It was never a bad idea, if you were in a bit of a fix, to beat it up to Belchamp Walter.
As the bad lads of the 'good old days' knew full well.
If the Bow Street runners were on your trail, or the coastguards 'were on to your smuggling traits in the straits .. then to BW you would go.
In fact, a hundred years ago the district became something like an English equivalent of the old American badlands.
The law, you see, was somehow reluctant to pursue the chase up to them there parts.
And so many a transgressor who should have ended up on the end of a judicial rope actually ended up hanging out in comparative peace up in the wilds.
Well, a hundred years later or so, it still isn't a bad idea to hide away in this tiny community of stone-walled cottages, rose gardens penned in by quiet rolling field and woodland.
After all, people are on the run today ... from noise and rush and the general wear and tear of the affluent society.
As then, as now and so far the affluent society has not ventured to any great degreen into this pastoral haven just a few miles from the West Suffolk West Suffok border.
There are quite a few folk locally in the 200-strong village who can claim to be descended from those outlawish lads of the past.
But natives and newcomers alike are all of one accord today: that you can live the good life in Belchamp Walter.
If it strikes the visitor as a bit today a bit of a wonderland, that's because the place has probably changed so little over the years, and little of no development
If the locals aren't painting pictures, they're writing books. Or having a stroll through the village.
So let's let's build up an identikit on some of Belchamp Walter's most "wanted" residents..

" RAYMOND, Mr. S. P, St.Clere. Perhaps the 'Grand Old Gentleman" of the entire village. Lives at Belchamp Hall, a Queen Anne period house built in 1720 by the 3rd John Raymond. His family have been in Belchamp Walter for centuries. Was with Intelligence with the Royal Air-Force during WW II, and a coffee grower in India before that.
Knows much about the history of his home and his village. Can tell how the Roundheads broke up parts of the 14th Century Church of St. Mary the Virgin opposite the hall, and stole brasses from Tombs there.
Tells of how murals were uncovered on the walls of the Church, which were probably done in the 14th Century. The discoveries were made in 1963 when the red ochre and yellow works were found by people workings under the auspices of the Pilgrim Trust.
Reveals that the flintwork battlement tower is 15th century, where a fine peal of eight bells were rung for the last time in 1923. A clock, dating from 1730, is still in good order.
The Churchyard, overlooking the valley of Belchamp Brook, has been closed for burials for many years.
Commends the Rev, Ronald Trevor Howard, Trevor, Howard, vicar, of Belchamp Walter and Bulmer, and rector of Belchamp Otten, for his work in the villages. --- and like many other residents, reckons Mr. Howard has much to foster community life locally. "

" THOMPSON, Mr R. W.
Perhaps the village's most colourful and engaging figure. Has lived locally for 18 years in a house listed in the Doomsday Book.
Ran away to South America as a young man, and is one of the few Europeans who rode on horses with Indians in the Pampas and lived to tell the tale.
The author of 38 books, most of them dealing with history and war between Bolivia and Paraquay in the thirties for the then Morning Post.
Was always fascinated by such subjects, Covered aspects of World War II for the Sunday Ties and then hitch-hiked through Scandinavia into Finland while the war was drawing to a close, saw the Nuremburg trials, knew Ian Fleming and Winston Churchill and had enough adventures all over europe to rival those enjoyed by his literary and political associates.
Survived when the temperature was 126 in the shade and 40 degrees below. "

Thompson, Reginald William, 1904-1977, author and war correspondent
(1904-1977)

Biographical history
Born in 1904; educated at Merchant Taylors' School; worked as a Lloyds marine broker from 1921-1925; began to write professionally while travelling in Argentina and Australia; worked as an author and feature writer on UK depressed areas, 1930-1939; worked as a special correspondent with The Morning Post for which he covered the Gran Chaco War, 1935-1936; on the outbreak of war in 1939 he joined the fire brigade and enlisted in the ranks in 1940; promoted to Capt in 1941, transferred to the Intelligence Corps for training; 1944 worked as a censor and a report writer on the mental and physical health of the 'D' Day forces; later in 1944 was released from the Army to work as war correspondent for The Sunday Times in Western Europe; travelled extensively in post war Europe and attended the Nuremberg trials; employed as a war correspondent for _The Daily Telegraph _during the Korean War; in 1951 settled in Suffolk to write full time on military subjects; his writing was highly regarded by his close friends Maj Sir Desmond John Falkiner Morton and Maj Gen Eric Edward Dorman O'Gowan (formerly Eric Edward Dorman Smith) and by Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart to whom he turned for professional advice and criticism, however his books never achieved critical success and he suffered from ill health and financial difficulties; died 1977 "

Bibliography of Thompson's published books

1. Argentine Interlude. The first roll of a rolling stone (Duckworth, London,1931)
2. Down Under. An Australian Odyssey (Duckworth, London, 1932)
3. Glory Hole [The narrative of a voyage from Australia to England.] (Duckworth, London, 1933)
4. Wild Animal Man [A biography of Reuben Castang] (Duckworth, London, 1934)
5. Land of To-Morrow, A story of South America (Duckworth, London, 1936)
6. To-Morrow We Live [A novel] (Duckworth, London, 1936)
7. An Englishman Looks at Wales (Arrowsmith, London, 1937)
8. Home in Ham (Arrowsmith, Bristol,1938)
9. Portrait of a Patriot, the story of the early life and rise to power of Juan Manuel de Rosas [A novel.] (Collins, London & Glasgow, 1939)
10. Voice from the Wilderness. Being a record of my search for El Dorado and of those who have sought and found new lives [An account of travel in Paraguay and Northern Argentine] (Faber & Faber, London, 1940)
11. Germans and Japs in South America [A reissue of "Voice from the Wilderness"] (London, Faber & Faber, 1942)
12. Men Under Fire [A selection of the author's dispatches as war correspondent on the European front from November 1944 to May 1945.] (Macdonald, London, 1946)
13. Black Caribbean [A personal account of a voyage in the Caribbean Sea] (Macdonald, London, 1946)
14. Devil at my Heels [The record of a journey through Europe from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea in the aftermath of war] (Macdonald, London, 1947)
15. Voice from the Wilderness [Revised edition.] Macdonald, London, 1947)
16. Cry Korea (White Lion Publishers, London & New York 1974; Hamilton, London, 1956; Macdonald, London, 1951)
17. 9 A.B. The challenge [On the effect of the atomic bomb on international relations with special reference to the war in Korea.] (Spalding & Levy, London, 1953)
18. The Pink House in Angel Street, The story of a family [An autobiography.] (Dennis Dobson, London, 1954)
19. Dieppe at dawn (White Lion Publishers, London, 1972; Hutchinson, London, 1956)
20. The Eighty-Five Days (Four Square Books, London, 1960; Hutchinson, London, 1957)
21. The Battle for the Rhineland (Hutchinson London, 1958)
22. Boy in Blinkers [Reminiscences. With a portrait.] (Robert Hale, London,1959)
23. The Price of Victory (Constable, London, 1960)
24. The Yankee Marlborough [A biography of Sir Winston Churchill.] (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1963)
25. An Echo of Trumpets (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1964)
26. Spearhead of invasion: D-Day (Pan Books, London, 1972; Macdonald, London, 1968)
27. Montgomery, the Field Marshal: a critical study of the generalship of Field-Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, K.G., and of the campaign in North-West Europe, 1944/45 (Allen & Unwin, London, 1969).
28. Generalissimo Churchill (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1973)
29. Churchill and Morton, the quest for insight in the correspondence of Major Sir Desmond Morton and the author R W Thompson (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1976)

Reginald William Thompson (1904-1977) was an English author and war correspondent. Educated at Merchant Taylors’ School in Northwood, Hertfordshire, he worked as a Lloyds marine broker from 1921-1925 and began to write professionally while travelling in Argentina and Australia.

He worked as an author and feature writer on UK depressed areas from 1930-1939 and then as a special correspondent with The Morning Post, for which he covered the Gran Chaco War, from 1935-1936.

On the outbreak of WWII in 1939 he joined the fire brigade and enlisted in the ranks in 1940. He was promoted to Captain in 1941 and transferred to the Intelligence Corps for training.

In 1944 he worked as a censor and a report writer on the mental and physical health of the ‘D’ Day forces, and later that same year was released from the Army to work as war correspondent for The Sunday Times in Western Europe.

He travelled extensively in post-war Europe and attended the Nuremberg trials. He was employed as a war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph during the Korean War.

In 1951 he settled in Suffolk, England to write full time on military subjects. He died in 1977.

" GORE, John and Joan, and daughter Sue. Have kept the "Bells", the only pub in the village, for seven years. Previously at Great Bromley.
Reveal that the pub was once a brewery ... and that there are two active weekend football teams made up with players from all over the area. Confess: "We love it here. Do come again when you've time..." "

" BARRELL, Bertie Horace ("Ollie"). and his wife Edith (“Eadie"). The classic Darby and Joan. Ollie: Born at: Belchamp Otten down the road. Now 78, and was a farmworker. Eadie: Born at Hundon, just up the road, Now 84. Wed, at Belchamp Otten church 50 years ago this Christmas Eve. Have a married daughter living in California, who is coming over for the golden wedding celebrations ... and Christmas. "

" CHATTERS George
Retired farmer and, during World War II, guv'ner at the "Bells". "We used to get the Americans from the airfields at Ridgewell and around. They were hectic times.” Confirms that in times of persecution, the village was indeed a. retreat. May be a descendant himself. He and his wife, Mary, were christened at Belchamp Walter church, married at Belchamp Walter church, and expect to be buried in the cemetery' at Belchamp Walter church. Their daughter, Brenda, married, lived over the road in her grandmother's house, which was once the village post office. "

PALMER Alfred
Painter of landscapes and maker of of hand-carved frames to go with them.
Was selling in Mayfair, and decided to get out of it in 1958.
Goes around on a bike, with an artist's kit, designed by himself, weighing 11lb: 11oz., which depicts local views and homes for posterity. Might get £50 for a work, including the obeche-wood frame. He has a painting at the White Hart in Great Yeldham. Studied architecture, especialy Italian, but prefers painting. Says: "It's beautiful here. But I'm not the only painter in the village. The place is just conducive to art".

Palmer lived at Pond Cottage, Bells Road, Belchamp Walter, near Sudbury. He was an accomplished artist and sculptor who carved his own frames and signed them 'a cockle shell & palm leaves'

BOYCE, Jonah, 71, and wife, Lilly. Been in the flint - walled cottage on the corner for 40 years. He's a Londoner, and a farmworker.
Tells of the village pond which has fish and ducks. Of the blacksmiths that used to be over the way. Of the depth of the well near his front door. "That's the length of two linen lines . . . 185 feet deep."

" HOWARD, the Rev. R.
Trevor, Been in the village since 1959. A curate at St. John's, Moulsham, Chelmsford, from 1954. Studied at Wells Theological College and Cambridge. Makes elm tables as a pastime, from wood he gets in Earls Colne. Highly respected in the three villages area. "

" Well, no doubt everyone in the village will have little trouble identifying all those notables.
There are many more, tucked away here and there, like Mr. Sid Butcher, once the local road sweeper for Essex County Council; Mr. Walter Deal, clerk to the parish council; Mr. Ian Swift, its chairman.
All contributing to the good life there, with a harvest festival on September 30 and a harvest supper on October 6 as the next items on the agenda.
In this village for all seasons, autumn will soon give way to winter, and yellow lights and log fires will burn deeply in snow-covered thatched cottages.
The locals will await the rustle and roar of spring. And the year will begin again.
Which really can't be bad "