Woodbridge Regatta & Riverside Fair

Well, it’s all happening here. My ‘probation’ period with the company that I’m working for was due to finish the week after next. However, due to the turmoil of the last couple of months, I now have a few more months of probation...
Anyway, with the weather improving during the week it was lunch down by Leadenhall Market for some outdoor Tapas to catch up with Row n Marty. Great stuff and a bit of a feeling of Melbourne and DeGraves St - almost.
The good weather didn’t last long, as by Thursday evening’s ride home it was raining again and as luck would have it, a small shard of glass topped the day out by ripping into my tyre to give me something else to do in the rain. It’s funny, every time I hear a police siren (which is a fairly common occurrence) I automatically start hearing the theme song to the Bill in my head. Just one of those weird little things about living in London, I guess...

Friday evening and while having a few ‘knock-off’ drinks with the work crew, it started raining yet again. Just in time for my quick trip over to Liverpool St station for the train ride back up to Melton to spend the weekend with Steve n Eileen again. This time it was for the Woodbridge Regatta and Riverside Fair.
After enjoying the scenery of Suffolk on the train ride there, I made my rather damp way to the Horse & Groom, which is the local pub for Steve n Ei. An interesting little pub this (pictured) and not just because it’s pink. Actually, it’s not the only building in the English countryside that’s pink, so don’t think it’s that odd. The “Doom” as Steve n Ei call it, has quite an interesting crowd. All good folk, and typically ‘country’ as I know it. It was certainly entertaining and good for quite a few laughs. I met Dickie, Julie, Jethro and (I think) Tony, who just sat in the corner but was rather difficult to understand on the few occasions that he did speak. A few more pints for the evening, some good laughs, and it was then time to head back to Steve n Ei’s place for the night.

Saturday was a much quieter affair, and a much needed day of relaxing for me. Steve n Ei left early for Gatwick airport as they needed to pick up the newlyweds who were returning from their honeymoon (see the previous post - Wedding and UFO’s). It’s a several hour trek to get there - and of course back - so it left me to enjoy a rather late and slow start to the day.
I even jumped on the bathroom scales to find out that I'm now under 70kgs - almost the same weight I was when competing in marital arts over 16years ago!! (On a brief aside - back in 2004 when I was last in the States I was over 90kgs, so V n Johnny will have to cast their memories back to '92 when we first met in the Phillipines to get an idea of what I look like now!! I'll be back in the US later in the year guys, which means that Al n Lisa will just have to wait til then to see... But back to regular programming...)
Explore the village of Melton and nearby Woodbridge? Nope. It was bucketing down outside, so a bit of read time and some movies on cable, followed by a bit of a ‘Who’s Line is it Anyway?’ session completed the time before the return of the ‘pickup’. A simple chinese takeaway, with a pint in the ‘Doom’ on the way to collect it pretty much rounded out the day. Cruisey, casual, and all good.

Sunday started off casually with a walk to Woodbridge via the riverfront and the trail that follows the river from Melton round to the main marina of Woodbridge. It actually begins in a boatyard/marina in Melton, and had plenty of cyclists and dog walkers as well as scenery accompanying the river itself.
We met Dickie and Julie at ‘The Caravan’ for breakfast - it’s a small caravan/kitchen that sits between the river and the train station with several outdoor tables. Lovely in the morning sun next to all the harboured boats on the riverside. (yeah, it had stopped raining and the weather for the day was ‘cracking’ to say the least - sunshine and 24C!!)
The longer we were there, the more people were arriving and the busier the area got, as everything started to get put together for the Regatta and Riverside Fair. I swear that when the fair was in full swing that nearly the entire population of Woodbridge was in attendance. It actually stretched a fair way along the river too, with market stalls, rides and other fundraising stalls all along. This also included the two clubhouses for the two boat clubs along this portion of the river. Several water activities as well, including the ‘Duck Race’, which comprised of sponsoring (or buying) your rubber duck for £1 before it was ‘raced’ on the model boat pond with everyone else’s duck. The winner scored £100, and yes, they were well in front in the fundraising stakes with a couple of hours to go til the race itself. That’s Dickie popping his ducks into the starting cage. (Notice the little model boat made from plastic bottles in the corner of the pond.)
As for us, well, we took a leisurely stroll after breakfast to take in all that was going on before heading back into Woodbridge itself while we waited for high tide on the river so that the day could really kick off.
Woodbridge is a really nice little place, and also one that goes back a fair way with its share of buildings from the 13-1400’s. One of the younger pubs was established in 1652, which is over a hundred years befor Terra Australis was bumped into by a certain English explorer.
So, through the narrow little one horse... erm... car lanes (above left) and we ended up taking a breather (and a few pints) in one of the local ‘no hats allowed’ pubs.
To make our way back to the river, we took a short cut through a ‘lane’ that was a little more picturesque than some (pictured). Amazing what you can find in such small villages as this. But back to the river and the now packed docks along the ‘foreshore’ of Woodbridge. It was all happening with some of the water events in full swing, along with everything on the banks - even a troupe of Morris dancers. The only thing missing was probably a small band of hare krishnas. The rides were all going flat strap and the basket for the ducks was filling up.
We ended up grabbing some lunch (and pints) in the Woodbridge Cruising Club (on the right of the pic on the left). Good cheap fair from the usual round of voluntary ladies in the club’s kitchen. Ham salad baguettes, and a pretty good lemon slice as well.
Back into the magnificent sunshine and foreshore we went, until a bit later when someone decided to excuse themselves with an “I’ll catch up”. Yep, that didn’t happen, so the remaining four of us trekked about trying to locate said person. We did find him later, sunning himself on the bank absolutely nowhere near where we separated... He’s actually in the pic just here at the base of the white building on the right. Handily he just happened to be right by the ice cream seller, so with newly acquired ice creams, we called it a day and headed back to Melton via the riverside trail we arrived on.
One last stop past the ‘Doom’ for a final drink before getting back to Steve n Ei’s place, and eventually catching the train back to London. With the daylight hours currently lasting til around 9.30pm I was treated to a great view of the countryside from the train. Also thrown in for good measure was one of the best sunsets I think I’ve seen here in the UK...

And a big Thanks to Steve n Eileen for a top weekend!