Day 39 – Leiston to Wormingford

Monday, 20 June 2011

91 miles – total 2,579 miles

Tonight we are staying in a house! Margaret Rose, aka @sagaruby on Twitter, is providing fantastic hospitality (can’t wait for dinner!) with a BED and a shower room. Bliss! We may decide to stay here for the next week or so…

Last night we went for a walk (not the romantic sort) along the beach at Sizewell – very atmospheric, only let down by the fact that the caravan site bar was closed when we got back!  The sky was fantastic and my photos just don’t do it justice.

Thorpeness

Aldeburgh

First port of call this morning was the very attractive Victorian resort of Thorpeness, complete with village lake, followed by Aldeburgh, another town with plenty of character.  That was the last I saw of the sea for some time – the route went inland to cross the river at Snape Maltings – then through heathy, woodland landscapes with lots of big old oak trees and pines. I stopped for a call of nature and heard a Turtle Dove calling (they’re quite rare now).

Woodbridge is an attractive town on the next estuary, then it was across country again to a very pleasant detour around Felixstowe through cornfields and then on to Felixstowe’s ‘corniche’ with rather nice properties and a pier.

Chris & Eva from Sweden

My plan was to take the little foot ferry from Felixstowe to Harwich – I thought it went from the docks but the securtiy man redirected me to the viewing area at Landguard point, where I struggled to find where it went from – there is no pier, but a man on a motorbike assured me that I was in the right place – it landed on the shingle beach like a landing craft!

I was relieved when it arrived on time: a Swedish couple called Chris and Eva also got on – they were doing a week’s tour, just as they have done every year for the last 17 years.

After landing at Harwich, the next ports of call were Walton on the Naze, Frinton on Sea and Clacton – where, offshore, there is a huge wind farm – I managed to get a picture of one rank all lined up.

After that, Colchester was bigger and busier than I thought, and then a six-mile detour up to Wormingford where we now are. If you think this blog is a little rushed, it’s because dinner will soon be ready. I’m signing off now and will post this after I’ve eaten, with photos!