Tuesday 8th July – Around the Power Station

Steve and I both dozed off at about 6:30am on the settee and chairs in the lounge with the TV on. The bat had clearly hidden somewhere and wasn’t coming out. When everyone else got up, we discussed things and decided that it would be a shame to go home (although Stephen was keen) and I phoned Suffolk Holidays. They were very helpful. Apparently the Loft was empty the week after us so they were going to get the Bat Conservation Trust in that week, as I’d said we were happy to stay. However once I’d described Stephen’s experiences they said that they could understand why he’d be rather freaked out and had got a cottage just down the road that would fit the four of us. Plum Tree cottage was much smaller, but did have a double room, a twin room and a little single bed up in the attic. This cottage hadn’t yet been rented out and wouldn’t be ready until 3-4pm but I said that was fine as we were going out for the day as it was really nice and sunny.

We went first to Dunwich Heath – an NT piece of heathland with a nice long beach and a disconcertingly close view of Sizewell B. We wanted to try the tearoom which was, apparently, voted best tearoom (but by whom? the National Trust?). Unfortunately we’d not checked and it was closed. So we drove down the road to nearby Dunwich and found the nicest pub imagineable – the Ship. Full of character and lovely food.

Back to the Heath where it poured with rain while we sheltered in the car. The rain soon stopped and we headed off for the heather walk. Esther was keen to see the purple tinges and we did indeed see lots of purple. However one of the varieties of heather was only just coming into flower so I think the full impact would be later in the month. Still, very enjoyable. They had put some intriguing cane sculptures around – shaped like shark’s fins seemingly emerging from the heather. We didn’t get close enough to one to read the signs, but we thought it was a lovely touch whatever they were meant to be.

We then decided to go to Aldeburgh do do another geocache. Jane threw another wobbly and attempted to take us to the Minsmere RSPB sanctuary down a one-way dead-end road the wrong way. The kids and I now totally mistrustful of Jane but Dave still seems keen. He’s now finding excuses for her odd directions. How strange.

We were impressed by the little town of Aldeburgh. I’d downloaded a blog entry from the Suffolk Holidays blog entitled “Aldeburgh in old postcards” which gave a bit of a history of the town, but nothing prepared us for how quaint and beautiful it was. It seemed to have everything. At the northernmost end of the town, was a fantastic sea shell sculpture in metal on the sand. This was the start point for the geocache called See Shell. From the year the sculpture was erected, I worked out the co-ordinates of the final cache which took us back through the village right to the southmost point of the “Crags” – the name given to the path that ran from the north end of the seafront to the southernmost end. The main part of the seafront had a lovely circular floral display and a small children’s boating lake. The buildings are quite eclectic with victorian, art deco and many other types. There was even a tiny pink and white house in the middle of a small car park. Defintely a place I’d like to return to.

We walked right through the town, following the GPS signal, and then out the other side along a long spit. At one point there was an information board telling us all about Sudburgh (or some such similar) that had existed at this spot. At one point it was a thriving town with 600 inhabitants but by 1900 the sea had steadily eroded the land so it was down to about 25 inhabitants and a pub. By this stage, the inhabitants would regularly leave both front and back doors open to allow the sea through and minimise damage to the buildings. The pub was he centre of the community and once the pub was washed away, the remaining villagers left and the town allowed to be completely eroded by the sea.

To the right of what was now a causeway was a yacht club which looked rather nice, and at the very end was the martello towers. Three intersecting large stone bunker –like structures with about one small window apiece. Apparently these had been converted to residential use – Dave thought they were holiday cottages. Talk about windswept! Don’t think I’d care to live there. As we got near you could see a kind of moat-like area to the landward side of the towers and a neat little wooden bridget of about 20ft long leading from the causeway to the one and only door. I’d be intrigued to know what they were like inside. Didn’t bother going round the other side as we were quite tired by now. It is possible to drive to the end – wish we’d thought of that.

Found the geocache and returned. On the return walk, we viewed what looked like a disused windmill that had been converted to the most unusual residence at the end of the town. Nearby was a house with a white cockatoo walking around free outside it. There was a RNLI collection tin and a little message that this was Magoo and if we wanted to take his photo, could we make donations. We did so and Magoo was brilliant. Apparently he enjoys practising his collection of ancient Anglo Saxon battle cries. Hmmm. Think these are just his shrieks and whoops of joy. He also said “Hello” very nicely and walked up and down posing for photos (which we took). We were all thrilled and delighted with this and it did make the long walk worthwhile.

Walking back to the car we took a slightly inland route through the town and saw lovely shops and restaurants. I’d definitely be happy to return if the weather is fine again this hol.

We’d been out longer than we planned and it was, by now, 6pm. We drove back and Dave and Stephen (who had already packed up) collected their belongings and moved into Plum Tree Cottage. This is a charming place which, although small, is furnished with taste and style and is very comfortable for the four of us. Esther’s room in the attic has velux windows onto a fabulous view which you can actually see out of. Stephen has a large twin-bedded room and Dave and I have a slightly smaller double. The beds are really comfortable and decked out in pretty Laura Ashley style quilts. The kitchen had a lovely brick floor just like the one we discovered in our kitchen at home, which probably dates back to to the victorian era. There is everything we need (apart from a dishwasher) so we’re happy enough for the last couple of days.

Esther and I packed the rest of the kitchen stuff and our own clothes up and then joined Dave and Stephen for dinner at the Jolly Sailor. We’d read fairly negative reviews of this pub, but then Dave discovered that it had changed hands last year. The previous grumpy landlords had been there over 40 years. The new landlords were really nice and friendly, but sadly the food was pretty ordinary. Good for a pleasant drink but not for dinner.

After dinner, I drove the car up to the loft to collect the bags. As we did so, Esther and Stephen spotted the young bat on the balcony. To our relief, it hadn’t died but was on the side of the french doors. Dave had seen it earlier in the decking (although he hadn’t thought to mention this). So, the little creature was still alive. We wondered whether the adult bats were maybe looking for it and feeding it. Either way, three bats had come through the gaps in the wall from behind the air vents. We knew where they came from because of the chittering sound. Hopefully the Suffolk Holidays people will get the Bat Conservation Trust people in to advise them on how to ensure that the colony remains safe and the bats can not get into the living accommodation. When I first phoned them, they’d asked me if I had the name of a contact but I said that wasn’t necessary, they just needed to phone the number and they’d get put through to whoever was on duty.