Spent yesterday at Suffolk Punch Trust, which we last visited only very recently! OK, as this blog entry unequivocally confirms, I told a little white lie and we last visited in October 2018. In my defence, in that post I did say the Charitable Trust would warrant return visits but I did not state over what time period. There must be some time and space continuum where seven years is but a heartbeat but in our current universe I would have to concur that I may have been a little ambitious with my anticipated timings.
I actually documented a little of the Trust’s history in the previous post so will try not to repeat much of that here. I will just introduce the visit by stating that Suffolk Punch acquired the Stud Farm along with 120 acres, stallions, mares, geldings and youngstock in 2006 and in 2012 the Visitor Centre was officially opened by Princess Anne in order for it to become a successful tourist attraction (thereby of course repeating myself). Two museums were created along with a Heritage Garden and farm walks. We can again report that the Feed Room café serves excellent coffee and food but, unlike last time, we split the recreational interludes with a little more active exploring of the Trust’s attractions. So, firstly we had a look around the Heritage Museum which, although fairly small, was well set out and gave an excellent overview of life and work in Suffolk as well as exhibits on the history of the Suffolk Punch breed, the 250 year old Colony Stud and The Suffolk Horse Society. It also gave an insight into rural life and what people did when not working on the farm. There was much more, but rather than quote verbatim I’d rather just direct you to the Trust’s own website.
After the aforementioned coffee break, we then undertook one of the heritage walks, although we didn’t specifically follow any of the “fun trails“. We started at the main stable block, which included the harness room, where we found everything that is needed both to work and to show a Suffolk Punch horse. We ended up doing a combination of the blue and green trails before we returned to the visitor centre and café for a pleasant lunch. In order to actually get a bit of exercise from the visit, we then went back out to the trails and ended up taking on those elements of the red trail that we missed pre lunch. Understandably, it was on the trails where we saw the equine rationale and raison d’être for the Trust’s work, some of which can be seen in the collage on the left. All phenomenally monotonous to read about but important I think for two old codgers quite bereft of regular exercise. On the way we also had a somewhat cursory look at the Implement Barn, where we caught up on the numerous horse drawn vehicles and implements – all of which are in working condition. The essential vehicles of a Suffolk Farm were showcased, including the tumbrel, the harvest wagon and the road wagon. Millers wagons are also present, as is the parade vehicle of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, and a wonderful furniture pantechnicon (I had to look up the last one, you might too).
We ended the day by visiting the Heritage Garden, a pleasant garden stocked with plants either bred by Suffolk people or associated with the county. Apparently, it has been awarded ‘Country Collection‘ status by Plant Heritage, although in the interests of full transparency I have no idea whether that award is of any value – remiss of me not to know. (OK, looked them up, very worthwhile). On this occasion it had the added appeal of being decked out with a range of Halloween ‘exhibits’ that we thought were quite nicely showcased, although we both remarked that it looked as though S&G had been down to enact a dress rehearsal.
It’s the sort of place where you can spend a leisurely couple of hours or, if you have a specific interest, enjoy walking, or entertain the kids, take up a full day taking it all in. But, after taking in the Pets Paddock and obligatory purchases in the gift shop, we decided that a very enjoyable four hours was more than enough and headed home!