A stray starling at Orford

April 28, 2013

AFTER a lazy morning we’re off to Orford, where a rose-coloured starling has been seen over the last few days.

Passing the Friday Street Farm Shop we decide to drop in for some supplies, and are very glad we did. Delicious russet apple juice, free range chicken and pork, and smoked chilli cheese are just some of the delights we bagged. Unfortunately we forgot to go back round to the veg aisle, limiting our options for tonight’s menu quite severely.

Again, it’s bright sunshine but freezing. Blackthorn is coming into blossom along the lanes as we head into Orford. There’s no trouble at all locating the starling, which ought really to be in eastern Europe. Because as we approach the village there are a gaggle of men in camouflage jackets with massive cameras and telescopes on tripods, all trained on a suburban-looking garden.

The owner of the garden says he’s surprised the poor bird’s lasted this long, as he has two cats. But there it is, perching very obligingly on top of a TV aerial where even I can make out its distinguishing features.

The village, with its pretty redbrick cottages and its black shacks on the beach, is looking very springlike as long as you don’t venture out of the warm van into the bitter wind for more than a couple of seconds.

We park and buy ice cream – why?

Then we sit in the Hymer on the quay eating lunch, watching a cute little river cruise restaurant boat berthing right in front of us, and David points out the derelict atomic weapons research establishment across the water.

He also points out a refuge on stilts, built to protect National Trust nature reserve wardens in the event of flooding, which makes me wonder why you’d build an atomic research facility in a flood zone.

We head back to Aldeburgh, where David drops me for a little window-shopping while he has a nap in the car park. The town has a very attractive mix of quirky old buildings, and I drop in for a quick tour of the Thompson’s gallery, where I’d like to linger longer.

Another stop-off on the way back to our Lowestoft site, for a look at the substantial ruins of Leiston Abbey, which must have been hugely impressive in its medieval heyday but which I found a bit unnerving, for reasons unknown.