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Today Lavenham is a thriving village with a strong community spirit. It has a hub of art galleries, some fantastic restaurants and hotels, plenty of cafes and pubs for pit stops, and lots of interesting buildings to visit. Where better to start a tour of Suffolk Villages and Towns than in Lavenham where the streets are timber-framed Avenues, and walking through the village itself is like walking through a Medieval world, one that is better preserved than anywhere else in England. Take a stroll along Aldeburgh beach in Suffolk and you’ll come across not one but two famous sculptures. Maggi Hambling’s controversial scallop stands 4m high on the shingle, creating a mirror for the sound of the waves. A tribute to Suffolk-born composer Benjamin Britten, it bears an inscription from his opera Peter Grimes: “I hear those voices that will not be drowned.” There was a cool painting of the famous and talented Joshua Reynolds and one of Sarah Churchill I believe . A very interesting toy collection shows how to live before play station was around .
Felixstowe has a pebbly beach extending from the port at Landguard Fort to Felixstowe Ferry, an old fishing hamlet on the River Deben. A promenade runs along part of the beach, from the nature reserve in the south-west to Cobbolds Point (Maybush Avenue in east), with traditional beach huts along most of that length. Mannings Amusement arcade with snooker halls and food outlets can be found at the southern end of the prom. The pier also has a cafe and amusement arcade. Read our guide to Felixstowe here. Famous people from Halesworth include Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, the famous botanist who was born in 1817; and George Landsbury, leader of the Labour party from 1931 - 1935. Now in its fourth year, The Cut is home to the INK Festival which champions new work from emerging and established playwrights, with a host of events including plays, radio plays, films and children's workshops. Pre COVID, the centre hosted the Centre hosted the Halesworth Arts Festival every October and the Tessa Fuchs Chamber Series every spring which will hopefully be repeated. In Long Melford there’s plenty to see and do, with numerous antique shops and pubs, several boutiques, restaurants and cafes, and a growing hub of Art Galleries including The Jessica Muir Gallery, Lime Tree Gallery. Just behind the High Street are the water meadows of Long Melford – bring your wellies as these attractive fields are a joy to splash about in, especially if you have a dog with you! Use the layers on the map to find information on local weather and forecast, travel information including traffic conditions showing the latest traffic flow and congestion.
The restaurant was really nice, looked stunning aswell as its set inside an old barn! The food was really really nice, we will happily eat there again, you are allowed to take your own food and have a picnic on the grass if you wish but we ate in the restaurant and I think we would again as the food was super yummy !! Lavenham holds a Farmers Market on the fourth Sunday of every month in the beautiful space at Village Hall. Over 30 local traders attend the market selling some of the region’s highest quality, local produce. Stalls include fresh fruit & vegetables, home baked cakes & pies, local pork & beef, Suffolk apple juice, jams & preserves, fresh pesto, plants & cut flowers and locally brewed real ales & wines. The fantastic kid friendly Farmers’ Cafe serves delicious homemade soup, freshly baked cakes, Farmers’ Breakfasts & good quality coffee using local products direct from the market traders. Lavenham was one of the centres of the wool trade in Suffolk in the Middle Ages, exporting its materials via Ipswich to Holland and Spain. Very successful it was too – in Henry VIII’s reign, Lavenham was the fourteenth wealthiest town in England. The stunning Guildhall in the centre of Lavenham was built c1520 by the Guild of Corpus Christi, one of the town’s four medieval guilds, and is today maintained by the National Trust. The Martello tower in Aldeburgh is recorded as the largest in the UK, being made up of four towers joined together, it has been converted into holiday accommodation and is a unique place to stay when visiting the town.
Kersey too was well known for cloth-making – so well known that it is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labours Lost. Kersey was famous for a rough, ribbed cloth which was especially suitable for hosiery. Today Kersey is yet another picturesque Suffolk village, probably best known for pottery and right in the centre, a road that fords River Brett, where once the cloth-makers used to soak their materials. There is a real village community in Fressingfield, with a wide range of activities for all ages and interests. These range from a preschool group, brownies, beavers, cubs and scouts, alongside the Women’s Institute, Mothers’ Union, Royal British Legion and over-50s Luncheon Club amongst others. All welcome new members! Come and spend some time in this lovely village and get a sense of country life at its best. There are several accommodation options and lots of activities throughout the year, including the Fressingfield Garden Festival in June.Financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, to honour the Maltings heritage of the town, a Malt ‘Experience’ and ‘Trail’ was launched in 2017. The 'experience' is located at The New Cut Arts Centre, where the trail starts.
Every autumn, Suffolk’s red deer do battle to secure the right to mate (c) Paul Sawer ALDEBURGH BEACH A few exotic animals along with farm animals , picnic areas and play areas for the kids , restaurant and gift/toy shop , woodland walk with den building. A few more people did come in as time went on, but it's spacious enough to let people past without being too close. One look at Framlingham Castle’s tall battlements and it’s easy to see why Mary Tudor chose to gather her troops here before marching on London to claim the throne. Not only is Framlingham’s 12th-century fortress one of the top sights in Suffolk: a walk along its precipitous outer walls gives you some of the best views of the county. Right at the heart of the Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, sandwiched between Dunwich Forest and RSPB Minsmere nature reserve is Westleton Heath. As to why it’s one of the top sights in Suffolk, well, this picture by photographer Justin Minns speaks for itself.Just a 10-15 minute drive takes you to Long Melford, where there are plenty of places to eat and drink. Also close by is The Six Bells at Preston St Mary, some 4 miles away. This is a Grade II listed village pub offering fantastic ‘Pub Classics’ on their lunchtime and dinner menus, as well as local specials and fish sourced from Leigh On Sea. While away an afternoon watching the Six Nations or relaxing in their spacious garden, and feel yourself at home in this picturesque part of the country. Great place for children , you might want to wear Wellington boots if its been raining as the pathways can get quite muddy. Surrounded by rural landscape and dramatic coastline, the restaurants and bars in Ipswich create delicious, international menus made fresh from the county’s produce. Have lunch in a traditional Suffolk pub or quirky bar, grab a coffee from a waterfront café or wind down in the evening for dinner at one of the town’s many award-winning restaurants or bistros before retiring in one of the town’s boutique hotels, quirky guesthouses or self-catering apartments
Just along the River Stour lies Clare, a little town with a great past. Clare College, Cambridge, has its roots here as it was founded by Elizabeth de Clare, daughter of the 9th Earl. The Clare Priory, founded in 1248 by Richard de Clare, is the first Augustinian house in England, and is still run by Augustinians. Unfortunately not much remains of the Clare Castle except a few dramatic walls on a hilltop in the Country Park, but this is still worth a climb to the top for the stunning views of the surrounding countryside. The Ancient House in Clare does remain though and is well worth a tour – see Clare Ancient House for opening details. Matters were drawn in to focus the next day when we went to the Weavers Spa, and also for lunch at the Crown in Stoke by Nayland, staff were cheerful, helpful and great at both of these local places. The semi-pedestrianised Thoroughfare and large traditional Market Place make it easy to wander through the town centre popping into the mainly independently owned shops. With Suffolk on Board you can plan journeys using public transport from and to a town or village, named station or stop, or point of interest. It’s not clear why Lavenham became the epicentre for the wool trade but it might have been down to the fact that proportionately fewer people in Suffolk were bound to a local lord (41% of Suffolk people were Freemen compared to just 9% in neighbouring Essex) which enabled them to be entrepreneurial. However we do know that the riches of Lavenham’s residents have left a unique legacy in the shape of the stunning timber-framed houses that they built to show off their wealth, as well as the Lavenham Guildhall). In this Tudor building the ruling merchant class held court, fine-tuned the laws and trading regulations that helped create Lavenham’s wealth. Today the Guildhall is operated by the National Trust and contains a local history museum, with exhibitions on medieval cloth industry. There’s also a tranquil walled garden with dye plants used since the Middle Ages, so make a date to explore Lavenham’s history at the Guildhall.
ORFORDNESS
Halesworth is fast becoming a centre for the arts. The Cut Arts Centre is a multi-purpose centre holding events throughout the year; including dance, drama, weekly cinema film, live screenings and exhibitions plus it has a dance studio and a café bar.
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