berbie, dating from the end of the 13th century, which together with the Cathedral makes a remarkable group of brick built medieval structures. The Palace now houses the excellent Toulouse-Lautrec museum, which we saw on our previous visit in 2005.

Round the back of the Palace you can look down on the gardens and out across the river Tarn.

The gardens have a wonderful array of shapes.

Coming back from the viewing point we were struck by these flowers growing on a wall. They are in fact Wall Flowers. Who knew?

We now walked along the side of the Cathedral furthest from the square and at the end passed this delightful water feature with Moorish arches relocated at the end.

We completed the tour of the Cathedral by passing the wonderful baldaquin - a staggering gothic porch dating from the 16th century over the main entrance to this otherwise forbidding building.

Heading into the town we passed this interesting street of half timbered houses, similar to those we had seen in Gaillac.

And after a while we reached Place Laperouse, named after the 18th century explorer. Our current favourite wine, Astrolabe, is named after one of his ships. At the end of the square is the striking new Grand Théatre, the work of architect Dominique Perrault.

You can just see on the left of the picture a Victorian dome. I went off to investigate and was delighted to find that it was one of a pair marking the corners of what appeared to be a disused market.

We walked back to centre and admired another group of half timbered buildings near the Cathedral before returning to the car park.

Conditions: grey, but not too cold.

Distance: about 3 miles.

Rating: five stars. The Cathedral is an astonishing building and Albi has lots of other interesting stuff.

Les Fortis, near Saurs

The church of Montaigut

Today's walk was west of Gaillac at Les Fortis, near to Saurs. The Chateau de Saurs is a significant producer of Gaillac wines. We quite liked the rosé when we tried it in Gaillac town.

We parked on the road opposite a wonderful old house with grandiose corner towers. It appeared abandoned, so I followed a well-trodden path into the grounds to take a photo. Could be somebody's wonderful project.

We climbed towards the ridge on which we could see the church of Montaigut, diverted through some vineyards and emerged at the end of a pleasant green valley.

We turned left into another valley and began a sustained climb. Looking back, the terrain and crops created an interesting landscape of colour and angles.

As we got nearer the top, further vineyards entered the mix.

The very highest point, 275m, was marked by some impressive cedars. Overhead we saw kites and sparrowhawks.

A little further on we turned left on a downhill path and were delighted to almost immediately spot this orchid: the appropriately named Early Purple Orchid. Further on, a sloping green bank had a whole load of them.

Just after the orchid we made a butterfly take flight and then resettle itself in the long grass. We had already seen a few Speckled Woods, but this seemed to be s different shade of orange. Once I managed to zoom in on it I realised it was a Wall.

We continued on  a farm road and admired a modernised farm off to the right.

And soon after this we reached the church of Montaigut which we had seen from afar at the start of the walk. It dates from the 12th century and was once the property of the Templars. In that period there was also a castle here.

As we began our walk down from the church three or four Speckled Woods spiralled into action. This one consented to a photograph.

Conditions: cooler than yesterday, cloudy.

Distance: 5 miles.

Rating: four stars. A landscape so unlike any we see at home.