Beautiful Britain - Aldeburgh, Suffolk

Our first excursion on our recent holiday exploring the Suffolk coast was to Aldeburgh, which was just down the coast from Knoddishall, where we were staying in the Ebenezer Chapel.

Now ... how to describe Aldeburgh? There's a conundrum. It was definitely beautiful, definitely different, definitely not like any other seaside town we've been to.

We absolutely loved it but did find it very hard to describe. It was just so different. It has hints of a Cotswold village, but next to the sea. I would even say it has just a touch of Dungeoness. I will apologise now for the photo heaviness of this post, but there was just so much that was worth capturing.

We parked right up at the Martello tower end of town, where we managed to find a bit of sneaky free parking.

We walked back along the front on a glorious day, definitely should have gone for shorts and not jeans.

Pretty much every step we had to stop to exclaim at something else we just hadn't expected to see. There were tantalising little cut throughs to the high street, a massive variety of property styles and even a piste where a game of French Boules was underway.

The beach is all shingle, so no golden sands, but all the same, it had a real charm all of it's own.

On the one side the road is lined with houses of all shapes, sizes and styles. Lots painted in pretty pastel colours. And the flowers ... I've never seen so many hollyhocks. I was dead envious, I can't grow these at home, but here they are everywhere, they are even growing an absolute riot on the beach.

We walked the full length of the front, from the Martello Tower, right to The Shell and there are lots of points of interest along the way.

About half way along our walk along the front we came across the Moot Hall, which wouldn't have looked out of place in the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon.

Just past the Moot Hall you start to hit signs of the local industry, seafood! 

These huts were just fascinating and Martin was desperate to buy some sea food, but it was just too hot, so we opted for lunch, under the shade of a big umbrella, at the hotel opposite.

Getting tired in the heat and with aching legs we just had to carry on our walk to The Shell, we both love a piece of outdoor sculpture. We'd read about The Shell on line and weren't sure what to expect. Well, nothing could have prepared us for what we found. It was beautiful and fairly quiet, so plenty of photo opportunities, so here it is in all its glory ... from every angle!

I must confess that some of the pictures of The Shell were taken on a return visit, so if you think the sky looks a bit different, that's because it was.

The Shell was the extent of our walk for today. You can carry on along the beach to Thorpeness, but we thought we'd save that for another day. We about turned and headed back the way we'd come, cutting through to the high street at The Moot Hall, where we mooched our way back along to the car. We would definitely be back, as we couldn't carry all that we wanted to buy from the Adnams shop!

We took the easy option, jumped in the car and carried on out to the Martello tower, which can actually be booked to stay in. It was pretty deserted this end of the beach and again, just lovely.

Having had the loveliest of days it was now time to head back for Ebenezer Cottage.

This is our first visit ever to the Suffolk coast and as a starter for 10, Aldeburgh definitely hit the spot. I can't wait to see what else is in store.