Aussie Bay in Aldeburgh holiday (photo heavy)

Discussion in 'Suffolk' started by Dancing Bear, Aug 27, 2011.

  1. Aldeburgh is one of my favourite places to visit (this is the second time Ive posted about a stay there this summer!) so we decided to have a 5 night break there at the Church Farm Holiday Park. It isn't the biggest, cleanest, best facilities etc but it is generally very quiet has good showers and is very very close to a lovely beach which is never busy. This made it the most family friendly place we have ever stayed. The day we arrived there was heavy rain forecast, so after putting up the awning we cycled down into Aldeburgh for fish and chips on the beach. The site is only 5 minutes from the centre of the town and we were rewarded with fantastic fish and chips and the sort of heavenly light show in the form of dramatic red sky at night that Britain's eastern counties are famed for.


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    The morning after it drizzled fairly steadily for an hour so we drove to Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge, about 15 miles south of Aldeburgh. It is a National Trust owned estate where Britain's biggest hoard of Anglo Saxon remains was found in 1939. A local archaeologist actiong on behalf of the landowner excavated the remains of the burial mound of King Raedwald who was buried in his ship with his possessions. These included an ornate helmet/mask which has since been restored at the British Museum. It is a lovely, interesting place to visit with an excellent cafe, serving a lot of locally sourced food which is slightly pricey but still good value. We then took a walk in the parkland which still has an area of obvious burial mounds though now surrounded by sheep and free range pigs. A good walk round there worked off the effects of the lunch and let the boys work off stome energy before we piled back into Adelaide to explore the Suffolk countryside and coast.


    Anyone else think the side pieces of this helmet influenced the design of Beetle wings?
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    Unfortunately Adelaide started making a strange noise from the front offside which increased as we speeded up. 3 stops later and now covered in grass mud and sand from checking underneath etc we were none the wiser so headed off to our next destination, Bawdsey Quay for a brew stop. This was a real day of the history of the defence of our realm for us. Raf Bawdsey was the place where British scientists discovered and developed radar in WW2.Across the estuary we could see a pair of Martello towers from the Napoleonic War still watching out towards Europe.


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    A cup of tea and some biscuits later I felt much brighter about the knocking noise as I had been unable to find anything structurally wrong, but we decided to make our way back to the campsite . Surprisingly on the drive back through tiny Suffolk lanes the noise stopped and we were able to relax as we arrived back at our pitch.


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    Full of energy again we cycled up to Thorpe Ness. This is a slightly bizarre but nontheless very interesting place which was developed as a sort of very upmarket holiday village for the Edwardian upper middle classes. At its heart is the mere a boating lake surrounded by mock tudor buildings. This part of Suffolk is foodie heaven and the village store sold the most delicious if pricey individual pies, quiches and cakes so we had a quick picnic there before hitting the beach.


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    The next day was to be a true beach day. The beauty of being only 100 metres from the beach is that you can have a quick breakfast then go for an early swim, then back for a shower at the site. After that a quick trip into the lovely town of Aldeburgh, taking in the art shops, delicatessens, wine shops etc which tell you that without our camper we would not be able to afford to stay there. I managed a very swift pint of Adnams bitter before being pestered to leave by teenage sons who wanted to go to the beach. " Come on Dad we don't like this pub it smells of beer" !!!!!!!!!!


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    The light in this area is incredible. Despite being windy it was warm enough to swim and just chill out on the beach, until the sun went down.


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    Up early the next day we decided to head to Southwold about 10 miles north as the crow flies up the coast but about 20 miles north by road. Arriving before breakfast we were able to park on the sea front and enjoy the dramatic views of the sea and the pier whilst enjoying our tea and toast and weetabix. Southwold Pier is privately owned and very different to any other I have ever visited. The very front bit , on land contains the usual trashy amusements and machines but behind, well if ever there was a pier designed for Guardian readers this is it. Home made amusements designed by Tim Hunkin , a wonderful water sculpture and good cafes and craft shops combine with the wonderful views and bracing winds.


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    One of the Tim Hunkin designed amusements. This one involves an attack dog which drools on your hand. Yuk! Other machines include whack a banker!
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    It seemed appropriate to us to make use of some of the wind and use Adelaide to dry our washing.


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    After eating a beautiful lunch bought from a deli consisting of crab, suffolk pork pies and sausages with some yummy beany salad we returned to the pier to see the water sculpture come to life. Performing on the hour and at half past the hour the sculpture built from recycled copper uses sea water to move characters around a bathroom. At the showtimes the two male bathers drop their shorts and pee towards the audience. Brilliant!


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    In the afternoon the sun came out and our boys were able to have a quick swim The beach has lifeguards and is safe to swim on when they are there. Its a proper old fashioned bucket and spade beach with beach huts. Because Southwold is trendy now beach huts now change hands for in excess of £60,000 ! This makes Adelaide seem very good value indeed.


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    Sadly the weather then changed, dramatically! As you can see in the photo the clouds, wind and rain were very heavy. Amazingly none of it fell on us here, but as we made our way back to our campsite after 8 excellent hours at Southwold we knew the rain wasn't far away.


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    As well as the rain we were to be blighted by a bunch of tw%&s in an immense American RV who moved onto the pitch next to us.
    I had to ask them to stop swearing soon after they arrived because they were so very very loud. Within 30 minutes they had left the site taking with them the £ cars they had brought with them only to return very drunk in the early hours before 3 of the crew departed in the aforementioned cars. As the rain hammered down and the wind blew harder we were snug inside Adelaide until about 6.45 am when I woke to find that our awning had given away at the join with the gutter. Rain was getting in though the valiant little Motordome Classic had kept us dry throughout the night. Our brash neighbours in their huge machine had not been so fortunate because their awning had blown inside out and broken in the night. As we packed our things away nearlly everyone who came past admired Adelaide and said rude things about the American RV.


    I don't want to focus on the negative but I did complain about our new neighbours and told the campsite it was the reason for us leaving a day early ( though the weather was probably the main reason) . The site manager told us that those people had not booked in and gave us a credit note for another nights stay on that site so we left happy.




    Suffolk is a wonderful place. It is picturesque, has beautiful beaches and towns and villages of character. For lovers of food and drink it is heaven with lots of good local food on sale in cafes and restaurants, fish and chips and of course Adnams beer. I have been there lots of times before, but for a family, there is no better way to visit than in your own little piece of late bay heaven.
     
  2. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    great scenery there!!
     
  3. Only just seen this - great story but I'm really interested in the strange noise you had which increased with speed! I've recently been to Ireland and had a similar experience - very heavy rain then a knocking sound which started off gently then got louder, then disappeared!! This happened several times over the fortnights tour and I could find no reason for it. I wonder if you found the reason for your noise?
     
  4. It really is very nice up that way. Been to all those places but not stayed in the bus there. What was the campsite called? Good story. Thanks
     
  5. Cheers for sharing ,looks wonderfull ,love the red sky.
    And emu in the front.
    :thumbsup:
     
  6. Thanks for sharing, you've brought back some very happy memories of stays in Aldeburgh!!! ;D

    I remember bumping into Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69 on Aldebugh High Street about ten years ago - random!!! :eek:
     
  7. Who??? Just wondered if Dancing Bear had read my post re the knocking noise??? But I do agree with the recent comments - great photos and I must visit Aldeburgh!!
     

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