A “Big Walk” Around Rendlesham Forest

Mary-Ann (pictured in light blue jacket) of Holiday Dogs in Kesgrave led Suffolk’s first “Big Walkies”. The concept originated in Cambridgeshire and is designed to provide a focal point for dogs and humans to socialise and get some exercise and fresh air.

There were about 20 of us all told and we enjoyed a fabulous 3 mile walk around Rendlesham Forest with a chance to chat and for the doggies to have fun. The next event will be in about a month’s time.

For more information link to Big Walkies. Anyone looking for a grooming, dog walking or dog sitting service in the Kesgrave area couldn’t do better than contact Mary-Ann at Holiday Dogs.

Smallest House In Suffolk?

East Suffolk News today tweeted “Is this house in Framlingham the smallest in Suffolk?” Link to East Suffolk News for a picture and the whole story.

However we’d like to think the house pictured above might give the Framlingham house a good run for its money.  We found it on the seafront in Aldeburgh whilst researching and writing our  Aldeburgh Murder Mystery Treasure Trail.

Though we don’t know the exact square footage I’m sure Estate Agents would describe it as “bijou” or “compact”.

Falkenham – Its Walks And Views

We’ve already explored the east side of the River Deben, in some detail, writing one of our favourite Trails - Secrets Around Shottisham. However, the weekend before last, after a tip off from a friend, we found the footpaths around Falkenham. And what a delight they are, particularly in sunshine and despite a bracing wind.

If you park near St Ethelbert’s Church in Falkenham you are spoilt for choice. We took the footpath that goes past the church and did a right. Follow the path to the river and climb the bank to be rewarded by a fantastic view – the estuary, Ramsholt on the other side of the river and a few boats. Our walk there and back was about an hour and a half but there is a longer circular one if you’ve more time.

Falkenham is just east of Kirton, both quite isolated villages but, as elsewhere in Suffolk, they conceal some fascinating history. Link to the Kirton & Falkenham Website for more information on these hidden gems.

Suffolk’s Sensational Songbirds

A bit of a cheat title and photo; this posting is about Twitter, and the “songbirds” are the Tweeters that I follow. Those of you that haven’t yet engaged in Twitter will no doubt be stifling a yawn already but, speaking as a recent convert and near “addict”, I hope you will give it another go.

It took me three attempts to get my confidence on it, helped by some colleagues and friends. Now, in less than four weeks, I have discovered some amazing artisans, food producers, pubs, hotels and all round lovely individuals, right on my doorstep. In fact it was partly due to such discoveries that Suffolk Online has been quiet for a while – I just didn’t feel qualified to write about it with so many experts out there. The main downside is that having compressed my normal lengthy utterings into 140 characters, with such relative intensity, I was getting a little concerned as to whether I could still write for more “normal” media outlets – we shall see!

Suffolk Online is designed mainly to report on first hand experiences out and about in Suffolk. However we’re going to make an occasional exception for interesting sites we come across on Twitter so watch this space!

Suffolk’s Winning Wines

Our Croatian wine loving pals and experts (see sister site Croatia Online - Gold Medal Winning Wines) may well be drowning their sorrows in a swift glass of rakija (grapa) or two when they read this posting. Not only did we experience the quality of Suffolk’s wines today, but it was also suggested to us that grapeseed oil might be more healthy than olive oil. That’s something we will need to sound out our Croatian friends on as, during the whole of our eight years on the Dalmatian Coast, Croatia’s best olive oil was feted as the nearest thing to the fountain of youth available to mankind! See  Croatia Online - Solta The Island Of Olives for more information. Whether or not Croatia simply prefers to process its pips into fiery rakija rather than oil is something to be discovered.

That’s not all we learnt during a fascinating day out at Shawsgate Vineyard and Winery, thanks to cashing in a birthday present “experience voucher”. These Experience Days run from May until the end of August and start with a gentle introduction followed by a trip around the vineyards and then the winery, culminating in a tasting session and a delicious lunch.

Run by a charming  father and son team, a pair of pros if ever there was one, you’ll learn about the whole process of making wine and what makes for a good and bad one. The Shawsgate Winery concentrates on quality rather than quantity and with taxes, duty etc making up nearly the first £4 of any bottle of wine sold in the UK that seems a sensible choice. We tasted some very different and very delicious wines made from grapes that are “squeezed” at less than 2 bars pressure so as not to harm the delicate components that lend the distinctive and superior taste.

Some other great snippets:

1. The highly sophisticated German made pressing machine has every form of technology except something that indicates when the grape juice tray is full. For that Shawsgate use fluid level indicators, normally a favourite of the blind, that vibrate when the liquid reaches the indicator.

2. The rows of vines run from east to west and if you walk between them, you will notice an increase in temperature.

3. There is a science to everything, from the best way to train the vines, through sterilising and cleaning the equipment, to bottling and the stoppers that go in the bottles.

Rather than divulge more of the secrets, have a look at the Shawsgate website and maybe taste some of it yourself. For those that want to debate the pros and cons of the health giving qualities of olive oil and grapeseed oil  have a look at Ehow and the following You Tube link which may offer a bit more than you were looking for!

Rural But Rekindled Redlingfield

The Rural Coffee Caravan Information Project (RCCIP) features heavily in these early postings on Suffolk Online but no more than it deserves. Not only do we get a chance to put a little bit back into the community,  but we also get to explore some of the most remote parts of rural Suffolk.

Redlingfield is a credit to itself, Suffolk and the project. On Tuesday when we visited we were told that there were only 54 homes in the village yet 30 locals turned up for coffee which put the mug collection to the test! Also something of a record we believe across the whole of the county, and all the more impressive as the weather wasn’t great for sitting out on the small village green.

Redlingfield has no pub and no shop and is a prime example of what the RCCIP can help to achieve with a willing, enthusiastic and resourceful local audience. Acting as a catalyst the project provides a periodic focal point to help Redlingfield’s residents get to know each other better, to the extent that the social life of the village seems to have taken off. That’s in addition to the project’s main purpose of bringing helpful information and resources to the doorsteps of isolated communities.

We also had the chance to meet the indomitable founder and inspiration for the project, Sally Fogden. RCCIP was borne out of another cause that Sally put plenty of time and energy into - “Farms in Crisis” - and it seems that the farmers themselves were instrumental in helping Sally  take her fight for help for rural communities to a higher level.

Redlingfield is intrinsically a charming village with plenty of history and much to be proud of, not least the spirit of its community. It also has a great website and local magazine where you can find out more  - Redlingfield. Our only regret is that the demand for refreshments prevented us spending more time chatting to the locals. However a reasonably prompt cup of builders strength tea or coffee was the least we could provide on a cool showery “summer’s day”!

Rising Stars Of “Suffolk”

We’re stretching Suffolk’s borders in this posting, but at least one of our young stars, is so close geographically and in spirit, that I hope readers will excuse the poetic licence.

Suffolk Online was lucky enough to be invited to a local preview of pOperatically Speaking on Sunday and felt that geographical technicalities shouldn’t prevent us sharing it with a wider audience. Such was the talent and presence of the two virtuosos that the fact that they are both just 16 was somewhat irrelevant. It was a spine tingling performance that we would have paid good money for on the professional singing circuit.

pOperatically Speaking is the performance that Callum Bicknell and Emily Stanghan have put together for the Edingburgh Fringe Festival next week. Neither are strangers to public performances and their already established credentials would bring wistful sighs to singers twice their age. Just as excitingly, their style and repertoire breaks the mould of the dumbing down of music that many of us have witnessed over the past few years. Emily, a sparkling Soprano, and Callum, a rich baritone, sing, either solo or as duets, a carefully chosen Robbie William’s number (with a twist) just as easily and powerfully as a Gershwin or Quarantotto/Sartori.

What’s more they’re a grounded and charming pair of young people and blessed with more than just a little help from their multi skilled and multi tasking family who spend almost every spare moment enabling and supporting their many and varied  performances.

If you’re anywhere near Edinburgh between the  9th and 14th August (preview 8th August, 18.45), Emily and Callum are at Augustine’s (Venue 152), 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL for a one hour performance starting at 18.25, tickets £5.50, Box Office 0131 510 0022 or link to Ed Fringe - Poperatically Speaking, to book online.

For more information on the featured stars link to Callum Bicknell and Emily Stanghan

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Reviewed by Jane Cody for Suffolk Online. Jane is a regular reviewer for Time Out publications.

Suffolk Soul Singers

It’s hard to keep up with the news in Suffolk but we’re trying hard. Only four days late with this posting!

Our good friend Sally is a member of Suffolk Soul Singers, a truly uplifting group of people singing truly uplifting songs. We finally made the time to go and see them on Sunday at the Steamboat Tavern Ipswich.

A varied set included an all time favourite – Harvest For The World – by the Isley brothers, not to mention a huge number of other stirring soul hits. Stunning solos and duets, and a great backing band, just enhanced the appeal of the main attraction, the chorus itself, and we’d defy you not to start foot tapping and handclapping once your early inhibitions are overcome.

To find out more, link to the   Suffolk Soul Singers site on Facebook.

Apologies to all for the quality of today’ photo – there was so much rhythm and soul going on that it was difficult to focus on the shot!

Beck Row

My second day out with the Rural Coffee Caravan – see Suffolk Online Rural Coffee Caravan – took me to Beck Row. Lovely people, an excellent turnout and talks from the council agencies that help with insulation, water butts and the like, made it yet again a fascinating trip.

Beck Row has lived hand in hand with the military for many years. There were plans for an airfield here as long ago as 1922 and though it didn’t open until 1933 the design of many of the buildings has a 1920s feel. During the Second World War it was an RAF bomber station but in 1948 it became the gateway for US forces in the UK and now covers around 100 acres. Unfortunately, post 9/11, the base has been less accessible for villagers who used to join in many of the social activities there.

The village itself however seems to have a strong sense of community of its own, and a lovely church, and we were fortunate enough to get a low down on local history from our hosts who directed us to the churchyard where there are a number of military graves.

Reading the detailed history of St John’s Church, in a booklet we were given when we left, we see that the “war graveyard consists of 76 graves of airmen from the air forces of the Commonwealth – 51 from the UK, 14 from Canada, 5 from Australia and 6 from New Zealand….Among the graves is that of Pilot Officer Rawdon Hume Middleton of the Royal Australian Air Force who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery. During a bombing raid over Turin, in November 1942, Middleton sacrificed his own life, to enable his fellow crew-members a better chance of survival, by staying at the controls of a stricken Stirling bomber whilst they bailed out.” Middleton’s grave is in the picture with the wooden cross in front of it.

We suggest you visit Beck Row to get hold of a copy of the booklet on the history of St John’s Church as there is just too much interesting information to repeat here. However here are a few more snippets:

1. The church’s oldest possession is a fine Jacobean pulpit, formally housed in the the mother church of St Mary in Mildenhall.

2. The church proudly displays the Colour Standard of Number XV Squadron, Royal Air Force. The standard is unique, in itself, for bearing its number in Roman Numerals rather than Arabic numerals. Special permission was granted for this as the Roman numerals were significant to the squadron’s history.

3, The church also has an impressive propeller memorial  to the crew of a Stirling bomber. The memorial is a blade from the propeller of “Y” Yorker of Number 90 Quadron, Royal Air Force whose nine crew died in a training exercise nearby in 1943.

Try the following links for more information and many thanks to our hosts and the Rural Coffee Caravan Project for the chance to learn more about Beck Row:

Number XV Squadron Royal Air Force

Beck Row

Ipswich Waterfront

Suffolk’s County Town of Ipswich seems yet to receive the true attention it deserves. As a newcomer to Suffolk, Suffolk Online’s editor is already passionate about Suffolk but the county town centre took a little bit of getting to know before it unveiled its true charm. Not so the waterfront, redeveloped in considerable style with the old Corn Exchange still retaining its proper place as a focal point, along with many other historic buildings. It’s not a huge area but here you will find upmarket and casual restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, a marina and new apartment blocks all blending together to provide a vibrant place to chill out. We’ll be discovering the highlights in detail at a later date  but suffice to say that a quick first visit provided a very pleasant surprise.

Suffolk Sandlings

In due course we’ll be telling you more about what made us decide to make our UK base in Suffolk.  For the moment, sufficient to say that we have explored Suffolk's Sandlings in a considerable amount of depth in devising our Secrets Around Shottisham Trail around them. On Saturday we revisited the Trail with a friend and, even on the sunniest day of the year, the highlights of this Trail are still undiscovered.

We started in Melton, walked around Shingle Street with its rich war time history and Martello Tower, and stopped at Ramsholt for lunch. Here you will find the Ramsholt Arms (Trip Advisor link) providing a reasonably priced lunch with a perfect view of the estuary. We’ve read mixed reports about the food but our lunch was great (crab salad at around £12 and mackerel salad at around £10), and it came out pretty quickly,  despite the relative crowds, and the fact that a group of bikers had chosen it for a private and very well behaved party. However it’s the view that makes this place special, and the fact that it’s at the end of an otherwise deserted country road. While you linger over your lunch, the kids play in the sand, the boats sail up and down and everyone wonders whether they should keep the secret to themselves!

After lunch it was Bawdsey and Bawdsey Quay but that too, is the subject for another posting.

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Today’s photo is of the Ramsholt Arms. If you have time to spare, take a look at Ramsholt’s church too, also featured on our Trail.

Suffolk – A New Style Of Government?

Michael Lord, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, retired in June and Dr Daniel Poulter took his place and won the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat in the recent General Election. We’ve been lucky enough to meet both of them at yet another great local initiative, The Kesgrave and District Business Forum, and feel that we have been and will be well served by both. Certainly Dr Daniel Poulter seems very clear about what he stands for and fortunately also appears to have boundless energy, necessary to meet all his varying commitments and also cover the seat of a neighbouring MP who is recovering from illness.

Dr Poulter told us, amongst other things, that he is for nuclear energy and the new reactors at Sizewell, and that Suffolk needs a more cohesive approach to tourism that may currently be fragmented under a number of different bodies. For more information, link to Dr Daniel Poulter.

Suffolk’s Rural Coffee Caravan

A couple of week’s ago we had the good fortune to go out with Suffolk’s Rural Coffee Caravan to the lovely Suffolk village of St James. This is a great initiative to try and bridge the occasional isolation and lack of communication experienced by residents of the more remote villages, especially those who have lost their pubs and/or post offices. The Rural Coffee Caravan, at the invitation of the local residents, visits these areas and sets up an informal coffee and information centre designed to provide a place for villagers to meet each other and catch up on the latest news of services, etc available. For more information on the project, click here.

Welcome To Suffolk Online

We’ve had so much fun exploring Croatia over the past eight years, for Time Out, Boat International, and our book, the  Croatia Cruising Companion, that we thought we should make better use of our time in the UK.

So, after many years of an England base in West London, mostly rushing around, a bit of life re-engineering led us to Suffolk as the ideal county to explore, much as we have Croatia.

Suffolk has it all – deeply rural but only an hour by train to London; totally unspoilt heathlands, forests and coastal towns interspersed with picturesque historic towns such as Woodbridge, Saxmundham and Lavenham; seaside enigmas such as Felixstowe, Thorpeness and Lowestoft; idyllic country villages like Fressingfield and Debenham; superb home grown produce such as cider, beer potatoes and …….the list goes on.

On this site we will be delivering the inside story on the best of what Suffolk has to offer and getting under its skin. To get a flavour of the  style, visit our Croatian blogs  Croatia Online and Croatia Cruising Companion. We shall continue to develop these as before but you can expect to see Suffolk taking an increasing profile, as we focus on enjoying the UK as much as we enjoy Croatia. 

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Thanks to Darren Perry of  Addison McGrath for today’s photo of Suffolk Online’s editor,  Jane Cody, with her head in (the house in) the clouds, in Thorpeness.