3 Day Wool Towns Walk (Tour WTW3)

A walk steeped in history from the timber framed village of Bildeston, along wooded glades and green lanes to Chelsworth, a near perfect Suffolk village and on to Lavenham, the most famous of the Wool Towns. This is an unforgettable walk through 'old England'.

Day One
Arrive at Bildeston, relax and explore the village. Once an important town for cloth, Bildeston is full of timber-framed cottages with fine plasterings and projecting upper storeys.

Day Two
The day takes you through wooded glades, along green lanes and a Roman road to the pretty village of Chelsworth. Here there is an excellent village inn amongst gabled, thatched, timbered, tiled and colour washed houses, facing the river. Arriving at Lavenham for the night you will find yourself in a town filled with Tudor houses, gracefully twisted with age. The market place looks much as it must have done in the middle ages with its cross surrounded by half timbered Guildhall and merchant's houses. (6.5 - 8 miles)

Day Three
Time to explore Lavenham further, before setting off on your walk across the fields, passing ancient farm houses and churches on your way. As you climb the small hill out of Lavenham you gain a fine view of the town, before heading, perhaps for a lunchtime pint, to the little villages of Preston and Hitcham on your way back to Bildeston. (7 miles)

4 Day Wool Towns Walk (Tour WTW4)

off peak £270 / peak £291

Over four days this walk takes you through rolling countryside to the most famous of the Suffolk Wool Towns and the prettiest of villages that lie around them. It is a walk that takes you right back to the 14th century exploring streets and lanes that have changed so little in 400 years.

Day One
Arrive at Bildeston, relax and explore the village. Once an important town for cloth, Bildeston is full of timber-framed cottages with fine plasterings and projecting upper storeys.

Day Two
A delightful day's walk through countryside dotted with interesting old cottages, houses and farms to Ash Street and then on to Hadleigh. Here you spend the night in a Viking Royal Town reportedly the 14th! most prosperous in the country at the height of the wool trade, as evidenced by the many fine buildings, the church and Guildhall.
(6.5 - 10 miles)

Day Three
Today you'll follow the pathways to Kersey, the archetype of a pretty English village, its main street dominated by the 14th century church at the top, lined with historic houses and cottages, and completed by a picturesque water splash at the bottom. The day ends at Lavenham, where you spend the night amongst the multitude of half timbered buildings with walls at every angle. (10.5 miles)

Day Four
You return to Bildeston along green lanes and across the fields. Dropping into the Brett Vale, you visit Chelsworth, a picture book village with a host of pretty thatched, colour washed cottages, houses and a pretty bridge over the river, shaded with beech and chestnut trees. Relax and savour the atmosphere over a lunch time pint at the ancient oak-beamed village inn. (7 miles)