Friday 22 July 2016

A few days away

We went away for 5 days earlier in the month to Suffolk and Essex. The weather forecast on the Sunday night was quite hopeful and so we set off on the Monday.

It turned out to be a typical UK summer - rain, clouds and sunshine.  Fortunately we were able to visit all the places we wanted to and get back to the car before it poured with rain during the first 3 days.

We drove to Southwold, first stopping in Framlingham.


And in typical UK summer style the sea and the sky looked grey.

I spotted this bit of colour.

Roger walking past the beach huts.

The lighthouse.

Poppies growing alongside the promenade.

The beach huts and the lighthouse.

And more beach huts!

A view of Southwold from Southwold Harbour

The beach in summer!   Just before the rain came down.

After checking in to our B&B we drove down to Aldeburgh and managed to walk round the town before the rain came down again.

On Tuesday morning we started our journey south.  Due to all the estuaries we spent quite a bit of our southerly journey driving west and east!  We drove via The Maltings at Snape.

And on to Orford Quay.  Where as you can see the clouds were gathering ominously.

However we got the ferry over to Orford Ness and the sky cleared and we walked around the whole site


before getting the ferry back to Orford.

We watched this Thames barge come up the river.

We drove on to Woodbridge.



Wednesday morning was a bit brighter and we drove through the countryside to Pin Mill which is famous for its pub and the boats.



East Bergholt was a short detour on our journey and much to our delight we found that Flatford Mill belonged to the National Trust.

This beautiful house was next to the mill.

And this is the view that Constable used in his Haywain painting.

This is the mill itself.



Then it was off to Brightlingsea.

We visited The Naze at Walton on the Naze and climbed the 111 stairs to the top of the tower.

We took a short walk around The Naze and got back to the car just as these clouds deposited their rain filled contents.  At one point Roger had to park the car and wait for the rain to clear as we couldn't see where we were going.


We had booked a room at a guest house in Clacton which we weren't particularly looking forward to.  But Clacton turned out to be rather nicer than we had feared.  The gardens on the promenade were certainly colourful.

And so were the hats in the Mexican restaurant we eat in that evening.

Thankfully that was the last of the rain and the next two days were hot and sunny.  I'll show you the photos from those two days in Monday's post.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice


3 comments:

  1. Enjoyed your pictures. Thanks for sharing your trip. I love being able to go somewhere without packing!

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  2. Wonderful Bernice, these bought back so many happy memories for me too. We spend a lot of time visiting these same places and I have sailed from Woodbridge to to Maldon ona Thames Sailing barge and we stopped at Pinmill on our way. I love the houseboats there and the pub does wonderful food. I've also hired a wonderful house overlooking the sea at Southwold. I gathered a group of ladies for a writing retreat, we had such a good time. I did this another time when the community home I worked at had to close for a week due to major refurbishment. We took the residents, so this was work related, but still had a wonderful time. We enjoyed a tour of Adnams on another occasion, lots of beer and wine tasting which I enjoyed.
    You certainly packed a lot in over your short visit. Glad Clacton was higher than your expectations. It's not somewhere we visit, preferring Walton and old Felixstowe, and you'd love Harwich and Shotley another time if you ever revisit. Hopefully we will be around and able to meet up with you if you do. Your photos are stunning, the contrast of colour and ominous cloud - the ones at the Naze look spectacular! Glad you didn't get wet and that the weather held out for the best part. Look forward to your next post!

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  3. That house next to Flatford Mill used to be where the warden lived when I used to go to Flatford to paint. I slept in the Mill and in the little white cottage in you photo. And of course we travelled around the wider areas too.
    Happy times. Dorothy

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