June 16.Suffolk Coast

 Today we continued our whirlwind tour of Suffolk, checking out of Hintlesham and heading east towards the coast. Our first stop was Sutton Hoo. Short version - the wealthy owner in the 20's hired a man to explain the hummocks on her property. They turned out to be a graveyard and one contained the 1400 year-old remains of a wooden boat (mostly just the iron rivets) used as the grave of an Anglo-Saxon king and his valuables.

A high perspective from viewing tower

We pressed on and stumbled on Snape Maltings. On the outskirts of Snape, there were a series of huge buildings used to malt barley and now a concert hall and shops. They happened to be holding the annual Aldeburgh Festival. This seems to be a collection of largely-grotesque art works which we were told were very significant.

Distant Henry Moore sculptures

The first place we reached on the actual coast was Aldeburgh. This is a pretty village now famous for being pretty and consequently pretty expensive. We had lunch, strolled the pebbly beach and looked in the boutiques.

Our last coastal stop, a bit further north, was Southwold. This is famous for similar reasons. It's quite appealing even though there is a nuclear power plant on the horizon. The pier was pleasantly old-fashioned and we also went to Adnams, the large regional brewer on the High Street.

Southwold Pier

After this we turned inland and ended up in Beccles, at Waveney House where we're staying the next two nights. It's on the River Waveney, so the far side of the river is Norfolk. This is definitely a pub rather than a manor house, and so a bit shabby and down-at-heel compared to our last place. I booked it largely because the view of the pub on the river looked nice.

June 15. Dedham

 Much though we love a manor house, we've seen a lot and it's hard to tell them apart now. So we thought we'd take advantage of the weather to go places outside today. Fortunately, just near us is the Dedham Vale 'area of outstanding natural beauty'. That's an offical thing, at least in part because Constable and Gainsborough lived around here and created an image that modern Britain likes to mythologise like the ustralian outback or American West.

So we drove down to Dedham. Because it seemed idyllic we hired a rowing boat and set off down the river.

Of course we were immediately stryck by reality. It was a nice day, and in the UK it's Fathers Day and so extra busy. And the field opposite the cafe where we hired boats was thick with picnickers, most of whom had brought inflatable stand-up paddle boards (which I hate, the ergonomics make no sense). So the river was thick with people trying not to fall off and not looking where they were going, and other rowers who by definitions are not looking where they're going. Fortunately, once we got 500m downstream it thinned out considerably. By the time we got back the cafe was packed and there was a long queue waiting to hire boats.

After a drink we drove downriver a bit and stopped at Flatford. This was just as busy and is such a tiny village that you have to park a short distance away in a carpark and then walk. We soon discovered that it's popular because this was the location of several of Constable's paintings.

The landscape has changed a bit but you get the idea.

 

The places today were as busy as the places we've been in Europe. It changes the feel of it all; history as Disneyland. Which I appreciate we're absolutely contributing to. It's not always evident in the photos because we try to work around it. I don't know where it's heading and how things will look in the near future.

So we went on from there to Ipswich, specifically to the Ipswich waterfront area, for lack of a better idea. Ipswich is inland, but with a short, wide river, the Orwell, to the sea. It turned out to be semi-gentrified, which is to say it's been rebuilt but hasn't quite got the atmosphere or presence they may be hoping for. But good enough for us to walk about and get lunch before going back to Hintlesham.

June 14. Hadleigh

 

We prepared for today as though for an expedition - even though it's only a two hour drive to Suffolk. Going north from Kent there's London, then Essex, then Suffolk. We skirted the east edge of London and the Dartford Crossing  (tunnel going north, bridge going south) of the Thames was by far the slowest and most tedious part of the journey. Otherwise it was fine, and we had one stop at a services around Essex; I never cease to be surprised by services, on this occasion because they sell alcohol and there was a room of pokies.

Our first stop for the day was Melford Hall. A stately home with very large grounds containing fields of sheep and cows. We had some lunch and walked through the part of the house open to the public; the owners still live in one wing. It has a long history linked to the dissolution of the monastaries, an admiral and Beatrix Potter.

Melford Hall

Our next stop was Hadleigh, just a short distance away. This was our motivation for coming to Suffolk in the first place as it was the origin of the Alabasters. The whole clan came from one original family around Hadleigh and the name is a corruption of Arbalester.

You can imagine our horror and arriving in this quiet, historic town to find it overrun by Morris Dancers. There is a picture here of the first group we encountered on a corner of the high street, but we spotted at least three other groups terrorising the townsfolk.

We fled from the chaos and found some quiet around the church and adjacent guild hall. I looked for Alabasters in the cemetery, but the headstones were so old they had almost all faded to illegibility.

Guild Hall, Hadleigh

Finally we went on to our hotel for the next two nights, Hintlesham Hall. This is a stately home midway between Hadleigh and Ipswich. It hadn't occurred to me that turning a stately home into a hotel might be difficult, but getting to our room involves twisting corridors and several steps.