After visiting Southwold
in July last year, we decided to go back in September
this year. We had really good weather, apart from a couple
of days of strong winds at the start of our eleven night
stay. During our stay, we were pleased to see our friends
Gillian and Tony. They live in a village nearby and drove
to Southwold to spend a day with us.
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Monday
22nd September 2025 |
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Our visit this year was very similar to
last year. We caught the train from Liverpool Street to
Diss at the same time, where our taxi driver, Liz, picked
us up and drove us to Southwold. And like last year, there
were road works (at the same place as last year!) which
meant we had to take a longer route.
We returned to Craighurst, where we had stayed three times
before. We were really pleased to find that the balcony
had been replaced and we were once again able to use it,
unlike last year when we had no access to it and couldn't
even open the door to get a good dose of sea air!
Arriving earlier than the 4:00pm official
check-in time, on this occasion the cleaners were still
working in the flat, but were kind enough to allow us
to leave our luggage in the hallway, telling us that they
would be finished within 30 minutes. Plenty of time for
us to walk to the Sole Bay Inn for a drink and a snack.
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| Geoff was delighted that whitebait was on
the menu. Bruce settled for prawns and avocado. |
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Before too long, we were
in the flat, gazing out at the view we never seem to tire
of. |
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Unlike last year, when
the view was partially obscured by scaffolding, this time
it was uninterrupted. The new balcony can just be seen at
the bottom of this picture. |
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Mondays (and Thursdays)
are market days in the centre of town. Bruce couldn't resist
buying this bottle of apple juice from the biggest vendor
in the market, because of its apparent reference to Benoni,
the town of his birth. (It's an apple variety with no connection,
however). |
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Traditionally, we always go to The Crown
for dinner on the day that we arrive. This time was no
exception. We both had delicious pork chops as our main
course, but neither of us could finish our meals. A tasteful
doggy bag came to the rescue!
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Tuesday
23rd September 2025 |
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Geoff, being an early
riser, took a photo at dawn each day. Bruce, who is not
an early riser, had to make do with admiring Geoff's photos! |
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Weather permitting,
we had coffee at Suzie's Beach Cafe each morning (accompanied
by a toasted teacake on some occasions). |
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It was a lovely sunny
day, but there was quite a strong wind blowing from the
north-east. Nevertheless we decided to walk to the pier
and brave the gusts on it. |
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The view from the pier.
The wind was causing quite a swell in the sea. |
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Later, we spotted these
gorgeous dogs. We asked the proud owners if we could photograph
them and they were very willing to show them off! |
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Wednesday
24th September 2025 |
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The gusty weather continued
today. We ventured onto the beach before deciding that sand
and wind don't go too well together! Instead we took the
inland route for a walk to the harbour. |
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Geoff found some interesting
things to look at in the vintage shop... |
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... including this now-discontinued
logo from a pub tap. (The price tag was £10, which
he decided was a little bit too much to buy as a novelty
item). |
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No visit to Southwold
is complete without at least a few visits to the Beaches
Ice Cream Shop! |
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Thursday
25th September 2025 |
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Another windy day, but
the sunshine and the wonderful cloud patterns made up for
it. |
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Our friends Gillian and Tony (G &
T for short!), drove to Southwold from their new home
in a nearby Suffolk village. We really enjoyed their company
on our Patagonia cruise last year and then coincidentally
met them again on our trip to India and Sri Lanka earlier
this year, after which we kept in touch.
We walked with them to Walberswick via
the longer inland route, where we had a light lunch at
The Anchor restaurant. We took the shorter route back
via the ferry.
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One of the highlights
of our stay in Southwold is our dinners at Sutherland House.
We weren't disappointed this time and both enjoyed the meal
immensely. Geoff's started was crispy-fried haggis with
black pudding. |
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We both chose halibut
as a main course. |
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We shared a sticky toffee
pudding and our host Andy treated us to an amazing Sauterne
(Castelnaud) to go with it! |
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Friday
26th September 2025 |
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For some reason Bruce
didn't feel too well today (too much food being the reason!)
and decided to take it easy by slumping in the sofa and
staring at the view! Geoff on the other hand ventured out,
visiting the church and the pub for a lunchtime drink. |
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Bruce perked up in the
afternoon and by evening was ready to start eating again!
He was despatched to the Little Fish and Chip Shop to buy
our evening meal and bring it home. It comprised cod, chips
and tartare sauce. Delicious! |
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Saturday
27th September 2025 |
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The wind dropped completely
today and for the remaining week of our stay, we had gorgeous
warm dry and sunny weather, so no more daily weather reports! |
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We did all the usual
things today. Coffee at the beach, a bit of shopping, a
bit of walking, a bit of slumping... the pictures tell the
story! |
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Geoff bought lovely looking
stuffed chicken breasts at the local butcher, which he planned
to serve for dinner. |
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A toast to absent friends
before dinner... |
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...before tucking into
the delicious meal! |
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Sunday
28th September 2025 |
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A particurlarly beautiful
sunrise captured by Geoff while Bruce slept! |
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Bruce took a walk late
in the afternoon towards the sea wall defences and took
this video at high tide. He was planning his strategy for
a possible walk beyond the sea wall and on to the almost
deserted beach beyond it in the coming days. The remote
beach is only accessible at low tide and he was going to
try to convince Geoff to accompany him... |
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Meanwhile, Geoff was
preparing another treat acquired from the butcher; lamb
roll in puff pastry. |
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It proved to be another
delicious treat! |
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Monday
29th September 2025 |
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A bit of a hazy and
atmospheric start to the day, but soon the sun won! |
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We decided to do a long
walk to the Old Hall Cafe. We had done it on previous visits
and enjoyed it, so we felt quite comfortable about doing
it again. |
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Unfortunately, the cafe
was closed, but we were secretly pleased because we would
only have had something to eat, which we didn't really need! |
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Walking back to the
harbour along the river, we reminded ourselves of the last
time we did this walk, where at this point, rain began to
fall heavily and there was nowhere to shelter. By the time
we got to the pub at the harbour, a mile and a half further
on, we were drenched to the skin! |
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Back in town, the Thursday
market was still in progress and we topped up with more
apple juice and few other things. |
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Tuesday
30th September 2025 |
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A gorgeous day dawned.
Low tide was timed at around 10:00am and Bruce's aim was
to do the big walk that he had been thinking about. |
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Over morning coffee,
Bruce managed to convince Geoff that it was now or never.
The plan was to walk along the almost deserted beach, all
the way to Kessingland around six miles north of Southwold. |
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Geoff was almost ready
to give up before we had begun. We had to scramble down
some very slippery rocks and other sea defence concrete
blocks. At the end of the sea wall there are numerous signs
warning people not to go any further! Normally, we are very
risk-averse, but we did it anyway and once we had made it
safely onto the beach, there was no going back! |
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We walked for almost
three hours, in the most beautiful and almost deserted beach.
At times it was quite difficult to walk because it was quite
stony in parts and there were also times when we had to
cross small streams which were flowing into the sea. But
we loved every minute of it. |
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At last, we began to
see signs of human activity and assumed we’d reached
Kessingland. What we didn’t realise was that there
were still about two miles to go—through the largest
caravan park we’d ever seen—before we finally
reached what passes for the village centre. The bus stop
wasn’t easy to find, so we asked a few locals for
directions. Fortunately, the hourly bus was running fifteen
minutes late, so despite thinking we’d missed it,
we didn’t have to wait long before we were on our
way back to Southwold. |
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Back in Southwold, we
headed straight for the Sole Bay Inn for some well-deserved
refreshments! |
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In the evening, we paid
a second visit to Sutherland House (once being not enough!).
We had met the owner, Andy and his wife Kinga, a couple
of days before, by chance while we were out walking. When
we told them we had booked a second visit, Kinga made a
snap decision to bring forward their autumn menu by a day
(so Andy said) so that we would have some completely new
choices! It was a another wonderful evening. For his starter,
Geoff chose the "Mackerel Scotch Egg, Chive, Orange,
Miso & Soy Sauce Dressing & Rocket". |
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Bruce's main course
was "8 hour Slow Cooked Pork Belly, Pak Choi, Coriander,
Vermicelli Rice Noodles, Chilli, Lemongrass, Ginger &
Soy Sauce Broth". It was both beautifully presented
and absolutely delicous. |
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Geoff's main course
was "Seared Loin of Halibut, Jerusalem Artichoke Purée,
Tempura Sweetcorn & Coriander Fritter with a Lobster
Bisque Sauce". |
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Once again, we shared
a dessert. Marmalade bread and butter pudding, served with
Sauterne, once again a treat from Andy! |
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Wednesday
1st October 2025 |
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Definitely the most dramatic
and wonderful sunrise captured by Geoff. |
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Today we walked south
towards Walberswick from where we planned to investigate
the marshy lagoons beyond, remembering how we got lost there
on a previous visit. This time we were determined not to
repeat that! |
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All paths seemed to
take us to the beach, where we didn't want to go and in
the end we curtailed the walk, promising ourselves that
we would be better prepared next time! |
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On our penultimate night,
a brief shower before dinner resulted in a beautiful rainbow! |
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It was back to The Crown
for our last meal out. The restaurant is another one of
our firm favourite places to eat and tonight's meal was
delicious. |
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Thursday
2nd October 2025 |
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It was our last full
day. We didn't have anything specific in mind... we just
enjoyed doing what we do most days! |
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Friday
3rd October 2025 |
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Our last day... and it
was raining. Our timing had been perfect! |
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Like last year, Liz picked
us up at 10:00am and drove us to Diss. Amazingly, the same
roadworks which affected our journey last year had closed
the same road once again and we were forced to take a roundabout
route, which was also not helped by a car accident that blocked
the alternative route! Nevertheless, we were still able to
catch our train at 11:17 and had an easy journey all the way
home. |
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