A couple of weeks ago I made my annual trip to Dunwich for fish and chips at The Flora Tea rooms and a walk on the beach. Over the years mine and another family have met there on Mothering Sunday, but this year the numbers were somewhat depleted so it was just me and my mum.
Dunwich, or what is left of it as most of it has fallen into the sea, is typical of the Suffolk Coastline. A vast expanse of heath meets the shoreline at a dune of pebbles that cascade down towards the sea. We had great fun rummaging amongst the pebbles to look for hag stones which can be hung up together to keep witches away. If you are lucky, or spend a large amount of time looking, you can find pieces of amber mixed in amongst the stones.
We started off by having lunch at the tea rooms. It is a simple wooden shack and it serves large plates of fish and chips with pots of tea all on old fashioned green ceramic plates. In the very British tradition of “if the sun is shining make the most of it” we sat outside even though the air was a little nippy.
After lunch we walked off our chips braving it over the dunes and into the wind. There is something very simple about Dunwich, next to the tea rooms are a few boats and dotted up the coast might be a few people fishing or walking, but other than that it is really empty.
Aside from the chips and the beautiful scenery the thing I enjoy about going to Dunwich is stopping at Westleton, the village before Dunwich, and visiting the second hand book shop. Set in a Methodist church, this is one of those quirky little finds. The books are piled up in bookcases or boxes, but all are labelled by type. A door out to the back office has a sign that says “Hit can with stick for attention” and sure enough if you do this the proprietor will come out and answer your questions and even offer you a cup of tea or coffee. I picked up a couple of 1940’s penguin classics to add to my ever-growing collection…
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