Polstead

Walking round the wooded footpaths of Polstead you would be hard pushed to know that this was the scene of a major murder investigation.  All looks idyllic and peaceful, with large farmhouses and well-to-do barn conversions dotted across the landscape.  But those of you with even a smattering of Suffolk history will have heard of the infamous Red Barn Murder and know that Polstead is a village with a bloody and spooky past. We started our walk from the Cock Inn, at the centre of Polstead Green.  Just opposite the pub, and to the south and left of the village green, is a footpath that leads past the last of the village houses and out onto open farm land.  The field slopes southward and at the bottom by the stream was the home of Maria Marten, the unlucky victim of William Corder.  Just a little further on is the site of the infamous Red Barn itself.  The barn was where Maria and William met for secret love trysts and also where he hastily buried her almost 200 years ago.  It is rumoured that their planned elopement went awry but the real reason why William decided to do the awful deed remains very much a mystery.   After committing his crime William married and settled in London, but his guilt was reputedly discovered by the appearance of Maria’s ghost to her step-mother.  Victorian newspaper readers lapped up the story, and back in the day brought thousands of sightseers to the area.  Less well known is that William’s skeleton was used up until 2004 for anatomy classes at the Royal College of Surgeons, and frankly I think that spooks me more. For our winter walk we decided to turn left and follow the footpath to the east of the village. This way offers a well fenced, mainly woodland circular walk.  For those wishing to explore further afield, there is another well-known circular walk that takes you on down Marten’s Lane and around the south of the village, and ends at the striking Norman church. Our walk proved to be a bit up hill and down dale, with a steep climb at the start and many stiles along the way.  Thankfully stile makers in Suffolk consider the needs of us shorter people, and here we discovered that the top bars were re-tractable so one can easily hop over.  There was also scramble holes on either side for the dogs, and the path is well signed and easy to navigate.  For part of the way the walk runs alongside the River Box and off-lead walkers should be alert, as near the start and end of the walk the path cuts across a 30mph road. The local council have kindly put the odd poo-bin along the way, and on a brisk winter’s day the walk offers great views across the countryside which is filled with the many local lakes and pools from which Polstead gets its name.   This is a beautiful bit of Suffolk and makes a great folklore filled dog walk at any time of year.