Essential Suffolk June 2017

June 2017 | Priceless

Essential SUFFOLK

OPEN GARDENS Suffolk Gardens Open for Charity Theatre | Food | Fashion | Homes & Interiors | Property

www.essentialsuffolk.com

CELEBRATING ALL THAT MAKES OUR COUNTY GREAT

MADE FOR LIFE DESIGN

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M A N U FA C T U R E

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I N S TA L L

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Traditional craftsmanship, first-class products – A love for wood and an eye for detail For 50 years we have been creating beautifully-crafted products from wood. Every project is as individual as our client’s brief and designed to complement the home it is for, whether it is a period property, a barn conversion or a contemporary residence.

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CONSERVATORIES | ORANGERIES | KITCHENS | DOORS | WINDOWS | STAIRCASES | BARNS | CONSTRUCTION | FURNITURE

JUNE 2017

Lesley Rawlinson Director lesley@achievemoremedia.co.uk T: 01473 809932 M: 07519 477583

Adrian Rawlinson Director adrian@achievemoremedia.co.uk T: 01473 809932 M: 07718 149307

Alison Watson Account Manager alison@achievemoremedia.co.uk T: 01473 809932 M: 07546 485204

Anne Gould Editor editor@achievemoremedia.co.uk M: 07411 701010

Paul Newman Designer paul@newman-design.com Cover: Suffolk Open Gardens – see page 37

| Welcome

WELCOME There are many reasons why June has always been a standout month in our county but this June is extra special as the 21st of the month will be the first Suffolk Day. Suffolk Day is a new initiative, a day intended to celebrate the best our county has to offer and act as a hook to bring more tourism and business to the area. It is a date that is hoped will become an annual fixture in the diary and we will be looking to help by highlighting activities taking place.

Take a look at page 15 to see how you can get your event publicised for free.

June is the start of summer, it’s time for roses and strawberries and of course there’s a jam packed festival calendar in Suffolk. It’s the month of the Aldeburgh Festival – this year it’s the 50th anniversary of the festival at Snape Maltings and once again Pulse Festival at the New Wolsey has an incredibly exciting programme of new productions, some of which have already won plaudits and awards. At Essential Suffolk, we love Felixstowe Book Festival and this month we not only have a preview but also Meg Reid, who is the mastermind behind the event, has given us a ‘My Suffolk’ interview too.

We also have a bit of a history theme going on in the magazine this month with celebrations to mark the centenary of Martlesham Heath as a home to the start of the RAF and the home of research and technology. Then there’s the Arthur Ransome East Coast Celebration – which is a whole series of events along the River Orwell to celebrate 50 years since the author’s death.

As part of this wider event is an exhibition at the Pin Mill Gallery of remarkable photographs, taken by the author, documenting the building of a boat he commissioned at Pin Mill. Thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, computer technology and the expertise of award-winning photographer Anthony Cullen, these pictures have been digitally remastered and will be on permanent show as part of a lasting literary legacy.

There’s also some great reading this month in the property section – a £3 million Elizabethan moated manor with a history that goes back to 1066.

Plus check our regular sections on Food, Fashion, What’s On, Gardening and Interiors, and of course the ever popular Pub Walk with Darcy; this month returning to one of our favourite destination The Fox Inn at Newbourne.

Remember Essential Suffolk is not just a magazine. You can visit our website www.essentialsuffolk.com for news, fresh stories and archives of past content plus follow us on Twitter @EssentialSFK or find us on Facebook.

See all our social event photographs at essentialsuffolk.com @EssentialSFK

Essential Suffolk

Anne Gould Anne Gould Editor editor@achievemoremedia.co.uk

TERMS AND CONDITIONS Copyright on all content is with Achieve More Media Limited.

Reproduction in part or whole if forbidden without the express permission of the publishers. All prices, events and times were to the best of our knowledge correct at the time of going to press and you are encouraged to contact the venue prior to booking.

All expressions and opinions within the publication are those of the editor including contributors. Essential Suffolk is a trading name of Achieve More Media Limited.

Essential SUFFOLK is Suffolk’s most exclusive magazine delivered only to individually selected homes, businesses and venues. It is brought to you each month with the valued support of our commercial partners. Please let them know you saw them here.

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K I TC H E N S

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B AT H R O O M S

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BEDROOMS

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HOME OFFICES

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HOME CINEMAS

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LIBRARIES

01473 610 192 www.angliafactors.co.uk 34 GLOSTER ROAD, MARTLESHAM HEATH, IPSWICH IP5 3RD

Contents

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28 40

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48

FEATURES

REGULARS

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15

Suffolk in Brief

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What’s On

Arthur Ransome and Pin Mill A new photographic exhibition celebrating this famous author

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The Festivals Continue June festivals including Aldeburgh Festival, Pulse, Woolpit Festival, Southwold Arts Festival, The Dragon Festival and Felixstowe Book Festival

Chelsworth Open Gardens Celebrating 50 years of Chelsworth Open Gardens plus a guide to more gardens to visit

Martlesham Heath 100 Centenary for a village of science and innovation

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News from around the county

Food & Drink Dining at The Lavenham Greyhound, a chef ’s recipe from the Sibton White Horse along with Ten of the Best Afternoon Teas, Cafés & Tearooms and our ever popular Food Gallery

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Homes & Interiors

Orla’s Moon on tour, ‘She’ exhibition at the Peter Pears Gallery in Aldeburgh, Mark Thomas at the Avenue Theatre and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the New Wolsey

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Gardening

Fashion

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Essential Faces

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My Suffolk

Where to go and what to see in Suffolk this month

Mini Previews

Perfect summer T-Shirts

Choosing the right bed and bedding

Get inspired by art

Property Some of our county’s finest homes for sale

Highlights from Suffolk’s social calendar

Pub Dog Walk Discover a new route around Newbourne from The Fox

Meg Reid, Director of Felixstowe Book Festival

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01394 780045 www.samueldavidconstruction.co.uk

A forward thinking building services company that understands your vision for your property and has the practical skills and innovative approach to bring it to life.

Based in Woodbridge, we work for domestic and commercial clients across Suffolk and beyond. Whether you are looking to enhance or completely refurbish your home, our dedicated 50-strong team will work with you throughout your project to ensure you are completely delighted with the results. Our experienced, professional and friendly team cares about your building project as much as you do.

We start every project focussed on the end goal; realising the vision you have for your property. You may be a homeowner keen to extend or refresh your home to create a stunning showpiece or a commercial client wanting to refurbish or enhance a retail, industrial or office space. Whatever your needs, you can trust Samuel David Construction to create a breath-taking, yet practical space with genuine ‘wow-factor’

We provide a complete, bespoke service Every job we do is different, but each starts with a complimentary visit to your home or site. We’ll discuss your ideas, draw up plans and provide a ball-park cost. Once you give us the go-ahead, you can leave the rest to us, from commissioning the architect to putting your project through planning – even organising the interior decoration.

We believe in quality with affordability Our close knit team work seamlessly together to stay in control of quality, timescales and costs, making the best use of time and pulling out all the stops to complete your job quickly yet without cutting corners.

We love what we do and we care about doing a great job.

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JUNE 2017

ARTHUR RANSOME an East Coast celebration He was an author, journalist, secret agent, artist and now a new photographic exhibition at Pin Mill reveals Arthur Ransome was a photographer too. Anne Gould talks to Anthony Cullen who has helped bring his images to light

F

or many people, Arthur Ransome is all about the very best books of childhood. Reading Swallows and Amazons was the first time I experienced that peculiar delight of loving a book so much that you don’t want it to end. But then being thrilled in finding there was a lot more reading to go – Secret Water, We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, The Picts and Martyrs… twelve volumes in all. So discovering that he lived and wrote in Suffolk for part of his life and that two of his books were based locally, made those stories feel much more tangible and real.

After all, we’ve all experienced those banks of fog he describes that sweep in from the North Sea and envelop the estuaries in an other-worldly greyness. His local drawings of the River Orwell too, are recognisable even today, unchanged in more than half a century.

Pin Mill by Anthony Cullen

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And now there are his photographs, which are likely to entrance local historians, literary fans, photographers and classic boating types in equal measure.

The exhibition at Anthony’s Cullen’s Pin Mill Studio is part of a year of celebrations and events organised by the Shotley Peninsula Tourism Action Group to celebrate 50 years since Ransome died, 80 years since the publication of We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea and 20 years since the formation of the Nancy Blackett Trust. It has been sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund and will be on permanent show.

The pictures, explains Peter Willis; president of the Nancy Blackett Trust, were discovered by a researcher some years ago in the Brotherton Library in Leeds, home to the Ransome archive.

Arthur Ransome

One of Arthur Ransome’s restored images

Delivery of the keel of Selina King at Pin Mill

Pushing Selina King down the slipway at Pin Mill

They were not much bigger than an old cigarette card, were dark and in black and white but were part of a series which showed the building of a traditional wooden boat. Peter says that Ransome and his wife Evgenia moved to Suffolk in 1935 living in Levington and then Harkstead and had a selection of yachts which were moored at Pin Mill. These included the Nancy Blackett, on which The Goblin in We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, was based.

He has also worked his magic with these files to get a real sense of depth and contrast from the images and he says, as the layers were pulled back the pictures revealed something extraordinary. Pin Mill really hasn’t changed much at all – even the short back and sides haircuts of all the men working on the boat don’t look out of place with contemporary styles.

But the pictures in the exhibition are of a boat he commissioned and loved; Selina King. Award-winning photographer Anthony Cullen said the images were scanned and sent to him from The Brotherton and he spent several months painstakingly re-mastering the collection to enable them to be printed in sizes large enough for an exhibition. “There were 80 images in all, taken in 1938 and they were all different sizes. They were scanned four times the original size and have been retouched to remove scratches, tea stains, hair and dust.”

More extraordinary is that King’s boatyard and shed, which featured prominently in Ransome’s images, are still there today looking very much as if they’re stuck in a time warp.

Even the handprinted sign above the door is still in evidence.

Anthony says “I chose 24 out of the 80 pictures I was supplied with because they formed a narrative about the building of Selina King. There are images of the keel arriving, the boat being pushed down the slipway and even the boat being ‘christened’ with a bottle of beer. ‰

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Arthur Ransome

They also show Pin Mill’s second pub, The Alma, next door to Anthony’s studio and within a stone’s throw of the Butt and Oyster. “At the time Ransome was living in Levington, although he later moved to Harkstead, and used to row or sail across the river to see how his new boat was coming along. It’s obvious from these pictures that Ransome was a photographer, he had an eye for an image, the composition is good and I haven’t cropped them at all,” says Anthony.

Even to the untrained eye these pictures, revealing an unseen past, are of an incredible quality which poses the question what sort of camera were they taken on? Anthony said that at the time the Box Brownie camera was in common use, “But if you look at the quality of the image it suggests these pictures were taken with a really good lens.” He’s consulted a couple of camera experts and one has suggested these pictures may have been taken by a Leica III or IIIA because of the picture quality and the grain on the images. However, Malcolm Atkin, an expert in period cameras says, “It is difficult to be precise about what type of camera Ransome might have used and in large part it depends on how keen a photographer he might have been and therefore how

interested he was in keeping up with the latest technology.

As a man in his 50s he was probably brought up on Box Brownies and these remained very popular as a domestic camera in the 1930s/1940s and could take very good shots.

The newish 35mm cameras offered new potential for the keen photographer as being compact, used film cassettes, enabled easier composition and with the more expensive versions having rangefinders to assist focussing. The Leica is the most famous of those but was expensive and was by no means the only choice. A cheaper alternative was the Kodak Retina – a very nice camera in its own right.”

Also part of the Arthur Ransome East Coast Celebration are walking and cycling trails, geocaching, a drama production, open air cinema, a Swallows and Amazon themed camp and sailing event, a Sea Shanty Festival and a Parade of Sail down the Orwell on June 4 with the Nancy Blackett.

INFORMATION www.allaboutipswich.com or on Facebook search for Arthur Ransomes East Coast

Evgenia Ransome at Pin Mill

All black and white photographs © Copyright The Arthur Ransome Literary Estate, reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library

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BESPOKE DESIGN

KITCHENS

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SHOWROOM OPENING TIMES Monday to Friday: 9am – 5pm, Saturday: 10am – 4pm

The Granary, Rendlesham Mews, Rendlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 2SZ. T: 01394 421214

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News

SUFFOLK in brief June 21 is set to be the first annual Suffolk Day when we are getting our very own special day to celebrate our beautiful county. BBC Radio Suffolk has been championing the idea, with support from Suffolk County Council. The idea comes from Yorkshire where they have been successfully celebrating their county on August 1 for over 40 years and with support this event could become equally as successful for Suffolk. We will do our best to keep track of all the county plans and announcements and will list all events we hear of with free listings on our website’s What’s On pages. If you are holding an event to celebrate, we would love to hear about it. Let us know at essentialsuffolk.com/event-listing

Farm Café, situated on the main A12 at Marlesford is very proud to have been selected by The Telegraph in its feature on May 1 2017, as one of the top 30 places in Britain to eat brunch. The piece reads; ‘Everything locally sourced, hearty and beautifully cooked’ before going on to mention the ‘star dish’ as the ‘Pinney’s of Orford cold smoked kippers, served on the bone, with poached egg’. www.farmcafe.co.uk

Paul Milsom, owner of the Pier restaurant at Harwich recently hosted a special fish and chip supper and evening boat trip to celebrate the extended service of the Harwich Harbour Foot Ferry which operates between Harwich, Felixstowe and Shotley. As well as extending its daytime operating times towards twilight from July to September’ the ferry will be adding evening sailings planned for Friday and Saturday nights in July, August and September. The Harwich Harbour Foot Ferry has been owned and run by Christian Zemann for the past three years during which time passenger numbers have increased from

12,000 to more than 30,000. Last year a new boat took to the water and can now carry 58 passengers and 20 cycles at one time. Passengers can book ahead or pay when boarding. More information on the ferry and this year’s timetable can be found at www.harwichharbourferry.com

Aldeburgh Beach Lookout has recently announced the formation of the Aldeburgh Academy which will offer four, three day courses over the summer leading to the Aldeburgh Academy Summer Diploma under the leadership of Director of the Aldeburgh Academy Art School David Baldry BA, HDFA (Slade). Caroline Wiseman owner of the Lookout commented “I am delighted to announce the foundation of the Aldeburgh Academy, a natural addition to the long history of creative innovation here in Aldeburgh. To have David Baldry as Director of the Art School is invaluable.

He and his team of lecturers and tutors are exceptionally well qualified to provide university standard teaching, which we can offer at a fraction of the price. Based at the Aldeburgh Beach Lookout, the courses may also take place at several inspiring locations across Aldeburgh and surrounding villages.”

Details of the courses can be found at www.aldeburghbeachlookout.com

Hot on the heels of the recent installation of an Electric Vehicle Tower at Milsoms Kesgrave Hall the venue hosted an electric car show featuring the latest models from BMW, Nissan, Renault, Volkswagon, Lexus, Toyota and Hyundai. With the uptake of electric vehicles on the increase Milsoms saw this as an opportunity to highlight the new facility as well as giving guests the opportunity to see the some of the new cars at close quarters. Oliver Richards, general manager said “At Milsoms Kesgrave Hall we always like to go the extra mile for our guests (excuse the pun) and the installation of the tower means that guests can simply leave their car to charge while they are dining in the restaurant or staying in the hotel without any worry or hassle. The tower is proving really popular already and everyone is quite intrigued by it. There’s no charge to use the tower, the only prerequisite is that you are a guest at the property; you will also be invited to give a small donation to the hotel’s chosen charity, ABF the Soldiers Charity.”

Throughout June and July, over 70 keen gardeners around east Suffolk will be sharing their carefully crafted flower beds, cultivated lawns and perfect patios with the public as part of The Great Garden Trail to help raise funds for St Elizabeth Hospice. With an exciting range of gardens on display from small cottage plots to grand country houses, there will be something to inspire the most amateur of gardener. For details visit www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/events

Parkinson’s UK in Suffolk is looking for people to take part in its new Walk for Parkinson’s event at Glemham Hall on July 9.

This event is being held to increase support and funds for Parkinson’s UK in Suffolk.

The organisation relies heavily on supporters joining their events to raise vital funds for their support services and research.

Further information about the Walk for Parkinson’s event can be found at www.parkinsons.org.uk/content/walkparkinsons-glemham-hall

More news can always be found at www.essentialsuffolk.com/content

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JUNE 2017

WHAT’S ON JUNE 1

JUNE 2 AND 3

Soul II Soul

Ballet Black

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 8pm

DanceEast, Jerwood Dance House, Ipswich.

7pm

Featuring Jazzie B and Carol Wheeler and their live orchestral band & DJs. The hits and classic cool tracks will just keep on coming, including Back to Life, Keep on Moving, Get A Life, Jazzie’s Groove and many more.

Tickets: £36.50 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

Ballet Black is back at Jerwood Dance House following a sell-out show in 2016 that delighted a new generation of dance fans. In her latest mixed bill, Artistic Director Cassa Pancho commissions bold choreography once more, for her ballet company comprising international dancers of black and Asian descent.

Tickets: From £12 (£9 concessions) Box Office: 01473 295230 www.danceeast.co.uk Chas & Dave

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm The history of Chas & Dave in ‘The Full Story Live’, with their greatest hits and more!

Tickets: £32.50 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

JUNE 1 – 10 JUNE 3 AND 4 Pulse Festival

See Festivals Feature pages 28 to 33 www.pulseipswich.co.uk

JUNE 2 Farmers Markets

She JUNE 3

The Peter Pears Gallery, Aldeburgh

Farmers Markets

See mini preview page 25 www.artforcure.org.uk

Beccles Heliport, 9am – 1pm Metfield Village Hall, 9am – 12 noon Snape Maltings, 9.30am – 1pm

JUNE 4

Jimmy Carr

Farmers Markets

Stowmarket Market Place, 9am – 1.30pm Open Sessions: Aldeburgh young musicians

Britten Studio, Snape, 4pm Engaging with every aspect of the creative process, including improvisation, experimentation, composition, production, recording techniques and mixing techniques, the musicians will produce a diverse, original, creative and exciting album of music created, performed and produced by AYM. Tickets: £3 – £6 Box Office: 01728 687110

Ipswich Regent, 8pm Jimmy is gathering a selection of his very best jokes along with brand new material for the ultimate comedy show. A man who has devoted his life to crafting perfect jokes and has left a trail of laughter in his wake, Jimmy Carr’s new tour will distil everything we love to laugh at and be shocked by, into one incredible, unparalleled night of entertainment.

Tickets: £30 Box Office: 01473 433100 Con & Dec –The Bachelors

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 1.45pm

To see more event listings and tell us about your event visit essentialsuffolk.com/ whats-on-in-suffolk

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An afternoon of musical memories, anecdotes and sing-a-longs, with a hint of Irish blarney.

Tickets: £18.50 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

Assington, The Barn, 10am – 2pm String Quartet Concert

All Saints church, Sudbourne Sudbourne Ensemble offers this delightful programme of string quartets; Haydn – Opus 76 No. 5 in D major, Mozart – K575 in D major, Dvorak – No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 American.

Tickets: £12 (on the door) Email: sudbourneensemble@btinternet.com Upbeat Contemporary Choir

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm This concert showcases the choirs' exciting style with a superb selection of songs sung by the whole choir, soloists and small groups.

All profits go to Help for Heroes.

Tickets: £10 (£5 concessions) Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

What’s On

JUNE 5

JUNE 7

Stewart Lee

Anastascia

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 8pm

Ipswich Regent, 7pm

After four years writing and performing his TV show Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, Content Provider is Stewart’s first brand new full-length show since the award-winning Carpet Remnant World.

Tickets: £23 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

Pop legend Anastacia – the mega voice behind massive hits including ‘I’m Outta Love’ and ‘Left Outside Alone’ – has announced a 2017 UK Tour. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, Anastacia is one of the most recognisable voices of our time.

Tickets: £41 Box Office: 01473 433100

JUNE 8

Leo Sayer JUNE 6 Tribute to the Andrews Sisters

Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 2.30pm The Andrews Sisters were America's most successful female vocal harmony group during the 1940s. When the sisters burst upon the music scene in the late 1930s, they shook a very solid musical foundation, producing a slick harmonic blend by singing at the top of their lungs while trying – successfully – to emulate the blare of three harmonizing trumpets.

Tickets: £18 Box Office: 01394 284962 www.felixstowespa.co.uk

After the sold-out success of his 2015 Restless Years tour, Grammy award winning, international chart-topping, British music legend Leo Sayer is returning to the UK. Known the world over for hits including ‘Thunder In My Heart’, ‘Moonlighting’, ‘When I Need You’ and ‘You Make Me Feel Like Dancing’.

Tickets: £27.50 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm

Russell Brand: Re Birth

Ipswich Regent, 8pm "Once you've had a baby you're a parent and immediately you go from being a madman (cool) to a mad dad (not cool). How can you be a dangerous, edgy, rebel with a tiny, little daughter? How do we make sense of the madness of our lives once we become parents? What am I going to tell my daughter about conformity and responsibility? What happens if she grows up to be like me?

Or, worse, to date a man like me?"

Tickets: £30.50 Box Office: 01473 433100

SUMMER BBQ + DANCING TO DREAMWAVE EVENTS DJ FRIDAY 21 JULY / FRIDAY 25 AUGUST

GLASS OF SIPSMITH SUMMER CUP ON ARRIVAL BBQ – HOG ROAST, STEAK, SAUSAGES, SALMON, SALADS, CHOICE OF DESSERTS, COFFEE TICKETS £45 PER PERSON Book online at www.milsomhotels.com/summer-bbq Call 01473 333741 or email reception@milsomhotels.com

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JUNE 2017

Juan Martín Flamenco Trio

Outlya

JUNE 9

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm Fire and Passion: the awe-inspiring guitarist, composer and all-encompassing musician returns with great new artists, direct from Spain. Juan’s new dancer is the 18 year old star from Cádiz, Raquel Gonzalez. Her tremendous footwork and passion is joined with the extraordinary singer Antonio Aparecida, and the poetry and emotion of one of the world’s leading guitarists.

Tickets: £18 (£16 concessions, £5 under 25s) Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

Pumphouse, Snape Maltings, 7pm All-Star Comedy

Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 7.30pm The All-Star Stand-Up Tour is back in 2017 with three more top comedians alongside returning compere Jarred Christmas. This year’s line-up includes Canadian one-liner king and star of ‘Mock The Week’ and ‘Live At The Apollo’ Stewart Francis, from ‘Phoenix Nights’ and ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’ Justin Moorhouse and, following Jim Tavare's near fatal car crash in his home city of Los Angeles on March 6th, he has been replaced by Mike Gunn.

Tickets: £22.50 Box Office: 01394 284962 www.felixstowespa.co.uk Craig Brown’s Election Special

Pumphouse, Snape Maltings, 5pm On the day after the General Election "our greatest living satirist" (The Sunday Times) delivers a quick-fire round of political parodies.

Tickets: £8 Box Office: 01728 687110

JUNE 8 – 17 Woolpit Festival

They have been described as ‘a mighty cut with flecks of Bastille and whiskey-soaked US rockers’.

Tickets: £7 Box Office: 01728 687110 Patsy Cline and Friends

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm Sue Lowry with her powerful rendition of ‘Crazy’, ‘Sweet Dreams’ and ‘I Fall to Pieces’ will take you back to those Honky Tonk days of pure Country Music. Marc Robinson will pay tribute to the Granddaddy of Country Music, Hank Williams with songs that include ‘Howlin’ at the Moon’, ‘I saw the Light’ and ‘Rootie Tootie’. Lee Davidge performs a sensitive tribute to Jim Reeves with his mesmerizing voice, songs will include ‘Welcome to my World’ , ‘Distant Drums’ and ‘Bimbo’.

Tickets: £19.50 (£18.50 concessions) Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk Mark Thomas

Avenue Theatre, Ipswich

See Festivals Feature pages 28 to 33 www.woolpit-festival.com

The sleep of your dreams…

See mini prview 25 www.redrosechain.com

28th – 30th July 2017 Haughley Park, near Stowmarket The International Sheepdog Society is holding the 2017 English National Trials in Suffolk for the first time in its History. Alongside the trial will be a one off 3 day event – ‘Suffolk On Show’, which will showcase all that is great within our County including a wonderful selection of local business trade stands.

• PEOPLE, HISTORY AND LIFESTYLE • AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND DRINK • INDUSTRY, ARTS AND CRAFTS www.suffolkonshow.co.uk

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Wool Room Sleep Studio, Sycamore Farm, Somersham Road Bramford, Ipswich IP8 4NN. T: 01473 831723/07477 090 745 E: thewoolroomea@gmail.com Open Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am – 4pm Call us to arrange a visit at any other time.

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What’s On Joe Longthorne In Concert

JUNE 9 – 15

Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 7.30pm Helen Cassels

The Quay Gallery, Snape Maltings Inspired by life and the tide near studios at Felixstowe Ferry, this exhibition offers the chance to explore the unique art of pine needle weaving on hand built ceramic pieces.

With forms and designs inspired by nature and local life, her pieces are a reflection of Suffolk.You will be able to see her weaving away when she is at the exhibition. Feel free to ask her about it.

Entry: Free

Joe Longthorne is recognised as one of this country’s finest vocalists and live performers, held in the highest esteem by his fellow professionals, adored by his fans the world over, his status nothing short of legendary.

Tickets: £21 Box Office: 01394 284962 www.felixstowespa.co.uk

Aldeburgh Festival

See Festivals Feature pages 28 to 33 www.snapemaltings.co.uk

Museum of East Anglian life, Stowmarket, 2 – 8pm

Carpenters Story

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm JUNE 10 Farmers Markets

Halesworth Town Centre, 9am–1pm Nayland Village Hall, 10am – 1.30pm Stonham Barns, 10am – 2pm Woodbridge Community Centre, 9am – 1pm

Breathing new life into your wood floors…

Permutations

Jerwood Kiln, Snape Maltings A performance artwork by Freya WaleyCohen with architectural designers Andrew Skulina and Finbarr O'Dempsey invites you to explore the powerful relationship between architecture and music.

Entry: Free

StowBlues Festival

An afternoon of live Americana blues at the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket.

Plus food stalls and a CAMRA bar.

Tickets: £8 www.eastanglianlife.org.uk

JUNE 9 – 25

JUNE 10 – 16

Acclaimed international star Claire Furley’s stunning vocal harmonies are combined with state of the art video projection and lavish musical arrangements.

Tickets: £24 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

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JUNE 10 – 25 Maggi Hambling: Wall of Water and Edge

Peter Pears Gallery, Aldeburgh Hambling’s large canvases of gigantic waves crashing onto the sea-wall, first shown at the National Gallery, are installed just 200 metres from the North Sea they depict so vividly.

Entry: Free

To see more event listings and tell us about your event visit essentialsuffolk.com/ whats-on-in-suffolk

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JUNE 2017

JUNE 11

JUNE 12

JUNE 13 – 21

Farmers Markets

Chris Smither

Orla’s Moon

Assington, The Barn, 10am – 2pm

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 8pm

Robin Hood

Seckford Theatre, Woodbridge, 2:30pm & 6pm An enchanting tale of Robin Hood's adventures in Sherwood, packed with music and dance performed by younger members of the award-winning Co-op Juneiors Theatre Company.

Tickets: £12 Box Office: 01473 295900 www.wolseytheatre.co.uk

Best known for writing ‘Love You Like A Man’ (recorded by Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall), Chris draws deeply from blues, American folk music and modern poets, melding the styles of his two major influences, Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt, into his own signature guitar sound. His music has been covered by numerous artists and featured in soundtrack albums, independent film, television and commercials Tickets: £15 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

JUNE 11 – 23 JUNE 13 – 17 Once Upon A Festival

See Festivals Feature pages 28 to 33 www.thetheatreroyal.org

To see more event listings and tell us about your event visit essentialsuffolk.com/ whats-on-in-suffolk

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich See mini preview page 27 Tickets: £20.50 – £12.50 Box Office: 01473 295900 www.wolseytheatre.co.uk

The grass is greener

Ufford Park Woodbridge

It doesn’t matter if you play off scratch, or have just decided to take up golf, you will receive a warm welcome at Ufford Park Woodbridge.

Open to all, members and non-members can practice their swing on our 2 tier floodlit driving range before setting out on our award-winning 18 hole, par 71 course. Due to excellent drainage it is playable no matter what the weather.

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See mini preview page 27 www.wonderfulbeast.co.uk

JUNE 15 The Magic of Motown

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm 40 back-to-back classic Motown hits, glittering costume changes, dazzling dance moves and outstanding musicianship in a musical journey through all your favourite songs.

Tickets: £25.50 (£23.50 concessions) Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

What’s On

JUNE 16 The Manfreds – Making Tracks Tour 2017

Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 7.30pm The 60s group Manfred Mann is now considered, more than ever, one of the finest and most respected bands from that era.

Their numerous hits were R&B based with an undercurrent of jazz – a very unusual but winning combination of playing style and substance.

Tickets: £22 Box Office: 01394 284962 www.felixstowespa.co.uk

and lonely, she begins to be entranced by the mysteries of the house and its gardens… but can she unlock the secrets that are held within?

Tickets: £9.50 Box Office: 01473 295900 www.wolseytheatre.co.uk The ELO Experience

Ipswich Regent, 7.30pm The ELO Experience – Sensational Tribute to The Electric Light Orchestra.

Tickets: £24 Box Office: 01473 433100

JUNE 17

JUNE 18

Farmers markets

Vieux Farka Touré

Beccles Heliport 9am – 1pm Harkstead Village Hall, 9am – 12 noon Needham Market Alder Carr Farm, 9am – 1pm

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm

The Secret Garden

New Wolsey Theatre, 7pm When Mary Lennox is orphaned she is bundled off to live with her uncle at the gloomy Misselthwaite Manor. Sullen, spoilt

and luminous smile. His new album is a mix of impressively diverse styles, covering dancefriendly desert rock, reggae and electric funk to haunting grooves, pulsing acoustic desert blues as well a touch of melancholic beauty.

Tickets: £18 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

Often referred to as ‘The Hendrix of the Sahara’, Vieux Farka Touré is one of the greatest living exponents of guitar Desert Blues. Hailing from Niafunké, Mali, he is the son the late Malian guitar legend Ali Farka Touré. Vieux is becoming known for his highenergy live sets, his effortless speed and dexterity on the fretboard, and the effect on audiences of his palpable on-stage charisma

JUNE 21 Suffolk Day

Celebrate all that’s good about our county on the first ever Suffolk Day. Visit essentialsuffolk.com/whats-on-in-suffolk for details of events.

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What’s On

JUNE 2017

JUNE 21 – 24

Dad's Army Variety Show

JUNE 25

Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 7.30pm Gypsy

New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich Appeal Theatre Group presents this ever popular musical based on the true-life memoirs of legendary burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee. Tickets: £20.50 – £12.50 Box Office: 01473 295900

JUNE 22

As well as featuring tributes to many of the stars from the WWII era such as George Formby, Gracie Fields, Frank Sinatra, Max Miller and the UK's No.1 Vera Lynn, the show is supported by the Warmington-on-Sea Home Guard, AKA the Dad’s Army. Featuring all the characters from the hit TV show the troop performs brand new sketches and introduces the acts.

Tickets: £19.50 Box Office: 01394 284962 www.felixstowespa.co.uk

Salomé

The Cut, Halesworth, 7pm The story has been told before, but never like this. An occupied desert nation. A radical from the wilderness on hunger strike. A girl whose mysterious dance will change the course of the world. This charged retelling turns the infamous biblical tale on its head, placing the girl we call Salomé at the centre of a revolution.

Tickets: £12 Box Office: 01986 873285

JUNE 23

JUNE 24 Farmers Market

Woodbridge Community Centre, 9am – 1pm Suffolk Sinfonia Summer Concert

A Tale of two Musicals

St Peter’s Church, Ipswich Rasputin meets Dickens 'A Tale of Two Cities'. A concert of original music by two Suffolk songwriters. Raising funds for EACH. Tickets: £12 www.stpetersbythewaterfront.com Brian Poole & The Tremeloes

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm Brian, Chip and Dave bring hits such as ‘Twist & Shout’, ‘Do You Love Me’, ‘Here Comes My Baby’, ‘Candy Man’ and ‘Silence is Golden’.

Tickets: £21 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk Farmers Market

Lavenham Village Hall, 10am – 1.30pm

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm Mendelssohn, Overture, The Fair Melusine; Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto; Beethoven – Symphony 4 Tickets: £12 (£10 Senior Citizens / £4 Concessions) Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

Pasadena Roof Orchestra

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm JUNE 24 AND 25 Dragon Fest

See Festivals Feature pages 28 to 33 www.weststow.org

JUNE 29 Twisting The Night Away

The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm The powerhouse vocals of retro king, Si Cranstoun and his band’s blend of Doo Wop, Rock n’ Roll and rocking Rhythm & Blues.

With distinctive tenor highs that echo those of Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke, Si has established himself as a regular attraction at the major swing and blues festivals and his energetic live performances turn every show into a party.

Tickets: £18 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

JUNE 24 – JULY 1

A vintage dance band in every sense of the word! For 45 years the Pasadena Roof Orchestra has been re-creating the sounds of a golden era of music from the 1920s and 1930s. Enjoy beautifully arranged songs from Irving Berlin, Ray Noble, Cole Porter and their contemporaries, relive the electrifying hot jazz from Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington.

Tickets: £22 Box Office: 01284 758000 www.theapex.co.uk

Southwold Arts Festival

JUNE 30

See Festivals Feature pages 28 to 33 www.southwoldartsfestival.co.uk

Farmers Market

Sudbury St Peter's Church, 9.30am – 2pm

JUNE 30 – JULY 2 Felixstowe Books Festival

See Festivals Feature pages 28 to 33 www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk

To see more event listings and tell us about your event visit essentialsuffolk.com/whats-on-in-suffolk We cannot guarantee inclusion in print but all suitable listings will be included online

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Mini Previews

MARK THOMAS The Avenue Theatre, Ipswich.

June 9, 7.30pm

SHE Peter Pears Gallery, Aldeburgh.

June 3 – 4 Art For Cure continues its fund-raising legacy this summer with its first ever pop-up exhibition. The charity, which made the headlines last year with a fundraising event at Glemham Hall, has entitled this event; She – an inspired collection of paintings, sculpture, ceramics and prints, all about women.

Of course comedian Mark Thomas isn’t just a TV comedian; he’s an author and activist, a documentary maker, he’s helped to change the law, taken the police to court – and won. Among a myriad of extraordinary things he has done is walking 724km around the length of the Israel Wall in the West Bank.

So an evening with Mark is guaranteed to not just be funny but to make you go away thinking. By the time he performs his new show Predictable, the General Election will have taken place and Britain will inevitably be steering course for uncharted territory. But will it?

Sponsored by Toothbrush Apartments, ‘Predictable’ starts with the premise that few predicted the events of the past year. Mark sets out to find what the future has in store for us by asking the audience what their predictions for the future are; creating a fantastical, hilarious and sometimes accurate vision of the world.

This show is all about gambling on the future. Based along the lines of his 2011 show ‘Manifesto’, Mark takes suggestions from the audience to create a snapshot of the future.

INFORMATION Tickets £10 Box Office: 01473 603388 www.redrosechain.com

There will be more than 20 artists, sculptors and ceramicists exhibiting including the nationally known artists Henrietta Dubrey, Maggi Hambling and Michael G Clark. Plus there will be an exciting selection of painters and sculptors drawn from Suffolk’s great wealth of artistic talent, including Jelly Green and Theronda Hoffman.

All exhibiting artists are donating a percentage of their sales to support Art For Cure and help fight breast cancer, a disease which has 50,000 new diagnoses every year. Last year Art For Cure sold £350,000 of art at Glemham Hall, resulting in a donation of £100,000 to Breast Cancer Now, the UK’s largest breast cancer charity and a further £74,000 to specific cancer projects in Suffolk.

Belinda Gray, Chair and Co-founder of Art For Cure said: “Women are at the heart of Art For Cure as we raise money to support vital national research to help find a cure for breast cancer, as well as donating to valuable services within Suffolk, caring for women going through a breast cancer diagnosis.

‘She’ is our celebration of women, an exhibition of the many amazing aspects of being a woman and the over-riding beauty that is shared.”

INFORMATION www.artforcure.org.uk

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Mini Previews

ORLA’S MOON On tour in Suffolk.

June 13 – 21

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.

June 13 – 17 IODS are delighted to bring to the New Wolsey Theatre, this fabulous, musical version of the hit comedy film, which starred Michael Caine and Steve Martin. It’s the French Riviera, where the decadent world of sophisticated conman Lawrence Jameson is set to come crashing down with the arrival of Freddy Benson – a conman of an entirely different order!

The two go head-to-head in the con of their lives, pulling out all the stops in a bid for the money (and affections) of the newly-arrived Soap Queen, Christine Colgate. What have they let themselves in for?

Sophisticated, suave with a good dash of mischief, this riotous comedy features a delightfully jazzy score by David Yazbek (The Full Monty) and was nominated for a staggering eleven Tony Awards when it opened on Broadway in 2005.

Following a hugely successful West End run, starring Robert Lindsay and Rufus Hound in 2014 and an equally successful UK Tour, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Musical arrives in Ipswich and will captivate audiences with its infectious humour and equally infectious music.

It is a show that is perfect for the wonderful environment of the New Wolsey Theatre. IODS are so pleased to be back at the New Wolsey after twenty years performing mainly at the Ipswich Regent, with shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, Sunset Boulevard, The Producers and classics like Oklahoma.

IODS receives universal praise for its productions. In reviewing the most recent production at the Regent, The Wizard of Oz, The East Anglian Daily Times commented, “I saw the London Palladium show…this production is far better” You are guaranteed to be charmed by these scoundrels!

INFORMATION Box Office: 01473 295900 www.wolseytheatre.co.uk

Suffolk based theatre company Wonderful Beast is on a mission to enrich children’s early development through music, theatre, dance and creative child led free-play. Its latest show Orla’s Moon is designed to stimulate the development of babies and toddlers by inviting them to engage in a musical experience with their parents and carers. The audience is invited to step into a beautiful moonlit world of dappled light, shimmering stars and tinkling bells and join Orla’s night adventure with her faithful dog, Silver, leading the way.

An enchanting story unfolds through song, dance and sensory props, inviting children to interact and immerse themselves in the joy of play. The show is aimed to be fun and joyful and to enhance child/parent bonding through the creative ideas they encounter. It also aims to impact on the social skills and cognitive and emotional development of the young as they immerse themselves in the experience.

Orla’s Moon has been written and composed by Zo? Palmer and Jack Ross, they have selected age appropriate ‘schemas’ patterns of repeated play which young children use to explore their ideas and thoughts. Performances are taking place across the county in Sudbury, Hadleigh, Eye, Stowmarket, Aldeburgh, Southwold and Lowestoft between 13th and 21st June and many are free of charge.

INFORMATION www.wonderfulbeast.co.uk

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JUNE 2017

SUMMER FIESTA The start of June heralds the start of what’s always a hectic summer festival season. Essential Suffolk looks at the cultural delights to come

C

ulture – Suffolk has it in abundance, and this June it looks as if we will be making some tough decisions about what we are and aren’t going to see. Choosing where to go shouldn’t be quite this difficult – but with performances ranging from experimental new theatre to serious classical music, comedy to poetry and art to dance there are so many great events but you can’t see them all.

There’s much on offer for children too – in fact, the youngest generation has Once Upon a Festival, with events right across the county devoted entirely to them. Felixstowe Books Festival also has a section entirely devoted to children – hopefully ensuring that our county’s love of literature and art continues well into the future. So grab your diaries and check out what’s on and enjoy.

Pulse Festival China Plate and The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.

June 1 – 10 Opening the festival are two performances by Edinburgh Fringe Festival successes Kieran Hodgson hailed as ‘The best live comedy to start 2017’ by The Guardian. His show, Maestro, shows a return to a symphony he wrote 13 years earlier, with a story about attempting something far beyond your abilities. Then Fringe First award winner Katie Bonna presents a fearlessly honest show for the post-truth era All The Things I Lied About – part TED talk, part confession, unpicking how everyday lies can lead to a world of Trump and Brexit.

Maestro

Once again the contemporary theatre Pulse Festival returns to Ipswich at the start of June bringing 23 new shows and a further 23 that are in development. As ever it offers a bright inspiring snapshot of all that’s happening in the world of theatre and includes established and emerging artists from both at home and further afield. Building on previous

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years, the programme carries on the successes of Suitcase Prize Day and Scratch Day with new work that includes comedy, politics, music, animation, puppets, pop icons, antique dealers off the telly, autobiographical material and the fantastical. There are a few shows that even look at the theme of death and, in turn, the lives it leaves behind.

This year’s Suitcase Prize Day will see the 2016 winners On The Run return with their production Tell Me Anything.

Other competitors for the 2017 prize include pieces from Notnow Collective, This Egg, James McDermott, Lucy Grace, and Robin Doon Dale. Pulse Festival 2017 will see the first year of the Testing Ground Commission, presenting three new works at various stages of development which supports accessible and integrated theatre.

Festivals On June 3, as part of Scratch Day, Nicola Werenowska’s work in progress Invisible, gets to the heart of invisible disability. Working with Jeni Draper, artistic director of Fingersmiths, she experiments with physical form and drawing on real life experiences. On the same day, Rachel Bagshaw presents an Edinburgh Festival preview of The Shape of Pain following its work-inprogress in 2016. She returns to the festival with her new piece about love, perception and constant, relentless pain, co-commissioned by Battersea Arts

Centre and the New Wolsey Theatre.

Ed and Paul of China Plate, the festival’s co-curators, said: “Once again the Pulse team have travelled the length and breadth of the country to bring together a body of work that will delight audiences from Ipswich and beyond celebrating the vibrancy of the UK theatre scene. Whilst we never programme Pulse Festival with a particular theme in mind, we aren’t afraid of the zeitgeist either and a quick look at the 2017 programme will reveal that there is currently a lot of work being made about death – maybe something to

Woolpit Festival

Aldeburgh Festival June 9 – 25

Woolpit Village Hall.

June 8 – 17 Now in its 42nd year, the Woolpit Festival celebrates music, art and theatre with events taking place throughout the village and this year the focus on artists, with local connections, continues.

Highlights include Suffolk raconteur Charlie Haylock with “A manner of speaking”, the story of spoken English; there’s a Family Ceilidh with local band ‘Skylarking’ and the first week concludes with Paul Higgs and friends playing his composition ‘Pavane’ on Sunday June 11.

Vagaband photograph by Jerry Tye

There’s more to come in the second week with English National Opera baritone Mark Saberton singing a wonderful selection of songs taking us from opera to Broadway musicals via English folk songs. Friday’s programme features ‘Vagaband’ performing their very original mix of blues, Americana, jazz and rock with an underlying Celtic Britishness and the festivities are brought to a rousing end by St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir.

INFORMATION Entry: £9 – £15 01359 240866 www.woolpit-festival.com

Billy Rudd

This year the Aldeburgh Festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary of being at Snape. With more than 50 events in the main programme plus another 30 non-classical events in the fringe venue, The Pumphouse, it’s going to offer something for everyone.

Festival highlights include performances of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream which was chosen by the composer for the 1967 festival to celebrate the newly opened Snape Maltings Concert Hall.

The 2017 festival opens with a new production, directed and designed by Netia Jones, described by The Observer as ‘the most imaginative director of opera working in Britain today’.

To celebrate 50 years since the arrival of music on the site, pioneering sound artist Bill Fontana, who has previously created site-specific works for iconic locations including the San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the Arc d’Triomphe in Paris, will be creating a newly commissioned installation which opens our ears to the other sides of Snape Maltings’ heritage – from echoes of its industrial past to the timeless rhythms of its natural environment.

do with the extraordinary number of high-profile deaths in 2016? Or seismic political events? Don’t be put off though, the theme is tackled in a fascinating variety of ways and the results are moving, memorable, celebratory, thought-provoking and in some cases downright hilarious. There is also more comedy in the festival than ever before.”

INFORMATION Box Office: 01473 295900 www.wolseytheatre.co.uk www.pulseipswich.co.uk

Other delights include a performance of Billie Budd, an opera that has never previously performed at Snape Maltings and La Voix Humaine, an operatic experience in a mystery country house location.

World-renowned sitar master Nishat Khan is performing with one of Europe’s finest and most distinctive choirs, the Saint Ephraim Male Choir of Budapest at Blythburgh Church. Music on the Meare, on June 21, is really offering something unusual. It starts with a short indoor concert at Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall, followed by a vintage bus journey to the water of Thorpeness Meare, where you can relax in a rowing boat to hear a magical moment in Aldeburgh Festival heritage recreated.

Art exhibitions will include Maggi Hambling’s Walls of Water and composer Freya Waley-Cohen’s installation Permutations, created in collaboration with architectural designers Andrew Skulina and Finbarr O’Dempsey.

Bill Fontana

INFORMATION For full programme visit www.snapemaltings.co.uk

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JUNE 2017

Once Upon A Festival June 11 – 23 This theatre festival for children returns this June in venues and schools right across East Anglia. Once Upon A Festival offers a vibrant mix of dance, theatre, puppetry and poetry performances, featuring some of the best children’s performance companies from across the UK giving access to the best theatre to all children. Led by Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, the Festival has partner venues Bury St Edmunds, Chatteris, Lowestoft, Norwich, Southwold and Thetford with work going into schools as well.

This year the festival theme is ‘Now it’s Your Turn’ and the idea is that the students, children, teachers and families are so inspired by the work they see that they will be inspired to tell their own stories. It launches with an open day

at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds with The Tiger Who Came to Tea and then travels to the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft.

Pied Piper Theatre Company will be visiting the Southwold Arts Centre on June 16 with the Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch – a show packed with live music and audience participation. Highlights of week two include Ballet Theatre UK’s version of Alice in Wonderland in Bury St Edmunds and then Suffolk Based theatre company Wonderful Beast perform their latest show, Orla’s Moon in Southwold.

INFORMATION Box office: 01284 769505 www.thetheatreroyal.org

Dragon Fest June 24 and 25 West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village’s flagship event, Dragon Fest returns on the weekend of June 24 & 25 celebrating all things dragon; from folklore to dinosaurs. A great day out for all the family including theatre performances, storytelling, craft activities, archery, face painting, themed refreshments and much more! There will be dragon sculptures, the Wulfingas re-enactment group have stories from Arthurian legend and you can even meet the ‘Dragon Protection League’ and see their live baby dragons.

Activities include a Beowulf and Grendel trail quest and dragon nest building among other things.

INFORMATION Call 01284 758000 or visit www.weststow.org

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Festivals

Southwold Arts Festival June 24 – July 1 Launching this year with a magnificent street event – Take Flight – the fourth Southwold Arts Festival will be starting an eight-day run with some style.

Everyone is encouraged to dress up and take part and there will be a colourful parade of fairies, butterflies, birds, superheroes, planes – in fact, anything with wings, together with street stalls, bands and entertainers. Once again there is an exciting and diverse programme of events with performances each morning, lunch-time, afternoon and evening covering all aspects of the arts including literature, music, drama and comedy.

The opening night will start with the award-winning sell-out West End show ‘The Simon and Garfunkel Story’ seen by a quarter of a million people on its worldwide tour. Using state of the art video projection, amazing lighting and a full live band ‘The Simon & Garfunkel Story’ is a moving and powerful celebration featuring all the best known hits including ‘Mrs Robinson’, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, ‘Homeward Bound’, ‘Scarborough Fair’, ‘The Boxer’, ‘The Sound Of Silence’ and many more.

Sunday evening welcomes the popular television gardener Christine Walkden providing a fascinating talk about the ‘thrills and spills of spending a lifetime working as a gardener and a broadcaster’.

Other evening events include the theatre critic Benedict Nightingale who will take the audience behind the scenes and will talk about some of the great productions he has seen, and also some that were not so great!

Others taking part include the renowned poet and author Pam Ayres, on Wednesday there will be folk music at the Pavilion with ‘O’Hooley and Tidow’, supported by the John Ward Band and on Friday there is the return of the hugely popular historian and broadcaster Lucy Worsley, whose festival show sold out in a matter of weeks last year.

Deputy Festival Director Di Brown said ‘After Lucy’s talk on murder to a packed hall in the 2016 Festival, we were thrilled when she said that she had enjoyed her visit to Southwold so much that she would like to return in 2017 to talk about her new book which celebrates the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death and explores the author’s life through the places, rooms, houses and spaces which meant the most to her’.

Throughout the week there will be morning talks by Bernard Segrave-Daly covering the history of Adnams brewery; author Wendy Holden on the subject of ‘Heroines of War’; Michael RowanRobinson on Shakespeare’s astronomy; Master Enameller Phil Barnes talking about the work produced by father and son over the last 90 years and awardwinning author Lucy Hughes-Hallett who will talk about the joy of being allowed to make things up in her new novel, after her Costa award for factual biography.

Once again there will be the Young Musicians Showcases every lunch-time with a huge range of talented and versatile young performers. The afternoon events include the Sole Bay

Strings; Sidi Scott providing a ‘step by step’ talk on ballet; Southwold DFAS presenting an illustrated talk by Sarah Stopford on David Hockney, who has a major retrospective exhibition at Tate Britain this year; Brian Haward talking about the fascinating link between Southwold in the UK and Southold in the USA; Charlie Haylock’s informative and entertaining one-man shows on Suffolk lore and rural dialect and Mark Carey playing seventeen parts in his remarkable one-man show.

Plus the festival has jazz from the internationally acclaimed ‘Ronnie Scott’s All Stars’ on June 29. Direct from London’s world-famous jazz club The Ronnie Scott’s All Stars combine worldclass live jazz, narration and rare archive images, for a unique evening celebrating ‘The Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook’.

On July 1, there will be a visit from bestselling author Louis de Bernières, whose novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Best Book in 1995 and then the Festival will then reach its end with a concert by Mike D’Abo and his Mighty Quintet.

With a pop pedigree dating back to 1966, Mike and his band continue to delight audiences all over the world with their vast repertoire of hits.

INFORMATION Box Office: 01502 722572 www.southwoldartsfestival.co.uk

From left to right: The Simon & Garfunkel Story, Christine Walkden and Lucy Worsley

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Festivals

Felixstowe Book Festival June 30 – July 2 Felixstowe Book Festival returns for a fifth year of talks, readings, book signings and workshops with over sixty writers and musicians to entertain adults and children. The weekend kicks off on the evening of June 30 with poet Martin Newell and a performance of ‘The Green Children and Other Poems’ accompanied by The Hosepipe Band.

This epic poem, tells the story of two children of ‘unusual skin colour’ who reportedly appeared in the village of Woolpit in Suffolk in the 12th century.

Fiction highlights include appearances by Louis De Bernieres, Tracy Chevalier, Esther Freud, A.L. Kennedy, Louise Doughty and former Director General of MI5 Stella Rimington will be discussing her latest novel in the Liz Carlyle series; Breaking Cover. Set against Putin’s increased aggression towards the west, MI5 Agent Liz is on the hunt for a Russian spy who threatens to plunge Britain back into the fraught days of the Cold War. This is a gripping, topical and utterly contemporary espionage thriller.

Returning to the festival, author Alison Weir talks about Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession, and how she’s weaved new research into the dark, fascinating tale of Henry VIII’s second wife – a woman ahead of her time, who dared to question traditional concepts of femininity, and whose ambition drove her to gamble with the fickle nature of a dangerous king. History tells us why she died; this powerful novel shows her as she lived.

The non fiction programme includes appearances by Terry Waite – 25 years ago, as Archbishop Robert Runcie’s special envoy, he was released from captivity in Beirut. He had been held hostage for almost five years. In Out of the Silence, a moving sequence of poems and reflections, Terry Waite recalls the highs and lows of his life, both during that ordeal and throughout the happier times of humanitarian work that have followed.

Plus in a festival preview on June 11 one of Britain’s foremost artists Suffolk-born

Maggi Hambling, will be talking about her new book. She’s best known for her portraits, paintings of the sea, and public sculpture – both celebrated and controversial. Less familiar but equally significant are her works on paper, dynamic and sensuous – condensing the themes of life and death which underscore her art. Hambling will be discussing her new book which was published to coincide with an important retrospective of her work on paper at the British Museum which opened in 2016.

The children’s and young people’s programme includes the author of young adult fantasy fiction Alwyn Hamilton, a teddy bear’s picnic with Jane Hissey and Old Bear, cartoon fun with Gary Northfield and a mystery-filled Famous Five event!

INFORMATION Full programme details and tickets visit www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk

Stella Rimington (above) photograph by Jamie Hughes, Esther Freud (above right) and Louis De Bernieres (below right)

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JUNE 2017

trend setting

GARDENS What Suffolk starts – the rest of rural England follows – or so it seems when it comes to whole villages opening their gardens. Anne Gould reports

C

helsworth is very probably the prettiest of Suffolk villages with its old timbered properties, babbling brook, humpback bridge and twisting tree-lined byways. Unless you’ve happened to need to take the direct route over the hill from Bildeston to Monks Eleigh you might never have been there. But if you are a serious gardener you can’t fail to have missed the famous Chelsworth Open Gardens phenomenon.

The village might only have 150 or so residents but according to Edwina Brash, from the organising committee, on the last Sunday of June thousands and thousands of people from all over the UK arrive to bask in this peaceful idyll alongside the River Brett.

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This year on June 25, the village is celebrating its 50th Open Gardens and Edwina says they believe they were the first village in the country ever to organise such an event.

The first Chelsworth Open Gardens was in 1967 organised by a group of villagers including one of General Montgomery’s commanders, Sir Drummond Inglish the army’s Chief Engineer and one of the masterminds behind the D-Day landings. Joining him on the committee was Richard Britten a world renowned specialist in alpines who has a Fritillary pudica named after him along with three other villagers.

The idea then, as it has remained to this day, is to raise funds to repair All Saints

church. Edwina says back then admission was half-a-crown (12.5 pence) and a total of £150 was raised (equal to about £1,690 today), helped by plant sales and, of course, teas.

Water for the teas served in the village Victory Hall, was drawn from a standpipe and the washing-up was in bowls on trestle tables.

Today, with coach loads of garden clubs descending on the village from across the country, the organisation needs to be planned rather more like a military campaign. Edwina says that it’s not just getting the gardens looking in tip top condition but with thousands coming to tea the dark days of January and February are when the cake baking strategy gets underway.

Chelsworth Open Gardens

“We even have a cake workshop , which is put on by Janet Gooding, a fantastic baker, who shows us how to make lots of easy cakes.” The thing is, she explained, although the event has always been on the last Sunday of June, sometimes it rains and contingencies have to be catered for too.

bowls and dishes singing hymns as the potter’s wheel turned. He also made a mean Cullen Skink. Formal garden design is now more noticeable than in the days of fruit and veg: there are gardens with beautiful statues and Monet bridges to cross to watch the swans.”

There have been other changes as well.

“Over the last half-century, the gardens have changed in subtle ways. There used to be more vegetable gardens with their proud owners as proficient as Chelsea exhibitors: in 1967 some of them were still farmworkers.

And Open Gardens always come with a surprise – one year there was a family from Darlington who came for the day: two hundred miles each way. “Or the rally of VW Beetles who happened to pass by, dozens of them.”

For this year’s event, there are 23 gardens opening with Morris men dancing in the street and visitors can buy from specialist nurserymen, local food specialists, artisan crafts and

“An art-school principal showed her students’ work in an outhouse, and an Old Etonian potter produced hefty

French brocante. “The aim of it all is to raise funds not only to support our church but also the wider gardening community through Thrive, a national gardening charity who provide therapeutic support to those living with ill health or disabilities.”

Kicking off the weekend this year is a concert ‘For A Summer Evening’ on June 24 at All Saints by Hadleigh Choral Society. This year villagers have also worked together to create a faux stained glass window to display in All Saints Church for the 50th celebrations.

INFORMATION www.chelsworth.org.uk/gardens/2017 Suffolk Open Gardens listings – page 37 ‰

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Open Gardens

OPEN GARDENS JUNE 2017 JUNE 3 AND 4 Bures Open Gardens 1pm to 6pm Art exhibition and sale, cream teas & cakes and book stall. Refreshments in various gardens. Proceeds to St Mary’s Church and Bures Common (Barn Restoration).

Entry: £5 which covers two days (accompanied under 16s free) JUNE 4 Boxford 11am to 5pm Cakes, light lunches and cream teas in the Village Hall. Plant-related stalls and a cake stall in front of the school hall.

Free shuttle bus from the village centre.

All proceeds from the day will benefit Boxford St Mary’s Church.

Entry: £5 JUNE 10 Hadleigh Hidden Gardens 11am to 5pm A good variety of styles of gardens, from larger going down to the River Brett, to smaller town house and courtyard gardens.

The medieval Guildhall (including garden) will also be open for visits. Refreshments available in the church and at some gardens.

All proceeds to Friends of St Mary’s Church, Hadleigh.

Entry: £5 adults Wetherden Village Open Gardens 10.30am to 4.30pm In and around centre of the picturesque little village. The beautiful Grade 1 listed St. Mary’s Church will also be open. Light lunches at the Maypole Pub and teas/homemade cakes in the Village Hall.

All proceeds to St. Mary’s Church and the Village Hall project.

Entry: £4 JUNE 10 AND 11 Westleton Garden Trail 12 noon to 5pm A trail around approx. 15 gardens in this picturesque village, mostly within the easy walking distance of the church. Old favourites plus a number of gardens new to the event.

Ploughman’s lunches and cream teas available in the village hall. Well behaved dogs on leads welcome in some of the gardens.

Entry: £ 4

Grundisburgh, Burgh and Culpho Hidden Gardens 2pm to 6pm A range of 25 village gardens from the tiny to several acres. Special lunches will be available in The Grundisburgh Dog pub and home-made teas will be served in the nearby parish rooms. Proceeds to The Country Trust.

Entry: £5

Friston 11.30am to 5.30pm Take your time over a leisurely walk through this picturesque village. Gardens include a shepherd’s hut, a designer cottage garden, the Old School House garden which has had many years of TLC and the unenthusiastic gardener who compensates by offering wine! Proceeds in aid of Friston Church funds.

Entry: £5

JUNE 11 Nayland Open Gardens 2pm to 6pm Gardens of all sizes will be open in this medieval River Stour village in the Dedham Vale. Organised by the Nayland with Wissington Conservation Society and has been running annually since 1978. Teas in the Village Hall from 2.30pm. Proceeds go towards local conservation projects.

Entry: £5 JUNE 17 Drinkstone Open Gardens 12.30pm to 5.30pm From thatched cottages with roses, through to landscaped parkland, a varied selection of gardens open in this rural village in the heart of beautiful Suffolk. Refreshments available all afternoon at the Village Hall.

All proceeds to All Saints Church.

Entry: £5 JUNE 18 Woodbridge Hidden Gardens 1pm to 5.30pm A chance to wander around historic Woodbridge and view a variety of large and small hidden gardens. It can be amazing to see what is behind walls in the centre of a town. All proceeds to St Elizabeth Hospice.

Entry: £7.50 including tea and cake (accompanied children free) Bury St. Edmunds Hidden Gardens 11am to 5pm Now in its 31st year, you will be surprised at what lies behind the garden walls of the historic and delightful town streets – the diversity of plots and planting, the willingness of gardeners to welcome you. All proceeds go to St Nicholas Hospice Care.

Entry: £5 Holbrook Open Gardens 10.30am to 5pm A range from small plantsmen’s gardens to large woodland gardens; there is something for all tastes. Add to this the chance to spot the gardens from the church tower and a garden with its own model railway. All proceeds to St. Elizabeth Hospice, Friends of Holbrook Church and Holbrook Methodist Church.

Entry: £5

JUNE 17 AND 18 Cavendish 11am to 5pm A range of gardens will be open in Cavendish, a quintessentially English village.

Teas and refreshments will be available, also stalls selling cakes, plants and other items. Light lunches and teas with homemade cakes available. Proceeds to St Nicholas Hospice and Cavendish Community Council.

Entry: £4 covers both days (accompanied children free) JUNE 24 AND 25 Wingfield Open Gardens 11am to 5pm On the Suffolk-Norfolk border, with its medieval castle, Wingfield was once home to the Earls and Dukes of Suffolk. The medieval college associated with many important and colourful historical characters is open along with many more gardens. Scarecrow trail to explore.

Proceeds to St Andrew’s Church.

Entry: £3 for both days (accompanied under 16s free) JUNE 25 Stowupland 1pm to 6pm A range of gardens including Columbine Hall, a 14th century moated Manor House, thatched cottage gardens including a Shed of the Year winner, one with rare breed animals and the gardens of an award winning flower grower. All proceeds to Holy Trinity Church, Stowupland.

Entry: £4 Benhall Green 1pm to 5pm Gardens for Anne – a selection of gardens opening in memory of Anne and her love of gardening. Refreshments available during the afternoon at Honeypot Cottage.

All proceeds from the day will be donated to St Elizabeth Hospice.

Entry: £4

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JUNE 2017

Officers from the Royal Flying Corps at Martlesham Heath, possibly 1917

CELEBRATING MARTLESHAM HEATH For the last 100 years, Martlesham Heath has been at the cutting edge of much that’s new in technology and innovation and next month a special village centenary event has been organised to mark its place in history.

Anne Gould talks to Peter Davies, Chairman of MH100

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Celebrating Martlesham Heath

T

urn the clock back a hundred years and anyone visiting Martlesham Heath would probably have heard the clipped upperclass accents of British airmen from the Royal Flying Corps and witnessed what has been described as the “cradle of British Aviation”. Flight was in its infancy, the First World War was at its height and the armed services were eager to maximise the vast potential that air capability offered beleaguered troops abroad.

© IWM

In early 1917, Martlesham Heath was chosen as the national testing centre for aircraft and armaments and its role in the development and early years of the RAF, which came into existence in 1918, was pivotal explains Peter Davies, organiser of MH100. “There seem to have been a number of reasons they came to Suffolk and Martlesham; it was flat open heathland and was built close to a reasonably sized town which offered the opportunity for communication and movement if necessary.”

During the inter-war years the station grew – at one stage it had two runways and was very much a centre for innovation under the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment but its work was very “hush hush”. He said that with the outbreak of war in 1939 it was decided that an east coast testing centre was perhaps too vulnerable being too close to the ‘front line’ and it

Hurricane © John Cooper

was moved to Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. RAF Martlesham however, remained an active station and played a key part in the Battle of Britain with Douglas Bader and Bob Stanford Tuck – famous ace fighter pilots – stationed there. Another big name war ace, Group Captain Peter Townsend, perhaps more famous for his royal connections, also flew from Martlesham Heath.

In May 1943 the USAF 356 Fighter Group arrived at Martlesham Heath and in 1958 the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight was based there for three years.

As if this wasn’t enough, in 1963 BT moved in bringing with it technological development that’s literally changed the world we live in. The village itself, with its unique layout, was devised in the 1970s, which was also when the current Suffolk Police HQ was built.

For a village that has only been in existence for a short number of years, it’s quite an extraordinary history. That’s why, three years ago Peter, along with ten volunteers and the help of the local Aviation Society decided to set up MH100. “The weekend itself, on July 8 and 9, will encompass all aspects of the Martlesham Heath history with displays in the Church Hall and surrounding areas. However the main village green will be the focus of attention with a large professional stage for live acts and multi-media entertainment,” he said.

There will be two static aircraft – a Spitfire and a Hurricane – the iconic fighter planes of the Second World War on display with the opportunity for visitors to get into the cockpit and imagine valiant feats of bravery from times past. Plus two flypasts have been planned by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and a parachute display on the Sunday by the Army’s Red Devils.

The Brentwood Imperial Youth Band will also be taking part in the celebrations.

On the village green, says Peter, will be lots of displays and side stalls with representation from the RAF and USAF and there will be a ceremony with a commemorative plaque unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant Lady Clare Euston on Sunday evening.

Perhaps more extraordinary though is that 17 members of veterans families are going to be flying in from America to be part of the event. Peter explained that during the war there were between 30 and 50 men at Martlesham Heath – mostly American volunteer pilots in what were known as Eagle Squadrons, who fought with the RAF. “It’s as a result of contact with a woman called Lee Cognetta, from New York who’s been researching the history of the WW2 Eagle Squadrons and particularly the ones at RAF Martlesham Heath.” These Eagle Squadrons were formed of US airmen who volunteered to come to the UK and fly for the RAF before the USA formerly entered the war. “For most, if not all, it will be the first and maybe the last time they will be here, treading on ground where their family member flew from.”

Among the visitors will be two nonagenarians, from the Mid – West sisters aged 96 and 98, whose brother Peter Provenzanon fought in the UK but died in a training accident some years later when he returned to the US. Thanks to these American contacts, said Peter, memorabilia has emerged which has not been seen before, particularly photos of Martlesham Heath and the men of No 71 squadron. “We’ll be making this weekend a special one for everyone but especially these visitors who have travelled so far.”

INFORMATION www.mh100.org.uk

P51 of USAAF at Martlesham Heath in the snow © IWM

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JUNE 2017

TOPTEES It doesn’t matter how many tops and T-Shirts you have in your wardrobe you’ll always need more. Choosing a variety of sleeve lengths and neck styles will ensure you avoid annoying ‘tan lines’ so take a look at these stunners from our leading independent local retailers Flamingo tshirt £49.99 Ninni Noo Boutique

White linen tshirt with chain mail back by Not Shy £105 Chattertons

Emrica top £46 Adams Apple

Part Two Huddea blouse £74.95 Laura Jane Boutique

Emrico tshirt £32 Adams Apple

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Fashion

Part Two striped linen Dosta top also availble in red £69.95 Laura Jane Boutique

Soaked in Luxury Iman top £34.99 Laura Jane Boutique

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always proud ~ to feature ~

Emrico leaf print top £42 Adams Apple

LOCAL RETAILERS

Pineapple tshirt £49.99 Ninni Noo Boutique

Embroidered top £59.99 Ninni Noo Boutique

Silk mix top £49 Moose Lifestyle & Interiors

Flower print top £29.95 Holly Blue Boutique

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JUNE 2017

Lebek T-shirt £39 Micha shorts £46 Caramel Snape Maltings

Black and white print top £48 Holly Blue Boutique

Alice Collins lime jumper £50, Micha shorts £46 Caramel Snape Maltings

Off the shoulder cotton cream top by Velvet £149 Chattertons

Yest print top £42 Adams Apple

essentialsuffolk.com

Emirco print top £52 Adams Apple

Striped top £36 Ninni Noo Boutique

White cotton top £24 Moose Lifestyle & Interiors

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Micha daisy top £28 Micha shorts £46 Caramel Snape Maltings

Fashion

IN THE SWIM

Fantasie Kuramathi bikini top £42, bottoms £26 Sweet Dreams

Freya Tropical swimsuit £76 Sweet Dreams

Fantasie Kuramathi swimsuit £85 Sweet Dreams

Freya Tropical bikini top £36, bottoms £20 Sweet Dreams

STOCKISTS Adams Apple 70 Thoroughfare, Woodbridge. T: 01394 384685 Caramel Snape Maltings. T: 01728 687467 www.caramel-aldeburgh.co.uk Chattertons 80 High Street, Southwold & 18 Market Hill, Woodbridge.

T: 01394 385757 www.chattertonshop.co.uk Holly Blue Boutique 72 Thoroughfare, Woodbridge. T: 01394 382300 Laura Jane Boutique 89/91 Thoroughfare, Woodbridge. T: 01394 386686 Moose Lifestyle & Interiors 20a Market Hill, Woodbridge. T: 01394382691 Ninni Noo Boutique 57 Thoroughfare, Woodbridge. T: 01394 388655 Sweet Dreams 45a Thoroughfare, Woodbridge. T: 01394 380306

A boutique day spa for all your summer prep beauty requirements Bathsheba, 24 Church Street, Woodbridge IP12 1DH 01394 388813 | info@bathshebaspa.co.uk www.bathshebaspa.co.uk

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01728 687467 www.caramel-aldeburgh.co.uk EssentialSUFFOLK

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Finance

JUNE 2017

YOU’RE NEVER TOO YOUNGTO HAVE A PENSION! Michelle Groves, Independent Financial Adviser at Scrutton Bland has recently helped set up a flexible pension for a new client. Nothing very unusual in that - except that the pension holder was seven weeks old!

Are you a member of the ‘baby boomer’ generation, typically born between 1946 and 1964? If you are then you may already have good pension provision from a defined benefit (final salary scheme) and with a bit of luck and some good planning you may be well placed for a comfortable retirement. However, people entering the workforce today can expect to work until at least their late sixties before they will be able to draw their state pension, and a recent BBC report highlighted that a 25-year-old today would need to put away at least £246 net of tax every month in order to get an eventual pension of £20,000 a year.

Newly retired firefighter Terry Page and his wife Teresa from Dovercourt were both members of their respective employers’ defined benefits schemes and are now enjoying a an active retirement. Recognising that the years ahead may be more financially challenging for their grandchildren than they have been for them, Terry and Teresa wanted to do something a bit different for young Reuben, Katelyn and their newest

Michelle Groves Independent Financial Adviser

grandchild, Elizabeth, who was born on January 7th 2017.

Terry explained: “The idea of starting a pension plan for a child wasn’t something that had occurred to us when deciding how and when to leave a sum of money for our grandchildren.

Michelle (our financial adviser) suggested the option of a flexible pension and we were immediately interested. It gives each of our grandchildren a good start to their pension pot and hopefully will give them more of a secure retirement, even though that is many years away.”

At just three weeks old, Elizabeth has now become Scrutton Bland’s youngest client and is potentially one of the youngest holders of a personal pension in the UK! To some this may seem a little extreme, but it is an exceptionally efficient way to help save for their future, and an altruistic gift that will make a real difference to Elizabeth, Reuben and Katelyn in years to come.

Scrutton Bland’s independent financial advisers provide information and advice from across the whole of the financial market, and can guide you through the minefield of pension providers to find the best options for your individual circumstances. Contact Michelle Groves on 01206 838400 or michelle.groves@scruttonbland.co.uk

FIRST WE UNDERSTAND. THEN WE MAKE. Everything we do is designed around people.

Take the Volvo On Call app, for instance. It lets you heat and defrost your car remotely on cold mornings. And on hot days, the app can remotely cool your car before you get in it, so you begin the day in comfort.* Just one of the many features designed to simplify and improve your life.

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CO2 Emissions 149g/km. MPG gures are obtained from laboratory testing intended for comparisons between vehicles and may not re ect real driving results. **Important information: The participating dealers are trading styles of M. R. King & Sons Ltd who is acting as an introducer. Contract hire provided by Lex Autolease Ltd trading as Volvo Car Leasing, SK3 0RB. 18s & over, subject to status. You will not own the vehicle and it must be returned in good condition to avoid further charges. Excess mileage charges 25.92p per mile. Subject to availability at participating dealers. Offer ends 30/06/17. Not available with other promotions. *Please refer to the information supplied in the App concerning the use of this feature.

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Health

NEW LASER PROCEDURE EXTENDS OPTHALMOLOGY SERVICES Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital has invested in its ophthalmology services to extend the treatments available. The introduction of laser technology to the outpatient department means patients who may experience a common side effect of cataract surgery no longer need to travel out of the area for private treatment The treatment of a cataract is now a quick and very common procedure, in fact it is the most common operation performed in the UK, with more than 300,000 procedures carried out each year (source: nhs.uk). It has one of the highest success rates and according to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, fewer than 2% of patients have serious unforeseen complications (source: rcophth.ac.uk/patients/cataract). The surgery and subsequent improvement to vision can reduce the impact cataracts can have on a person’s life.

Cataracts are cloudy patches in the usually clear lens inside the eye which helps us to focus. They can make vision blurred or misty and can develop in one or both eyes. Over time the patches can become bigger and more of them can develop. As less light is able to pass through the lens, vision is likely to become more distorted and the cloudier the lens becomes, making it difficult to see clearly. Cataracts can happen at any age but usually develop as we age. They can also develop due to diabetes, use of steroid medication, following trauma and can be inherited. Cataract surgery itself involves removing the contents of the natural eye lens and replacing with a synthetic lens inside the original covering (capsule) of the natural lens.

This is most commonly performed under a local anaesthetic.

Although cataracts cannot come back after having surgery, one of the most common side effects is a thickening of the capsule the lens sits in. As a result, vision may become misty and not as clear as before, and may even give the impression the cataract has come back.

The medical term for this is posterior capsule opacification (PCO). PCO can occur at any time, but is more commonly seen around one to three years following cataract surgery. It is easily corrected as

an outpatient with a one-off minor laser treatment – YAG laser capsulotomy.

Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital has made a significant investment in the required YAG laser equipment to be able to now provide its previous cataract patients as well as new patients with the procedure. The procedure itself takes minutes and will be performed in Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital’s outpatient department so there is no need to be admitted to the hospital.

PCO can be treated safely, painlessly and effectively. There is no discomfort following the procedure and as the laser cuts away the thickened membrane, it permanently eradicates the vision impairment.

Normal activities can be resumed immediately following a YAG laser capsulotomy and most people can expect their vision to improve within a day. Some ‘floaters’ may be experienced afterward. These will likely resolve within a few weeks.

The decision to have this procedure is based on the same criteria as the decision to have the original cataract surgery:

Cataract and YAG Laser Surgery at Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital

• Vision problems affecting work or lifestyle • Glare caused by bright lights • Failure to pass a vision test required for a driver’s license because of PCO • Blurred or ghosting in vision • The difference in vision between the two eyes being significant.

YAG laser capsulotomy for PCO involves just a few simple steps*: • Usually the eye is dilated before the procedure with dilating eye drops.

• A laser removes the hazy posterior capsule from your line of sight without making an incision or ‘touching’ the eye.

• Following the procedure, it is necessary to remain in the clinic for one to two hours and the surgery should be painless. Many ophthalmologists also recommend anti-inflammatory eye drops afterwards.

As with any eye procedure, however, contact your optometrist immediately if vision worsens or fails to improve.

Occasionally cataract-like symptoms may be a sign of another eye-related problem so it important to seek advice from an optometrist or GP if you are experiencing any disturbances to your vision, not just a deterioration.

YAG laser surgery for PCO is now available for those patients wishing to pay for themselves as well as those with private medical insurance. With minimal wait times and treatment provided by the same Consultant Ophthalmologist, patients now have the option to come to Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital should they experience this very common side effect of cataract surgery. At Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital, consultation, assessment and eye surgery is undertaken all in one place.

If you would like further details on the ophthalmology treatments including YAG laser capsulotomy for PCO at Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital, get in touch for details of how to access our services.

For more information on how to book a private consultation with any of our ophthalmology consultants, Mr Goble, Mr Hardman-Lea or Mr Vayalambrone, contact our dedicated Enquiry Handlers on 01473 851 960.

*Your consultant will discuss with you and explain the procedure fully during your consultation.

FREE public open event on cataracts,YAG laser surgery and eye health at Nuffield Health Ipswich Hospital,Thursday 13th July 2017 at 7pm.

BOOKING ESSENTIAL. Call us on 01473 851 960 to book. www.nuffieldhealth.com/ipswichhospital

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PUB WALKS

Sponsored by

with Darcy

This month Darcy returns to Newbourne and her ‘local’ The Fox Inn www.christchurchvets.co.uk

Newbourne is not far from our home and as a consequence the routes around Newbourne, and the neighbouring village of Waldringfield, are some of those that we know best. One of our favourites – which you will find on our website as Newbourne route 3 – actually creates a circular walk through both villages and is one we’d highly recommend if you are yet to try it.

Having walked the area so frequently I thought we had discovered – and shared – the best walks on offer but the chance emergence of a walker a few weeks back, from a path I had previously failed to notice, led to a ramble of discovery and the creation of this great new walk. At just over two miles it is perfect for summer evenings or other occasions when time may not be on your side and although fairly short in terms of distance it is certainly not short on interest. Initially running in part beside Newbourne Springs the path takes you through areas of pretty woodland before offering wide open vistas initially toward Martlesham and then over to Felixstowe in the distance.

The paths are generally easy and firm underfoot so I also think this may be a good wet weather walk as there seems little chance for our pooches to find mud, a statement I will no doubt come to regret in the future!

Newbourne Springs Nature Reserve

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Newbourne Hall

THE WALK Distance: Approx. 2 miles Time: Approx. 45 minutes Terrain: Generally easy. Woodland paths, field edges with a very short section of village road walking.

Stops: The Fox Inn Ordinance Survey Map: 197 Start Point OS reference: 275 432 As always please keep your dog under close control and follow any advisory signs. For a printable version of this and previous walks go to: www.essentialsuffolk.com/dog-walks where you will also find more pictures of each walk route.

1. With The Fox to your right take the track between Hobart Cottage and Well Cottage situated to the left of the pond. Follow this track until you reach a five bar gate with kissing gate to its left.

2. At this point you will meet a three way footpath sign. One arm to the left, one pointing the way you came from and one to the right.

Follow the path to the left and continue until you reach another kissing gate.

3. Pass through the gate and continue straight ahead passing the derelict red brick building on your left. After approx. 250 yds the path turns right and then left. Follow the path until point 4.

4. The path emerges at a T-junction with a wooden double footpath (FP) sign ahead of you. Turn left and walk for approx. 450yds until you reach the road.

5. Cross the road and follow the FP sign opposite and pass through the kissing gate. Follow the track walking beside a wire fence to your left.

6. After approx. 200yds the fence ends and you will come to a gap on your left. (If you look closely you will see the remains of what once was a fence and stile).Turn left here and walk along the field edge.

After a while the field edge changes into a track, continue straight ahead for approx. 2 – 3 minutes and keep your eye out for a wooden FP sign on your left beside paddocks.

7. At the FP sign turn left and follow the path. As it emerges to a track turn left and continue to the road.

8. At the road turn right initially taking the path above the road. As you approach the church on your left drop down the steps onto the road and continue until you reach the T-junction.

9. At the T-junction turn left and return to The Fox.

Imagine a chocolate box style village pub, beaming with pinkness with a rainbow of flowers around the door. You have just painted an image of The Fox at Newbourne. The pub is a wonderful 16th century building set in pretty grounds with a secluded rose garden and well stocked pond.

The Fox offers fine food with typical dishes on the menu including classic fritto misto, seabass fillets, shepherd’s pie, ‘this little piggy’ and our famous seafood gratin. All of this can be washed down by perfectly conditioned ales such as Adnams Southwold, St. Austell Tribute, Woodfordes Wherry, as well as a great selection of wines.

The Fox is at the centre of the Newbourne community who always provide an enthusiastic welcome. Come and enjoy one of Suffolk’s best kept secrets.

We welcome families and dogs, cater for the disabled and have the benefit of superb alfresco dining facilities.

Monday - Saturday: 9.00am to 11.00pm Sunday: 9.00am to 10.30pm.

Food served all day, everyday. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Fox, The Street, Newbourne Woodbridge IP12 4NY 01473 736307 fox@debeninns.co.uk www.debeninns.co.uk Get the Deben Inns app for our latest news and offers. Search for Deben Inns in the app store and follow the simple instructions.

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Nestled on the high street in Lavenham, The Greyhound has always kept its identity as a village pub but that doesn’t mean it’s standing still; far from it. Lesley Rawlinson reports on the latest developments

BUILDING ON SUCCESS

V

ision is an enviable gift. There’s a talent in being able to see a situation and see its full, future potential. There are the teachers who see something in a student that has, until that moment, gone unrecognised; or the craftsperson who sees a new and interesting use for discarded pieces of junk that might otherwise have become landfill. And then there are those with commercial vision – who see a gem that, for whatever reason, has been passed over or become less than vogue but that can be rejuvenated into a thriving and vibrant business.

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It’s this talent for seeing into the future that family owned and operated Stuart Inns is becoming rather well known for.

It’s one of the fastest growing restaurant and pub companies in East Anglia and the Macmillan family’s attention to detail while building successful enterprises, is quickly becoming its trademark.

Regular readers will no doubt be familiar with the refined, boutique Michelin Guide listed restaurant and bar at The Hadleigh Ram and the newly extended Long Melford Swan with its five Gold Stars luxury accommodation

as well as a two Rosette winning restaurant. However their third venue – The Lavenham Greyhound – has perhaps, until now, been a little overshadowed by its better-known relatives. Determined to retain its role as a village pub the first wave of refurbishment saw the creation of a contemporary styled bar, stocked with local brews and a good selection of interesting wines but, possibly most impressive was the extensive ‘pick and choose’ menu, available all day from 10am to 10pm. We discovered it while creating a ‘Pub Walk with Darcy’ from

Dining Review | Lavenham Greyhound

the Greyhound and loved the flexibility to order what suited us and our appetites, regardless of the time of day.

Fast forward a couple of years and the latest developments at The Greyhound have just been finished with a new ‘barn’ extension to the restaurant area, complete with new kitchen and overlooking a brand new terrace with courtyard seating. The cosy atmosphere has been retained and the sympathetic extension oozes ‘chic informality’. Although our latest visit was on a sunny May evening, the temperature had dipped somewhat as the last rays of the sun disappeared over the higgledy Tudor rooftops of Lavenham and so we headed straight to the bar for an aperitif and to relax into our evening out, before making our way through to the restaurant.

And so the perusing of the menu began.

Each dish on the menu is coded as either ‘ample’ – suitable as a starter or perhaps two or three could be shared – or ‘generous’ dishes as a main course.

There are ‘sides’ too so you really can pick & mix, especially with a little guidance from the well trained waiting team. The menu is also divided into ‘Meat & Fish’ and ‘Not Meat & Fish’ with a broad choice of interesting vegetarian options.

creamy dressing. But be warned – ample is a very good description and it also applied to the dish my husband had ordered as a starter. As a lover of spicy foods I was convinced he’d choose the Tandoori quail with spring onion bhaji, lentil dhal and mango pickle or maybe take the chance to enjoy some local oysters, but instead he went for cod bits with pea and wild garlic mayonnaise. It would have a made a great sharing plate as there were five or six generous pieces of fish in a very light, crisp batter which dipped in the mayo were richly enjoyed.

Chicken doesn’t often leap out from a menu at me but the description of corn fed chicken breast with hispi cabbage and bacon and onion cauliflower cheese meant I would search no further. It was another complete winner as the comforting rustic flavours melded in a dish that had the promise of being ridiculously filling but in reality was just wonderfully satisfying. However, across the table the very generous Hereford beef Wellington, duxcelle, parsnip, port and potato almost beat Adrian. Perfectly

cooked beef with harmonious accompaniments were thoroughly enjoyed and we heard similar praise from a nearby table, so clearly another popular dish.

There was no way I could contemplate dessert, even with classic crème brûlée or chocolate tart both shamelessly teasing me, so I was surprised to hear myself suggesting a second spoon…oh and go on an extra scoop, as my husband settle for ‘just’ some raspberry sorbet…delicious! And now I’m counting down the days, until the weather is such that it’s warm enough for the bi-fold doors along the end of the restaurant to be open to the new terrace and we can enjoy another glorious evening at the Greyhound, but al fresco next time!

INFORMATION Lavenham Greyhound 97 High Street, Lavenham Suffolk CO10 9PZ 01787 249553 www.lavenhamgreyhound.com

Maybe it was the promise of summer to come, maybe just the flavours of the plump Sicilian olives we’d been munching on with our drinks, but my eye was drawn by wild red prawn Caesar salad. Created with a mixture of charred and fresh Romaine lettuce the balance of plump prawns, flavourpacked anchovies and Parmesan is a combination I’ll be pinching for a summer supper. It’s a pretty dish too complete with crispy croutons and

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GOING GREEN Enthused by local ingredients Sibton White Horse sous chef Matt Lee has created this tasty lamb supper – complete with vibrant salsa verde, peas and asparagus – perfect for a summer evening

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Chef’s Recipe | Sibton White Horse

Matt Lee was born, raised and educated in Saxmundham and he loves his Suffolk heritage. Like many of the well-known current celebrity chefs, Matt has had no formal training in the kitchen but has instead learnt on the job and has gained a wealth of experience and knowledge along the way.

Matt’s first opportunity came at The Crown in Woodbridge at the tender age of just 17 and since then he has worked at various establishments including the Westleton Crown. Two years ago Matt joined the team at the Sibton White Horse and now is very settled in his role as sous chef as well as relishing working at one of Suffolk’s leading dining destinations. Earlier this year Matt’s contribution to the busy kitchen paid off when the White Horse was awarded 2 Rosettes for its culinary experience.

Matt enjoys working across all sections of the kitchen, but if he had to choose his favourite, he loves to create and produce main dishes.

This recipe is one of his recent ideas.

Suffolk lamb, crushed new potato, sautéed black pudding, asparagus, peas, pea puree and salsa verde METHOD

INGREDIENTS Serves 2 2 lamb racks (2 bones each) 10 new potatoes 10 asparagus spears 100g peas 50g black pudding 1 tsp each of parsley and chives (potato) 2 garlic cloves 1 shallot 4 tsp wholegrain mustard.

4 tbsp soft herbs 200ml cream 100g butter

1. Boil new potatoes for approximately 15 minutes or until cooked.

2. Seal off the lamb on both sides and place in a pre heated oven at 180°C (gas mark 4) for approximately 12 to 14 minutes to serve pink (cook for longer if preferred).

3. For the salsa verde; blitz together the shallots, herbs, garlic and wholegrain mustard, then add olive oil and blitz again to a course mixture.

4. Bring 50g of peas to boil in the cream. Strain off and keep liquor. Blitz the peas with a little liquor until smooth but still quite thick.

5. Dice the black pudding and cut the asparagus spears into 2cm pieces. Place the black pudding into a hot pan with a small amount of butter and sauté for two minutes before adding the asparagus and remaining peas. Season to taste, sauté further until asparagus is tender.

6. Strain the potatoes and leave for two minutes. Crush the potatoes adding the parsley, chives and a little butter.

7. Plate all the hot elements (as shown opposite) and finish with a drizzle of salsa verde.

From kitchen to table everything created with our own fair hands SIBTON

WHITE HORSE P U B • R E S TA U R A N T • R O O M S

Convivial and welcoming atmosphere, good choice of beer and wine, thoughtfully created menu – the perfect place for a light lunch or a three course meal.

Sibton White Horse Inn, Halesworth Road, Sibton, Suffolk IP17 2JJ. Telephone: 01728 660337 Lunch served 12 – 2pm, Dinner served 6.30 – 9pm Closed Monday Lunch

Awarded 2 AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence 2017

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TEN OF THE BEST AFTERNOON TEAS, TRADITIONAL AFTERNOON TEA At Seckford Hall, we have kept a traditional approach to Afternoon Tea with delicious home-made cakes and scones with indulgent clotted cream and preserves. All this is complimented by a wide selection of Brodies Pyramid loose leaf range of teas and infusions. Available 3pm to 5.30pm, booking is essential.

Cream Tea £11.95 Full Afternoon Tea £17.95 Prosecco Afternoon Tea £23.95

Seckford Hall Hotel Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP13 6NU 01394 385678 reception@seckford.co.uk www.seckford.co.uk

Sit back, relax and indulge at MAISON TALBOTH Afternoon tea is served every day from 2pm to 6pm and this fantastic experience can be enjoyed in the sitting room, on the terrace or in the Garden Room – the choice is yours.

Offering a super selection of sandwiches, buttermilk scones with jam and clotted cream plus a variety of delicious cakes all freshly prepared and served. Only £21.50 per person – or you can add a glass of Champagne for just £10.50 if you want to make your experience extra special.

To book, please call 01206 322367 Maison Talbooth Stratford Road, Dedham, Colchester Essex CO7 6HN maison@milsomhotels.com

Afternoon Tea at UFFORD PARK Enjoy a delicious Afternoon Tea at Ufford Park overlooking our beautifully landscaped golf course, or in the summer months outside on our large terrace. Our Afternoon Tea is served daily between 2pm and 5pm and is priced at just £16.95 per person. Afternoon Tea is a great way to celebrate with family or friends, and is perfect for those special occasions such as a baby shower, christening, hen party, retirement, or even a wedding! Whether you're planning a fun afternoon with your friends or a large corporate event, we can help to arrange this for you.

Yarmouth Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1QW 01394 383555 www.uffordpark.co.uk

Enjoy afternoon tea at THE WHITE LION Themed Afternoon Tea at the White Lion, Aldeburgh, is a feast for the eyes and a treat for the tastebuds!

Indulge in a selection of sweet and savoury treats including dainty finger sandwiches; scrumptious scones; and delicious desserts for £15 per person.

With a menu that changes monthly, you will be left wanting to return every four weeks to try each themed afternoon delight.

A Afternoon Tea is available daily from 3pm – 5pm Please pre-book on 01728 452720 Market Cross Place, Aldeburgh IP15 5BJ www.whitelion.co.uk

SPA & AFTERNOON TEA TREAT It’s the ultimate package for a girls’ day out!

Arrive at Seckford Spa at 1.30pm. Tea or coffee on arrival.

Choose between an Outer Glow (face and body exfoliation) or My Kinda Skin (bespoke facial for individual skin types) or Seckford Signature massage.

You’ll have the entire afternoon to use the spa facilities and enjoy Afternoon Tea in our beautiful spa, lounges or on the terrace overlooking the lawns and lake. £85

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Book your Half Day Spa & Afternoon Tea today, call Seckford Spa on 01394 385606 or email spa@seckford.co.uk Seckford Spa, Seckford Hall Woodbridge, Suffolk IP136NU www.seckfordhallspa.co.uk

CAFÉS AND TEAROOMS INDEPENDENT. ARTISAN. DELICIOUS. Using only the finest locally sourced, organic produce, H+H takes ‘cafe fare’ to a new level. Mouth-watering breakfasts give way to a show-stopping lunch time spread, followed by scrumptious fresh cakes and pastries for afternoon tea.

Our dedicated team prepares everything fresh daily, and with the finest specialty tea and coffee on offer we make every day more delicious than the last. Follow us on social media to keep up with what’s on offer every day”

56 Thoroughfare, Woodbridge Suffolk IP12 1AL 01394 548161 www.honeyandharvey.co.uk

A little piece of paradise on the SUFFOLK HERITAGE COAST… Dingle Hill Tearooms is a family run business situated in the picturesque village of Dunwich. Dingle Hill values good quality, honest food sourced from local suppliers. All our scones, cakes, puddings & quiches are made on site by the very talented Amanda whilst our beautiful gardens are maintained by her husband, Nigel. We truly are a ‘family’ business and welcome everyone including dogs, children and well behaved parents!

Open 7 days a week, Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm Saturday & Sunday 9am – 5pm (serving breakfast 9am –11am)

GEORGIAN COFFEE HOUSE Situated in the heart of beautiful Woodbridge, a place to relax and savour delicious breakfasts, or an exquisite mid-morning real ‘bean to cup’ coffee.

Treat yourself to gorgeous, locally baked muffins, bread, cakes and pastries or a traditional Cornish clotted cream tea.

Choose a home baked meal and a luscious pudding, a freshly made sandwich, toasted or plain, or a light lunch with a glass of wine, whilst relaxing in our light airy conservatory, our lovely traditional coffee shop or on our pretty terrace.

Dingle Hill Tearooms Dunwich, Suffolk IP17 3DZ 01728 648872 info@dinglehilltearooms.co.uk www.dinglehilltearooms.co.uk Find us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram

Georgian Coffee House 47a TheThoroughfare, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1AH 01394 387292

A GEM OF A CAFÉ Overlooking the picturesque Market Hill, the Wild Strawberry creates a warm friendly atmosphere where customers can choose from a quick bite to eat, simply relax with a coffee or afternoon tea or catch up with friends while watching the world go by. Offering a seasonal locally sourced menu and everything is homemade. “Beautiful Food, lovely atmosphere, brilliant service guaranteed”.

Following the café’s success the team are delighted to announce the opening of The Wild Blackberry Cafe at Swann’s Nursery, Bromeswell. The friendly and professional team look forward to welcoming you.

The Wild Strawberry Café 19a Market Hill, Woodbridge Suffolk IP12 4LX 01394 388881 info@wildstrawberrycafe.co.uk

Visit the ALDEBURGH CAFÉ for delicious cake and much, much more…

Chef / proprietor Melanie Davenport has transformed Aldeburgh Cafe with a bright, colourful decor, original artworks by local artists and an outdoor seating area with spectacular views across the estuary for a lovely child and dog friendly experience.

The menu features an abundance of locally sourced products with a particular emphasis on seasonal dishes.

The Aldeburgh Cafe breakfast is a particular highlight.

The Cafe is licensed for wines, beers and spirits.

Open: 9am – 4pm for breakfast, lunch and snacks Hall Farm, Saxmundham Road, Aldeburgh, IP15 5JD 01728 454891 aldeburghcafe@btconnect.com Find us at Facebook/aldeburghcafe

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Fynn Valley Winner of the ‘Most Welcoming Golf Club’ in England award this is the place to bring your family and friends for a wide range of tempting meals prepared by our talented chefs. Enjoy a home made bar meal or daily special in the cosy Courtyard Bar, utilising great local produce. Al fresco dining in the sheltered Courtyard is a popular option.

Sunday Lunches are served in The Terrace overlooking the golf course, all freshly roasted on the day and children eat free!

The spacious Valley Room is perfect for large family celebrations. Full details of our menus and offers can be found on our website.

Seckford Hall 1530 Restaurant Perfect for business or pleasure, the talented team of chefs at Seckford Hall turn local produce into mouth-watering dishes, with seasonally changing menus. The philosophy of 1530 is to offer the freshest food, cooked simply and beautifully presented, in a classic style at reasonable prices. Visit this summer to enjoy a memorable meal and experience the tradition, history and good taste at 1530.

The Fox Imagine a chocolate box style village pub, beaming with pinkness, beautiful tranquil gardens and flowers around the door.

Add a loyal and friendly clientele and great food and you’ll wish you had discovered us sooner. Fine locally sourced food is offered seven days a week, all day at weekends and this is complimented by an ever changing range of guest ales and wines. See our website for details of our menus.

Open: Open every lunchtime and Tuesday – Saturday evenings.

Fynn Valley Golf Club, Witnesham, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP6 9JA 01473 785202 restaurant@fynn-valley.co.uk www.fynn-valley.co.uk

Open: Lunch: A la carte 12pm – 2pm daily.

Afternoon Tea: served 3pm – 5pm daily.

Bar: Tudor Bar menu served 12pm – 6pm daily. Dinner: A la carte Sun to Thurs 6.30pm – 9.30pm, Fri and Sat 6.30pm –10pm Seckford Hall Hotel, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP13 6NU 01394 385678 reception@seckford.co.uk www.seckford.co.uk

01473 736307 fox@debeninns.co.uk www.debeninns.co.uk

The Turks Head

The Artisan Smokehouse

Ufford Park

At The Turk’s Head we serve local ales, fantastic wines & beautifully executed food using the abundance of local produce Suffolk has to offer. We are having a ‘Gin Pairing Supper’ on 13th July. Our next ‘Supper and Quiz Night’ is on 26th July. Our ‘Gin and Street Food Festival’ is on Monday 27th Aug. Come and enjoy our fabulous garden and play boule on our petanque pistes. Dogs, muddy boots and muddy children welcome.

Café & Deli Set in the lovely village of Falkenham, near Felixstowe, with wonderful countryside views. Join us in our licensed café, where all the smoked foods are hand-made on site.

Enjoy breakfast, coffee & cake, and light meals including smoked meat and fish platters, cheese boards, sandwiches and salads.

While you’re here why not grab something to take home from our deli, which stocks a wide range of products, including our own award-winning smoked foods.

Open: Monday to Saturday 11am to 11pm Sunday 12 noon to 10.30pm Food served 7 days a week.

The Street, Newbourne, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4NY

Open every day, The Park Restaurant offers a relaxed atmosphere, local produce and a seasonally-changing menu. You can enjoy Sunday Lunch in both the restaurant and bar and this is priced accordingly. Join us on Sunday 11th or 25th June and sit back and relax with local saxophonist playing between 12noon until 2pm. Afternoon Tea is served throughout the year and this is priced at just £16.95 per person. All party sizes can be accommodated.

Open to all; non-members welcome.

Open: Monday to Thursday 11am to 11pm, Friday to Saturday 11am to 12am, Sunday 11am to 8pm

Open: Thursday to Saturday, 10am – 4pm.

Please see website for variations in opening.

Food served all day – breakfast until 11.30am

Open: Monday to Sunday 6.30pm to 9.30pm Sunday Lunch in The Park Restaurant served 12 noon – 2pm

Low Road, Hasketon, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP13 6JG

Goose Barn, Back Road, Falkenham, IP10 0QR

Yarmouth Road, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1QW

01394 610343 info@theturksheadhasketon.co.uk www.theturksheadhasketon.co.uk

01394 448414 info@artisansmokehouse.co.uk www.artisansmokehouse.co.uk

0844 847 9467 reception@uffordpark.co.uk www.uffordpark.co.uk

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Food Gallery

Sibton White Horse

The Fountain

Butt & Oyster

Step through the door of this unassuming pub and prepare for a surprise. The heart of this thriving village local is 16th-century and steeped in history. Relax with a drink, enjoy lunch or dinner and you can expect easy relaxed service whilst absorbing the pubs immense character or spill out into the impressive courtyard and indulge in some of the finest alfresco. Awarded 2 AA Rosettes, the ever changing menu is thoughtfully created and built upon fresh, local and seasonal ingredients, with produce from the pub’s kitchen garden.

Located in the lovely old village of Tuddenham St Martin, three miles north of Ipswich, informal bistro style restaurant set in an oldie worldy 16th century country pub with great food, great service and great value. Full A La Carte menu plus set price menus; two courses £14.95, three courses £17.95. Current specials always included on the website. Sunday lunch served 12 noon to 7pm. Covered heated patio and spacious beer garden.

The Butt & Oyster is one of the best known public houses in Suffolk renowned for its good beer, good food and great views.

As you eat watch the changing tides on traditional timeless shores. Understand an artist’s inspiration with Thames barges, swans and the river, enjoying the finest Suffolk ales whilst being tempted by the wonderful aromas which welcome you. See our website for details of our menus.

Open: Monday to Friday, 12 noon to 2pm and 6pm to 9pm. Saturday, 12 noon to 2pm and 6pm to 9.30pm. Sunday, 12pm to 7pm

Open: Monday to Saturday, 11am to 11pm.

Sunday, 12pm to 10.30pm Food served 7 days a week.

The Street, Tuddenham St. Martin, IP6 9BT

Pin Mill, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP9 1JW

01728 660337 info@sibtonwhitehorseinn.co.uk www.sibtonwhitehorseinn.co.uk

01473 785377 fountainpub@btconnect.com www.tuddenhamfountain.co.uk

01473 780764 buttandoyster@debeninns.co.uk www.debeninns.co.uk

The Coach & Horses

The Maybush

The Middleton Bell

The Coach & Horses located just outside of Woodbridge, has extremely good access to the A12 with ample parking. Originally a staging inn or coach house, it’s historical role is equally well served today providing great family food. We offer a great combination of quality, value and atmosphere that the Deben Inns are renowned for. See our website for details of our menus.

The Maybush Inn sits on the banks of the Deben in Waldringfield. The busy riverside pub and restaurant affords panoramic views across the river and beyond. The Maybush has become famous for its excellent food offering with a wide range and varied menu including local game, meats and fresh seafood.

Vegetarian options and children’s menu available. Food offers are available throughout the week. See our website for details.

Set in the beautiful village of Middleton the award winning Value Pub of the Year 2012 Bell Inn offers top quality food using the best local produce at prices that ensure you will want to return again and again. Dine in the garden, traditional bar area or the beamed restaurant and enjoy home cooked food and ales directly from the cask. The Bell is the perfect venue to meet friends and family.

Open: Monday to Saturday 11am to 11pm Sunday 12 noon to 10.30pm Food served 7 days a week.

Open: Bar: Monday 6pm to 11pm, Tuesday to Friday – Lunch, 12 noon to 3pm, Evening, 6pm to 11pm, Saturday: 12 noon – midnight. Sunday: 12 noon to 10.30pm Food served Tuesday – Sunday Booking advisable please call for details

Open: 12pm to 2.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, 6.30pm to 11pm. Monday to Saturday 12pm to 3pm, 6.45pm to 10.30pm Sunday Halesworth Road, Sibton, Nr. Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 2JJ

Open: Monday to Saturday, 11am to 11pm Sunday, 12 noon to 10.30pm Food served 7 days a week.

Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1PD

Cliff Road, Waldringfield, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4QL

01394 384851 coachandhorses@debeninns.co.uk www.debeninns.co.uk

01473 736215 maybush@debeninns.co.uk www.debeninns.co.uk

The Street, Middleton, Suffolk, IP17 3NN 01728 648286

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perfectly styled

SLUMBER

The best bedrooms aren’t those that simply look the part, they’re the ones where you know that a blissful night’s sleep is as good as guaranteed every night of the week. Essential Suffolk shares advice from the experts at Neptune

Bedrooms were made to be luxurious.

More than any other room in the home, they should feel totally tranquil and a little indulgent so that you can start and end each day on the best note possible.

There’s a lot to consider, from the colour of your walls to the furniture you surround yourself with, but building the perfect bed is what sits at the heart of it. Follow these three steps to your perfect bedroom.

The loveliest linen Nothing quite beats the feeling of crisp, white bed linen when it’s spun from Egyptian cotton. The higher the thread count, the silkier the feel (500-thread count is our idea of perfect) which makes it feel exquisite against the skin.

Not only that, pure cotton means that your body temperature will stay regulated, even more so with the help of natural mattress fillings, helping you to avoid restless nights.

Harriet bedlinen in white from £41 Neptune

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Harlequin Amazilla cotton bedding double duvet cover £95 Barretts of Woodbridge

Harlequin Demoiselle cotton bedding double duvet cover £105 Barretts of Woodbridge

Homes & Interiors

The right frame of mind Your bed should be a joy to look at, not just to lie in. Be it a four-poster, a beautifully upholstered headboard or something in between. Your bed is integral to your bedroom’s overall aesthetic and so you should follow your heart and choose a bed that you know will make you happy, day after day.

Larsson double bed with low footboard £1,070, Larsson bedside cabinet, hand-painted in Sage £315 Neptune

Antoinette Collection 135cm Bed Frame RRP £1789 Now £1078 Glasswells

Emilia Collection 135cm bed frame RRP £869 Now £578 Glasswells

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Barrington double mattress £1,620 Neptune

Essential SUFFOLK

always proud ~ to feature ~

LOCAL RETAILERS Invest in rest A mattress is often an overlooked aspect of your bed-making because it feels like an unexciting necessity, and not to mention a costly one. But seeing as we spend over a third of our lives in bed, a mattress is probably the biggest investment in your entire bedroom.

Pocket-springs and a well-considered balance of natural materials is the option that we believe to be the best.

Experience your comfiest sleep yet with a wool bed. Exclusive to The Wool Room.

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STOCKISTS Barretts of Woodbridge 40 – 42 Thoroughfare, Woodbridge. T: 01394 384300 www.barretts.co.uk Glasswells Ranelagh Road, Ipswich or Newmarket Road Bury St Edmunds T: 01473 253164 www.glasswells.co.uk Neptune 43 – 45 St Andrew’s St South, Bury St Edmunds. T: 01284 731025 www.neptuneburystedmunds.com The Wool Room Sycamore Farm, Somersham Road, Bramford, Ipswich. T: 01473 831723 www.thewoolroom.com 58

essentialsuffolk.com

Antiques & Auctions

the changing face of

James Neal

WOODBRIDGE’S ANTIQUE SHOPS The town reached a bit of a watershed recently when Ray Lambert closed the doors to his antiques emporium at The Bull Ride in New Street allowing the building to fall prey to the relentless march of developers.

I am not saying that developing the town is a bad thing, far from it, when it is done wisely, sympathetically, in keeping with policy and in the right location. I am sure good things will emerge from this scheme.

My reason for a degree of sadness is that the town now only has one antique furniture dealer, Isobelle Rhodes who sells her stock from her shop on The Market Hill.

Church Street has had a plethora of dealers over the years which included Anthony Hurst who was followed into the business by his son Christopher. Operating from imposing premises close to our office there were frequent visits from dealers from all over the U.K. and abroad, trading and unloading their vans of what is now referred to as ‘brown furniture’.

Betty Meysey-Thompson, a wonderful character with a special eye for decorative antiques and ‘Jock’ Ferguson at Hamilton Antiques lower down the street sold items of quality and in Jock’s case often painstakingly restored.

There were three characters on The Market Hill, the late Tony Voss and Simon Carter as well as David Gibbins whose large brass plate revealed he was not an antique dealer but rather a ‘Dealer in Antiques’.

Ray’s father, affectionately known as Gunner, ran his business next door to our office in the corrugated iron clad building now converted into a listed family home. Ray took over that business before his move to The Bull Ride, which has its entrance between Judd’s For Hair and the Masonic Hall.

David’s clientele included Princess Margaret so buyers at every level have frequented antique shops over the years.

Woodbridge, has in its time, had numerous antique dealers, so many in fact that it was a ‘go to’ destination on the circuit of other dealers looking for stock and for private buyers who knew there would be a wide variety of choice on offer in the town.

And for now, while antique shops in the town have largely become a thing of the past, keep an eye out for Ray Lambert who tells me he will be plying his trade online. How times have changed!

Kitchens

Bathrooms

German kitchen furniture | Corian | Caesarstone | Miele | Neff

Villeroy & Boch bathrooms | Hansgrohe | Matki | Aqata | Keuco

2 A1 A12 A12

WOODBRIDGE

D NR LTO ME

LD FIE ITH SM

A1152

A1 15 2

01394 386390 www.woodbridgeinteriors.co.uk

WOO MELTON DS L N

WOODBRIDGE INTERIORS

KITCHEN & BATHROOM SPECIALISTS

KITCHEN & BATHROOM SHOWROOM SMITHFIELD, MELTON RD, WOODBRIDGE IP12 1NG

EssentialSUFFOLK

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JUNE 2017

the magic of

MONET

We are at the peak of the gardening season. The oriental poppies and irises have stormed the classic flower borders. June is the time for blowsy blooms, zinging pinks and a heightening of the colour palette. It is a good moment, says garden designer and gardening writer Catharine Howard, to share this trip she made to Giverny, Claude Monet’s garden

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Gardening

M

onet’s house is pink with shutters of Early Learning Centre green. A strange colour that is daubed about outside: It’s there on the Japanese bridge over the lily pond and all over all the ironwork for the roses. We tramp round the rooms and see a little inside the artist’s life. Twenty three volumes of Fleures des Jardins de l’Europe in the bookcase, Japanese prints spun over blue walls in a small bedroom, paintings by Cezanne and his coterie hanging here and there. The sun streams in through Breton lace curtains.

The dining room, oh so yellow, shows off family photographs. Yellow everything – chairs, table, sideboard, ceiling and lights too. Copper pots in the kitchen and a blacked stove to keep the servants busy with polishing. It is difficult to remember that Monet spent his early working life begging friends for money for food and paints.

Prosperity came later and aged 48 he moved into this house. It became his retreat and he spent the First World War painting lilies in the water garden. How amazed he would be to return now and see the house, studio and grounds awash with people. It is the third weekend in June after a long cold spring and we, the sun and everybody else is here. We are part of a swarm, the pupating paparazzi of the plant world.

A torrent bowls us through the pink and green tunnel that takes us to the water gardens. At once we are in a surge of cameras snapping and snippets of conversation. Between the calm restrained planting of a bamboo grove and the burnished surface of the lake, mayhem has broken out. A meld of wild with cultivated – rhododendrons with flag iris, oriental poppies flashing their brash under standard roses. Every corner of earth crammed like a tea trolley. If it had been one, there would have been fairy cakes, Mr Kipling specials, Tunnocks, salmon sandwiches and jammy dodgers.

Here is a red corner of lupins, sweet williams, day lilies and azaleas. Away up the hill, through the trees, a glimpse of the pink house. Before us the water: dancing reflections, metallic pads and lotus petals. A swelling and orgiastic frog chorus breaks out. And then of course all the people. Motley and much younger than the UK gardenviewing crowd. ‰

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Gardening

JUNE 2017

I have been here before. Several years back and the place was empty. But the light was high and flat and for that, the visit pretty flat. Somehow this exuberant planting is enhanced by the brightly dressed hordes. And we had hit the jackpot for flowering season.

Back through that pink tunnel, the main garden makes you want to burst into song. Old favourites in the perennial palette appear over and over again in different cultivars and colours, iris, peonies, harebells, alliums. Squeezed into any gap and holding their faces up to be gazed at pansies, sweet willliams and cornflowers go rioting through.

The planting is so sure. My favourite combination, the pinkest of all peonies with the yellow of Lysimachia nummularia. This was repeated along the bed for harmony. Accompanied by An iris with copper standards and sweet purple falls.

The overall impression is like gazing at Turkish Delight in the grand bazaar, or peering into the sultans’ jewel collection at the Topkapi palace. Away with the theory of less is more. But this garden with air of careless ease must be

manicured by the most subtle team of nail buffers. I’m not sure that a single weed had a toe-hold. There is a very big greenhouse and annuals coming on stream are, I guess, popped into empty or ‘over’ gaps.

There are many places to sit, so many benches in that strange green. We sat under a Paulownia tomentosa dropping its last blue gloves and reminded ourselves that this climate is a little kinder.

When you leave Monet’s place, the discovery is that the whole village is a garden on display. Extra mural gardening spills out over walls and onto the verges. We parked in a cherry orchard where the Kiftsgate roses are taking on the outer trees. If you have never been and don’t mind the hordes then go now.

INFORMATION Catharine Howard is Suffolk based gardener, plantswoman and designer with many years’ experience in creating and renovation gardens. Contact her at: www.catharinehoward.co.uk

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Property

Essential

PROPERTY 64 65 67 68 69

Neals Clarke & Simpson Jackson-Stops & Staff Grier & Partners Best Estates

71 72 73 75 76

Mortimers Jennie Jones Flick & Son Savills Fenn Wright

66 Washbrook

70 Bedingfield

72 Darsham

74 Tunstall EssentialSUFFOLK

63

Sproughton, Nr Ipswich £1,395,000 A stunning Grade II Listed former rectory located in the centre of the village and extending to nearly 7,000 sq ft in all. Currently subdivided to provide four separate dwellings, three of which generate an income of £22,500 per annum, but with scope to be converted back to a single principal dwelling. Excellent range of outbuildings that also have potential for alternative uses, subject to the necessary consents, together with landscaped gardens and grounds extending to approximately 1.2 acres in all.

Ref: 5697

Iken, Nr Heritage Coast £1,250,000

St Margaret South Elmham, Nr Bungay £1,000,000

A substantial and historic Suffolk house, along with a superb adjoining cottage and studio, standing in a rural position within Suffolk’s Heritage Coast. Main house comprising hallway, drawing room, substantial kitchen, dining room, study, sitting room and snug. Five bedrooms, two with en-suite bathrooms, and further family bathroom. Cottage comprising open plan kitchen/dining room/sitting room, bedroom one with en-suite shower room, bedroom two and bathroom. Studio comprising open plan kitchen/sitting room/dining room, bedroom and en-suite shower room. Driveway with substantial shingle parking area. Natural pond. Formal gardens and grounds, including copse, extending to 3.7 acres. EPC = F Ref: 5705

An idyllic property with period farmhouse and range of brick barns, located in a delightful rural setting and with organic grounds of 18 acres. Farmhouse comprising hall, kitchen, utility room, storerooms, drawing room, dining room, sitting room, conservatory, study and cloakroom. Five first floor bedrooms and three bath/shower rooms. Two attic rooms. Triple-bay garaging. Over 7,000 sq ft of brick and timber framed barns offering huge scope. Wonderful gardens and grounds, including organic meadows, paddocks, woodland, orchard and pond.

Ref: 5711

Clarke and Simpson, Well Close Square, Framlingham, Suffolk, IP13 9DU

T: 01728 724200

www.clarkeandsimpson.co.uk

JUNE 2017

ANTRIM HOUSE FACTS LOCATION: WASHBROOK GUIDE PRICE: ÂŁ725,000 AGENT: FENN WRIGHT

FAMILY LIVING Antrim House is a beautifully presented five-bedroomed family home which has been extended in recent years to provide spacious and versatile accommodation.

It was built 35 years ago using some original material from a demolished cottage resulting in a property offering the best of old and new.

The entrance has a generous yet cottage style feel, leading to the house beyond.

On the left, the sitting room has a double aspect with a feature fireplace with log burning stove and access to a conservatory enjoying views over the garden, Belstead Brook and farmland beyond.

To the right of the hallway you walk into an impressive kitchen/breakfast room

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which is comprehensively fitted in a range of wall and base, cream Shaker units with an integrated dishwasher, fridge and freezer. The island unit with adjoining breakfast bar has twin ovens, one of which is a steam oven, under a four ring induction hob.

From the kitchen there is a recent addition of a fabulous family/dining area with a vaulted ceiling with velux windows, doors to the outside and underfloor heating. Beyond this is a further reception room with an ensuite shower room offering the potential to be used as a bedroom suite or annexe.

On the first floor there are four bedrooms and a family bathroom.

The two principle bedrooms at each

end of the landing both benefit from ensuite shower rooms and the master bedroom also has a dressing room.

The property is situated in south west facing gardens extending to approximately half an acre and bordered by Belstead Brook.

Entrance to the property is via large timber gates leading onto a shingle driveway with a turning circle providing parking for numerous vehicles.

INFORMATION Fenn Wright 01473 358400 To see more pictures of this property visit www.essentialsuffolk.com/property

jackson-stops.co.uk Specialists in prime residential property

Woodbridge

Dedham

a detached property enjoying a tucked away setting off ipswich road with south easterly rural views towards the river deben.

a pretty double fronted Grade ii Listed village house with walled garden and views to the church.

Guide £850,000

Guide £850,000

● 2 reception rooms ● kitchen/breakfast room ● 4 bedrooms ● 2 bathrooms ● South east facing garden & balcony ● ample parking ● Garage ● no onward chain ● epc-f

● fully renovated & restored ● Stunning kitchen/breakfast room ● 2 reception rooms ● 5 bedrooms ● 3 bath/shower rooms ● South facing terrace & walled garden ● central village position

Walberswick

Dallinghoo

an attractive terraced property with spacious accommodation located in the heart of walberswick with views towards the sea.

a beautifully restored 17th century Grade ii Listed cottage enjoying an idyllic and tucked away rural setting yet close to woodbridge.

Guide £750,000

Guide £650,000

● 2 reception rooms ● kitchen/dining/breakfast room ● 4 bedrooms ● 3 bath/shower rooms ● off road parking ● Garden & terrace ● Short walk from the village green & beach ● epc-e

● 3 reception rooms ● kitchen ● 4 bedrooms ● 2 bath/shower rooms ● multipurpose studio ● Parking area ● about 1 ⁄ 3 of an acre ● idyllic rural setting ● many original features

Thinking of selling? Contact us for a FREE market appraisal Call Tim Dansie, Jonathan Penn or James Squirrell 01473 218218 ipswich@jackson-stops.co.uk Local & National reach through a network of London & Regional offices

People Property Places

The agent with the terrier spirit

BENTLEY OLD HALL, BENTLEY £800,000

CHAPEL HOUSE, EAST BERGHOLT £740,000

BENTLEY HALL BARN, BENTLEY £250,000

OLD LEY, EAST BERGHOLT £625,000

T: (01206) 299222 E: enquiries@grierandpartners.co.uk www.grierandpartners.co.uk

The Old Shop The Street, East Bergholt Colchester, Suffolk CO7 6TF

Situated in an idyllic rural location surrounded by farmland and woodland this Grade II* listed house enjoys a truly unique location. With mature gardens of approximately one acre, the wellproportioned accommodation of the main residence is enhanced by the addition of an independent two bedroom cottage, ideal for a holiday let, business or additional family accommodation. An early viewing is strongly advised.

We are instructed to invite offers by way of Informal Tender for this unique and nationally important Grade II* Listed 16th Century Timber framed Barn. The property is in need of repair, and while currently on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, it’s stability is currently being managed. Bentley Hall Barn stands on a plot of approx. 1.5 acre (sts) and could, subject to suitable planning consents and careful restoration, create a landmark building in a idyllic rural location with easy access to the A12 and Manningtree station.

Rarely available within the centre of this stunning Suffolk village, Chapel House dating in parts from 1560 forms part of the historic East Bergholt village street scene. With four bedrooms, two bathrooms a generously sized kitchen breakfast room along with very well presented gardens. We highly recommend a viewing of this charming home.

Rarely available, this charming 300 year old detached cottage provides a truly unique retreat situated in a pleasant rural location on the edge of East Bergholt yet within easy reach of the village centre. The property has been recently extended to include an Oak Framed Garden Room and benefits from delightful landscaped gardens including a separate brick ‘Shepherds Hut’/Hobby room.

Situated on an overall plot of approx. 0.3 acre, this home would suit keen gardeners and those who enjoy private outdoor living.

East Bergholt has recently been featured by Country Life as one of the nicest Suffolk villages in which to live. Viewing strongly advised.

SALES – Aldeburgh: 01728 452727 Beccles: 01502 370955 Sudbury: 01787 207355

Nr Southwold – Handsome period-style house with gardens Guide Price: £595,000

Modern house standing in a quiet, tucked away position on the edge of Reydon. 2 reception rooms,kitchen/breakfast room with utility, master bedroom with en suite, four further bedrooms, family bathroom and shower room. Off road parking and attractive gardens to the rear. EPC – B

Aldringham – Recently extended cottage Guide Price: £340,000

LETTINGS – 01728 417455

Cretingham – Thatched village cottage Guide Price: £485,000

Detached period cottage, standing in an elevated position. The property retains a wealth of periodfeatures, including exposed beams and impressive fireplaces. 2 reception rooms, kitchen, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Cottage gardens, off road parking and double garage. EPC – D

Nr Snape – Overlooking marshes Guide Price: £535,000

Nr Saxmundham – Farmland views Guide Price: £495,000

Spacious semi detached cottage close to the Heritage Coast. 3 reception rooms, master bedroom with en suite, 3 further bedrooms and a family bathroom. Off road parking and landscaped gardens. EPC – D

Converted stables standing in a rural position. 3 reception rooms, master bedroom with en suite, two further double bedrooms and a family bathroom. Parking, single garage and gardens. EPC – D

Charming 4 bedroom detached cottage, standing in an idyllic rural position. The property is well presented and retains a wealth of period features. Large gardens with private parking. EPC – E

Wenhaston – Contemporary property Guide Price: £275,000

Earl Soham – Beautiful renovation Guide Price: £475,000

Eyke - Semi-detached cottage Guide Price: £250,000

Single storey home in a prime village position. Dual aspect sitting room, contemporary kitchen, two double bedrooms and a family bathroom. Single garage and south facing gardens. EPC – F

Beautiful Victorian family home having recently undergone an extensive renovation programme.

4 double bedrooms, off road parking, charming gardens and brick built annexe. EPC – F

Beautifully presented semi detached cottage with sitting room, kitchen/breakfast room, two bedrooms and a family bathroom. Outside there is off road parking and cottage gardens. EPC – E

Best Advice, Best Service bestestates.co.uk

JUNE 2017

FLEMINGS HALL FACTS LOCATION: BEDINGFIELD GUIDE PRICE: ÂŁ3 MILLION AGENT: SAVILLS

HISTORIC HOME Set in a quiet rural location the Elizabethan Manor, Flemings Hall sits within its moated gardens and grounds and is nothing short of a dream property with a history to match.

the house and lived there until the mid 1980s during which time he embarked on a restoration programme. Subsequent owners have brought the house and grounds fully up to date.

It was gifted by William of Normandy to one of his Knights, Ogerus de Pugeys, following the Norman conquest in 1066. Ogerus de Pugeys subsequently assumed the name Bedingfield after the Saxon name for the area and the house remained in the family for 900 years.

Owners have included Sir Peter Bedingfield, who fought alongside the Black Prince at the battle of Crecy in 1346 and the siege of Calais. Also Sir Henry Bedingfield, who was Privy Councillor to King Edward VI and Queen Mary I and custodian of Elizabeth I during her imprisonment at the Tower of London. In the 1960s the photographer, Angus McBean, acquired

Flemings Hall, which has seven bedrooms, is listed Grade II* of special architectural or historical interest.

Internally there are many exposed oak beams and rafters, several of which are carved. Of particular note is the splendid Great Hall with a superb replacement carved oak mantelpiece and full height linen fold chimney breast. One full library wall fitted with book shelves conceals a door to the dining room, which has richly carved late Jacobean oak panelled walls and two archways with decorative oak mouldings which open on to the breakfast room. The drawing room has delightful views over the eastern terrace. Flemings Hall has been renovated and adapted to

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an exceptionally high standard and zoned to control heating and electricity remotely.

The grounds, which extend to five acres, are entered via electrically operated wooden gates. Carved oak pergolas lead to the reception hall and to the Entertaining Barn which has recently been renovated with a vaulted room that incorporates a kitchen and open plan living space with bi-fold doors out on to a decked terrace with steps down to the pond.

To the south-east lies a delightful covered seating loggia with an open air heated plunge swimming pool.

INFORMATION Savills 01473 234831 To see more pictures of this property visit www.essentialsuffolk.com/property

1%

NO VAT

NO SALE, NO FEE. NO TIE IN PERIOD.

Grundisburgh

£469,995

5 bed detached house.

EPC: TBC

Old Martlesham

£595,000

5 bed contemporary property.

Woodbridge 3 bed semi with river views.

SALE AGREED

EPC: C

£360,000 EPC: E

Woodbridge 3 bed cottage. Town Centre.

Hacheston 4 bed detached, large garden.

Melton 3 bed detached bungalow.

SALE AGREED

£530,000 EPC: N/A

£450,000 EPC: D

£345,000 EPC: D

£425,000

Bawdsey Charming cottage near the sea.

£525,000

Melton Park Immaculate period property.

3 bed detached bungalow.

01394 386688 | info@mortimersestateagents.co.uk www.mortimersestateagents.co.uk

EPC: N/A

£449,000

Woodbridge

SALE AGREED

EPC: TBC

EPC: C

SALE AGREED

JUNE 2017

RURAL IDYLL

Hill House is a lovely detached three bedroom period cottage which is situated in a pretty Suffolk hamlet between the picturesque villages of Darsham and Westleton.

HILL HOUSE FACTS

The property, which was formerly a pair of cottages, abuts farmland at the rear and enjoys a wonderful rural aspect with views over open Suffolk countryside towards Darsham’s village church. The property has been the recent subject of a programme of modernisation.

LOCATION: DARSHAM GUIDE PRICE: £379,000 AGENT: JENNIE JONES

The accommodation is centrally heated by oil-fired radiators and benefits from double glazing. There is an impressive open fireplace in the sitting room and an oil-fired AGA in the farmhouse kitchen/dining room. The ground floor also has a cloakroom, a hall/study area and a snug. The three first floor bedrooms are served by a large, new, family bathroom. The garden is laid to lawn and affords a good degree of privacy. There is potential to landscape and develop the garden further.

INFORMATION Jennie Jones 01728 605511 To see more pictures of this property visit www.essentialsuffolk.com/property

SOUTHWOLD

SOUTHWOLD

SAXMUNDHAM

SAXMUNDHAM

ALDEBURGH - PRICE ON APPLICATION

Brand new Architect designed house, 5 double bedrooms, 3 baths. Superb open plan kitchen and dining room, Large sitting room with fireplace, snug/ media room, study, ground floor cloaks, sea views EPC –tbc

ALDEBURGH £289,950 A smart semi-detached dormer style house. Hall, sitting room, conservatory, kitchen/diner, bathroom, shower room, large garden. EPC-tbc

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THEBERTON

DARSHAM £379,000

A lovely detached 3 bed period cottage, abutting open countryside, sitting room, snug, farmhouse kitchen/dining room, bathroom, attractive garden, driveway and garage. EPC-F

£378,000

Period attached 2 bed cottage. Kitchen/diner, 2 receptions, shower room, bathroom,, garage and attractive garden. EPC– tbc

TUNSTALL

£249,995

Spacious 2 bed cottage. Hall, sitting room, farmhouse kitchen/diner, bathroom, beautiful garden, outbuilding, off road parking. EPC –tbc

ALDEBURGH

£420,000

An immaculate 3/4 bedroom apartment, garage and communal gardens.

Sitting room/diner, cloakroom and 2 bathrooms, gas central heating.

Walking distance of High Street. Very close to the beach. EPC-tbc

Blaxhall Guide Price £300,000

A charming period 4 bed semi-detached cottage with rural aspect. Large garden, garage, many period features. Ideal for access to Snape and Orford. EPC-tbc

Saxmundham 01728 605511 Southwold 01502 722065 www.jennie-jones.com

SAXMUNDHAM £359,950

Elegant 3 storey detached 5 bed house. Porch, 2 cloakrooms, 2 receptions, conservatory, kitchen/diner, 2 ensuites, bathroom, garage, garden. EPC-D

JUNE 2017

DUNNINGTON STABLES FACTS LOCATION: TUNSTALL GUIDE PRICE: £535,000 AGENT: BEST ESTATES

MARSHLAND VIEWS Location is everything when it comes to property and for those seeking a rural family home, in what’s regarded as one of the most treasured stretches of coastal Suffolk, Dunnington Stables has much to offer.

Located on the edge of Tunstall, and close to Snape, Dunningworth Stables is a spacious three double bedroom detached character property, with stunning front and rear gardens and stunning views across marshland Suffolk.

Internally the property offers extremely light accommodation with many dual

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aspect rooms overlooking both front and rear gardens. There is a large hall with doors opening to the dual aspect sitting room with an open fireplace, housing a wood-burning stove. This room has floor to ceiling windows offering wonderful views to the garden.

Beyond that there is a dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, utility room and study. The kitchen/breakfast room with dual aspects offers a good range of wall and base units with granite effect work surfaces, incorporating stainless steel sink unit. There’s a plumbed recess for dishwasher and oil-firedAga, tiled

flooring and extractor fan. On the first floor there are three double bedrooms and a family bathroom.

Outside the property enjoys private parking, single garage and attractive gardens.

INFORMATION Best Estates 01728 452727 To see more pictures of this property visit www.essentialsuffolk.com/property

Witnesham

Kirton

Situated in the popular village of Kirton is this four bedroom detached house believed to date back to the 17th century. The property features magnificent gardens with entertaining areas and a swimming pool.

An attractive, detached period cottage situated in an elevated position with views over the surrounding farmland, in its own gardens just under half an acre.

• • • • • • • • •

Offers in the region of £635,000

No onward chain Formerly two cottages 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms 4 reception rooms Kitchen/breakfast room Utility room Detached double garage Wealth of character EPC Rating E

Waldringfield

Guide Price £675,000

Trimley St Martin Only 200 m. from the River Deben quayside, this attractive family residence offers nicely proportioned accommodation over two floors and is set in generous grounds which afford further space to extend or re-model, subject to planning permission.

A well-presented detached family home offering spacious and versatile accommodation and benefits from a beautifully landscaped garden.

Guide Price £530,000

• • • • • • • •

4 bedrooms 3 refitted bathrooms 3 reception rooms Orangery with garden views Detached double garage Attached single garage Kitchen/breakfast room & utility Gardens extending to just over 0.5 acres • EPC Rating D

• 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms • 3 reception rooms, conservatory • Anglian Factors kitchen & bathrooms • Well-presented throughout • Garage & workshop • Ample off road parking • Generous gardens • EPC Rating D

Guide Price £750,000

• 4 bedrooms • 3 bathrooms • Master bedroom with dressing area • 4 reception rooms • Swimming pool • Fantastic outdoor entertaining • Just under half an acre • Rural location • EPC Rating E

To view more, or purchase, photographs from this event visit essentialsuffolk.com

DanceEast DanceEast revealed the completion of its newly revitalised foyer area in the Jerwood DanceHouse to a packed audience at James Cousins Company’s last night of their successful UK tour – Rosalind. Afterwards guests were treated to a film highlighting the work DanceEast does to make the East of England a place where everyone can enjoy great dance, and invited to become ambassadors for the new Catalyst: Evolve fundraising scheme, which sees ACE match £ for £ all donations until August 2019.

Clara Downton, Erin Simpson, Kate Downton

Heidi Cooper, Caryl Hudson

Gareth Mole, Mark Coe

Hana Loftus, Brendan Keaney

Anna Rowe, Steph Rowe, Beth Rose

Hugh Thompson, Freddy Alcock, Richard Saunders, Polly Walker, Hayley Roberts

Rachel Tarkenter, James Cousins

Peta Hillier, Duncan Skeels

Margaret & George Woodward, Helen Geldart, Richard Chaplin, Jeremy Greenwood, Alan Swerdlow, Amanda Maxwell

Claire Horsley, Sally Walton

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Essential Faces

Fidelity Spring Charity Ball Supported by KBL Accountants and hosted by David Shutlar, the Fidelity Spring Ball was held at the Orwell Hotel in Felixstowe and has raised approximately ÂŁ3,500 in much needed funds to be shared equally between Troop Aid and the Royal Mason Benevolent Institution (RMBI).

Jennie Catling-Green, Shaun Green

David, Sophie, Sam & Kate Shutlar

Max & Chrissie Nijhawan

Jeanette & Ian Walker, Paul & Sarah Pearce

Graham & Christina Kerry

Alan Drinkwater, Alice & Ralph Robertson, Sally & David Lillis, June Drinkwater 78

essentialsuffolk.com

Jenny Brown, Lucy Watling, Zoe Garnish

Jerry & Sharon Bird

Hannah Philpot, Edward Ford, Avril & Richard Ford, Ruth & Martin Wollacott

To view more, or purchase, photographs from these events visit essentialsuffolk.com

25 Years of Ufford Park Owners Colin & Shirley Aldous and their daughter – managing director Tarnia Robertson – celebrated 25 years of Ufford Park Hotel Golf & Spa with family, friends, staff, members and customers. Guests enjoyed canapes and fizz and were treated to a film reflecting on the past 25 years of hard work and developments at the hotel.

The Ufford Park team

Mark Bartram, Adrian Kersey

Stuart & Tarnia Robertson, Shirley & Colin Aldous

Simon & Susanna Cartmell

Tarnia Roberston, Minnie Moll, Emma Hibbert, Charles Robinson

Claire Flude, Graeme Kissick-Jones, Tarnia Robertson, Katharine Kissick-Jones, Becki Lemke, Susanna Cartmell

Edward Burgess, Shirley Aldous, Maggi Digby, Miglena Gencheva

Lauren Fleming, Alison Harris, Lyn Peters, Steph Smith

EssentialSUFFOLK

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My Suffolk

JUNE 2017

Five years ago Meg Reid launched Felixstowe Book Festival which has grown in size and stature every year.

She describes her life in Suffolk

How long have you been living in Suffolk?

I moved here six years ago. Originally I am from Liverpool but I've spent most of my adult life living in Wivenhoe.

I have always loved Suffolk though, feeling that I could breathe more freely every time I crossed the county boundary and as a result, I have wanted to move here for a long time. And why Felixstowe? I looked up houses within my price range on Google and found the property I am living in now. We came and looked round and it just felt right.

What makes the county so special?

Well, I love the sea, the shoreline and the coast. There’s always an element of exploring to be done here, it’s full of interesting places and villages but beyond that, it’s also about the skies and the landscape. I can spend hours exploring the county and I never get bored with it. I love the Suffolk colours.

Where do you like to walk?

I walk by the sea almost every day – usually along the seafront here in Felixstowe although I can’t go on massive hikes right now. Usually, from Felixstowe down to the ferry – the sea and the sky changes all the time. There’s always something going on as there are so many ships and pleasure boats on the horizon. Another place I love to walk is along the river at Woodbridge.

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Do you eat out?

I am a vegetarian so actually, I am always on the lookout for good places to eat. I like Oaks Tearoom in the centre of Felixstowe, Metfield Cafe at Snape Maltings and of course The Fludyers in Felixstowe.

Are you interested in arts and culture?

I used to work in theatre as a stage manager, so yes I love the arts. It’s been lovely to see that the Spa Pavilion has re-opened and is doing live shows. I go to the cinema so much here that it almost feels like I have a reserved seat.

The New Wolsey is really, really fabulous and I also like art, in particular, the Open Studios event across the county in June and all the exhibitions at Snape. Of course, Maggi Hambling’s work is amazing and we are delighted that she is coming to the preview of Felixstowe Books Festival at the start of June. I also enjoy music and my intention was, when we moved here, to go to Snape too.

Do you have any hobbies?

I am very keen on ballroom and Latin dancing, I have been doing it for ten years and I have to admit that I go back to Essex on a regular basis for lessons. Making mosaics is something else I enjoy – the last one I made was inspired by walking along the cliffs at Southwold.

How did the Felixstowe Book Festival Come About?

Well, I have been going to the Edinburgh Book Festival for a while as well as the Cambridge and Aldeburgh literary festivals. Driving back from Cambridge event in 2012 with a friend she just happened to ask why Felixstowe didn’t have something similar and I just took up the challenge. It’s really grown since then and I work full time on the event but I am not employed because I do this for free. However, we use the event to help charities, this year focusing on dementia but also on domestic abuse and The Lighthouse in Ipswich.

Are there any books that you would recommend?

I am currently reading The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith, a series based in Edinburgh. East Anglian authors I particularly like include Francis Spufford and his book Golden Hill, Suffolk’s Nicola Upson, Libby Purves and of course Esther Freud who is the patron of Felixstowe Book Festival.

If there was one picture you would choose to represent Suffolk what would it be?

It would probably be sunset over the sea at Felixstowe and it would have to have a lot of sky in it.

See details of this year’s festival on page 33

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