Dedham to Flatford Mill- standing in the Constable's footsteps

The day was glorious and shining blue on Tuesday and CBC and I had a yearn to wander in fields of green so we headed off to the Essex/Suffolk border to visit Constable Country, namely Dedham and Flatford Mill.  The countryside around here is wonderfully beautiful and I really recommend coming here.

Parking in Dedham, we walked down towards the river to make the gentle saunter along the river Stour. The sky was brilliant blue and it felt fairly warm in the sun.

Fairly soon, due to the meandering of the river, we had to take a woodland path.

Every tree was lovingly wrapped in ivy

We reached the bridge where we could cross the river. CBC and I paused a moment to watch the almost mirror-like river.

A canoe came along, drenched in sunshine. I called out cheerfully, "Are you having a nice time?" to which I received a reply which was full of calm and joy at the world, "Ah yes, wonderful,"

We looked over to the other side of the bridge to watch them flow under.

Continuing our journey, the living was easy, the ground soft, flat and springy.

The meanders of the river came to meet us again and some mature cygnets.  The trees were curiously bristly.

The tree below looked exactly to be like a transfigured ogre leering at CBC as he past in futile hunger!

We curved with the river towards our destination.

We soon came to the picturesque bridge near Flatford Mill

Many of the old thatched buildings from Constable's time remain.

As we walked along the road, we saw this curious sculpture of old tools.

Finally, we reached Willy Lott's house: here is a link to Constable's painting of this:

We sat here a while to get a feel of the atmosphere- it is serene and beautiful apart from the streams of school students.



Unfortunately this is private residence but it is nice to be able to get this close. There is a National Trust visitors centre and tea room here too.


Here is a link to Constable's painting of this


Last time we visited here, I fell in love with this scenic house. Look at it, what a view to look out on!

There were many swans, geese and ducks swimming about.

Here is a link to Constable's painting of this area (not quite the same)


Finally, a group of teenage girls were walking with their teacher and asked very loudly- "How do swans wee? Do they wee? Where does it come out of??" and began scrutinizing the swans bottoms as they ducked into the water.  To my amusement, I absentmindedly scrutinized their bottoms too as they dived.  The girls pointed out all sorts of things and it did strike me as funny!

Finally, we headed back toward Dedham for some lunch. It was a wonderful day and it is such a beautiful place, I can highly recommend it. Have you been?xx

If you want to visit here, it is surprisingly close to Manningtree station on the Ipswich line from London. You can walk from there to Flatford Mill and then on to Dedham- the journey in reverse.