On Wednesday we had a trip around Constable Country. [Web sites on the area may be found here and here and here and, for anyone thinking of doing a walking tour there, here.] We travelled around by coach with Pam Pudney, our guide for the day, on board. The first place we stopped at was East Bergholt, where the artist John Constable was born. Pam took us to see the famous Bell Cage at St. Mary's Parish Church which was followed by a talk in the church on the church (we had to be split into 2 groups) with tea/coffee & biscuits/cake. We then went to Flatford which is where Constable pained the Haywain. We had to walk down to the river from the National Trust car park but it was worth it (and the walk back up). Sadly, most of us did not have enough time to explore the shop, tearoom & Constable exhibition operated by the National Trust, but some were enthused enough by the experience to want to go back and spend a whole day there. After Flatford we took the 20 minute trip to Dedham where we had about 90 minutes to have lunch and wander around. After Dedham we took the 40 minute trip to the lovely village of Lavenham. Some people spent most of their time being given a tour of the local church by Pam but some braved the hill down (and back up) into the centre of Lavenham so see some of those lovely buildings (only some of which had been visible during the short drive around the village). We left Lavenham about 5.00pm and, on the way back to the hotel, took a slow drive down Long Melford.
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A map showing the route taken. The round trip was probably less than 60 miles in total. |
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East Bergholt. The bells at St. Mary's Church are thought to be unique. According to Wikipedia, "Work began on a tower (for the bells) in 1525, but Cardinal Wolsey's fall from grace in 1530 brought construction to a halt and the following year a wooden bell cage was erected in the churchyard." They are probably the heaviest bells being rung today in England ... and they are rung by hand. They were silenced for some years after an accident in 1999 but modifications eventually enabled them to pass the Health & Safety requirements, albeit 2 years late for the Millenium celebrations.
[Photos mostly by Dianne. We were not able to get inside the bell cage so the picture from the inside comes off the Internet.] |
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Our visit to Flatford was a bit rushed, which was a shame. Nevertheless, having Pat there to tell us about the place at least partly made up for that. [Pat is shown in the left picture.]
[Photos: Martin & Dianne.] |
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We stopped at Dedham for lunch. There was a good range of places to choose from. Dedham is on the Essex side of the border with Suffolk.
[Photo: off the Internet.] |
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We had enough time in Lavenham for tea and a browse around. Most did not bother with tea. Indeed, quite a few people did not go far from the car/coach park but, guided by Pam, had a look at the impressive church of 'St. Peter and St. Paul's'. Wikipedia reports that "It is a notable wool church and regarded as the finest example of Late Perpendicular Gothic architecture in England". Meanwhile ...
[Photo: Martin & Dianne.] |
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... others took the time to have a wander around the village. Lavenham has been identified (by the BBC) as "famed as the best preserved medieval village in England with about 340 listed buildings".
The lowest picture shows Jackie outside De Vere House, a Grade 1 listed 14th century house which happened to be for sale at the time.
It was used in the film ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One’ as the fictional birthplace of Harry Potter. [In the Harry Potter film it was seen opposite a fictional graveyard and was set in a village called Godric’s Hollow.]
[Photos: Peter & Jackie.] |
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The main road through Long Melford. It is long!
[Picture taken from www.longmelford.co.uk]
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