Westleton - Day 3 - RSPB Minsmere

After another excellent breakfast we drove to Minsmere, we had discussed walking as it's only about 2 miles away, but though it would have been too much.  (Today I have over 10,000 steps, and it's not time for dinner yet.)

Here are the birds I recorded as seeing, the most interesting ones are highlighted.

Carion Crow
Great tit
Long tail tit? / Redstart
Robin
Magpie
Red Breasted |Merganser
Great Black backed gull
Chaffinch
Blue tit
Red crested duck
Small duck red head grey wings B&W tail white underside
Sparrow (small)
Pale yellow breast, grey head (Reed bunting female?)
Widgeon
Brent geese
Little egret
Teal (male & female)
Marsh harrier
Bittern
Mallard (male & female) x2
Moorhen
Grey Heron

 

I spent WAY too much time looking in the book, trying to identify birds.  I need more practice.  After lunch, we arrived in Bittern Hide to much excitement.  The hide was busy, one of the staff had spotted a bittern.  It was pointed out to me 4 or five times, I looked through his focussed telescope, my binoculars, and someone else's phone.  The only place I saw it was on someone else's phone.  Then I tried my binoculars again and eventually spotted it. He described it a cinnamon coloured, well it was perhaps a little lighter, but I saw what he meant.  We watched it walk from one hiding spot to another and almost instantly disappear - they are so well camouflaged.

While all this was going on, the Marsh Harrier went across the front of the hide, and I got the binoculars pointing in the right direction and watched it fly.

Walking back, the little egret flew across our path and landed in the pool on our left, I've never seen one so close up.

Close up pictures are impossible, I don't have a zoom lens yet.

In the evening, we travelled to the Eel's Foot Pub for dinner.  We went to locate it in the light first, to be sure it was worth a visit and to be sure we knew where it was. 

That proved a good decision because as dusk fell, fog started to form, and Google Maps wanted to take us down an unmade road near the Minsmere reserve.

The Eel's Foot is a lovely country pub, there is no booking - just arrive, find a table, order food.  It was not full, but there were enough people there to make it feel comfortable.  The owner is very easy going and friendly.  I had 'pigeon wellington', it's a dark meat and fairly tough, but once the edges are trimmed it is quite tasty

How did it get that name? Here what we were told:

1) Because when eels were trapped in wicker baskets the traps were called boots, so when recovered it looks like the eels have feet.

2) Because there were once 3 businesses in the building, one a cobbler, and it was originally called Heel's foot.

Take your choice, but it's an unforgettable name.

Westleton - Day 2 - Saxmunden and Aldeburgh

After a very nice 'full English' breakfast, we had to decide where to go.  Saxmunden sounds like an interesting place.  Our host thinks people assume it is a Saxon town, and I can see why.  

First impressions can ruin a town.  Parking in the Market car park and going through a very long and boring phone call to pay my £2 for parking could have been a first impression, but a bigger one was to come.  All the toilets have been converted to disabled access, and are restricted to those with the right key fob (or something similar).  Would this include visitors?  The rest of us have to share 3 Portaloo boxes, with no proper place to wash our hands - yuk.

Although the museum is closed for the winter, there were some interesting things to see, or rather people to meet, in the town.  We spoke to an old man who offered to show us a blue pound note.  He had just picked up a plaque with a WWII pound note and set of stamps.   He spoke a little about the other things from the war he had inherited from his father.  We walked on past the museum and followed a footpath sign.  It took us into a housing estate, where we found a Ford Anglia 100E, in very good condition.  Later we spoke to a woman and two girls, partly because I admired her little dog - a Jack Russel - chihuahua cross. She said that people are frightened of it, but it is really friendly.  She told us about the market outside Waitrose, which would be our next port of call.  In the market we bought some smoked cheese and smoked humus with various other flavourings.  After that, we walked back to the main road and had a cup of tea in the corner café almost opposite Harry Hayward, the plumber.  We also purchased their homemade sausage rolls for lunch.

We then visited St John's church - an interesting mix of traditional and modern.  There were chairs (not pews) and areas for children, and some interesting stain glass windows. It is light inside, not dingy like some old churches.  There is a small kitchen at the back.  It looks like a lovely, active church.  

Now, it's time to leave Saxmunden and head to Aldeburgh.

We parked to the north of the town in a beech car park.  It has a similar arrangement for payment, but also a 'pay and display' machine, which I was thankful for.  The first thing we noticed, because we were parked almost in front of it, was a giant sculpture.

The caption reads 'I hear those voices that will not be drowned' It comes from Benjamin Britten's opera 'Peter Grimes'.  I don't know the opera, but my main question is about its placement, not it's purpose.  The beach, I believe, is a SSSI, so why plant a great sculpture in the middle of it?

We enjoyed our walk through Aldeburgh, after eating our lunch in front of the sculpture.  We bought ice cream from a kiosk, visited the lifeboat, and the moot hall.  We walked to the southern end of the town on the beach path, and back through the town, then returned to the B&B.

In the evening, we ate at 'The Crown'.  Here's the review I wrote:

The food for dinner was lovely, although the portions were rather small. The service though was not so good. Sat in perhaps the darkest spot, I had to use my phone torch to read the menu. Almost immediately our order was taken, drinks and food, then the starter arrived, when I asked for the drinks they were delivered. My wife's soup came without a spoon. Finally, I see a 10% service charge has been added. The whole evening felt rushed until we got the bill, then it was a struggle to get attention to pay, we thought about 'doing a runner', but neither of us can run any more.

 

 

Westleton - Day 1 - Traffic and dark skys

We had looked for somewhere to stay in Yoxford, but the two places we know and like are both fully or partially booked for our stay.  So, we looked further afield, and closer to RSPB Minsmere. I found a place in Westleton, the room is separate from the house, but not far so no problem if it is raining. 

We picked the grandchild up from school and took him to Chelmsford. That journey was slow, taking at least twice as long as usual. For the whole of that journey the sat-nav (Google Maps) was showing 1:51 or the journey to Westleton.  Ignoring the recommended route, we headed north, and instead of the A12 we went up the A131 for quite a way.  That wasn't too bad, but joining the A12 meant we were soon back in traffic. Having planned to arrive at 6pm, we were now targetting 6:25.

 

We arrived in Westleton and followed the directions.  In the dark, it is very dark, we drove straight past the house, not even realising it was there.  An SMS message from our host helped, and as we came round again, she was stood in the road and guided us in.  Now close to 7pm, we dumped the bags and 'ran' to the pub for dinner.

The White Horse served us good pub food, the service was very friendly. We were the only ones eating, all the locals in the bar were gone by 9pm.

The room is large and comfortable, with a king-size bed, a sofa, a fridge, a microwave, a table and 2 chairs.  The toilet and shower are isolated at one end of the building.