July 2017| 77
fate of medieval harbours and you ust have to stop off at
Greyfriars ruins to see All Saints’ last gravestone clinging
to the clifftops.
Beyond unwich, it s decision time. The Suffolk Coastal
Cycle Route, which stretches all the way to Felixstowe,
points the way inland a while, but the Suffolk Coasts and
Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty beckons too.
Bright purple swathes of heather, golden gorse and all
sorts of birdlife under the Suffolk sun make taking to the
Fish and ships
grassy, and occasionally sandy, tracks across Dunwich
eath to S B Minsmere a bit of a no-brainer though
not if you’re on a roadbike, of course). Back on tarmac,
more abbey roads lead to Leiston, then bridleways vie
with B-roads for your tyres and attention, delivering you
back to the coast for more curiosities – this time, the
dwardian holiday village, Thorpeness, with its half-
timbered’ houses, huge boating lake and whimsical
House in the Clouds.
No visit to Suffolk s eritage Coast is complete without
a good dose of well-deserved fish and chips and next
up (or heading south, perhaps that should be ‘next
down , Aldeburgh is the must-munch place to be. The
hotel restaurants are happy to oblige, with warm views
across to the boats pulled up on the shoreline and
fisherfolk selling their catch. But nothing beats getting
the goods from the local chippie and sitting up on Maggi
Hambling’s iconic Scallop sculpture – the place to watch
the ships go by and (if you’re lucky) an occasional seal
too.
A stately sort of fishing village that s only half of
its original self, Aldeburgh was home to composer
Ben amin Britten and, further along the Suffolk Coastal
Cycle Route over the River Alde, his renowned Snape
Maltings concert hall continues to attract big fish from
international waters. Oysters are the order of the day at
Orford, but cake from the Pumphouse Bakery proves to
be more cyclist-fuel-friendly energy enough to climb
the two hundred steps inside the 12 th century castle
keep for breathtaking views over winding creeks and
Europe’s largest vegetated shingle spit. Shingle Street
seems an obvious next stop, with a note to self to return
and go off-piste in endlesham orest. But there s
another important port of call and boat to catch by the
iver eben, before following the final waymarkers to
Woodbridge – the remarkable ship burial of a warrior
king at Sutton Hoo.
A right royal place to be
As cycling stop-overs go, Seckford all in Woodbridge is
a right royal Tudor treat. li abeth reputedly held court
at this grand redbrick pile and rumour has it, medieval
king, dward , died in the reat all s armchair. Time
to squeeze in a swim and possibly a spa treatment