A Grand Day Out

Early in June 2020 and the lockdown was finally beginning to be relaxed in the UK.

In England, places were gradually reopening and we were being permitted to have ‘days out’, providing we returned home to sleep and maintained social distancing. It was good to get to this point and although we did feel some anxiety about venturing out we also felt ready to enjoy some time away from the flat.

It is true that since we arrived in Ipswich, one of the things we’ve looked forward to is visiting some of the places and attractions that are available to us locally. Coronavirus and lockdown have deprived us of this for 3 months, so we began to look for a good first place to visit. It needed to be remote and uncrowded, somewhere which was within an hours drive away, a place where we could walk and of course somewhere we wanted to visit.

At this time the National Trust began to open up some of their attractions. There were restrictions and procedures to be followed to do these (more about that shortly). So, we began to look through our membership book and the Trust’s App. for possible places to explore. We settled on Dunwich Heath, which is North East of us on the Suffolk coast and about 30 miles away. It is a vast area of remote coastline and as the description suggests, heathland. This seemed a good choice for our first excursion, so we set about planning the trip.

The day arrived, a picnic was prepared, documentation gathered, sat-nav set and off we went. After a pleasant and non-eventful drive, we came to the National Trust entrance to the Heath. We were greeted by two pleasant staff members, who checked our documents (although they had there own print out of our details) and welcomed us. An introduction to the Heath was made and information which was COVID 19 specific - leave plenty of room when parking, shop and cafe closed but the toilets were open with a regular cleaning programme in place and maintain social distancing., that the National Trust has placed some restrictions and procedures on visits to their newly opened places of interest. This involves booking a ‘timeslot’. Timeslots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. They are released on the Friday prior to the week you want to visit. We looked at all these factors and as everything seemed to fit, decided to book on a Monday. The booking process was then commenced. (Click on the link below to see our destination). 

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunwich-heath-and-beach/trails/dunwich-heath-gorse-walk

Our chosen attraction limited the numbers of people by the need to book a parking place - which has been reduced in number due to the need for social distancing. This involved registering with a company who the National Trust are using for this, called Eventbrite. You were transferred to their site where our details were taken, and request acknowledged. We received confirmation of a parking place by email which is also available on the Eventbrite App. Registering in this way, is I believe a one-off process which will mean it will be easier to book in future. The instructions made it clear that you should print off the booking confirmation or us the app. (so we did both)! As members, the parking would be free to us, but we were also reminded to bring our membership card (although this wasn’t actually necessary on this occasion). The planning was therefore completed, we were now set for the visit.

The day arrived, a picnic was prepared, documentation gathered, sat-nav set and off we went. After a pleasant and non eventful drive, we came to the National Trust entrance to the Heath. We were greeted by two pleasant staff members, who checked our documents (although they had there own print out of our details) and welcomed us. An introduction to the Heath was made and information which was COVID 19 specific - leave plenty of room when parking, shop and cafe closed but the toilets were open with a regular cleaning programme in place and maintain social distancing.

We then set off to find a parking place. There was plenty of parking space and the place we chose overlooked the sea. Our bits and pieces were gathered and we set off on our walk, departing from the former Coastguard Houses. We had printed off the Trust’s suggested walks but failed to look at information board before we set off. This was to prove a mistake. The tracks were clearly marked by coloured posts, but I hadn’t checked which colour we should have been following. Walking was easy, the weather windy and overcast at the start of the walk which was quite near the coastline. However, due to not checking things properly, I soon became confused about which path we should follow. This wasn’t too serious and we were soon back on track. As I’ve already said, walking was easy on a well-worn track, which offered views over the sea and later on the Heath itself. As we turned inland, we gained shelter from the wind. The highlight of the walk had to be the sighting of a doe red deer. She kept her distance but stood gracefully whilst we observed her. Birdlife was also plentiful, with a mixture of seabirds and heathland species. The walk was quiet, although we did come across other walkers. We had our elderly dog, Jerry, with us who loved it. The track had lots of places where you could sit, rest and take in the scenery and calmness. It proved to be a very enjoyable 2.4 miles leisurely stroll, which took us 1.5 hours.

Photographs from our Grand Day Out

On return to the car, we shared our picnic lunch and gave Jerry some well-deserved water. It was good to watch the sea, see the vessels in the distance and once again to be amongst people (whilst continuing to socially isolate). I then took a short walk onto the shingle beach. The tide was on the way out, so I didn’t get a full appreciation of the beach. But it was good to hear the water and smell the seaside air.

The Beach at Dunwich looking South and North

The time had come to set off home and we decided to take a slightly different route. This took us through Leiston, which looked an interesting place. We were particularly drawn to the distant view of the Old Abbey which is somewhere I’d like to visit in the future. Once again, thankfully, we had an uneventful journey. We arrived home, feeling refreshed and happy that we had finally been able to get out, have some exercise and discover a new to us place.

So, if like us, you are a little anxious about venturing out as lockdown is reduced. Providing you have no medical advice otherwise, I’d urge you to do it but plan it carefully. For us, it has undoubtedly proved beneficial giving us the confidence to do it in the future.

It would be good to hear about your own experiences of getting out following lockdown. It is a big step, but providing all the necessary safeguards are taken, one which, I believe, is well worth taking.

Take care, stay safe and enjoy our wonderful natural environment.

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