Today we revisited the lovely Framlingham to retest our Framlingham Treasure Trail and what a fantastic afternoon we had. This Trail is great for dogs, with two parks and a footpath round the castle. Barnie our dog (see previous posting) loves it and in such great weather he didn’t need his coat!
Apart from the history, the castle and a fabulous rural setting there are so many other things to love about the place:
In the small square there’s an equally small but surprisingly abundant market so we treated ourselves to fresh salmon and scallops for dinner, accompanied by a selection of the freshest vegetables from a huge choice. We could have gone really mad, and bought some artisan cheese or some quality meat, but we settled for a lovely French crepe, with sweet chestnut filling, and a cup of cappuccino sitting in the open air watching the world go by. The stall has a choice of crepe fillings that would embarrass the Parisians, and plenty more besides, but it’s not “fast food”, especially at lunchtime in this kind of weather, particularly when all the customers keep going back for more!
The biggest thing that marks “Fram” out from many other places across the UK, but seems common in Suffolk, is how well loved it appears to be. There’s always something new and it always looks cared for but not too “chintzy”. This time, we found that one of the parks had a newish set of heavy duty outdoor fitness equipment for adults, just outside the children’s playground – something to pull yourself up and down on, a static pedalling machine, a “leg swinger” and something to do sit ups on. I’m sure there are more technical terms for all these things but how great to provide mum and dad with something useful to play with while the kiddies are letting off steam on all their pieces of kit or in the skate park.
Even the ducks have a safe place, away from inquisitive dogs like Barnie – they all seem to collect in the other fenced off children’s playground, waiting for the after school feeding session no doubt.
Framlingham is a really great place for a day out with the kids, especially when you have a Treasure Trail to take you around the highlights and get both adult and child brains whirring. Try it and see! Just wait a couple of days before you buy your Framlingham Trail as we have a few new discoveries to include to make the existing one even better! Keep an eye on the Suffolk Trails Website for news on new Trails and revised editions.
