The Scallop

Thursday
Today we were returning north, ready to take Laura to Manchester airport tomorrow morning for her return to Kuwait. Andrew was also leaving today, while Janet, Peter and Judy return home tomorrow. However we spent the morning with them, visiting Aldeburgh. We first drove to the Scallop, a steel sculpture by Suffolk-based artist Maggie Hambling, on the shingle beach between Aldeburgh and Thorpeness, in honour of Benjamin Britten, whose home was in Aldeburgh. Printed across the top are the words “I hear those voices that will not be drowned”, from his opera Peter Grimes. Apparently, the sculpture created huge controversy when it was first erected in 2003, people signing petitions to demand its removal, and it suffered from vandalism on several occasions. However, it’s still there, and I rather like it - I don’t understand what all the fuss was about! We then walked along the coast into town and went for a wander around, passing various huts along the beach selling fresh fish - one of them had a sign reading “ Fresh Fish, anything fresher is still swimming”! At this point, we decided to say are farewells to Peter, Judy and Janet and head north, as I wanted to visit the historic town of Lavenham on our way. By the time we got there, it was lunchtime, so we had lunch at a pub on the market square, then went for a quick walk around the town. It really warrants much more time - there are several historic buildings you can visit the interiors, and we didn’t have time to get to it’s magnificent church, but at least we got a peek. I have included a photograph of Aldeburgh, taken from the Town steps, and one of Lavenham as extras. On our return journey, the A14 was really slow going around the north of Cambridge, but then things freed up and we had a good journey back to Roger’s Dad’s.