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Beccles Walks Home
Disclaimers
- Rights of Way: Every effort has been made to keep to "rights of way" and to log these correctly. There is no guarantee that this has always been successful. Some of the walks mention deviations from the rights of way. We avoided trespassing but not always successfully. So far we have not been shot or arrested or even shouted at! Thankfully, people are generally kind and forgiving.
- Timings: The timings are very approximate. We made many small stops to examine the map, admire the view, take a photo or pick a few blackberries or a wild mushroom. The walk total times exclude long breaks such as pub visits. Some of the timings were added up using a spreadsheet. Since the times are rounded off to the nearest minute, some of the time totals look a little odd. For example 2.4 + 2.4 = 4.8 would appear as 2 + 2 = 5 on the web page.
- Distances: These were measured using the Google Earth measuring tool and should be quite accurate unless we made a typographical error of course.
- Accuracy: We want to stress that these routes have not been checked independently, nor are they necessarily the best, simply the ones we took. Please don't assume that the information on this site is correct and up to date. At the time of writing, we took care to get things right but things change.
- Equipment: We would strongly recommend carrying a map and a compass.
- Abort: You need to be prepared to abort the route and find your own if you get lost or the situation has changed. For example, riverside walks can be blocked with soft mud after dredging operations. There might be an angry bull in a field. You might encounter a shooting party.
- Safety: Always to leave yourself time to get back to your starting point (or another known safe location) should you lose your way. We have walked through fields of, usually calm, cattle and horses. We can't take any responsibility for your actions. Of course, the single greatest and most persistent danger we have faced is road traffic which often can not be completely avoided.
- Food and Water: We took enough food and water with us to last the day so that we didn't have to rely on shops, cafés or restaurants which don't exist in the more isolated spots. Pubs can usually be trusted but they might close for wedding parties or for other reasons.
- Weather: A safe walk in good weather could be dangerous on another day. The stream bed walk could turn nasty after heavy rain. Go prepared for bad weather. Extreme cold is not normally a problem on these sea-level walks. Wind and rain are quite common. So are wet and muddy feet. Sub zero temperatures are rare but you need to be prepared. Some of the routes can become very wet and muddy. Go prepared for hot sunny weather. Sun cream, a hat and clothing to shield the sun are all useful. Take care not to get dehydrated. In the hottest weather, a siesta under a shady tree is recommended.
- Terrain: Most of the walks were on country lanes. Some were dirt roads and some lanes had tarmac. Where possible, we used foot paths. We rarely went across country. The cross country sections usually put us back on a road or path after getting slightly lost. These diversions were typically across agricultural fields. With rare exceptions, the terrain was not dangerous. The worst risk was, as usual, from road traffic.
- Footwear: Minimise land erosion by wearing the lightest possible footwear consistent with the terrain and weather. For most of the year, on these routes, all terrain sandals are fine.