May 16th: The scenic route to Sutton Hoo

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Robert booked the car from his car club and we had Sutton Hoo, and possibly tea with my school friend Liz, in our sights. Of course nothing goes quite as planned, does it? Noticing a sign for ”the lost city” of Dunwich - the early medieval capital of East Anglia, now all but lost to coastal erosion - this floodplain manager had to request a quick detour. Coming to an intersection with signs to Dunwich one way and Walberswick the other, Robert suggested we see Walberswick first. Walberswick is Britain's secret celebrity enclave on the coast, and remembered fondly by Robert from childhood visits. Dunwich could wait.

At the entrance to the village we screeched to a halt and jumped out of the car to roam the unannounced 15th century ruins in the grounds of St. Andrews church. There was a bitter chill and biting wind that was to accompany us for the day, and I was dressed for the unusually hot weather we had been enjoying. The ruins are large and and indicate the former size and prosperity of the village. They were astounding to wander through. We were unable to venture into the modern church as a service was in progress. We took a quick run down to the beach to see the coastal erosion and flood defences, and noted the warning signs for adders; the only poisonous snake in the UK. The Parish Lantern Tea Room in the village beckoned us in from the cold and wind, enticing us with hot chocolate and hot buttered crumpets. It would have been impolite to refuse. For the uninitiated, crumpets are cooked in similar fashion to pancakes, but the batter includes yeast. They are scrumptious ...

Sated, and warmed, we retrieved our car which was parked by the village sign, stolen in 1984 and donated to the village by the new ‘owners.’ We pointed the car towards Dunwich. It is hard to believe that the small sleepy village of Dunwich was once a bustling port to rival London. Most of that town, listed in the Domesday book, was largely destroyed by storms in 1286 and 1347 and by ongoing coastal erosion. The village is all that remains… We toured the museum with low expectations, but were pleasantly surprised. Dunwich takes pride in its former glory and acknowledges the effects that climate change and sea level rise have had on the city. They take flood and coastal defence very seriously. I could happily return to the museum. We took a quick drive to the beach but it was too windy to do more than say “I’ve been to Dunwich beach.” Unfortunately, we didn’t see the 123-ft long scroll, painted in the 1930s by a local artist. The scroll depicts every house in the village, including animals and notices on notice boards. Exiting the town we passed the ruins of the Greyfriars’ Monastery, but they didn’t appear as impressive as those we had seen at Walberswick, the day was getting on, and Sutton Hoo was still many miles away.

It was past lunchtime so we stopped first at one pub, then another, then another … Sorry, we stopped serving lunch x minutes ago… so we pulled into a local Co-Op grocery store that had a cafe. Yes, food! Oh, and look … a few snacks to help us on our way; walnut whips, salt and vinegar chips, Club biscuits, ooh, greengage jam; we haven’t seen that in a while… Pure decadence!

Continuing on to Sutton Hoo, but realising it might be out of our reach, we saw a sign for Orford Castle. Robert had been advised that Orford was a better trip than Sutton Hoo, so … Parking was easy, the castle didn’t appear too big. This could be fun. On entering the castle - which is actually the keep - the most protected part of a castle, and all that remains of the original structure - we were offered samples of the local wines. Yes, let’s get the tourists tipsy before sending them up and down countless flights of narrow, steep, winding, steps! The keep is a polygonal tower, built by Henry II in 1165. Henry II was the one who quarrelled with Thomas à Becket. The castle was built, strategically, by the River Alde, also known as the River Ore in Orford. It is a lovely building to explore and contains a really good museum which includes details of the Wild Man of Orford; a mysterious ‘merman’ who was caught, imprisoned, and swam to freedom. Our blustery view from the top was of the river, the lighthouse, and Orford Ness - nature reserve, and the birthplace of radar. We explored the keep fully, and I think they locked the doors behind us as we left!

We departed Orford, once considered “a Town of good account,” described by Daniel Defoe in 1722 as “once a good Town, but now decayed” and now considered “a quiet backwater away from the the hustle and bustle of modern life.” Sutton Hoo was out of the question, so we were homeward bound. Except … it was still quite light, and Robert mentioned an offshore wind farm at Leiston, only marginally out of our way. But our journey took us almost, sort, of past the Ship Inn in Blaxhall, known for its folk events and frequented by Robert in is younger days as a Morris Man, so of course we had another detour. Continuing homeward we drove through Snape, sometime home of Benjamin Britten, and stopped to stretch our legs on the coastal path at Snape Maltings. Finally we reached Leiston, but there was no wind farm in sight, only the Sizewell Pressurised Water Reactor and most modern nuclear power station in the UK. Unfortunately, we were too late to visit the visitor’s centre.

Homeward bound, for the upteenth time, and hungry, we began to look for a quaint village pub. But we couldn’t pass by Leiston Abbey ruins, spied towards the rear of a roadside field. Neither of us had ever heard of Leiston Abbey, but the ruins are mainly 14th-century remains of an abbey considered “among Suffolk’s most impressive monastic ruins, with some spectacular architectural features.” The ruins are adjacent to Georgian buildings, and both are in current use as a retreat center.

The sun had set and we were hungry, yet the pretty villages yielded no restaurants. until we came across The Crown Inn in the pretty little village of Westleton where the waitress had us in fits of giggles as she sounded like Sybil from Fawlty Towers.

We arrived home very late, learning en route how to add time and money to the car booking on the car’s on board system.We had also learned how to manipulate the sat nav system, adding stops along our journey, enabling voice directions - good things for Robert to know. All in all, today really had been a journey of discovery. But we still hadn’t been to Sutton Hoo.