North Sea Cycle Route Stage 4 - Colchester to Framlingham
Grundisburgh Church
Ride overview
You may be familiar with the sort of video put out to advertise a long distance route; a couple on town bikes and no luggage, their hair blowing in the wind, smiling and not a bead of sweat upon them. They ride through a pretty countryside of trees, fields, coast and picturesque towns. They stop for a kiss, the sunlight sparkles on the water, their health is drunk with a glass of local wine. Well, today might just be one of those days for you; when your wheels just quietly spin round without undue effort. In your video - of yourself smiling away as you ride - there’ll be the round church towers of East Anglia, the coloured houses, and the gentle farming country of Suffolk. And at the end of an easy day, you’ll be sweat-less and fresh. Kissing and wine though are not guaranteed.
Ride Practicalities
The route is well signed throughout as NCN 1
START/FINISH: Colchester/Framlingham DISTANCE: 90km TOTAL ASCENT: 660m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: Mainly quiet country lanes with little traffic. Traffic-free cycle paths through the towns. RECOMMENDED CAFÈS/PUBS/ACCOMMODATION There are no recommended re-fuel stops, nor accommodation suggestions. Part of the fun of cycle-touring is for each individual to discover their own places, based on budget, mood and need. NEARBY MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Colchester, Ipswich
Places to visit; Sutton Hoo, Flatford Mill, Dedham Vale, Framlingham Castle, LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: NCN1 Stage 3 , NCN 1 stage 5, NCN13, NCN, 150
Ride Notes
Leaving central Colchester is straightforward; well signed (NCN 1)traffic-free cycle paths take you through Castle Gardens where there are many memorials to those who fought in the ‘forgotten wars’ of the twentieth century; Korea, Malaya, Aden and others. Thence it is on many quiet suburban roads out into the countryside of Dedham Vale, and AONB.
Memorial to those who fought in the Malaya insurgency, Castle Gardens, Colchester
The Vale was immortalised John Constable. You’ll have seen the Haywain and The Vale of Dedham on many biscuit tins and posters. The oaks and dark green hedges are still there, but the elms and the cows drinking in the river, are no longer. As you ride, you’ll notice that many of the farmhouse walls are patterned. This is known as ‘pargeting’ and it is an East Anglian speciality. The name derives from a Middle English term, ‘parget’, meaning to ‘throw about, or rough cast’. Wet plaster is thrown onto outside walls onto which geometric figures, reliefs and patterns are etched or stamped. The most famous example is the Ancient House in the heart of Ipswich.
pargeting
Ipswich has been a port since at least the seventh century, trading with the Rhineland and other North Sea ports. Whilst the centre is worth a wander, the rest of town is nondescript. The port area is being redeveloped in the 21st century style of soul-less glass towers, huddled around a marina and the suburbs define the word dreary.
Ipswich
The whole purpose of the National Cycle Network is to avoid traffic, so that a ‘responsible child of twelve can cycle freely and safely’. This means that whilst avoiding busy roads, the routes weave through often rather dreary suburbs of Britain’s towns. So whilst you may think that dull old Ipswich goes on and on, it’s worth remembering that the National Cycle Routes is more than a network of long distance routes. Locally, the routes double up as connections between outlying estates and their local amenities - schools, shops, health centres and the like. So whilst you might be grumbling at the amount of visual stamina required to get through Ipswich, your ride is at least as traffic-quiet as can be. The planners have done their best to disguise the dross by calling one of the districts California.
You emerge finally into Woodbridge, an historic, riverside town known for both its plethora of antique shops and its tide mill. Across the river is Sutton Hoo, the Anglo-Saxon burial place. As you gently drift on through the country towards the day’s end, untroubled by the demands of hills and thinking of that cool glass at the day’s end, give a thought to the life and death dramas being played out around you; sparrowhawks stalk pigeons, rooks are digging for worms and even small mammals. The grey clouds of gulls being pulled by tractors across the fields, are squabble over the live pickings unearthed by the plough. For most creatures in this gentle pastorale, there is a daily struggle to stay alive.
Framlingham Castle
The day ends at the walls of Framlingham’s fortress. This monster of a stronghold, once home to the Dukes of Norfolk, housed amongst others, Queen Mary as she took stock over the Protestant challenge to her accession. English Heritage have done a marvellous job in de-sensitising centuries worth of bloody and cruel goings on and it’s a pleasant place to wander at the day’s end. The village is pretty and worth lingering in, especially once the majority of visitors have returned to their outlying Airbandbs for the night.
Every route on this website has been carefully researched as well as ridden. However situations on the ground can change quickly. If you know of changes to this route, or cafes, pubs and the like which you think other cyclists need to know about, feel free to share your thoughts below.
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