Wednesday, 21 January 2015

A Sunny Southwold New Year Celebration!

It's been a year since I wrote my 'A Perfect New Year in the Seaside Town of Southwold' blog post where I introduced Southwold and picked my must-dos, and, as our trip is an annual celebration, here's 2014's travel review!


We arrived on the evening two days before New Year's Eve to get back into the swing of the seaside style of life and where else could we go first but The Lord Nelson - Southwold's favourite pub which stocks Southwold's famous Adnams beer. We had a lovely catch-up with friends and family who had arrived before and of course sampled their simple, homemade meals including fish and chips, veggie chilli and burgers!


There's lots of walking to be had in Southwold; on the beach, the pier, down the little streets but my favourite is the blustery Southwold to Walberwick walk which we do every year with the dogs. The walk takes you along the beach, through the harbour and across the River Blyth ending up in the pretty little village of Walberswick which contains one of my favourite pubs, The Bell where, I only discovered this year, they do the most amazing hot chocolate - perfect on a wintery day.



New Year's Eve came upon us and because we have three energetic dogs there was no relaxing before partying the night away but instead a very long walk from Southwold to Dunwich. I say very long, it was 8 miles but really enjoyable with ever-changing scenery from beaches, to woods, villages to fields filled with windmills. There were lots of photo opportunities on the way to The Ship - a lovely little pub in Dunwich. Getting a table was a struggle in this popular place but we managed to find the perfect place to sit all eight of us (and the dogs!). Here, we had planned on a light lunch ready for the journey back but the fresh-fish menu was too tempting so we stuffed ourselves and got a taxi ride back to Southwold!


It wouldn't be the same if we didn't see in the New Year with drinks at The Lord Nelson - Adnams Fizz all 'round, followed by fireworks on the beach. There's such a lovely atmosphere in Southwold on New Year's Eve... everyone meets at the beach, brings fireworks and the display starts before the countdown begins and Auld Lang Syne is sung by all. We returned to the house for a little party of our own before venturing down to the beach in the early hours with some wine and music... the perfect New Year's Eve!


After a morning walk to the pier, we decided to do something we had never done before in Southwold to celebrate the 1st day of 2015 - afternoon tea at The Swan - how very sophisticated! Some of the group were a little too jaded to come for delicious sandwiches, cakes and the most enormous scones I've ever seen so we had extra portions which no-one complained about! Despite it being 'afternoon tea', it's great in Southwold as everything is very laid-back and wellies, scarves and thick jackets are always acceptable!


A final run along the stunning shoreline next to the famous, brightly-coloured beach huts saw the end of another absolutely perfect stay in Southwold. I urge anyone who hasn't been to go, even for the day, although a day will leave you wanting to return as we're lucky enough to do every year.


This year's highlights (see others in my previous post!)...
  • ·         The Lord Nelson every time - the best pub in Southwold!
  • ·         Despite the moans the 8 mile walk from Southwold to Dunwich was a healthy highlight

This year's must dos...
  • ·         Afternoon tea at The Swan - arrive hungry!
  • ·         The walk from Southwold to Walberswick's The Bell for a gorgeous hot chocolate



Jane x

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