Dunwich Heath

The last day of our holiday, which had flown by all too quickly. we were out of the cottage by 10am (amazingly) and headed straight to the National Trust tearooms at Dunwich Heath for brunch. Freshly baked sausage rolls and pasties went down well, though I opted for the slightly healthier home-made mushroom soup - delicious!

Thanks to Gemma's paw we couldn't walk far, but she managed the short trek down to the beach and we lazed on the sand, in weather that was warm and almost sunny! Pete and Chris explored the cliffs for beetles while the rest of us chatted and skimmed stones on the sea. Eventually it got warm enough for chris and Lizzy to brave the rather murky looking north Sea - they told me it was very enjoyable and I was quite happy to take their word!

Then it was back to the tea-room for afternoon tea and cakes - before the older contingent had a quick walk round Dunwich Heath. The heathland in the photograph is close to the cliff-top and is an excellent example of maritime heath dominated by bright pink bell heather and golden dwarf gorse. In the background you can see the tea-rooms that played such an important part in our day!

We left for home just after 5pm, but as I was worried we would get caught in the rush-hour traffic we stopped for an hour on Westleton Heath NNR - which turned out to be one of my favourite places of the holiday. The younger boys and dogs stayed in the car - I think they'd had their fill of Suffolk heaths!!