This month the trustees of the Sudbury Municipal Charities are celebrating the 352nd Christmas Day Gifts distribution. Unfortunately, as a result of the pandemic, the elderly gentlemen of Sudbury will not be meeting to receive their clothing vouchers as is…

During the summer I stepped out of my house in central Sudbury and immediately felt like I was at the seaside. This false impression had been caused by the panicked squawking of a pack of gulls overhead. The reason for…

The Sudbury riverside placed, as it is, adjacent to the old market town, is eminently accessible to a large number of people on foot. It also attracts considerable numbers of visitors from elsewhere in Suffolk, North Essex and further afield.…

Muntjacs are now frequently seen in and around the Common Lands but their population growth brings its challenges writes Ross Bentley. I’m not sure who was most startled. Walking along Sudbury’s Valley Trail footpath recently, I was stopped in my…

October sees the grazing season drawing to a close and by the end of the month the process of removing the final cattle to their winter farmstead quarters will be underway. The grass has been well eaten-off through the summer…

All fishermen know that success comes with patience. Catching fish is a waiting game. And there is one creature regularly seen on the Sudbury riverside who has more staying power that any other: the grey heron. Most days on the…

The Sudbury Common Lands are now well and truly grazed off; the cattle having carried out their task to maintain these famous pastures as open grasslands. Steeped in fascinating history, the grazing records for these lands stretch back into the…

I rarely need an excuse to go out in search of butterflies but this month my eyes have been peeled more than usual for lepidoptera. For the past few weeks an active and friendly charity called Butterfly Conservation has held…

At this time of high summer, out on the riverside pastures the cattle are fattening well as they eat down the acres of herbage. The visual impact of the spring flora has long since passed and apart from some wonderful…

A summer’s evening and once again Sudbury’s water meadows reveal some of their magic. While we sit on the riverbank on Kings Marsh, a dozen or so house martins fill the space around us, putting on a breath-taking aerial display…