Our final full day of the Minibreak saw us leave the hotel at about 9.30am so that the 1 hour trip to Sutton Hoo would have us arrive there just as they opened to the Public. Sutton Hoo is world-famous for the 1939 find there of a buried ship with a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts. It is one of those places where some people could spend days though, for others, the 3 hours there was enough for a first visit. To give people flexibility on how they spend their time there, no formal tour was organised but people were able to join the normal 75-minute public guided tour of the Mounds if they wanted to. Some did that whilst others walked around the Mounds at their own pace. Sutton Hoo is operated by The National Trust (so those of the participants who were NT members, and brought their NT membership cards with them, were able to be refunded the cost of entry). The exhibition about the archaeological digs there, and their finds, was very impressive. We had lunch there. Web sites on Sutton Hoo may be found here (Sutton Hoo Society) and here (National Trust) and here (Wikipedia).

We left Sutton Hoo at about 1.30pm for the 15 minute drive to The Suffolk Punch Trust. We had originally looked forward to a horse & wagon tour of the farm/stud followed by being able to have close contact with some of the famous Suffolk Punch breed of horses. Unfortunately, the week before our trip, some of the horses went lame and then they caught bad colds (or something similar) that meant that we, and other members of the Public, were kept well clear of the horses. That disappointed us all and did rather spoil what we had hoped would be a pleasant last afternoon of the Minibreak. However, we were given a tractor & trailer tour of the farm & stud and we were shown around most of the buildings there. They have not only an interesting collection of old horse-drawn vehicles but also an exhibition (within the Reception & café block) of the history of farming in the area which was exceptionally good. So: not quite the afternoon we had hoped for but certainly not a disaster. The Trust's web site may be found here.

Reference	Description	Images : maximum size : 600 pixels in either direction
E17L5A	An apposite sign at Sutton Hoo. [Photos: Peter or Jacklie.]
E17L5B	@@@	more pictures required - contributions welcome
E17L5C	As mentioned above, we did not get a chance to see any of the Suffolk Punch horses close up. This photo comes off the Internet.
E17L5D	Some of the old equipment at The Suffolk Punch Trust. [Photos: Martin & Dianne.]
E17L5E	Dinnertime.

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