Leiston Abbey

 

Who lives in a house like this?  The next town to Aldeburgh, going North, is Leiston, once a major centre for railway engineering. Just outside Leiston are the ruins of Leiston Abbey, and very spectacular they are, too.  

Now managed by a combination of English Heritage and a young persons' music charity who run courses here, the abbey contains some complete structures.  This one is a patchwork of brick, flintwork, beach pebble and rendering.

The abbey itself was clearly a vast structure.

The Lady Chapel has been made weatherproof and may well be used for services, concerts, weddings...

Note the mix of brick, flintwork and timber cladding.

The remains of a Tudor gatehouse.

We left the Abbey and took a path through woodland leading out to the sea, just south of Minsmere, where we sat and had lunch.  Suddenly a black head appeared swimming parallel to the beach, submerging for a stretch and then reappearing. It was a grey seal.

Thorpeness

 Just a few miles to the North of Aldeburgh is the seaside village of Thorpeness.  This was developed in the early twentieth century and features some of the most eccentric houses you will ever see.

The house in the clouds... (a converted water tower)

A mock Tudor gatehouse

And another converted water tower, this last one on the market at present for £850,000.

We started our walk from the village, passed the windmill

And followed a path around the golf-course and across a turnip field.

There the path came to a full stop and we found ourselves walking all round the edge of the next turnip field as workers knelt to their task of trimming turnips and crating them up for sale.

Eventually we realised that we were much further North than we had thought and followed the line of pylons leading out to the coast at Sizewell.  Here we joined the bridle path and sat down for lunch.

Another couple of miles brought us back into Thorpeness and a much-needed cup of tea.

Long time. no see....

 

To Aldeburgh, for a short autumnal break before winter sets in. We rented the same Cosy Cabin we used in March: convenient for shops and with a dedicated car parking space.  The forecast was for rain and wind most days, but for once the weather gods were smiling on us.

On our way there we called at Sutton Hoo, where the  high winds were giving rise to safety warnings on the woodland walks. The new displays feature the women involved in the story: Raedwald's nameless queen, an older wise woman and a slave girl.  Very Woke, the National Trust these days.

On our first day we made the pilgrimage to Minsmere where the keen bird-watchers had a field day.  Here, a roost of cormorants on the scrape.

The view across to Iken on our first walk.  This is prime pig-rearing territory, so much of the walk lay across fields fenced off for breeding sows.

Although the mother pigs stay by their arks, the piglets are free to roam under the wire.

At last we reached Iken church - note the thatched mid-section.

Inside, remains of a Saxon cross.

And, outside on the mudflats, an avocet foraging.

Light showers gave us a splendid view of the church contained within a rainbow.  Magical.