I went for another walk, and it wasn’t a little one, either! Today, I walked the Gipping Valley River Path. For folks who aren’t familiar, the Gipping Valley River Path stretches from Ipswich to Stowmarket (or vice versa, depending on the direction you’re walking!). It takes in 15 locks, several villages and is 17 miles long. I’ve wanted to walk it for several years, and it was on my to-do list last year. Needless to say, that didn’t happen, but I was determined to walk from Ipswich to Stowmarket at some point during the Easter holiday. And today, I did it!
So, here is a slightly chaotic selection of my favourite photos of the day. Narrowed down from the 147 I came home with…
Firstly, here’s a pic taken on the train to Ipswich. I arrived at 07:34 having smashed my knee on the table leg – not an auspicious start!
The first information board, near the start of the Gipping Valley River Path 
A pair of oystercatchers next to the river
Gipping Valley River Path sign (I literally photographed every sign and information board I passed) 
Half a mile further along the path
A tree I liked the look of. Look at that sky! 
Coming up to Sproughton
Millennium Green at Sproughton
A quick detour to the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River…
Slightly unco-operative bridge
Welcome to Bramford Meadows! And I did see a pair of jays (no woodpeckers, though I could hear them all the way along the path)
Somewhere around Paper Mill Lane – one of only two places I needed to check the map!
I didn’t have any portage, but decided to go that way anyway…
Red Kite or buzzard?
How trace fossils are made…
Grey geese alongside the Barham Angling Lakes
The only two dogs I met who hadn’t leapt in the river for a swim! 
Sharmford. A village I hadn’t heard of until today!
Can’t remember. But isn’t it pretty!
An alpaca. As you do. (Actually this was Baylham Rare Breeds Farm)
And a new thing I learned today!
Extremely un-cooperative bridge!
Luckily I was (slightly) forewarned. I met a nice chap a few hundred yards back who warned me the bridge was out but it was safe to wade through!
Yes. Here is the bridge.
Completely accidental selfie I took whilst taking my shoes and socks off!
Hmm. It looks a bit scarier from down here! (Needless to say I was absolutely fine, though climbing the other nettle-infested bank with bare feet was an event) 
Horse that wanted to make friends.
Avenue of blackthorns just past Needham Lakes.
What is anti-climb paint? Does it sound an alarm if you climb it? 
‘Nother nice bit of river path
Aha! This is where I detour home!
New path up to Gateway 14 (and thus back home) that I only discovered last Thursday.
My most painful blister out of five. I am currently walking like the rickets-afflicted lovechild of an emperor penguin and an orangutan.
Arrived home around 14:30…and haven’t moved much since!
Carys xx
Amazing…you are awesome…wish I could have come with you on this one but not sure I’d have made it. Great pics. xxxx
What did you think about the water quality along the way? Did it smell good and clean? Was there clear way marking? You have caught images of the sorts of things I would try not to notice, but I am presuming there was some more nice natural environment along the way?
Some good, some bad. There was one area that really needed cleaning – outskirts of Ipswich, I think. No smells (except along near Muntons when you get to Stowmarket, and I’d peeled off to head up towards home at that point). Lots of birdsong – I’d seen 2 Cetti’s warblers before I reached Sproughton, several blackcaps, a pair of jays, 3 red kites… I got slightly lost at two points; one at Paper Mill Lane where you come off the path, along the road and back on the other side of the river, and once at…I think it was Baylham where I asked two chaps for directions, but I didn’t really need them because there was a sign a bit further down the lane. You can download maps via the link near the top of the page. And of course Pipps Ford was a genuine ford – there had been a diversion map pinned up but some twit had helpfully vandalised it. Luckily I’d got spare socks in my bag so I waded across the stream and changed into dry socks the other side.
Overall I took over 140 photos including a lot more scenery ones, but I narrowed it down to the ones you can see here 🙂