What's it like in Suffolk?

[Andrew_Culture]

Why? I lived in Leiston for a few years. It's OK to move there now I have left the area. Seriously, Leiston wasn't a bad place. Bit of drug problems, but where isn't. I preferred it to Ipswich, which has to be the armpit of East Anglia. I hated Ipswich. I lived in Sudbury for many years and my kids were bought up there. It is a lovely place to live with much superb cycling country.

I would love to move back to Sudbury. They are demolishing the estate we live on now in Harlow and completely rebuilding it. We will all be rehoused in the new properties. We are hoping that with a new house we will have a good chance to do a mutual exchange to Sudbury.

I was being a bit silly, I'm from Wickham Market

 

[Jon George]

Good cycling, but out of Ipswich you have to be wary of black 4x4s, tractors, and suicidal muntjac deer. Interestingly, while I was born, weaned and reared here, I still do not know what all the people do at a lay-by on the old Felixstowe Road near Levington. And the town centre on a Saturday night has a certain charm ...

 

[Glow worm]

It's a fine part of the world. My favourite spot is possibly Framlingham, but there are so many lovely places it's hard to choose between them. A walk at Minsmere, then a pint in Orford followed by a night time stroll around Dunwich, miles from the nearest streetlight under a billion stars- you can't beat it!

(Haverhill is a bit of a dump though)

 

[alicat]

Better than Norfolk - see the Cromer thread.

 

[Jon George]

A walk at Minsmere, then a pint in Orford followed by a night time stroll around Dunwich

Really? That's some detour for a pint! Probably the best explanation of how we roll here in Suffolk. The Eels Foot at Eastbridge used to a great little boozer.

 

[compo]

Really? That's some detour for a pint! Probably the best explanation of how we roll here in Suffolk. The Eels Foot at Eastbridge used to a great little boozer.

The Eels Foot did good food as well. I have had several meals in their garden during the summer.

 

[SimonJKH]

I think it's a great place for cycling. Some great views when the weather is better. All the suffolk cycle chatters I've met have been totally top-notch. And who needs hills anyway?

 

[Jenkins]

... Interestingly, while I was born, weaned and reared here, I still do not know what all the people do at a lay-by on the old Felixstowe Road near Levington. ...

Especially the old guy in the silver Corsa Van.

You know that film Deliverance...

That's Norfolk. (where the hand shake has been replaced with a high six)

If you base yourself to the north of Ipswich you'll have access to a great variety of rides. To the east and north east of Suffolk it's mostly flat and open while to west there's gentle rolling "hills" and the lanes are more enclosed, while to the north it's a mixture of the two (or that's how it seems to me).

To the south is Essex...

 

[dellzeqq]

To the south is Essex...

a much underrated county.

 

[BAtoo]

I still do not know what all the people do at a lay-by on the old Felixstowe Road near Levington...

You really want to avoid there, I pass it frequentl when I go sailing nearby, its never empty and is apparently the local gay dogging site......

Ipswich on a Saturday night leaves little to the imagination - the girls must be very cold in winter !

Saying that I've been here 30+years and love it but I'm still an in-comer

The cycling is good but relatively flat, not a long hill anywhere, very muddy roads in the autumn from the sugar beet harvest. House prices not too silly but I'm not too sure where we sit vs. Cumbria. Some decent pubs & real ale, some very good resturants, London connections are good by rail but a bit iffy otherwise.
Never lived ner Ipswich/Felixstowe but there's some nice areas around there.

 

[MarkF]

I worked for a short while in Felixstowe. Coming from a "normal" area I found that you can't get anywhere fast, trying to just get out of Suffolk or Norfolk takes forever. People told me that Felixstowe was a dump, I liked it very much.

 

[Dave 123]

It's a fine part of the world. My favourite spot is possibly Framlingham, but there are so many lovely places it's hard to choose between them. A walk at Minsmere, then a pint in Orford followed by a night time stroll around Dunwich, miles from the nearest streetlight under a billion stars- you can't beat it!

(Haverhill is a bit of a dump though)

Glow worm, how very dare you. Used to do my weekly shopping there when I lived in West Wratting. Some days I'd be so confused, thinking I'd teleported to St Tropez by mistake. It was the glamorous locals and sea air that fooled me!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I worked for a short while in Felixstowe. Coming from a "normal" area I found that you can't get anywhere fast, trying to just get out of Suffolk or Norfolk takes forever. People told me that Felixstowe was a dump, I liked it very much.

My dad reckons the best thumb about Felixstowe is that it is where the A14 starts so you can get up a good speed upon your escape.

 

[dellzeqq]

My dad reckons the best thumb about Felixstowe is that it is where the A14 starts so you can get up a good speed upon your escape.

your Dad is wrong. There's a decent shopping street, a lovely (and lively) seafront boulevard overlooking beach huts. To the west of the prom steeply sloped streets take you up to graceful red-brick villas, probably built just before the Great War, some with high flint and brick garden walls. There are dutch gables, stone quoining and stone urns that hint at past prosperity. The clapboard houses on Underhill Road look as if they've been there a while. To the north of the town there's a couple of 'modern' blocks of flats from the 30s, overlooking the flat reeded land that holds a golf course on the left of the road to the Deben ferry.

Felixstowe is one of those towns (Southend is another) that repay time with pleasure. The wind is cold, but the sand is fine, and the sky is as Constable painted it. It ain't Southwold, but it's no worse for that.

One bit of advice. Don't come out of the pub at Eastbridge pissed and head gaily north. When the road turns to sand your wheels will stop and you will fall off. Take it from an expert…...

 

[Fnaar]

IWe're the most densely populated county after London

Is that true? See here, for example (not actually ranked by density, but it is given... Suffolk, at density of 189 peeps/km sq is way down the list...
http://www.centreforenglishpolicyst...nties/list-of-english-counties-by-population/