Lavenham, Melford Hall, Flatford and 100th Bomber Group Museum


 For some time, Jo has wanted to go to Flatford, to see the mill and Constable country. Very much on the spur of the moment I booked us in for two nights at Tomcat Farm - an Caravan and Camping club Certificated site - more on that later.

We decided that rather than just heading straight there, we would head down to Lavenham and see the Guild Hall - something that I had never seen, and a place that many will recognise as Lavenham is full of medieval timber houses - some 320 listed buildings! It has also been used as the back drop in some of the Harry Potter movies.


(Its not an old camper van - its a food outlet!)

The Crooked House - and I don't know what the car was...

The Guildhall
Inside the Guild Hall was a knowledgable NT guide who told us some of the history and then left us free to explore - the building had had multiple uses from its original guild usage right through to being a work house and a prison. What I was not expecting to find was a room devoted to the Second World War and the nearby airfield that was used by the USAF.






Leaving Lavenham behind, we headed to Melford Hall another national trust property that neither of us had visited. The house was originally Tudor and has been updated multiple times - it had been in the possession of one family for centuries and their stamp was clear to see - they had had an extensive affiliation with the Royal Navy. 







Now - about that duck - YES - it is Jemima Puddleduck.... and that is the original, made and wearing clothes also made by Beatrix Potter - she was a cousin and friend of the family , used to stay regularly - her room is maintained and that was the original Jemima given to the children of the house.
The entrance with the priest carrying the cross was apt - it was Easter Friday.

Leaving Melford, we headed to our overnight stop - via The Brook Inn as it was the nearest pub to Tomcat Farm. It was clean, fairly priced and had a good selection of ales.


We received a great warm welcome from Catherine who explained that due to the extensive rain that we have all had, they were placing Motorhomes onto hard standing - and did we mind? Not at all and we were soon setup. The facilities were excellent - showers hot, free wifi water etc. 
One thing I was keen on doing was actually setting up the wind breaks I had bought - just so I had some idea of them. It was great to be able to sit out with a glass of Vino Collapse and enjoy some sunshine!
I also noted that they do servicing of Moho's and caravans - we will be back! A nice touch was on our second night - we woke on Easter Sunday to find the easter rabbit had dropped chocolates off!



On Easter Saturday we headed down to Flatford Mill- be warned - the approach roads are single carriageway only - and ONE WAY! the main car park is free for NT members, but there are no dedicated parking spots for Moho's - we went early so we had a good choice - and be aware the ground can be boggy!
In a word - this site is so worth a visit - its a beautiful part of the countryside, and to see the space where the Haywain was painted - and to see that it hasn't changed much is brilliant. It's not just the mill - there is a working Lock and a great walk to Dedham - that path was closed due to the extensive rain. We spent around 4 hours in total looking around, having a coffees and then seeing and an RSPB Wildlife garden.







After that, we returned to the camp site; we had been told of a couple of places of interest in colchester so we headed to them -= and found that they were not motorhome accessible and I am getting better at reversing! So we travelled back to Ipswich - we would have liked to have had an ale - but the car park was full!
A great nights sleep, and then we sorted ourselves out and got on the road - it was an Easter Sunday but having enjoyed Masters of the Air we had decided that we wanted to pop into the 100th Bomber Group Museum - free entry, but we did leave a donation - and wow - what an interesting place with charming helpful volunteers. It certainly showed the courage of those who took part in the Bombing raids.










After that - we headed home to get mugged by our siamese! All told we had travelled around 200 miles and got to see some new parts of our countryside and history - we also got to see some atrocious driving in Essex but I digress!














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