Thornham walks is just 10 minutes from Woodfarm Barns, with 12 miles of footpaths, a beautiful walled garden, plus a tea room, restaurant, and a couple of shops.
Set in the Thornham Estate, along the A140, Thornham Walks is managed and funded by Mid Suffolk District Council and it’s a real triumph in developing an area of natural beauty without over-developing it. Thornham Estate also boasts two wonderful places to grab a bite to eat, a fantastic playground for the children, plus craft and gift shops.
The walks are wheelchair-friendly and therefore also push-chair friendly, with well-constructed footpaths from the walled garden, which houses a brilliant charitable organisation called Beyond the Wall helping young people with disabilities.
Further along the walk you come to a great little bird hide. From here we spotted a stunning peacock, many other varieties of wild birds, including a robin milling about and a couple of woodpeckers.
The pathway is dotted with a fascinating rock trail and takes the walker through the woods, leading to a Victorian folly
There are activities all year round, details of which can be found on their website. They are constantly seeking new volunteers to help out and they have a volunteer day on the last Sunday of each month for people to come along and see how they can get involved.
Along the path are some amazing trees and plants. We encountered an 800 year-old tree, which just makes the mind boggle. You’ll also spot The ‘Green Man’ on many of the trees. He is apparently the spirit of the trees and dates back hundreds of years. He was a well respected figure and there are many carvings on trees throughout the forest here.
After a refreshing walk about the peaceful estate, you have the choice of two fabulous places to enjoy a bite to eat. The Forge Tea Room can be found by the main carpark; serving a delicious selection of cakes and hot drinks, plus a great homemade breakfast and lunch menu using locally sourced food.
The second place to eat is the The Thornham Coach House restaurant, also within the grounds of the estate, which serves a fabulous home-cooked lunch, for a little more information about The Coach House, read the post I wrote about it >
Dogs on leads are welcome at Thornham Walks
Last Updated on March 1, 2020 by Laura