Brittain's best place!

From our stay on a church car park near Southwold we moved on for another night of wild camping.  We wanted to have a look at a couple of towns further down the East Anglia coast, namely Saxmundham and Aldeburgh.  We parked up at Saxmundham but didn't spend much time there.  I feel that it must have more history and significance that I haven't taken the trouble to find out about.  So apologies to Saxmundians who may be undersold by my blog.  

We left the van there and cycled on to Aldeburgh which I had high expectations of.  It is the place that Sue's Uncle Stephen and Auntie Barbara go for a holiday every year.  They always get fantastic weather and I had the impression that it was a quaint and cultured place on a pebbly beach.  We weren't disappointed.  It had a real English seaside feel without the gaudy and commercial stuff that we see at places like Blackpool (I like Blackpool in a different way).

The Moot Hall at Aldeburgh.

Drinking beer seems to be becoming a tradition.  The weather was fab and we managed a bit of sun bathing.

We were keeping an eye out for a place to wild camp for the night and decided (naughtily) to stay on the large council car park at the southern edge of the town despite the notice that overnight parking and camping were banned.  We thought we could bring the van later in the evening and no-one would bother.

That afternoon we cycled back towards Saxmundham but by a different route that took us to the village of Snape.

I couldn't resist taking the photo because I thought it would appeal to my daughter, Rebekah, who is a great Harry Potter fan.

Nearby was a place called Snape Maltings.  It was previously a place where grain was malted and now it includes various gift shops, cafes, pub and a large concert hall.  It was the concept of composer, Benjamin Brittain, who was born at Lowestoft and lived at Snape and later at Aldeburgh.  The connection of Brittain with Aldeburgh and the area seems to be still very influential because the Aldeburgh annual art and music festival is the main event of the area.  On a more negative note it seemed that the only thing I couldn't buy at the Maltings was 'malt'!

Janice is interacting with a piece of modern art by Barbara Hepworth.  She recently had an exhibition in Kendal.  I thought she was Barbara Woodhouse......but that is a completely different piece of work!

In the evening we drove to the Aldeburgh car park and walked into town to sample some more Adnams Beer.  There seem to be only three pubs in the town, quite a low number for the size of the place.  Back to the van for an illegal sleep....it sounds rather clandestine.