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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
An East Anglian Panorama
Join us for a day of brilliant arable plains, pastoral
scenes and slumbering villages immortalised by
Constable and Gainsborough. With morning coffee
& biscuits and lunch in Long Melford included in
the tour fee, a coach panorama and a visit to
Lavenham this is a very sociable and interesting day
out in the valley home of artists and weavers.
Meet the Guide in Long Melford at 10-30am for
morning refreshments. We’ll return here for lunch
and time to explore but first a coach tour through the
beautiful rolling landscape of the East Anglian
farmlands. This countryside, so often painted by
Constable and Gainsborough, is dotted by
quintessentially English thatched villages and the
great cloth towns of mediaeval Suffolk; Clare,
Cavendish and Long Melford itself – pretty as a
picture. You might expect to spot Miss Marple
strolling across the village green, wicker basket
tucked under her arm. We pass through Sudbury,
nestling in a loop of the River Stour. This was the
birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough and in the
market square there is a drinking trough
immortalised in Dodie Smith’s 101 Dalmatians.
Back then to Long Melford for a tasty lunch of
chicken & mushroom pie or a vegetarian option
included in the tour fee. After lunch there’s some
free time to explore the long High Street and the
massive wool church of this engaging Suffolk
village. To round off our day out we return to the
coach and head to Lavenham. Looming above the
horizon, the tower of St. Peter and St. Paul heralds
our arrival in this beautiful small town where
immaculately kept crooked and timbered weavers
cottages line the main street. There will be a gentle
walking tour to show you the best of the town and
then you can do as you please, browse some more
or settle for afternoon refreshments before heading
home at 4-45pm. Available weekdays only all year
at £19.95 per person including morning coffee with
biscuits and a main course lunch.
A Taste of Suffolk
This tour combines the timeless beauty of Constable
Country with the modern trend for fresh local produce
on a journey of discoveries including a truly hidden
slip of Suffolk and includes a visit to the HMS Ganges
museum and a fish & chip lunch at Shotley Marina.
Please meet the Guide at 10-30am at East Bergholt,
birthplace of John Constable, to buy morning coffee.
Before you know it we are off the beaten track
wending our way to the tip of a remote slip of land
between two rivers. We pass the stately Royal Hospital
School which was founded at Greenwich 300 years
ago for the sons of seafarers. Keeping to a nautical
theme we visit a charming small museum dedicated
to telling the story of the training camp HMS Ganges
of which it was famously said "they went in boys and
came out men". A great visit for all who treasure our
heritage and ripe with family nostalgia for some.
Lunch is a tasty fish & chips, accompanied by a cup
of tea or coffee and served in the comfortable
surroundings of Shotley Marina. After lunch we are
going to visit a showcase for Suffolk foods on a
working farm by the River Orwell in an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty. The great grandfather of
the current farmers was a famous breeder of pedigree
Punch horses, Suffolk sheep and Red Poll cattle,
known collectively as the Suffolk trinity, exporting
them all over the world.
Finally we drop back into the wide meadows of
Constable's Stour Valley. "I love every stile and stump,
and every lane" said the great man. In Dedham Vale
we visit either Flatford Mill or if your group has been
here before you can elect in advance to visit Dedham
instead which has a lovely old wool church and places
to buy tea to round off an enjoyable day out. We head
home at 4-45pm. The only real walk of the day is ten
minutes on the Flatford Mill option.
Available everyday all year although Flatford Mill is
only open on weekends during some of the winter
months. £21.50 including HMS Ganges and lunch.