Back to the Low House at Laxfield

This walk is really just an excuse to work up a good thirst before a visit to one of Suffolk's most charming pubs. The King's Head at Laxfield is usually known as the Low House because of its situation below the church and the village centre. This thatched pub, which actually dates from Tudor times, has changed little since the Victorian era when Arthur Fellgate, the village blacksmith, was landlord for 61 years before handing over the pub to two of his 14 children. A grainy black-and-white photo of Arthur and his long-suffering wife Anna hangs in the front parlour.

An open fire burns in the parlour on winter evenings, and drinkers warm themselves while seated on a three-sided Victorian settle or high-backed wooden bench. To either side of the parlour are more cosy little rooms, filled with wooden tables, cushions and pews. There is no bar - the beer is served from a tap room out the back, where landlord George Coleman pours pints of Adnams bitter straight from the barrel. In summer, you can sit out of doors around a historic bowling green or take a seat inside the summer house.

Even the pub sign on the street is eccentric, featuring the head of Charles I on one side and Henry VIII on the other. This much-loved old local was threatened with closure in the 1990s but the villagers formed a consortium to buy it and it is thriving once again. Musicians play here on Tuesday afternoons and on summer evenings the gardens are the setting for Shakespearean plays. This really is the perfect place to end a walk.

Laxfield is a historic village whose former market square is edged on three sides by All Saints Church, the Guildhall and the 15th-century Royal Oak pub. The church is unusual in being some 36ft (11m) wide yet having a single nave and no aisles. The most impressive building is the timber-framed Guildhall, which dates from the 16th century and has since seen service as a schoolroom, a wholesale shop, a poorhouse, a reading room, a billiard room and a working men's club. These days it houses the parish office, a doctor's surgery and a museum on the upper floor.

The walk takes you out into the countryside around Laxfield, with views of All Saints Church across the fields. Although much of the walk is on tarmac lanes rather than footpaths, there is little traffic and in this part of Suffolk this is often preferable to fighting your way along the edge of a large arable field, beating back long ears of overgrown barley, rape and wheat.

Where to eat and drink

Where else? The King's Head, despite its Victorian image, actually has quite a modern menu that features old favourites like sausages and mash as well as Cajun chicken and baked banana and Stilton cream. There is always a good selection of Adnams ales from the barrel. The Royal Oak, at the start of the walk, is another good village pub with parasols out on the square in summer.

What to look for

As you walk past the Baptist chapel, notice the plaque to John Noyes, who was burned at the stake on this spot in 1557. A firm Protestant, he was charged with heresy after he refused to accept the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, which states that the bread and wine at the Eucharist become Christ's actual body and blood.

While you're there

The Laxfield and District Museum, in the Guildhall, is open on weekend afternoons from May to September and features rural and domestic bygones, a restored Victorian kitchen and village shop, and displays of local history and archaeology. A popular outing in summer is a horse-drawn carriage ride from nearby Tannington Hall, an Elizabethan manor house and hotel. Details are available at the King's Head.