Hawkedon, Suffolk, UK - NOT amateur radio

Within a short distance of us are some delightful Suffolk villages such as Hawkedon shown in the photo. The Suffolk border is about 300m from us!

Ancient wall painting - NOT amateur radio

This wall painting, in Hassett church in Suffolk shown in the photo, was painted in the 1300s at a time when most people could not read or write. It shows the seven deadly sins. 

We visited 3 churches in West Suffolk yesterday. All had some amazing things.

Most English churches are extremely old.

For centuries it was covered behind whitewash.

Suffolk - NOT amateur radio

The Suffolk countryside is gentle and rolling.   It may lack some of the hills and coastlines of some counties, but I like it.

Hawkedon, Suffolk NOT amateur radio

The photo shows two of the grandchildren on a walk at Hawkedon in Suffolk today.  

Our son says it is a lovely walk we must do.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkedon .

Eye, Suffolk - NOT amateur radio

Back in the autumn we visited Eye in Suffolk. This is a delightful village with a fine church. We ate at this café (see LHS of photo) where the food was simple and inexpensive.

East Suffolk - NOT amateur radio

Today, we visited East Suffolk. We ate in Eye and visited the church there (see photo). We also visited Thornham Parva, a delightful thatched church where the architect Basil Spence is buried.

Brandon Country Park - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, I posted some fungi on a fallen tree. This is a picture on the same walk. Nice place for a stroll.

Tree rings - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we visited Brandon Country Park, Suffolk. This felled tree looks about 30 years old judging by the rings.

Market Day - NOT amateur radio

Market Day in Bury St Edmunds is Wednesday and Saturday. Food is fresh and prices are great. We try to use the market whenever we go there. Fresh veg is always good as the photo shows.

Bury St Edmunds market - NOT amateur radio

We love shopping in this old Suffolk market town, especially the market that has some real bargains. At the moment it has a bit of a Christmas theme!

Dalham - NOT amateur radio

On the whole, where we live has few hills. We are on the highest part of our village next to the windmill and museum. Go just a few miles south and east and you are in the rolling hills of Suffolk, with some delightful villages.

This collage shows nearby Dalham, a few miles from Newmarket, Suffolk, with some beautiful "chocolate box" cottages. The picture was taken a few years ago earlier in the year.

Redgrave and Lopham Fen, Suffolk - NOT amateur radio

River Waveney

A few weeks ago a friend very kindly gave us a pack of "Easy Going Trails" in Suffolk. She thought I might like them. So far, we have done 3 of these.

Marsh Margolds

Today we went to Redgrave and Lopham Fen which is located about 3 miles west of Diss. I have yet to work out how far I managed but we saw or heard lots of birds including snipe as well as seeing several Konig ponies and marsh marigolds. It was a round trip of 73 miles in the
car. Although I enjoy the walks, I get very tired by the end.

Riverside walk - NOT amateur radio

This morning we did a walk from Mildenhall to the village of Barton Mills and back to Mildenhall along the River Lark.  It was classic kingfisher country, although we saw none. Instead lots of mute swans, mallards and Canada Geese. A delightful walk and probably my longest walk since my stroke a few years ago (4km).

Mildenhall is better known for its US airbase, which is closing. I am not sorry as I found this base very threatening. Mildenhall is actually a very pleasant Suffolk town with some fine buildings, church and museum. Barton Mills is a delightful village too.

Hawkedon - NOT amateur radio

The East Anglian Churches blog has been updated to include Hawkedon, Suffolk. This is a fine old church now in a very rural setting. See http://eachurches.blogspot.co.uk/ . I may add more photos later.

UPDATE 1230z:  I have now added photos of the bench ends.

Flempton, Suffolk

This Suffolk church was open.  It is situated on the A1101 between Mildenhall and Bury St Edmunds.

It is famous for a window dedicated to the last lord of the manor. The parishes of Flempton and nearby Hengrave share the same vicar these days. See http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/flempton.htm . The parish dates back to Anglo-Saxon times.  The churchyard was fairly wild and rambling, but delightful nonetheless.

We ate next door (just behind the church) at The Greyhound pub where we enjoyed good, simple pub grub but with excellent service. Being right behind the church, I can recommend this pub. It looks nothing special but both the food and service were excellent.

I am afraid this post has nothing to do with amateur radio! I took no gear with me.  My wife and I just enjoyed the winter sunshine and temperatures of 10 degrees C.

See our blog about visits to East Anglian Churches .

Rural Suffolk - England at its best

We are blessed with a wonderful variety of scenery and plenty of still quiet rural countryside to enjoy despite our cities being crowded. This afternoon my wife and I enjoyed a ride through rural Suffolk in East Anglia where we stopped at a number of delightful small churches.  There is a lot to be grateful for in an English summer with a gentle breeze, warm sunshine and the sound of swallows, woodpeckers and bees overhead.