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EAT AND DRINKLONG MELFORD
Bizzi Beans Café inexpensive
Handy for Kentwell Hall, this place
offers home-made scones and cakes –
including boiled fruitcake. Enjoy, too,
baguettes and rolls, filled with free-range
chicken and eggs, and speciality coffee.
Cherry Lane Garden Centre, High
Street, CO10 9DH; 01787 464 800;
http://www.bizzibeans.net
Scutchers moderate
Tip-top cooking from a fairly short à la
carte menu offers dishes such as fillet of
wild halibut on a prawn, saffron and
bacon chowder and pan-fried calves’
liver with onion gravy. There’s also a
choice of two fixed-price menus.
Westgate St, CO10 9DP; 01787 310 200;
http://www.scutchers.com
STOKE-BY-NAYLAND
Crown Inn moderate
A changing menu based on local
ingredients includes “catch of the day”,
Bradfield potatoes and Colchester
asparagus, washed down with local
ales. Upmarket but friendly. Eleven
bedrooms and great breakfasts.
Park St, CO6 4SE; 01206 262 001;
http://www.crowninn.netq Stratford St Mary
Suffolk; CO7 6YG
The southernmost village in Suffolk,
Stratford St Mary is another “Constable
Country” location. On the road in, look
out for the fine pair of striped half-
timbered houses, the Ancient House
and Priest’s House (not open to the
public), opposite the Post Office. Carry
on under the A12 to find flint-faced
St Mary’s Church. The building is
mainly 15th century, but parts of it
may date back to the 1200s. Further
along the road (once known as Water
Lane) stands Ravenys, a private
house immortalized in Constable’s
painting A House on Water Lane.
ª Continue on B1029 over A12 to
Dedham and park by church.
w Dedham
Essex; CO7 6AZ
This village retains some fine timber-
framed and early-Georgian buildings,
and the Church of St Mary the Virgin,
built in 1492, whose graceful 40-m
(131-ft) tower appears in Constable’s
paintings – his work The Ascension is
on display inside. The painter attended
the Old Grammar School, founded by
Elizabeth I. Head east on Brook St and
follow the road to the Sir Alfred
Munnings Art Museum (open Apr–Sep:
Sun, Wed pm; Jul, Sep: open Wed, Thu, Sat,
e East Bergholt
Suffolk; CO7 6UP
The birthplace of John Constable, this
village boasts more pubs than any
other in Suffolk. The “ruined” flint towers
of the Church of St Mary the Virgin
were never completed. The bells,
however, had already been cast and
now hang in a timber bell cage dating
from 1531 – they are rung on Sunday
mornings. Head down Flatford Rd
(clearly signed) to visit Willy Lott’s
Cottage and Flatford Mill – settings for
two of Constable’s famous paintings,
The Hay Wain and The Mill Stream.
Nearby, there are lovely walks on both
sides of the River Stour and rowing
boats can be rented for waterborne
adventures. The lovely East Bergholt
Place (Mar–Sep: open daily; http://www.
placeforplants.co.uk), just off the B1070,
described as “a Cornish garden in
Suffolk”, and laid out 1900–14, features
an arboretum and specialist plant
centre in a Victorian walled garden.Above left 16th-century half-timbered house,
Stratford St Mary Above centre Sign for a
15th-century coaching inn in pretty Dedham
Above right View of the River Stour from the
bridge, East BergholtDRIVE 10: The River Cam and Constable Country
DAY TRIP OPTIONS
Take in the area’s wealth of beautiful
and historic buildings alongside
idyllic English scenery.A University Education
In Cambridge 1 , enjoy the walk
around stunning architecture, some of
it over 800 years old. Picnic and punt
along the Cam, then drive the short
distance to Grantchester 2 for tea,
before returning to Cambridge.Follow Trumpington St, there and back.
Quintessential England
Staying at Saffron Walden 3 , see
its town hall and museum, before
touring the mansion at Audley End
4. Then off to Thaxted 5 , for more
half-timbered buildings and church.
Drive on to pretty Finchingfield 6 ,
and finish the day with a visit to
Hedingham Castle 7.
Follow the drive instructions.Creative Inspiration
From Long Melford 9 , see the two
great halls with links to popular
children’s books. Visit Sudbury 8 , to
learn about Gainsborough, then take
the Constable tour through Stoke-
by-Nayland 0 , Stratford St Mary q,
and Dedham w, and East Bergholt
e, to see the places and countryside
that inspired the great artist.
Follow the drive instructions.Eat and Drink: inexpensive, under £25; moderate, £25–£50; expensive, over £50Sun pm; http://www.siralfredmunnings.co.uk), a
showcase for this artist, famous for his
studies of racehorses, who was also an
excellent painter of landscapes.
ª From the centre, take Manningtree
Rd, left at T-junction, left onto A137 and
left at roundabout (still A137). Go left on
B1070 to East Bergholt. Park by church.