Village wanderings Mellis
Starting at the car park beside Mellis Memorial Hall, this walk follows ancient green lanes and footpaths bounded by tall hedges. It passes through, or by, three other areas of common land before returning to Mellis common with its acres of grassland full of wildflowers. Distance: approx 7.2 miles Using OS Explorer Map 230. Start grid ref: TM 099746. Postcode IP23 8DN.
P Parking Route Public Right of Way Permissive footpath Public access land
1 Many of the field margins were colourful with arable ‘weeds’ such as corn chamomile, poppies and scarlet pimpernel. Dog rose draped the hedgerows with its delicate pink flowers and the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle hung in the air.
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A1
Mellis Rd
Great Green
Rd Bugg’s
2 Burgate Wood
Burgate
Bu
rga
teR d
1 Me
Little Green
llis Rd
2 The route we followed was just one of many footpaths, bridleways and tracks: green ways linking the hamlets and commons.
MELLIS
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4
Big Wood
Stubbing’s Green
3 4 An old red telephone box, (bought by Mellis Parish Council for £1!) has been transformed with beautiful stained glass panels created by villagers celebrating the flora and fauna of Mellis Common.
We walked with thoughts of Roger Deakin, the environmentalist and author who lived on Mellis Common for 38 years until his death in 2006. The wonderful landscape and the songs of the Yellowhammer and Skylark paid homage to this unique countryman. Walked, written and designed by Kevin Parker (keeper.kev@btinternet.com) and Kaarin Wall (kaarin@wizgraphics.co.uk) © 2015.
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Mellis Green
3 Mellis common is managed by Suffolk Wildlife Trust and, at 146 acres, is one of the largest in the country. It is grazed by cattle and some areas of the grassland are rich with wildflowers including green-winged orchids and sulphur clover.