July 2017| 79
either side of the overnight, then it s off to find more
royal haunts after another little Suffolk bike and boat
experience back on the coast between Bawdsey and
Felixstowe.
Made popular as a seaside resort by the Empress of
ermany in
, the clifftops of elixstowe are lined
with impressive late Victorian and early Edwardian villas.
Edward’s Mrs Simpson stayed here, but apparently
wasn’t too keen on the sea breezes after all. Fortunately,
another neckerchief whisked out of the pannier keeps
any drafts at bay along the seaside cycling NCR stretch
towards the Napoleonic fort at blustery Landguard Point.
It certainly comes into its element on your third riverboat
ride across the mighty River Orwell and the Stour to
Shotley Gate.
With bike and body back on Suffolk dry land, little lanes
lead inland, dipping in and out of stunning Stour estuary
views. There s a curious Tudor gatehouse at rwarton
Hall, a favourite childhood haunt for Anne Boleyn. She
might have later lost her head, but she left her heart
here in the church, apparently. They say that enry
visited her and her innocent beauty was a real picture,
but not a patch surely on the beautiful discoveries just
up the road, painted by ngland s best-loved landscape
artist
Truly picture-perfect
on t let any Constable Country clich s put you off
exploring the Stour Valley and Dedham Valley by bike.
From Flatford Mill and Willy’s Lott’s House immortalised
in The aywain , to the water meadows stretching out
towards the gentle uplands at Stoke by Nayland, the
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty warrants its title
every pedal push of the way.
Where once great ‘lighters’ shifted cargos up and
down river from Gainsborough’s Sudbury, cormorants
now gather on the treetops and damsel ies dance by
the water’s edge. Idyllic still? Absolutely. And what’s
more, the Sustrans NCR1 leads all the way to delightful
edham and a cluster of cyclist-friendly spots to rest up,
refuel and stay.
Weaving across the county
Tiny thatched cottages, all pargetted or pretty in Suffolk
pink half-timbered hall houses and huge, huge churches.
Spin along the Suffolk- ssex borderlands, heading
onwards and upwards from the Stour towards the