Holiday in Suffolk

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We took late summer holiday at Mary, Mark’s mother’s home between 6^th and 10^th September. We haven’t had very many hot days this summer. However, we had heard that heat wave would come at the beginning of the 2^nd week of September.

We travelled up to Bury St Edmunds on 6^th September. Upon arrival at there, Mary came to the station and took us to Nowton Park where she regularly visits for a walk. We walked in the arboretum. There were a wide variety of trees, shrubs and conifers thriving and they looked great under the blue sky.

We checked the weather forecast on Tuesday & Wednesday – heard that the temperature would rise up to 28 degree; we believed that London would have been even hotter. She took us to Long Melford Country Walk on 7^th September. It was quite warm when we reached the country park; we managed to find a picnic table in the shady spot and had lunch there. Afterwards, we followed the trekking course along the pond and the river in the woodland. We saw a wide variety of waterfowls – swans, ducks, and glebes in the pond and on the islands. Mary was interested in the van of ‘community coffee service’ stopped in the park in the lunch time. We had coffee and cold drinks sold at the van and went for a walk on the disused railway. The disused railway walk was paralleled with the pasture land – we found several farm animals like bulls, Highlands cattles, Hereford cows – they seemed to be resting in the shady spots, e.g. under bushes and trees; indeed, they were quite close to us.

Mary’s home, ‘Lark Rise’ is surrounded by open countryside – it offers a beautiful sunset scene. I took photos of sunset in the evening of 7^th September.

On 8^th September, Mary took us to Ickworth Park. We had a picnic lunch and did the trekking course on ‘Albana Walk’ in the woodland, overlooking the lush countryside. The Albana Walk contained a number of exercise equipment made of wood and designed for teenagers and young adults. We believed that some people would benefit from trying it, but it would be quite hard for us to try. There were a number of ancient-looking trees – we wondered how long they have been thriving in this world. We then strolled through the former garden and looked through stumpery collections. Stumperies were made of old tree trunks and have been collected by National Trust garden volunteers. They were displayed with shrubs, shady plants and tree ferns and some of them looked quite decorative with articles of seasonal themes. We also did Geraldine Walk. There were a couple of striking carvings featuring people who have made history of Ickworth. We popped in the National Trust bookshop. Mary bought a wonderful book ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’ by Chigozie Obioma for me.

It turned cooler in the morning of 9^th September; I needed to wear a light pullover when we walked around the village.

She took us to Glasswell to treat lunch to us. Glasswell is one of the big stores for furniture and household items in East Anglia. We had lovely lunch and delicious homemade summer pudding in the restaurant. We also looked round the shop; Mary showed me the kitchen table which she had recently purchased and will be delivered to her home in December. There were a number of lovely household items that attracted to me.

Afterwards, she took us to Bury St Edmunds. We popped in Oxfam bookshop and standard shop to donate books, puzzles and clothes, etc. I did GiftAid signups for her. It turned brighter and warmer in the afternoon. We strolled through Abbey Garden and St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

On 10^th September, we went to Nowton Park in the morning. We realized that leaves have started falling. We walked through woodland and looked out to the pond and waterbirds.

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Comments

[Mary Goddard]

So lovely to have you with me
I have been delighted to read your Travel blog , and see the great photos that you took while you were with me in Suffolk. It was great to spend time with you .