Weekend in Suffolk

With summer seemingly over, the weather for the weekend was not looking good - forecasts for heavy rain/showers wasn’t particularly attractive. Unperturbed, I met Sheryl in a small bar just near Liverpool St station for an afterwork drink.
We were soon joined by Vanessa, before partaking of a rather ordinary dinner. Finishing with only about seven minutes to spare, we headed for the train that was to take us out of London to Melton, Suffolk for the weekend.

Steve, met us at the Melton station and after some introductions, took us back to his and Eileen’s place for a leisurely evening.

Saturday wasn’t quite the earliest of starts. The quiet of rural village life in England really does help you get a good night’s rest and sleep. No alarms, no noise from busy main roads or sirens and the like are things you get used to in the heart of London. Something you only notice when they’re suddenly not there.

So a morning walk down to the Woodbridge River for breakfast... okay, “brunch” saw us at a local caravan/kitchen. A good “home cooked” breakfast followed, and I use the word “followed” appropriately, as this is what a certain newly met local did. Augustus the beagle tried on his best looks with each of us that were eating there. He had some mixed success before we were finished, and we continued our walk along the river, past the marinas and lone moorings towards Woodbridge itself.
We arrived via the main marina, and found ourselves at the Tide Mill (right).
Woodbridge River is actually tidal, and the level of the water between high and low tide is quite considerable. This is quite evident as you see so many boats moored that are just sitting on the mud of the river bottom at low tide. Anyway, the Mill was only able to run as the tide was going out. A small “lake” filled as the tide came in, then the water in that “lake” would flow out via the paddle-wheel as the tide went out.
From here it was a short walk over the railway line and into the streets and lanes of Woodbridge. A bit of retail therapy had us poking through both the Heart Foundation and Oxfam second-hand book stores, as well as the bakery. It was then time for a bit of a tea break by a cafe before heading home to Steve n Ei’s place with a stack of new reading to do.

With the clock nearing 6pm, we set out for the nearby village of Aldeburgh. Aldeburgh, pronounced “All-bra”, is a very old seaside town. Actually, it’s half a seaside town as half of the original town was washed out to sea many centuries ago. What’s left is a very quaint and picturesque sea-side township, that has two of the best fish n chip places in Suffolk, if not nationally. We were expecting a possible wait to get in, but managed to find a rather empty restaurant when we arrived.
It wasn’t long before the place was full, so our timing was perfect. Take a look at the line of folks waiting in this pic (left) - this is what awaited us when we’d finished.
So with the sun still up, it was time for a walk along the pebbled beach, through the seaside fair and through the quiet streets and lanes of the town. Oh, and the sweets caravan/stall was a popular stop too.
Upon the road back to Melton, we stopped for a brief look at the Snape Maltery, which is now a massive music school. A mix of amazing old buildings and newer constructions of learning centres, accommodation and other things.
Further along the roads we encountered a field of sunflowers, which Vanessa and Sheryl wished to stop and photograph. This turned into about a 10 minute stop as a bit of tomfoolery amongst these near six foot flowers ensued.
The return to Melton was further delayed by a few pints in a pub in Woodbridge to round out the evening.

Sunday saw another leisurely start, that had us on the roads again. This time we began with a drive around the Saxon burial sites known as the Sutton Hoo. We didn’t stop here as most of the good stuff that was excavated is back in London at the British Museum.
We did continue through the country-side to emerge by the coast on Shingle Street for a bit of a drive by the ocean and some of the houses there. Including one of the old forts that were from the Napoleonic Wars that had been converted into a home. Not a bad effort considering that it looked like a small sand castle (the type made by filling your plastic bucket with sand), and had walls that were about eight feet thick.
From here we headed back inland before finding ourselves in the village of Orford and on the banks of the estuary to the sea. We stopped here for what was lunch in a small cafe to enjoy the river views while out of the wind.
Once finished here, we moseyed along the lanes of Orford before exploring Orford Castle. You may recall this from the visit at xmas, but this time the castle was open, so in we went. It’s not particularly large, but obviously fitted the needs of Henry II whenever he visited. It did give you a great view in all directions from the top - once you’d climbed the obligatory spiral stairwell.

Once back at ground level again, it was another picturesque drive through the laneways and roads back to Melton for a cruisey afternoon and dinner before hopping the train back to London, sirens, traffic and the working week...