We are having a day around Constable Country today and
seeing I haven’t done this for the best part of twenty years am a little
apprehensive about getting it right!
I still have all my notes from before so really need to
plot the correct route to get the best out of the day.
We are away at 09:30 but only just! A UPS delivery van
was at the front of the hotel and as I’m loading on the other side of the
driveway he reverses at a terrific speed towards the back of the coach as if he
hasn’t seen me. I shout loudly at him to stop which he does with a screech of
the brakes and finishes an inch or so from the side of the coach. What a prat.
At least he gave me an embarrassed wave as he went on his way.
I keep off the busy A12 this morning (it is more like a
motorway) and drive through Colchester towards Sudbury and then through the
pretty village of Nayland, where John Constable painted a scene behind the
alter, and then we drive through the nearby village of Stoke by Nayland.
Unfortunately they are too narrow to stop with a bus so we proceed through the
Vale of Dedham towards said town of Dedham. This is a lovely drive with the
scenery being gentle and easy on the eye rather than spectacular and soon we
are in Dedham for our first stop of the day. This very pretty village is where
Constable went to school. I drop in the centre of the village and then park in
the coach park close to Dedham Mill.
From here it is a ten minute ride to East Bergholt,
Constable’s birthplace, where I stop again by the church after a little three
pointer to correct missing the turning! This church has lovely stained glass
windows and a very small, unusual bell tower. This bell tower was temporary but
the main one was never completed. The five bells they were going to use would
have been the heaviest in the country and they are still in the grounds of the
church.
Another very short drive from here is to the most famous
spot of Constable Country – Flatford Mill. It is here that he painted “The
Haywain” and it is a gorgeous place to stop for lunch. There is a short walk
through the car park and then 14 easy steps down to the shop, exhibition,
river, boats and the good cafe. I wasn’t too sure about stopping here but it
made a great lunch stop.
Mind you it is extremely hot today, supposedly the
hottest day of the year, and we are expecting some thunderstorms. Thankfully
they don’t turn up while we are out!
We spend a good two hours here leaving at 14:40. It is
only twenty minutes into Colchester so I decide to go there for an hour. Some
of the passengers don’t seem too keen but if we go straight back there is not a
lot to do at the hotel so Colchester it is.
I drop by the castle and the beautiful gardens and I
think they are all surprised on how lovely it all is. They have all had 75
minutes here and I don’t think anyone went shopping!
It was a pain driving out of Colchester and took as long
to get out of the centre as it did to reach the hotel which we did at 17:00.
Dinner is at 18:30 tonight and was a marked improvement
on last night. You cannot fault the service and the amount of waiters and
waitresses working and with a better meal all is well again.
It still hasn’t rained the promised storms but we do have
a new Royal Baby! Kate gave birth to a baby boy this afternoon at 16:24 though
the world wasn’t told until four hours
later.
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