DoneThat
Comment about the day trip to Dedham Vale
A big thanks to you for your very accurate information on your walks.
On Oct.31 last year my son and I travelled to Constable Country using your instructions and we found them to be 100% accurate in every detail. It was a glorious day and a never to be forgotten walk.
We walked from Manningtree Station to Flatford Mill which took us an hour. The path was muddy in places but it was such a lovely day and the scenery so beautiful that it didn't concern us. We hadn't heard of kissing gates and were interested to see them. As we approached Flatford we saw Willie Lott's Cottage through the trees, which was exciting for us, as we have seen it many times over the years in pictures of Constable's famous painting "The Hay Wain".
Our first impression of Flatford was that nothing has changed in 200 years. We stayed at Flatford for an hour taking video and film and then had lunch in the National Trust gallery tearoom ( Scones and coffee), bought some postcards and a small map of the area and discovered we were only about a mile from East Bergholt (which we didn't know existed). We had not brought a map with us and as your instructions were so accurate we didn't need one to Flatford.
Then onto East Bergholt via a very narrow lane which brought us out at the church of St.Mary the Virgin where we found the graves of Constable's parents and Willie Lott and had a look inside the Bellhouse and read about its history. We viewed the "Bell House" and saw his first studio in the main street. We then retraced our steps back towards Fatford and turned right into Fenbridge Lane. We had stayed in East Bergholt for 1 hour.
Then a great walk across Dedham Vale to Dedham along the path that we believe Constable used to take on his way to school at Dedham, passing by the corn field and through Dedham Vale. With the soft sun shining ( something we Aussies are not used to as our sun is a lot brighter) on the lovely meadows and glittering streams, time for us stood still as it was so quiet and peaceful. The walk took us an hour. As we entered the village of Dedham we saw the church that Constable used in many of his paintings. We walked down the High St. and stopped for a drink at the 'Marlborough's Head Tavern' ( the food menu looked very good).
We took plenty of video and photos and that day was one of the best days we spent on our 3 week trip and we were back in London by 7.30 PM.
We look forward in the future in doing another one of your trips.
Ken Jarvis, Adelaide, Australia
Absolutely loved your website.
Found the day Trips from London section through Google and I am off to Dedham Vale tomorrow as a result.
I've had an unbelievably stressful week and need this break out there more than I can say. Should be wonderful!
A superb website which is clearly of immense use to readers.
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