Blogs from Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 13

Situated on the border between Suffolk and Essex, Flatford, Debham Vale, was the base of the British landscape painter, John Constable’s works. The Stour River, wooden boats, Willy Lott’s House, Flatford Mill, The Lock, Valley Farm, and the scenery of the idyllic countryside, which are shown on the Constable’s works, have been maintained as in his paintings. When John Constable produced pastoral paintings around Flatford, there were several boat buildings. There is a pair of the reconstructed boat buildings next to the Bridge Cottage. One of the famous paintings, i.e. Boat Building is displayed at Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Constable’s paintings are displayed with the commentary in the Bridge Cottage in the centre of Flatford. There are also walking tours related to Constable’s paintings. Visitors are able to hire the authentic wooden boats from ... read more

There is a huge National Trust property called Ickworth in Horringer, outskirts of Bury St Edmunds. There are several attractions in the property e.g. 18th century manor house, Italian Garden, woodland walks, and Country Park. The East Wing of the manor house was used as the Harvey family’s holiday accommodation for a long time; however, the 7th Earl of Bristol has recently left Ickworth due to the financial problems. The East Wing Building has been converted to the upper class hotel which has been used by the celebrities or the wealthy people. Ickworth Manor House standing on the centre of the property was designed by the 4th Earl of Bristol who copied the design from the building that he had seen In Ireland. Setting the Rotunda with 40 metre height as a centre, there are east ... read more

26 October 2010 I awoke to a frosty morning - although that was a little difficult to discern as it was still dark. I was a little tired having been woken on a number of occasions by noisy owls - obviously they were discussing important matters but at three in the morning ? - please !!! Showered and breakfasted by shortly after 7 I walked down to the mill and then followed the river a little way in both directions - quite enchanting in the first glow of the morning. I had been warned that the cows in a particular field were bad tempered but fortunately they ignored me and decided to launch a full frontal assault on a family of swans. The latter seemed to want to stand on the river bank but every time ... read more

Next, John steered his car for the north eastern direction. An hour after he had started driving, we saw the brick buildings in Snape and Aldeburgh, which we visited a few years ago. Then, he drove past the village sign of Thorpeness. We could see a number of pretty timber-framed houses in the village. John parked his car near the lake. People were riding boats and swans were swimming in the lake. With attractive Tudor style houses and picturesque lake, Thorpeness appeared to be a lovely resort village near the coast. John & Mary suggested we would walk along the coast towards Aldeburgh. They pointed at the futuristic modern two-storey house. They building work was carried out at that house. Having seen several IT equipment, we reckoned the property would be used as an office in ... read more

Hi Folks On the road again ………Will hopefully keep up a regular barrage of these travel blogs so if you do not want to receive just unsubscribe. Headed for Suffolk (in part because it is the nearest piece of land to Essex ! First stop is Bawdsey Quay on the estuary of the river Deben to the south east of Ipswich. This is a small quay used by folks accessing their boats moored in the river and the ferry that goes across to the other side (of the Deben that is - think of rowing boat rather than cross-Channel ferry !!!). It is really a quite delightful spot although rather spoilt by the howling gale, dark clouds and incessant drizzle ! I am camped (if you can camp in a van) in a small parking area ... read more