Suffolk - WHAT TO DO

The lovely Suffolk coast is an easy days outing for all of my cottages and indeed some of them are only a walk away.

There are some beautiful places to visit and the best thing is these places like Orford, Mersea Island, Aldeburgh, Dunwich are all candyfloss and one armbandit free !

Our big favourite, and an absolute Must if you have a doggie is Minsmeer; you go to Dunwich - pick up the best Fish & Chips there are right on the beach maybe buy some fresh fish from the fishermens huts and then drive 10 minutes down the coast to Minsmere 'Look out point' which is owned by the National Trust and has a Gastro cafe at the lookout tower - amazingly good value and great food which they cook all themselves Walnut Cake and all !

So... this is the lovely Minsmere where you can see the most unsual bird in the sanctury or just enjoy the wonderful walks where the heathland stretches down to the beach and back round the marshes through the woodland paths - even a great foodie pub on the way at Eastbridge - a day you will enjoy and remember for ever.

Dunwich is just out of picture to the North about 5 miles, this beech runs for about 20 miles and lots of it has heathland running straight down onto it.

Minsmere 'Look out point' is on this headland, there is a lovely cafe and a NT car park.

Scarlett helping Gran down the cliff in November.

November

Minsmere RSBP bird Sanctury November.

This beach is a famous place for finding Amber and Southwold which you can just make out as the last bit of land in the distance has an Amber shop in the high Street
Minsmeer is a lovely day out, bags of fresh air, a romantic wildness, nature all around you and tresures at your feet

Minsmeer heath at The Look Out point

Picnic on the beach at Minsmeer

To walk on the heath, the old ruins and beaches at Minsmere is great and if you like Nature reserves there is a very good wetlands one there.

My favorite walk is to go to the beach at Minsmere bird sanctuary and walk along the beach, you can walk all the way to the lovely fish n' chips hut at Dunwhich or go the other way towards Sizewell beside the bird Sanctuary. When you have had enough of beach life go up on the cliffs and walk through the heather for about a mile and then strike inland for about half a mile and head back towards the bird sanctuary you will find yourself in an endless heathland of hidden valleys and woodland glades opening out onto hidden lakes - truly magical and the further you go the wilder it gets. My doggies are constantly begging me to go there!

You could take in Walberswick and then walk to Southwold as well. Try to pop into the Low House pub at Laxfield on your way back. It is well worth the visit; it won the regions Pub of the Year by CAMRA (Real Ale organisation) and is a charming old fashioned pub with no bar - just a tap room where you pick up a jug of ale to take back to the big wooden settle in front of the open fire.

A trip to Aldeburgh is interesting and the seaside village is a cultural centre with lots of activities to offer there and at Snape Maltings just round the corner. Also Thorpness is worth a visit.

Nearer to The Grove Cottages is the Ramsholt Arms , on the river Deben, which is a great riverside pub near the Sea, very good food and lovely walks along the riverbank, if you look you can quite often find prehistoric sharks teeth washed up on the banks.

You can also visit the old Viking burial grounds on the heathland at Sutton Hoo that you have to pass by to get here. The finds at this famous Viking location have been considered so important that they are now housed in a brand new extensive exhibition hall at the site.

The pretty town of Woodbridge is also on the way to the Ramsholt Arms and here you can visit the picturesque quay and the unique 'Tide Mills'.

Pin Mill harbour on the Orwell Estuary is very pretty and has a great pub with good food and lovely walks.

The Butley Oysteridge at Orford is really great, it has a lovely selection of local oysters, crabs, lobsters and fish all completely fresh plus a great smokery and wonderful quirky restaurant / cafe where you can just as easily wash down your oysters and brown bread with a cup of builders best teat or a bottle of Dom P all very unpretentious and very good value.

Orford has an imposing castle 2 other excellent Gastro pubs and is a pretty tiny harbour village at the end of the world where you can get ferry trips over to the mysterious MOD Pagodas on the Massive Orford Ness Nature Reserve opposite.

A special Tip: The Lady Florence - 50 foot wooden supply boat - sails all year round from Orford harbour - trips up to 4 hours include dinner on board - brunch cruises and Champagne tea time trips. Very cosy atmosphere with a coal fire in the comfortable businesslike saloon.

call 0831 698 298 - 07831 698 298 for details or www.lady-florence.co.uk

Here is a quick rundown of the Local beaches near The Grove Cottages

Felixstowe - 40 mins

An Edwardian resort with Shingle and Sandy beaches for 4 miles , safe bathing., beautiful gardens. Beachuts for hire, good for kids.

Bawdsey

A pretty resort with a small sandy beach and boat jetty, quiet.

Shingle Street

A quiet resort with a mainly shingle beach, it has a desolate but magical quality and is designated as a place of special scientific Interest because of the rare plants and flowers that survive in this wind-swept beach. The wild activity of the river Ore meeting the sea will keep you fascinated for hours.

Aldeburgh 50 mins

Visited by masses during the Summer, the beach is long and shingly with sandy areas at low tide, it is still very much a fishing town with a large marina ending in a massive Martello Tower.

There are a number of excellent pubs and a couple of outstanding restaurants plus a lovely walk past the salt marshes along the coast to Thorpeness.

Aldeburgh is a great centre for the arts and the famous Snape Maltings is just on the inland side of the natural harbour.

Thorpeness 50 mins

Perhaps one of the most picturesque resorts of them all with its pretty clapboard houses overlooking the sea. Thorpeness has a sheltered beach and is in it's own time capsule.

Dunwhich Heath 45 mins

My favorite - see above - a mass of heathland that stretches down to the sea , wonderful trails and woodland with hidden valleys and rivers.

Walberswick 55 mins

A quaint village on the other side of the river from Southwolds harbour, you can get someone to row you across the river for a few pence to the old working harbour where you can get local fish and smoked fish straight from the fishermen.

There is a lovely sandy beach across the dunes and the kids will love the local sport of 'crabbing' here - just bring a length of string and some bacon as bait, drop it into the harbour or off the tiny foot bridges and 20 crabs will immediately grab on - the trick is to see how many hang on until you have them up and over your bucket 100 is a pretty usual score !

The village is really lovely with a good pub and an unspoilt fell about it - kids; make your parents take you here !

Southwold 55 mins

This is a pretty busy seatown, it has a lots of stunning houses and an old centre with many interesting shops including one selling just local amber.

There are a couple of great 'old style hotels where you can take tea or drink in real style. and a few antique shops to nose around in. At one end of the town is the beach hut & pier attraction style and at the other there is the grand house and eventually quaint harbour. A town of many variations.

Have a look into the old Seaman's missions reading room - its free and is filled with many odd museum pieces, living and dead.

Maybe you will find some amber treasure on the beach yourself.

Kessingland

This is recognised as one of the best rural beaches although it is mainly shingle, there is a nearby wildlife park and there is lots to do here.

Pakefield

An unspoiled village resort.

Lowestoft

Punch and Judy shows at one end, quiet sandy dunes and beaches at the other. lovely woodland nearby and a busy shopping town.

Corton

Practically unknown but popular with naturists.

Frinton 45 mins

Time warped, but the kids and families will love the beach-huts and the safety of a beach where icecream sellers are banned and shops keepers treat you with old fashioned courtesy.

Walton 45 mins

A family resort with outstanding sandy beaches and charming narrow streets winding through this old town which boasts the second longest pier in England.

Manningtree 35 mins

The picturesque villages of Manningtree and Mistley are at the mouth of the river Stour and where you can canoe to with my canoes from the river which is just 7 mins away from me at The Grove Cottages Along the river you will pass by all of John Constables famous locations like willy Lotts cottage and The Haywain. This is also the start for a number of great long distance walks up the coast or along the River Stour.

Brightlingsea

A cincque port and steeped in local history.

The Tendring Coast 40 mins

A nature lovers haven, many remote sandy beaches, estuaries, nature reserves and walks. Take a drive from Manningtree to Ramsey and you will get a taste as the road passes through some of the best coastal scenery around the Essex/Suffolk borders. The Naze is great for picnics and the impressive views to Felixstowe. The cliffs hold many fossils and rare butterflies.

Mersea Island

Famous for The Mersea Island Pirates and Nature Reserves and the great 'Company Shed'.

This is a lovely place and again at the end of the world, only accesible at low tide, at first is seems a bit normal, but check out the wonderful salt sea marshes with their eirie bird calls and the seals and wildlife that abounds there and see the most amazing sunrises and sunsets.

Visit the excellent Nature reserve at Cudmore Grove which stretches down to the sea and backs on to one of my cottages; Bromans Barn ! there are wonderful walks along the marshes edge or beside the cliffs and as you get to the other end of the small island past the tiny breweries, vinyards, and gastro pubs you come into the fishing harbour area where oystermen bring the famous Blackwater oysters - see www.richardhawardsoysters.co.uk.

At the very end of the harbour you come into a jumble of boats being repaired and right in the middle of them is the renown 'Company Shed' yes it is a shed and you have to buy your booze and bread and butter frrom the local village stores (excellent choice of white wine strangley enough) but this shed has been written up glowingly in just about every national newspaper and Good Food Magazine, talk about out of the sea and onto the plate - this is what it is all about !!

Investigate futher down this dead end lane and you will find even more pretty views and hidden treasures - lovely !

Please email me from my home page if you would like to add anything to these brief descriptions or let me know of some other hidden treasures.

Of course there is masses more and I will be expanding this page, but this should keep any of my guests busy while they are staying at The Grove Cottages

Mark