Anna is away in Leeds at the moment with work so amongst other things it was a welcome trip out to relieve the daily tedium.
Our day began at about 10am when i drove to Stortford to pick Ian up. The weather was beautiful and there was harldy a cloud in the sky.Quite frankly, the drive over was amazing. I great mix of country roads and motorway that carve their way through the Suffolk countryside edging its way further and further towards the coast.
After about an hour of driving, Ian's ADHD was beginning to surface and none too soon we arrived at our destination.
The small town of ORFORD is just up the coast from Felixstowe. It is a small harbour town that has an average age of about 70. Arriving at just after noon we parked at the lovely ORFORD CASTLE and went to forage for some food. The first place we came across was called the CROWN AND CASTLE. I remember this place from a Jamie Oliver program about teaching bad kids to cook and it seemed really nice.... the menu was not as cheap as we both would like so we continued in to the market square and to a pub called the KINGS HEAD. Stubbers had Scampi (if it was local or not i dont know) with chips and i managed to find a ploughmans. This was not the best one i have ever had but pretty good really. It came with bar far the biggest block of cheese i have ever had in one sitting.
After lunch we headed down to the harbour. We walked through the town, past cottages and small holiday homes to the coast. It would have been really interesting to see ORFORD as a bustling fishing port. It must have been really busy. The harbour (although still used for a small amount of fishing) is now home to the sailing club and a couple of boat tours.
In the distance, just out of the harbour, can be seen ORFORD NESS. This is a spit that extends along the coast over the mouth of the river ORE. ORFORD NESS Was used during the both wars as an airfield, radar and communications centre and secret / atomic weapons development labs. Now it is an English Heritage site and protected as a site of special scientific interest. On the spit there are a number of buildings including a lighthouse and a couple of "PAGODAS". These housed the weapons testing stations. They similar to a greek temple with columns holding in place a large concrete roof. The design was such that if there was an explosion or some other 'leak', then the roofs would collapse and seal in any contaminants.
There were no tours operating to the Ness which was a shame so i think in a couple of months time when the summer really heats up then i'll have to go back to explore.
We walked back to the town and went off to the castle to have a look.
The castle is of cylindrical (hexaganal) design with three corner turrets. It stands atop a small hill overlooking the coast and is surrounded by pits and dips that would not have looked out of place in tellytubby land. The castle was built in 1165 by Henry II to 'Consolidate Royal Power' in the region. It cost at the time £1413 to build and made about £10,000 per year in revenue for the crown.
It seems to be making more than that for English Heritage at the moment so we decided that the benefits of going in did not outweigh the costs at all.
Had it been after pay day, we would not have sounded so tight but hey, maybe next time.
We left Orford following a very old open top Jaguar along more country lanes. At one moment, whilst driving past a field, a spray cannon was pumping out water over the road. The Jaguar couple really had to think twice as they drove very quickly through the spray.
Next on our stop was the town of ALDEBURGH. This is a very quaint seaside town just to the north of ORFORD.
Now, i really love and somehow respect ALDEBURGH, there is one thing that stood out more than anything else. There is no Tesco. We walked from one end of town to the other. They have local greengrocers, butchers, fishmongers, small independant tea shops. The only chain supermarket was a Co-op. Even this looked as if it was in place and was meant to be there.
It was nice to see that there were also book shops and toy shops that sold small wooden boats. I think that it is a classical British seaside holiday town, there are very few of them left that are as unspoilt by 'Cafe Nero', 'Butlins' and 'Tesco'.
ALDEBURGH has a very small, single screen cinema that also has an art exhibition centre as well. Every one of the seats has been sold to a member and it has a plague with their name on the back. Last time i was there i saw Moulin Rouge, and let me tell you, it fitted perfectly with the style of the place. Leather clad, brass rivited seats in and art deco surrounding,... lovely.
We took a small walk along the beach, found a nice pub and sat for a while enjoying the day.
At around 4pm we decided to head back. The journey home was fine. The sun broke through the overcast clouds that had formed throughout the day and we made good time home.
All in all, a very nice day.
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