London to Walsingham Day 5

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To rejoin the planned route I first had to walk a couple of miles along a quite busy road with no footpath between Haverhill to Withersfield. Not the ideal start and as it turned out road walking although on quieter roads than this would be the order of the day.
In Withersfield as it was still early I was surprised to find the church unlocked. After a quick look around I headed out of the village and apart from one short and very muddy track I was on minor roads all the way to Hundon.
Here I took a break at the church which seems to still be used regularly as it has a book exchange and also a table of food donations that anyone who feels the need can help themselves too.
As was often the case on the walk no sooner had I entered the church than someone came along on the premise of doing something. Not that I was bothered, it's nice to think that someone is keeping their eye on things. Again my short break was extended, as I sat talking.
Before I left the village I called in at the shop and there got talking to the staff, I think that it took me at least an hour to get through Hundon!
For a while I walked public footpaths along field boundaries until reaching Chipley Abbey Farm, which is built on the site of Chipley Priory, where I was again back onto country lanes.
Eventually a few more footpaths led me into Stansfield where again I took a break at the church, which in this case was locked. Unfortunately as I had to make do with sitting in the porch to have a quiet few minutes reflecting on memories of my friend Yvonne who I knew from the Compasses pub just down the hill from the church, and who had died far too young. RIP Yvonne.
Stansfield was roughly the half way point of the day and the second half continued in much the same vein as the first. Hawkedon, Rede and Whepstead were all pleasant typical rural Suffolk villages.
After the latter as I walked the winding lane towards Penfold End the sky was darkening more and more until just as I finally left the tarmac behind to cross some fields the heavens opened, turning the pathway into a sticky quagmire.
The footpath continued on through woodlands taking me to the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds.
Thankfully the rain had stopped as I reached the town as navigating through a housing estate and across a large park wasn't the easiest, and consequently getting to my Airbnb accommodation in the town centre seemed to take forever.
If I am honest I was a bit disappointed with this section of the walk, maybe the last two days had spoilt me. The walk itself was pleasant enough and very rural, it was just the amount of walking on tarmac, which at times cannot be avoided when planning a route from Ato B as what are now roads have sometimes been rights of way for centuries.

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