Castle Hedingham

On Tuesday 19th May, 9 of us in two cars travelled to Hedingham Castle, arriving there just before 11.30 am. Whilst paying admission we were informed of a guided tour at 12 noon. We therefore had drinks etc. at the café and then met with the guide. Being a rather wet day to start, it was just us and about 3 others. It was an interesting tour, learning a few things we’d not picked up on during our last, unguided visit.

EFOG'ers eating in the garrison room of Castle Hedingham. Photo by MadeleineWe then ate our sandwiches in the warmth of the café before heading off on the walk at 2 pm, by which time the sun was just showing its face. We started with a detour by the lakes in the grounds before heading down Bayley Street, Nunnery Street and Kirby Hall Road to then follow a footpath to cross the Colne Valley Railway line beside an old signal box. Back on Nunnery Street we were slightly puzzled by a bus stop sign headed ‘Memories’, but a google search revealed that was the name of a pub/Chinese restaurant at the road junction, but which now just looks like a regular, albeit large, house. We then used footpaths roughly following the River Colne to Sible Hedingham, spotting a muntjac deer on our path en route. We turned left at a large house complete with its own tennis court, and crossed a couple of fields back to Castle Hedingham. We were hoping to finish in a pub, but The Wheatsheaf, which we used last time was now up for sale and The Bell was closed between 2.30 pm and 6.30 pm. Tea Rooms also close very early so it was basically a quick tour of the village, with quaint thatched and other cottages plus a sighting of a red kite above a play area with a sign –‘No Kite Flying’ - and back to the cars. The walk itself was around 3 miles, but with the castle tour as well we covered a bit more and it felt even longer.

Richard  20th May 2026