The Suffolk Walking Festival starts on the Saturday 13 May, with over 100 walks on offer throughout Suffolk. Beat the Street has organised three in Sudbury & Great Cornard. For information and booking details of all the walks can be found at www.suffolkwalkingfestival.co.uk. Come and take a look at Sudbury’s fascinating (…)history with a free guided walk round the churches and chapels and the Talbot Trail.
Both walks are around the town with many of the churches open on the Saturday and the guide will be highlighting the role of churches in Sudbury’s community in the past, but also in the present and looking into the future. On Sunday, the Talbot Trail is a walk around the town’s historical core punctuated with 14 different small bronze sculptures. Each sculpture, mounted on a red bollard tells it’s own, often quirky tale – a story from Sudbury’s colourful past.
The Talbot Trail illustrated booklet will be available and this links the walk to the stories in more depth. Tales including: a visit from Queen Boudica’s army on the way to burn Colchester to the ground; Simon of Sudbury losing his head over the Peasants’ Revolt; Sudbury, as Charles Dickens ‘Rotten Borough’; tales of dancing bears; a visit from the Great Blondin, high wire artist and landmarks in the town as the setting for 101 Dalmatians. These are just a few of the anecdotes on offer.
Not only do you get to learn a little about the town’s rich past but you get the chance to explore the nooks and crannies of Sudbury that are off the main roads, including views across the famous Water Meadows.