Author: Richard

Beccles is typical of the slightly larger town you can find in Suffolk.

In places a little run down, as many places were post COVID-19 which accelerated the death of the high street, but places are opening up.

I remember just a few years ago when all there seemed to be on the high streets was instant coffee or corporate Starbucks, there were few independent coffee roasters and few independent coffee shops selling quality, well sourced coffee.

But now coffee roasters and cafes seem to be springing up even in the most unlikely of places.

What the high street will look like in the future now on-line shopping dominates is unknown, but cafes and good coffee seems to one thing that we will be able to find.

Beccles is an old town with lovely old churches and building, well worth a walk around after you have refreshed yourself with coffee.

Reminders of its links to the larger towns and London are all around.

So if you on route to one of the larger cities try a visit, whether a quaint book shop, a delicatessen or locally roasted coffee there will be something for you.

The Suffolk coast has for a long time been a bit of a mystery. Small traditional inland towns and villages, relatively unchanged over the last fifty years, coastal towns like Aldeburgh and Southwold, often cut off in bad weather and in the past more accessible by sea than by land.

Today we find modern industrial ports like Lowestoft, the growing city of Norwich in the county to the North and sea side resorts like Great Yarmouth but these modern islands of metropolis are few and far between.

If you kept to the few main road that cross Norfolk and Suffolk, leading to these modern towns you would think the county was like any other. But you do not have to go far when you come across the old towns and villages seemly untouched by the passing of time. Traditional shops, cafes for tourists and the odd electrical car parking point and mobile phone tower give a hint of some modernity.

If your taking the scenic route to the Suffolk coast from Norfolk you will come across many small towns like Bungay.

A town you would not likely visit unless you knew of the remains of the castle. Though the lovely old churches are worth a visit. Wondering through the old graveyards in the late high contrast autumn sun, while not conducive to good photography is good for ones own well-being.

The old Norman castle was on the losing side of a number of battles but restored after Henry II confiscated the castle when the loyalty of the previous owner was called into question.

It featured in the fictional novel by Elizabeth Bonhôte, published in 1797, set during the first Barron’s war.

When one explores Suffolk, you are continually surprised by the number of traditional Italian restaurants, cafe’s and ice cream parlours.

There is a long history of Italians making homes in area, and good food and coffee is never far away.

Some of the old shops look like they could have been here for years, the modernity given away by ‘wifi here’ signs or the odd neon sign.

So whether it’s the food, the history, or to wonder the antique shops and find out the little fabric and quilting shops. There is something for all, unless you are after the busyness and noise of most places now.

Suffolk, the place of modern port cities, and tranquil towns and villages.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1006060

And Bungay is certainly a typical small market town of the region and worth a visit.