Darling Buds of March - In Suffolk
I’m not your typical caravanner. For a start I don’t like dogs and I’m not keen on children, so I don’t see the necessity to use sites that have facilities like playgrounds and dog walks. I spend an average of 50 nights away from home each year – mostly in the winter. I can also be quite noisy… (my wife tells me that I snore) and my other anti-social activities include the mandolin and the melodeon.
I admit to being odd. I have peculiar taste and I seek the company of people like me. When you meet Sue and Len Manning you will find yourself in the company of a pair of delightful odd-balls.
Their site is spacious & the hook-ups are positioned so that you can huddle up to your neighbours… or position yourself in a private corner if you need to stay away from people like me. The field is flat enough to avoid the need for blocks & its bone dry – even after the wettest winter since Noah parked there in 768 BC.
The water point is accessible but irritatingly splishy; the tap was not thin enough to take a “naked” hose & not fat enough to hold the rubbery, cone shaped thing that should keep the tube on. For the first time in my life I considered buying “crocs”. The toilet disposal point is first rate: flat, enclosed, easy to hose, etc.
Phone? Vodaphone is patchy and Three gets no signal at all. I didn’t try the TV signal – but East Anglia is pretty flat so it probably arrives OK. Radio 4 reception was first rate.
At £10 the charge is great. Take the exact cash if you are fussy about getting the right change. I only had a £50 note and Sue Manning never has any money at all… so I got my change in eggs & lamb. The eggs were from geese and absolutely lovely. 1 is equivalent to 3 hen’s eggs; the taste is the same but the texture is a bit gooier. Best omelettes I ever had. The lamb is super & I did feel a pang of guilt when I was dragooned (willingly) into bottle feeding tiny lambs. To get to them one had to cross the farmyard when Len spent his time on various “projects”. These included the restoration of a Bavarian stove that was a foot taller than him and the re-assembly of a 40 year old Pontiac that was the image of that car on Knight Rider.
Visit the coast between Southwold and Snape. Southwold pier is a must for eccentrics; try the arcade that is on the pier. Take lots of 20p coins and plenty of tissues to wipe away the tears of laughter. Someone with a very macabre sense of humour has created the amusements. Aldeburgh has interesting marine architecture and houses you can't afford. Snape Maltings is worth a visit. The stores, toy shops etc on the Maltings complex are wonderful. Tasteful stuff at reasonable prices.
If you are thinking of having a short break at Stoke Hall – forget it. My 3 days was not long enough – partly because I spent way too much time in conversation with my hosts.
Is there a down side? Well there’s that bloody tap… Oh, and the swing into (and out of the field) looks pretty tight for a big rig.
