During a break time chat at one of her choir meetings Anita found that one of the members was willing to offer the use of his second home in Norfolk for a week's holiday. As we have recently been looking for somewhere to go, we snapped at the chance to get away.

So, we are off to the east coast for a break and to visit some of those places we have been to before and hopefully some new ones.

We shall be staying in Leiston-cum-Sizewell. This town will be a great base for the area as well as having some of its own visitor sites, which include the 12th Century Leiston Abbey and Garrett & Sons (Garrett's was famous for building Traction Engines of all types) agricultural engineering business, the Long Shop. For nearly 200 years, it influenced every aspect of Leiston life. Remarkably, as well as much of the workers' housing and infrastructure, a sizeable amount of the original Victorian Works still survives today, preserved as a museum.

At the heart of the 'Town Works', just a traction engine's puff from the site of Garrett's first forge near High Green and Suffolk's deepest well (148m!), is 'The Cathedral' - the Grade II listed Long Shop, the UK's first ever assembly-line building. The idea came from Richard Garrett III's meeting with Samuel Colt of US revolver fame at the 1851 Great Exhibition. With enhanced production capabilities, Leiston exported engines and agricultural machinery worldwide. Today Leiston's 'Long Shop' is now home to a museum of engines and exhibits. I am sure we shall be spending some time there.

The town's name is also a bit of a giveaway as to its location as the Sizewell Nuclear Power Station is just a few miles away. Again, we hope to visit this site while we are there.

So, on Tuesday we shall be off driving to Leiston to take up residence for a week and will keep this blog up to date every day with our latest adventures!