Countryside Walk, Melford Hall

This circular route of just over nine kilometres links two of Suffolk's grandest country estates through a patchwork of woodland, farmland and quiet lanes. Setting off near Melford Hall, the path threads through Brakes Ley Grove before dropping down to Bridge Street, a small hamlet on the edge of the Stour valley.

From here the walk climbs gently past Queech Plantation and on through the Hare Drift Plantations, a run of mixed woodland typical of this corner of Suffolk. The route passes The Hare and skirts Fifty Acre Plantation, offering long views across the rolling arable fields that characterise the area. Nearby copses such as Square Plantation, Spelthorn Wood, Oak Grove, Paddock Plantation and Long Plantation dot the surrounding landscape.

The return leg brings you past Kentwell Hall, a moated Tudor mansion set in mature parkland, before looping back through open countryside to the start. With modest ascent and a steady pace, it makes a satisfying half-day outing that combines big skies, shaded woodland tracks and a strong sense of Suffolk's historic estate country.