On a sunny day with cloudy periods we drove to Framlingham Castle the major residence of the Howard family whose well known personages including Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and the Dukes of Norfolk. It is also the place where Mary Tudor was declared Queen of England, so it is place with a slight sense of history. One of the main features are the chimneys of which quite a few survive, the strange thing is that most were for decoration, the Howards wanted a place that looked more like a palatial house than a fortified castle and as chimneys were the status symbol of the day they put up as many as they could.

The castle passed through several hands and buildings were placed inside the walls including a poor house which is the only surviving one, parts of which were built in the 12th century, more was added in the 17th and 18th century. It was apparently a very enlightened place where people were treated well and given work to do, it continued to operate until the mid 1800's when a new workhouse was built in a nearby parish and the inmates transferred, not something they looked forward to as workhouses had a bad reputation.

On to the seaside resort of Southward where we spent a bit of time waiting for the sun to come out to take some photographs. I was also looking forward to trying cockles, as mussels had been sampled and liked, this was the next to try. No, even with vinegar they were tasteless, scrub that one off the list. The skies were looking ominous so after a walk on the pier and a Costa in town we headed for the rectory.

Peter and David invited their next door neighbours John and Jill and a couple from the church, Dave and Jilly to a BBQ. I must say with the culinary curate on the grill and the wine flowing a good night was had by all.

Day 70 - Thursday - Framlingham Castle and Southwold