Free Bank Holiday Hike: The Amazing Stour Valley

King Edmund & The Bures Dragon via the River Stour and some forgotten byways of medieval Suffolk. An amazing hike through quintessential English countryside

HIGHLIGHTS

Pass the famous English painter Gainsborough's House

The Medieval chapel where King Edmund of East Anglia was crowned

Spectacular views across the Stour Valley

Pass through quaint villages, hamlets and idyllic water mills & streams

Saturday 23 August 2025

Start time: 11.20 am

Finish time: 17.20 pm

Hike starts at: SUDBURY (Suffolk) Station.

Finishes at BURES Station approx 17.20.

Distance: 13 miles (21 km)

Terrain: Undulating / hilly

Pace: Brisk

TRAIN

Train from Liverpool St at 10.02 am

Change at Marks Tey

Arrive in Sudbury 11.13

check using www.trainline.com

DESCRIPTION

We head through the quaint market town of Sudbury, past Gainsboroughs House, (the famous 18th Century artist Thomas Gainsborough was born here) to the picturesque Mill pond and Water Meadows.

Leaving the town behind we head uphill through a long eerie natural tunnel to take us out into rolling Suffolk countryside and eventually reaching the isolated church of Little Henny with its tower made of oak shingles, plagued by woodpeckers!

Leafy footpaths and ancient cart tracks wend their way past sleepy isolated cottages and the odd tithe barn dating back to the Middle Ages.

Then suddenly we are high above the valley of the River Stour with spectacular views across open fields and woodland to Sudbury and Bures.

After a steady climb we discover the little hamlet of Alphamstone. Here we can unpack our sandwiches and rest on some old benches out the back of St Barnabas church. This settlement has been here since the Bronze Age.

We press on through woodland to Lamarsh and the community run pub of The Red Lion where we might stop for a swift half and take in the views. Then head along the river to the pretty village of Bures.

Stop to admire the old water mill and then press on to a cute medieval chapel perched on a hill, where King Edmund of East Anglia was crowned in 856AD. It is quite magical inside. From here there are views of the great dragon of Bures depicted on the hill opposite.

We can stop for a drink on our return to Bures before catching the hourly train back to London (17.33) or Sudbury (17.13)

Hike leader: Robin (07855 475 951)