Wednesday 19 March 2014

Wednesday.

At about nine thirty this morning Ann asked me if I had anything planned for today as she needed to do  some grocery shopping, preferably at Waitrose in Sudbury, and did I fancy a ride over that way? In fact I needed to take some snapshots for bloggery purposes; so with the proviso that we'd come back by a different route than usual, we set off. It was a dry but rather grey day with high cloud. As the above and below photos demonstrate,  many of the dyke sides and road verges were thick with primroses.
 In the above photo not only are there primroses beside the road, but, as you can see there is grass growing in the middle of the road, thus proving we are still in Suffolk.
The above tiny cottage has a very fine Tudor chimney leaning against it. We've seen this one before, and I think it's called something like Pepper Pot Cottage. It's rather a favourite of mine. Soon after that we took a quite deliberate wrong turn, and the rest of the cottages and small houses are all fresh ones to us.
The above one is called Priory Cottage and probably had connexions to a local Priory.
 The small farmhouse shown here probably has a late medieval timber framework under the thatch; speaking of which, the bird (a pheasant) perched on the right hand end of the roof is also made of thatch, and is probably the trademark of the thatcher.
The rather larger farmhouse in the last photo is pure John Constable (think 'the Hay Wain' and 'Willie Lott's Cottage', and you'll get the idea). It's probably much the same age as the previous cottage, or even possibly a little earlier, and, as you can see, there's part of a moat showing, which doesn't really fit the cottage, so there's  been a habitation on this site for a good many centuries.  A few miles after this we found ourselves running into Kersey, so knew we were only a few miles from home.  Exploration in our area  nearly always yields  pleasant  surprises.

14 comments:

Rog said...

Very good Mike. You're like a local version of Google Street View!

Z said...

Great pictures. I like taking a random turning to see what's round the corner too, although the area near us known as The Saints are notorious for swallowing up unwary travellers, who emerge hours later, bewildered.

Unknown said...

Thank you Rog. I'm no expert on early buildings, but I do find them fascinating.

Unknown said...

Hello Z. We lived in Halesworth for a few years in the sixties, so I know OF the Saints, Ilketshalls et allia. Wish now I'd explored them more when we were there, but we were too busy having and raising a famiy at that time. Some lovely, early churches in that area, I believe?

Liz said...

Lovely photos. We really do have more than our fair share of lovely old buildings (and lovely places generally) here in Suffolk.

Unknown said...

Hello Liz. Quite agree with you; we do have more than our share.

Maggie said...

Beautiful properties Mike, it really is a stunning area for architecture.I was very drawn to Pepperpot cottage.

The primroses are lovely this year, seems to be more around than usual. Hope you are both well, Love to you both and happy birthday for the 25th!

Pat said...

How great to make grocery shopping into a lovely photo shoot.

Unknown said...

Thank you Maggie dear. The card arrived a matter of minutes before your comment. I hope you won't mind me reminding you that Ann's birthday is on Lady Day, whilst mine is at Michaelmas, and yours is on Empire Day. It's the thunk that counts. Still, I've passed your card on to Ann - what dramatic scenery you have on your side of the country!

Unknown said...

P.s. Yes, we've always liked the look of Pepperbox Cottage too, but I should think it's very small inside.

Unknown said...

Hello Pat. Great believer in "two birds with one stone", wherever possible; but yes, it turned a necessary shopping trip into a nice relaxed morning out.

Maggie said...

Oh my goodness, so sorry! Don't know why I got the dates mixed up, blame it on my age!

I will send an appropriate card to Annie xxx

Unknown said...

Hello Maggie. There's really no need to send Annie another card, but if you do please try and remember in September that you've already sent me one.
Love to you both, Mike and Ann.

Crowbard said...

You're right Maggie, it is your age at fault, but when you get out of your giddy teens everything will become clearer.
LuvBruvCarl ~(;¬o}>