It felt so good to be back out in Gandalf the VW—especially for a trip we’d booked a while ago. The past couple of months have been a mix of ups and downs as we’ve navigated Jazz’s stroke and the realities of an elderly dog, so this night away felt especially needed.
In the run-up to the trip, everything seemed to hang on a knife edge. Storm Claudia hit… and Jazz had a second stroke. Thankfully he bounced back within 24 hours. The day before we were due to leave, relentless rain and wind battered us, and the forecast promised more of the same for Saturday.
But when we woke up on Saturday morning it was just damp, and we agreed we should still go. We needed a change of scenery, and Southwold has plenty of lovely pubs—no need to be outside much anyway.
Arriving & Settling In
We’d booked Southwold Caravan Site, a great location—slightly pricey at £42 a night, but with hard standing, electric, good shower rooms, and an easy walk into town.
We arrived at 1 p.m. and were allowed straight in (official check-in is 2 p.m., which feels a bit late). Ten minutes later we were set up, and twenty minutes after that we were sitting in our first pub.
The Red Lion
We had sausage rolls and a pint in The Red Lion before making our way to our favourite—The Lord Nelson.
The Lord Nelson & Fish and Chips
We walked down the sea front to The Lord Nelson for a quick pint of Adnams Old Ale. Our fave!
By then the drizzle had stopped, so we grabbed fish and chips from The Little Fish & Chip Shop, which must surely be one of the prettiest chippies in the country.
Their fish and chips are absolutely delicious, as is their homemade tartare sauce. Everything is cooked fresh, and you’re given a buzzer for when it’s ready.
While we waited for our order, Lydia zipped down to the Adnams shop for a gin-in-a-tin and a bottle of Kobold lager for Keith. We sat overlooking the sea, washing down our lunch while enjoying the view.
Back to the Fire
We then headed back to The Lord Nelson to enjoy the glorious open fire and a couple of pints of our favourite winter ale—Old Ale. Keith also tried amount of Yuletide.
After that we popped into the Adnams shop to stock up for Christmas and finished the afternoon with a drink at The Sole Bay Inn.
Southwold is full of independent shops and is unbelievably dog-friendly. It really is the perfect place for a winter escape.
Evening at the Harbour Inn
After a quick freshen up in Gandalf, we walked about fifteen minutes in the opposite direction toward the harbour. Even though it was pitch black, it felt atmospheric, with the tinkering of the boat masts all around us. We passed some delicious-looking fresh fish shacks (next time!) and eventually reached the quaint and historic Harbour Inn.
The menu was fantastic—almost too fantastic. We had to seriously talk ourselves out of ordering everything. In the end we chose the Suffolk smokies: smoked haddock in a rich cheese sauce with bread for dipping. Pure comfort. Keith had the haddock and leek chowder, also absolutely delicious.
Next time, we’ll be trying the fish pie, the smoked haddock and chips, and—let’s be honest—the smokies again.
The Perfect End
Full to bursting and merry on ale, we wandered back to Gandalf for an early night, serenaded by the sound of crashing winter waves.
The was shining and it was Keefy’s birthday, so we of course decided to head out for an adventure. We decided to attend a Camping and Caravan club ‘club meet’, held at Clare Priory in Suffolk and Hosted by the West Essex district.
Club meets are similar to Temporary holiday sites, they tend to pop up for a few days and offer a place to pitch with just basic facilities, usually just a tap and elsan point. They are hosted by different regions and usually are very cheap. Club meets tend to be less than 5 days and therefore don’t require a special license whereas THS tend to be up to 28 days.
We had a very very stressful end of the week so when we arrived at Clare we were like tight coils, stress literally steaming from our (well mine – Lydia’s) ears. I’d unfortunately found a very poorly abandoned dog on my way home from work and of course couldn’t just leave it so spent a large amount of time trying to do the right thing. It was utterly distressing and of course delayed our departure even more.
We were welcomed onto the club meet with open arms. We were a bit worried there would be more of an expectation to be social on this kind of site, and whilst we usually are, today I wanted to sit, drink my cider and be quiet. We needn’t have worried, we were left to our own space and I soon started to feel that stress ooze away.
Dinner was delicious. As it was Keefy’s birthday on Sunday I’d told him I would take charge of catering. I utilised a simply cook box I’d had and on the cadac prepared kerala fish curry which was absolutely amazing, even if I do say so myself. The simply cooks are ideal as they usually are quick and easy to prepare and often only use one or two pans.
After dinner and polishing the wine off, we went for a thigh light walk around Clare country park, which is a stones throw from the priory grounds. We also nipped for a cheeky beer or two.
By the time we went to bed, we were both tipsy but much more relaxed than we’d been on arrival.
Going to bed tipsy means only one thing. The mother of all hangovers the next morning! We both felt it. So had a lay in, until it got so hot we had to evacuate out of the van, we then nursed our heads over a bacon butty – even the tea wouldn’t fix it, before offloading the bikes and going for a ride.
Our route took us past the Rough Acre brewery, so we decided to try a hair of the dog.
We also passed through Cavendish which is so pretty and has a great pub, time for another refreshment stop.
We then went on to Long Melford, home to Melford Hall NT (not dog friendly) and the lovely large green. We had a fabulous lunch at the Black Lion – (dog friendly) and then only Nethergate brewery, where we could have stayed for ages. Their lager and cider was gorgeous, but as we’d had a couple already we couldn’t have more than one there.
Our route took us back through Borley, which was once home to Borley Rectory, once the most haunted place in England apparently before it burnt down.
So we did a spot of ghost hunting in the church yard ( we didn’t see anything but I felt a bit on edge) before making our way back to Clare. It was around 25 miles and the electric bikes were great. Thankfully we started to feel more human too and really enjoyed the cycle.
Dinner that night was a simple hot dog as we were quite full from lunch still. Before a relatively early night.
Sunday morning (Keith’s birthday) dawned sunny and hot.
We were invited to a coffee morning but we were in middle of cooking breakfast, so politely declined. We’d enjoyed the location of the club meet, but probably would have to think hard about if it we were to attend one again. There were a few characters that didn’t quite respect our space and we felt a bit like we were being watched and judged a couple of times. As it was a meet, most people knew each other and whilst they were friendly, we just weren’t in the mood to be socialising this weekend and we felt a bit awquad about that. It just wasn’t our cup of tea, but that’s not to say following a less stressful time we’d probably feel differently, as we do enjoy being social… sometimes lol!
Having said that, if you are looking for a social camp out, these would be ideal. As I said the people couldn’t have been more friendly. We just needed a bit of space this time. To find the THS and Club meet pop ups, you need to be a member of Camping and Caravanning club, and search on the Out and About app.
The site cost £10pn and had a tap and elson point and was within the grounds of the 12th century priory. Clare is a great village to visit with over 100 listed buildings, ruins of a castle, motte and Bailey, disued railway walk (not bridleway) a converted railway station, country park and town heritage walk. It had a coop, butchers and a handful of pubs too. Plus a brewery on its outskirts. So a perfect location for Keith’s birthday celebrations. History and beer ✔️
Gandalf the VW is parked on a beautiful C&MC CL, deep in the heart of the picturesque Suffolk countryside, on the outskirts of Framlingham. We’re staying at Waterpump CL, a newly opened CL this year, and it is a real gem. The pitches are huge- 5 hardstanding (with two grass ones available throughout the summer to replace 2 hardstanding ones which are closed for summer), electric and Water (with a water point on each double pitch) and peace and quiet in its bucketloads.
We’ve whisked ourselves away for a recharge weekend – we’re only 2 weeks into term and already about running on empty! This site is perfect as its 45 minutes from home. It also has a very good 4 minute fieldwalk to the local pub. Happy days!
We arrived at 2pm on Friday and spent the afternoon enjoying the late September sunshine and utter peace and quiet.
Around 5pm we took a short wander to the pub, a very pretty Suffolk inn – and very popular too- we’d missed our opportunity to eat there as we hadn’t booked and the whole weekend was fully booked. To be fair the campsite website did warn us to pre book! Luckily, we had some emergency bbq supplies, and the weather was great, so we enjoyed a couple of beers before cooking up bbq’ed venison steaks, lemon chicken kebabs and a nice salad. Followed by marshmallows on the campsite to finish. Perfect.
The night sky here was spectacular, and this time of year allows for star gazing at a sociable hour too! Which is good as we were fast asleep by 9pm!
Saturday morning brought with it another glorious morning. It was boiling!
We enjoyed a cooked breakfast, before donning our walking boots and taking a 3 mile walk across the fields to nearby Framlingham.
Framlingham has a really impressive castle, managed now by English Heritage – it is well worth a visit. The wall walk is really excellent. We have visited before so gave it a miss today, instead enjoying the grounds around the moat area and admiring the very impressively conserved walls.
More recently, Framlingham has become well known as it features in the Ed Sheeran song ‘ Castle on a Hill’. Ed Sheeran grew up here and wrote the song about his hometown.
We enjoyed a wander around the small shops and market – stocking up on fresh vegetables for dinner and some nice bread and cakes. Plus a couple of refreshment stops of course.
We decided to take a cab back as we were laden down, plus my foot still isn’t quite right. But it was a lovely walk, and the none injured Lydia and Keith would have no problem in doing this as a round trip another time.
Keith was rather excited to discover this campsite is as near as dammit located onto the old course of a roman road. Those who follow our adventures know Keith is a Roman History enthusiast, and his imagination was running in overdrive as we settled down for a bread, cheese and wine lunch on our return to the site after our expedition into town.
The remainder of Saturday afternoon was spent reading and soaking up the sunshine on our pitch, even squeezing in a nap – hurrah!- before enjoying a home cooked pie with local fresh veg for dinner. I’d pre made these pies at home, and popped a couple in the freezer in case we didn’t fancy/couldn’t eat out- they cooked perfectly in the remoska from frozen. Once nightfall fell, we settled down to watch a film before another early night.
We had to leave fairly early on Sunday morning as we had tickets for a vineyard tasting event at Chilford Hall vineyard in Cambridgeshire, but our trip into Suffolk had been a perfect excursion to recharge our batteries for a day or so.
We will definitely return. There is a vineyard that is walkable, which we fancy trying next time, and lots of on site wildlife to watch. We heard the little owl and barn owls, but despite being on high alert watching we didn’t catch a glimpse. For those who tow a car, or don’t mind taking their vans off site, the site is located close to Orford which also has a great castle to visit, Snape Maltings which is a good place to visit and enjoy the arts, and of course Southwold and Aldeburgh.
Congratulations to the site owners, who are also campervanners, for setting up such a lovely jewel in the C&MC network. As Arnie says… “I’ll (or we’ll) be back”
Gandalf the VW is parked up on a glorious field in Eastbridge, in the heart of Suffolk and not too far from Minsmere and Dunwich. We’re on a C&CC certified site with no hookup, and just a tap, loo and chemical disposal. At just £9 for the night, we are very happy campers indeed. Eastbridge Farm, Suffolk
Yesterday we finally got our new solar panel fitted to the pop top ; after over a year of uming and ahing- a change of van, and then a long wait for our trusty caravan serviceman, Simon from Thetford Caravan Service- who is FLAT OUT! Yesterday was finally the day!
I’m not going to lie; our hearts were in our mouths as we watched Simon drill into Gandalf’s roof, but he did a marvellous job. We opted for Sunpower 110v flexible solar panels sitting on our pop too and this weekend ended up being the perfect test as we enjoyed the hottest weekend of the year so far.
Saturday dawned hot, and we were very thankful for our air con as we made the hour journey to Eastbridge via Morrison’s. By 1pm we had arrived set up camp. The weather was top notch, and we enjoyed a major chill for the entire afternoon; snoozing, reading and listening to music.
We are two days from breaking up from the summer and officially almost burnt out. The chill in the sun did a very good job at recharging our own batteries, never mind the solar panel charging the leisure battery. We kept checking the solar panel and couldn’t believe that we were drawing 5vs into the leisure battery. Most importantly the Prosecco and beer was ice cold.
Dinner time soon arrived and we bbqed a great big slab of steak with sausages – absolutely delicious; before thinking perhaps we should take a walk, so walked the 5 mins max to the local pub the Eels Foot Inn- an Adnams freehouse.
On our return to camp we set up our new piece of kit, a folding handmade fire pit. A student that we have both taught for over 10 years goes to Uni this summer so we received this immensely thoughtful homemade gift- handmade and designed by her mum. Isn’t it fab!
We slept like logs, and before we knew it Sunday morning had arrived. The cows mooing provided a gentle start to our Sunday morning, and as the sun rose the heat soared! We got out our sun canopy and had a light breakfast before packing up camp and heading to nearby Dunwich Beach.
We were joined here by both our mums, and Keefy treated them to a delicious fish bbq on the beach for lunch. That cadac safari chef 2 is really versatile and perfect for moving it around to find a picturesque cooking spot.
We spent all day on the beach – mum and I drinking mocktails pretending we were in Greece (we were both driving!) Several swims in the sea were enjoyed and before we knew it it was time to make our way home. We may have only been way for just over 24 hours but we feel recharged ready to tackle the last two days of a very unusual year of music education and performance!
We’ve got loads planned for the summer in Galdalf; we can’t wait to take you along with us on the ride.
Ruby the VW Campervan is parked up on her own private glade on the outskirts of Southwold. We are plugged into the electric and have a water tap and loo disposal. We have 4 other neighbours but due to the lovely landscaping of this campsite we can’t see any of them! We’re pitched up at Jubilee Certified Campsite, a 5 van site linked to the Camping and Caravan Club and at £15 on we feel like it’s a steal!
Thursday; we were working until 11:30 at which point we closed our laptops, bid our final students a fond farewell for the summer and literally RAN into Ruby and set off towards Southwold.
It’s actually an amusing story as to how we ended up here; it was an accidental booking a few weeks ago, as we were emerging out of lockdown I hit the phones trying to secure a couple of local breaks. When I rang this site, I thought it was one elsewhere, and when he told me he literally had one night free in the whole of July- I snapped it up thinking oh my god, we’ve missed the boat. When I realised my error I understood; walking distance into Southwold is always going to be attractive and the reviews for the site glowed. We decided to keep the booking and go and enjoy some Adnams to mark the end of a very strange and stressful school year!
The campsite is just lovely. Everything I hoped a CL with no facilities would be. Check in was relaxed, we literally just found an empty glade, plugged in and then tried to remember how to set the awning up. It went up quickly and easily and we had another couple of new gadgets to play with – our sun canopy and two Ruby red zero gravity recliners.
We decided to have a bbq lunch and just enjoy the quiet campsite for an hour or so which was bliss. I cracked open the fizz and we toasted getting through the last few months of utter chaos work wise!
Around 4pm we made our way the short distance on foot (20 mins) into Southwold. It’s been ages since we’ve visited, despite it being only an hour away. The colourful beach huts against the lovely sandy beach made us instantly feel on holiday.
We made our way to the Adnams shop to stock up- but had mistimed it so our summer budget breathed a sigh of relief! Instead we made our way to the historic Lord Nelson Adnams pub, who have adapted brilliantly to COVID requirements by closing inside – there are too many nooks and crannies; instead serving drinks out of a hatch and allowing you to enjoy a beer on benches overlooking the sea. This view would rival any beer garden! Having found a prime spot bench, we decided this would become our office for the evening, so we ordered fish and chips for takeaway from the pub for later on and spent a couple of hours sampling some Adnams with a view that just never got old.
After our delicious Adnams beer battered fish and chips, we made our way back to Ruby and had a chill outside the van until the mosquitos came out to play! They completely caught us off guard- we were totally unprepared for them and as such spent 2 hours before bed trying to make Ruby a mossie free zone- then realised there is a gap in the tailgate awning so had to reluctantly close the tailgate and start again!
Somehow we woke up with only 2 bites but high on today’s agenda is to get some repellent!
We absolutely LOVE this campsite so much! For us this is the perfect CL. It’s no surprise it books up very quickly.
Friday
Shortly after writing the blog section above, we began thinking about packing up ready to move on, as sadly our campsite (when we booked in June) could only fit us on for the one night. We therefore were thrilled (despite sharing the campsite owner’s annoyance of people’s lack of courtesy) when he popped round as we cooked breakfast to say he’d had a no show and we therefore would be welcome to stay an additional night. It was a no brainer and we thanked him for giving us first dibs, settled up for another night and put the kettle on; our day ahead looked leisurely and with no time commitments we couldn’t have been more relaxed and happy.
Late morning we decided to have another wander into Southwold, and this time take a walk towards nearby Walberswick along the coast. The weather had been a bit grey and drizzly so far but as soon as we reached the centre the sun came out and as luck would have it a beer table became available outside the Sole Bay inn. Well it would have been rude not to have stopped to sample an Adnams cider and we happily people watched for a while, whilst sat in the shadow of the lighthouse.
We moved on towards Walberswick picking up some mozzie repellent on the way and followed the dune path towards Southwold harbour and passed the exceptionally busy and hemmed in Southwold campsite. We felt pleased to not be staying there this time.
We joined the queue for the small foot passenger “ferry” which would take us the very short distance by water, but save us a much longer walk. There has been a ferry here since 1236 and it’s usually and traditionally a small rowing boat, but Covid restrictions have meant that the rowing boat is too small for social distancing. We were surprised to see our campsite owner driving the ferry! He seemed pleased to see us as he’d recommend the walk to Walberswick.
On the other side we happened across a pastry shop which just happened to have some fresh out of the oven sausage rolls for us to enjoy for our lunch. We washed it down with a drink at The bell, before hopping back across to Southwold on the ferry.
Opposite the ferry drop off point was a traditional fishmongers and as we are suckers for local food and the weather was good we picked up some fresh scallops and sea bass fillets for a bbq tea.
As we passed the Adnams shop on route back to the campsite we stocked up on lager, cider and white wine ready for our fishy feast!
We enjoyed our fish bbq so much! We had a delicious cheese board for supper (including some local Baron Bigod soft cheese) and retreated to bed before we got attacked by mosquitos!
Keith has made some effective mosquito nets to cover the gaps in the tailgate awning, so we were able to sleep with that open last night which was comfortable- although we both managed to screw a few bites between us!
Friday
The awning and canopy came down really easily and quickly as we packed up this morning, and after a fairly quick pack away we waved a fond farewell to our campsite- we have loved our stay here!
On the way home we stopped off at Woodbridge, to do a walk and also see the last remaining original tidal mill in the country. The town of Woodbridge is pretty and has lots of listed buildings. Thomas Seckford, Master of the Court of Requests of Queen Elizabeth I lived here in the 1500s and we passed many very pretty and quaint (and some less so 😉 ) properties around the centre of the town.
The tidal mill has been there since the 1700s, although there has been a tidal mill on that site since 1170 which is just remarkable to imagine. It’s recently been fully restored to working order and is looking fabulous standing proudly against the River Deben. Across the river is NT Sutton Hoo – well worth a visit (we’ve been recently). We passed some lovely looking house barges along the quay.
We were thrilled that the weather held out for our walk and only changed as we neared home.
We arrived home feeling refreshed and relaxed; we’d had such a lovely mini break! We’d fallen out of love with Southwold a few years ago, we can’t even really remember why, but it’s safe to say after this visit it’s lodged firmly back into our heart! We’ll be back!
We’ve actually only got a couple of days at home before we venture out again; this time we’ll be pointing our wheels northward.
Stay tuned! Until next time
Lx
PS: COVID-19 measures within Southwold
There is currently a one way system on the Main Street- with one pavement for each direction. This helped us feel secure and mainly worked well. All pubs and shops had sanitiser stations and on the Friday the law changed regarding masks and every seemed to be obeying the new rules. The pubs all did things differently and according to the space they each had available. The Lord Nelson served only from a hatch outside, and served takeaway food in the evening (pre book via phone) The Sole Bay Inn had a one way system and plenty of Perspex screens. The Bell at Walberswick were hugely limiting numbers, even in the garden. The Walberswick ferry sterilised every contact point as people got off after every trip. We felt safe and welcome at all times.
For us when we arrive at a campsite, once we are set up, we don’t want to move the van if we can help it. I spend all week chasing around in between schools and gigs so once the journey is out of way, I want to hang up those car keys and embrace not having to drive. Because of this we are always on the look out for campsites with walks or bike rides from our pitch.
For the second year running Keith and I have signed up to “walk 1000 miles”. Last year we smashed it by walking over 1100 miles which we were thrilled about- crossing the 1000 mile mark in mid November.
As usual its been a busy start to the decade, and with some pretty rough weather and my lingering lurgy, the 40 odd miles walked so far this year by us have been mainly in the dark either first thing in the morning or last thing at night. But this weekend a welcome break in the weather arrived at the same time as a welcome day off.
As we only had the day spare we opted for a local walk just 5 miles away from our front door. However seeing as we have a really rather decent campsite in the middle of the walk and various attractions around us – we felt it was well worth a write up to add to our ‘Campsites with walks from the pitch’ list.
Campsite:
Dower House Camping About 7 miles away from Thetford, Norfolk. Easily accessible from the A11.
This campsite is right in the heart of the forest. The pitches are really pictuesque and there are decent facilities and even an outside pool for the summer months. It gets very busy, we even know neighbours who go there on holiday despite it being 3 miles from our front door. It is open from Mid march to mid October.
The Walk:
9 miles but many shorter (or longer) routes available.
Because we live so close obviously we didn’t camp. We parked Ruby at Knetttishall Heath which has two large and free carparks. Knettishall Heath also has miles of trails to follow and is the start of the Peddars Way.
Our route began in the main car park which we walked away from by turning left out of the main gates, following the road back towards the A1066. After about half a mile we took a small footpath towards Riddlesworth Hall Private School. The path goes behind the school and you get good views of Princess Diana’s former school – the impressive Riddlesworth Hall.
We then crossed the 1066 and took a quiet lane through the forest towards Dower House Campsite. We took the campsite entry road and followed it for the mile or so before breaking off to the left following the path towards Thorpe Woodlands (Forest Holidays). This is a good place for a refreshment stop as there is a pet and child friendly bar/cafe which serves decent food and is open to non residents.
We carried on to the Peddars Way National Trail which we followed all the way back to Knettishall Heath. Our route covered 9 miles and was really enjoyable.
If we were staying at the campsite we would head towards Riddlesworth Hall first then Knettishall Heath as that way you get the road walking (albeit quiet road) done first.
There are enough walks directly from the campsite to occupy you at least 2-3 days so it’s perfect for a weekend break.
East Harling is just about walkable from Dower House – or cyclable on a very quiet lane. There are two decent pubs, one that serves exceptional food – The Nags Head and one that is a drinkers pub, The Swan. There is also a traditional tea room, Peppers, a village store, fish and chip shop and post office. The 2 pubs and the tea room are all all dog friendly. If you don’t fancy the distance, there is a great cab service that is based in the village.
Just outside of East Harling is England’s oldest Whiskey Distillery. Its well worth a trip if you like Whiskey or Baileys – they do a very nice Norfolk Nog which is similar to Baileys. There is also a restaurant and cafe at the distillery too.
A little further afield but less than 10 miles away there is Snetterton Race circuit and also Banham Zoo, or Bressingham Steam Museum.
Did you know that the legendary actor James Stewart was stationed nearby to here in Old Buckenham, about 8 miles away during WW2? You can visit the small museum on the airfield and visit Jimmy’s cafe. Or perhaps come and watch the very popular and really great air show in July.
As you can see we are blessed with where we live. If you decide to come and try the campsite out do let us know, we’ve love to meet up! This truly is our stomping ground! In fact during this walk we bumped into two of our followers randomly! Great to meet you Eric and Pam!
We’re always on the look out for inspiration of where to visit for a night or two which requires no driving once on site. If you have any spots you’d like to share, please do so in the comments below.
Our next Ruby adventure is just 3 weeks away, we’re looking forward to seeing some hills in West Yorkshire.
Ruby the VW campervan is parked up on the beautiful and idyllic ‘Tumbleweed’; a Camping and Motorhome Club certified location situated 4 miles outside of Orford on the Suffolk coast.
We decided to avoid the club sites during the August holidays this year as even during the May half term they were packed and fairly noisy. We’ve been quite busy doing gigs and a handful of teaching since returning from our Canada and Alaska and fancied some peace and quiet. Tumbleweed (£14 pn) had a space free despite our fairly late booking and even better, it had a shower (£1 for a 10 minute shower) and toilet on site.
We arrived just before 1200 and instantly relaxed. The site, despite only hosting 5 vans, is a relatively large and beautifully landscaped site, nestled just to the side of the owners house. There are a couple of hard standing pitches and the rest are grass. We chose the pitch closest to the small stream that runs alongside the site.
We wasted no time in getting the bikes off the back of Ruby and pointing our wheels in the direction of Orford, just 4.5 miles away along a small quiet lane.
Seeing as we’d arrived at lunchtime, and the pubs on this this stretch of coast weirdly stop serving food at around 2.30 despite it being the height of summer, we decided to have our fish and chips lunch before our walk so we didn’t run the risk of missing out!
Orford is very famous for its Castle, a unique and fantastically preserved polygonal tower keep, which stands proudly above the small village and is seen for miles along the coast on a clear day. It’s looked after now by English Heritage and worth a visit. We visited a few years ago so didn’t go inside today. Dogs are allowed in.
Orford is also famous for its fishing – it’s been a fishing port for years and years and as such you can find the famous Pinney’s of Orford smokehouse shop here. They still fish on two boats from Orford quay and have a large smokehouse just behind. It’s the place to buy your smoked fish from round here.
In the Jolly Sailors, our lunch venue, they were selling a pint of Pinney’s smoked prawns, something we’ve not seen before, so we of course ordered a pint to share followed by two battered fish and chips.
Both were delicious and washed down by the local Adnams lager. It took all my strength not to order the adnams gin which is fab, but I’ve got a bottle at home so resisted.
After lunch, we moved our bikes to the large car park where there was ample bike parking and began our country walking route.
We followed the estuary for a couple of miles following the Suffolk coastal path. And then cut inland before following a good path back to the castle.
We would have had a drink at the other pub in the village but it was closed – I told you, weird opening hours! – so grabbed some Suffolk gold cheese, and cycled back to Ruby. The return journey was a little easier on the legs.
Back at Ruby, we had a quick shower set our stall out and made the most of the sunshine and peace and quiet. We sat out until gone 8pm reading. It was perfection.
Once the sun had gone down, we moved inside and had a simple dinner made up of some leftovers from a Mexican bbq we cooked at the weekend and settled down to watch a film, but we didn’t even make 20 minutes before our eyelids became increasingly heavy, so we called an early night!
We slept like logs for over 12 hours! It was absolutely silent here- perfect for our weary bodies!
We had a simple al fresco breakfast before quickly packing up Ruby, saving goodbye to the site owners and heading down a mile or so to the large picnic car park (this has a height barrier so is not suitable for people in anything taller than 2m) just along the Iken road near Snape.
Here we picked up the coastal path for the mile or so to Snape Maltings, which as the title suggests is a converted Maltings that was built to malt barley, which was then sent on to make beer in London and Europe. It’s spot, right on the banks of the River Alde, made it a desirable and useful spot and it remained a busy Maltings right up to the 1960s. At this point, local but very famous composer, Benjamin Britten, had the vision or turn the derelict buildings of Snape Maltings into a concert hall and ever since the famous Aldeburgh Music Festival and much more has been held there. It’s now home to much more than just the concert hall, also an array of shops, boutiques and gallery’s and is worthy of a trip if you’ve not been before.
Our walk continued through Blaxhall common or Blaxhall Heath as it more resembles- we lost the path due to overgrown-ness a couple of times but we enjoyed the varied landscapes and all the beautiful purple heathers.
We were surprised to learn that we racked up 5 miles by the time we got back to Ruby – which brings our walk 1000miles target to 690 miles walked so far this year!
After a quick bite to eat, we turned our wheels back in the direction of home, but not before one last stop at the wonderful Friday Street Farm ship just before we turned onto the A12. We were exceptionally disciplined- we’re trying not to spend a fortune, but I stocked up on fresh fruit – much of which was harvested from High House fruit farm which was only a mile away from our campsite. Tomorrow has been declared a jam making day!
We absolutely loved Tumbleweed Cl, and thought the facilities were exceptional for a small site. We’re starting to prefer these quiet sites during the peak seasons, so finding one with such spotless and modern facilities is just wonderful.
Does anyone else have any recommendations for CL or CS sites with a decent shower? Please comment below if you do
Since we got home from America, it’s been full on with work as we’ve had a show production as well as our normal teaching routine. As soon as the show was over I was itching to get out for some fresh air, and luckily my lovely husband had preempted this and prebooked some tickets to nearby Anglesey Abbey for their winter lights event.
Anglesey Abbey is a National Trust owned country house that was formerly a priory and is set within acres of woodland. A perfect canvas for a magical winter wonderland trail.
We met Keith’s Dad and Stepmum for a late Sunday dinner at the nearby Red Lion in Swaffham Prior, before driving the couple of miles to Anglesey Abby for our 7pm entrance ticket. Our meal was gorgeous, one of the best Sunday lunches we’ve had in ages and really great value.
We had a few minutes to spare at Anglesey Abbey so had a hot chocolate and a browse of the gift shop; I just love the National trust gift shops and left laden with goodies! At 7pm we were called through and began our winter trail. The lights were extremely pretty and atmospheric, and although completely different to Kew Gardens winter lights which we visited last year, it was equally as lovely.
The trail is about 1.75 miles long, and there are a couple of rest areas with hot food, coffee and mulled wine of course. There were also some entertainers at each rest point- a fire eater and country band in one section and a brass band in the other.
We carried on along the trail admiring the huge silver birch trees all lit up beautifully and our favourite section was the stretch along near the mill.
The Abbey itself was pretty with multicoloured lights that you could control using devices on the path, which was unique.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and was the perfect outing to get us starting to think about Christmas. Tickets for this year have sold out already, however you can get tickets through the National trust website here – we booked in September.
We didn’t stay as we were local and it was a Sunday night, however you could easily combine this trip with a stay on:
Anglesey Abbey also is very proud to host one of the best displays of snowdrops in the country and is well worth a visit in February too.
The following weekend, hailed the return of the ever popular Bury Christmas Fayre. Each year this 4 day Christmas fayre becomes even more popular- we’ve been making a point of visiting every year that we’ve lived here. Despite us only being 30 mins from Bury St Edmunds we always camp overnight as we are partial to a drop of Greene King Abbotts Reserve, but at 6.5% I only need to sniff it and be over the limit!
In Bury St Edmunds there is an official motor home overnight parking area in the main car park, where we can park legally for 24 hrs at only £2.50. We are so lucky to have this, if only more councils supported motorhome owners on this way but that’s a different story.
Despite this wonderful facility being available, we rarely get to use it during the Xmas market weekend as there are only 5 spaces and they are always full, so we tend to discreetly park up outside of town for the night. This year however due to a wedding on the Saturday, we ended up at Bury on Friday and i’ll be blowed, we got a space in the Aire!
We wasted no time and headed straight for the Abbot reserve tent!
The market is centred around the picturesque Abbey gardens and Angel hill and is full of stalls offering lovely gifts and food and drink galore.
This year, we did less shopping and more drinking hehe, but we stocked up on cheeses! The Greene King tent is right opposite the stage and so we enjoyed watching the commitments tribute band.
It really is a lovely Christmassy event, and we look forward to it every year. It’s also dog friendly.
We can’t go to Bury St Edmunds without a drink in the Nutshell, claimed to the smallest pub in the UK and this trip was no exception. It’s also dog friendly. 🐾
Whether we like it or not, Summer is becoming a distant memory now. The nights are drawing in and the air has become fresher and less humid, the smell of log burners lace the night sky and supermarkets and shops have started stacking shelves from floor to ceilings with Halloween and dare I say Christmas paraphernalia.
Personally, I’m happy to see this shift. I love Autumn. Firstly I’m an October baby, so once those blackberries and apples have been harvested, people start asking me if I have any birthday present ideas. But aside from celebrating, I adore the darker evenings- no feeling guilty for snuggling up in my pjs on the sofa drinking hot chocolate on weekends, the return of Strictly, winter walks, crispy leaves under my feet in the woods and those gorgeous golden colours. I’m definitely an Autumnal addict.
If you are looking for an October break away, especially if you have kids (or dogs!) We highly recommend a day at Undley Pumpkin Patch.
A pick your own pumpkin patch, which offers a huge and wonderful display of pumpkins and squash in all shapes and sizes, at a remarkably good price.
There are seasonable food and craft stalls, photo opportunities galore, inflatables, mazes, and faceprinting, so grab your wellies and head on over to Suffolk for a really fun day out.
It’s open weekends and right through half term, so why not book onto the local campsite The Willows Campsite and make a mini break of it.
Until next time
Lx
*NB We made our visit a couple of years ago, but forgot to blog about it- from what I’ve read it’s grown from strength to strength. We just haven’t had chance to visit this year and due to our USA trip in a couple of days, and then someone pranging Ruby last week, we won’t get there this year 😢🎃
Ruby the VW Campervan is parked up across the Border – we’re in deepest North Essex at Brit Stop number 221/18. It’s a lovely historical pub that we are nestled behind, and we have a private glade on hardstanding in the very quiet staff carpark. The pub has some links to a very famous Norfolk Boy so we are feeling right at home, and across the road we have a wonderful traditional Village Green – which if you carry on reading, you will see, comes in verrrrry useful later on!
We’ve had a busy one today doing heaps of admin – but admin of the pleasant kind – booking trips including NYE and February Half Term amongst other things. Since downsizing to Ruby and loosing our on board shower, we are enjoying C&MC and C&CC Club sites lots more than we used too, as the facilities tend to be immaculate and plentiful in hot water supply. Perfect for winter touring when you’ve had a long muddy walk and need a long hot shower – some of the non club sites we visited earlier this year were quite frankly gross, so we’ve kind of gravitated to Club sites which have so far done what they said on the tin for a reasonable enough price.
Having said that, we’re not quite ready to throw in our spontaneous souls just yet, so after filling the diary and part of next years, we made the most of a free Saturday night and travelled to North Essex for a few drinks, meal and more importantly, a head start on a journey that could have meant setting the alarm for 7am on a Sunday – a unheard of occurrence in the O’Gorman household.
On arrival at Britstop number 221 (in the 2018) book, Kevin, the landlord gave us a friendly welcome, and we spent an hour or so dribbling over the DELICIOUS looking menu whilst having a pint of Broadside and Aspall. We then took ourselves for a leg stretch around the paths of the village – admiring some of the pleasant properties on the green and a tasty looking farm shop. Luckily for the bank balance this was closed – next time however…
We enjoyed a really delicious meal in the restaurant – I had breaded Brie and Keith had homemade garlic mushrooms in a stilton sauce to start, which quite frankly was one of the best pub starters I’ve ever tasted. Next up was beef with chinese spices sizzler – on a bed of noodles. It was GORGEOUS. However the portions were huge! So for the first time I think in the 9 years of knowing Keefy – neither one of us could finish our meals! Luckily the pub was adequately prepared and we got the remains boxed up – which we finished for dinner tonight! Prices were really reasonable – the starters were £6 each and the sizzler £13.95 each.
We got so full that we had to do 3 laps of the village green to make ourselves comfortable! That along with an emergency cup of peppermint tea, and then a good ol singsong along to the Last Night of the Proms, ensured we got a great nights sleep.
This morning Keefy woke up bright and early – he was like a kid on Christmas Day – the reason for our night away was he was booked onto an Owl Encounter morning at nearby Lavenham Falconry (belated birthday present) Keith adores Owls. Eagle eyed of you may have noticed in pictures, in Ruby’s side window we have an owl cuddly toy. In our house we have owls everywhere! He’s obsessed with them.
So today – he got to handle and fly 4 different species, The Barn Owl, The Dark Breasted Barn Owl, The Great Grey and the Eagle Owl. We also saw the Eurasian Eagle Owl – which is huge and way too big for us to handle with normal falconry gloves. For an extra £15 I booked myself in to be his guest – which meant I could be paparazzi and snap away to my hearts content.
The 2 hour Owl experience cost £60 and was 100% worth every penny. It was fantastic value for money, and I can honesty say I have never seen Keith smile for such a long period of time (I don’t mean that horribly by the way!)- he’s still beaming away now 12 hours later.
If you have any interest in Owls or Birds of Prey including Falcons and Hawks, you need to check out Lavenham Falconry. Turn it into a mini break – stay at the BritStop and have a day in historic and wonderful Lavenham whilst you’re at it. We popped in on our way home, but we had a mound of stuff to do still at home plus it was packed being a Sunday afternoon so we just revisited the National Trust Guildhall before making our way back home.
Back to school tomorrow after a wonderful summer break. But lots of winter adventures planned – next up, is a weekend trip to Duxford in two weeks time for the Battle of Britain airshow.
Both were delicious and washed down by the local Adnams lager. It took all my strength not to order the adnams gin which is fab, but I’ve got a bottle at home so resisted.
The pub has some links to a very famous Norfolk Boy so we are feeling right at home, and across the road we have a wonderful traditional Village Green – which if you carry on reading, you will see, comes in verrrrry useful later on!
