A CITY & VILLAGE TOURS NEARLY NEW DAYTRIP

JOHN

CONSTABLES

STOUR VALLEY

John Constable, perhaps the greatest and most original of the great British landscape artists was born, lived and painted in his studio in East Bergholt and his father owned nearby Flatford Mill. The tranquil garden at East Bergholt Place is often referred to as the Cornish garden in Suffolk. The tour fee includes morning coffee and lunch at a fine country pub and a top notch Blue Badge tour guide.

Please meet the guide at 10.30am in East Bergholt, birthplace of John Constable for morning refreshments. You’ll be coming back to this picture postcard pub for lunch but first we will take a short transfer to Flatford Mill . Of the wide meadows of the Stour Valley Constable said “I love every stile and stump, and every lane”. And if he were with you today, walking along the peaceful lane to the mill it wouldn’t look much different to him than when he painted it 200 years ago – though he might ask what became of the elms.

Back in East Bergholt a roast beef or vegetarian nut roast lunch is served. Group members can treat themselves to desserts if they fancy one on the day. After lunch you can stroll across the road to the church where Constable was baptised and see the very unusual bell cage in the churchyard.

The garden and arboretum at East Bergholt Place benefits from a mild and wonderful woodland microclimate. The 20-acre Cornish Garden in Suffolk was laid out a hundred years ago by the owners great-grandfather who subscribed to the plant hunting expeditions of the Scottish Indiana Jones George Forrest. With meandering paths and gentle slopes the garden is particularly beautiful in the spring when early displays of snowdrops, magnolias, rhododendrons and camellias are followed by the fritillary and wild flower meadow but come summer the rambling roses and hydrangeas come into their own. Through all seasons the unusual shrubs and topiary yew hedges are impressive and in Autumn when Constable Country takes on beautiful tones this garden too looks spectacular as the trees and shrubs change colour and are covered in fruit. There’s an excellent specialist plant centre and café in the Victorian walled garden. We’ll make tracks for home at 4.45pm.

Adults & Seniors: £31

Available Monday to

Wednesday only March to

end September 2017.

5 miles

1