Day Seven Monday 10th July 2023

We were up early ready to make the most of our last day and the sunshine. Today we travelled south to Woodbridge. We were here some years ago with my brother when he lived in the area. However, it has changed quite a bit since then. The town is situated on the river Debden. The boats on the riverbank quay look the same but older, the historic Woodbridge Tide Mill is still there and operational. There has been a mill on this site since 1170 with many well-known owners such as Henry VIII, and Elizabeth I. The mill seen today dates from 1793. However, there are new attractions for the tourist such as a museum and several restaurants and coffee shops. We chose to have a coffee at a small mobile barrister truck which was good. After a good look round, we decided to head off to Snape, another place we have been to before. Snape is on our way home and so there was no problem there. We found somewhere to park easily, which we thought was going to be more of a problem as it is only a small place. Again, we wandered round the area, Anita going in to check out some of the shops and the Maltings Hall where concerts are held. She bought a pineapple plant to take home as a reminder of the trip.

From here we travelled east to Aldeburgh where we decided we would sit on the beach and have our packed lunch. Surprisingly there were a lot more people about for a Monday, so parking here was a problem until we journeyed just outside the town to a beach car park with plenty of benches to sit on and enjoy our lunch. Here we found a new and large sculpture made from Stainless Steel of a Scallop shell. This is apparently to celebrate Benjamin Britten and was made 20 years ago in 2003. The phrase "I hear those voices that will not be drowned" was pierced through the steel. This phrase is from Britten's opera 'Peter Grimes'.

After our lunch and a sit in the sun we went off north via Thorpeness to Leiston Abbey. We had planned to go here earlier in the week, but bad weather and a road closure prevented that. The abbey consists of the remains of a mainly 14th century abbey of the Premonstratensian canons. After a good look around, we returned home for a cuppa in the garden and a sit in the sunshine.

Mind you, the big event of the day was the preparation of crab for tea!

The total travel distance was 41 miles.

Tomorrow, we return to Bridgnorth and home.