A WINTER'S DAY OUT IN SUFFOLK

Graham provides an excellent assessment of a day out in Southwold

Where do you take somebody in winter-time when they come to visit you? This happened to us twice in early March. All the stately homes are closed and you can only spend one day in Norwich. Fortunately, both our guests were lovers of the sea and, although we have our own resorts in Norfolk, I decided to take them to one of our favourite places, Southwold.

Southwold is known as Chelsea-on-the-Sea because of the number of second homes owned there by city high-flyers. The roads are clean and the houses, many from the 1930's, decorated to a high standard. We started with the mandatory walk along the front which we found very bracing indeed. We returned to the pier and walked the length of it; why do we feel we must do this at the seaside?

Then we strode briskly back into the town, by now desperate for some sustenance. There are many cafes, restaurants, etc to chose from and we could even have eaten in one of the two cafes on the pier.

After lunch, we wandered around the town, window shopping and buying some of the more unusual foods that they seem to stock in abundance. There is an excellent cheese shop and a very well-stocked Off Licence owned by Adnams, the town brewers. (If you are lucky, you may see one of the brewer's drays being pulled by a pair of enormous shire horses.)

Finally, no visit to Southwold would be complete without a wander round the Amber Museum. I believe that it the only one in the country and lots of people come to the town especially to visit this delightful facility. We found it absolutely fascinating and very well put together. Visitors can buy items made of amber such as small ornaments, necklaces and other jewellery, but I would warn that this wonderful substance is not cheap.

Well, that was our day in Southwold. It didn't set the world on fire but did give us a most enjoyable outing with the drive back through the beautiful Suffolk lanes capping it all.

Graham Forster