Sutton Hoo was the first call - its the site of a burial ground which includes a grave containing what is thought to be the body of a king from the 8th century, with his long boat and his weapons and a face mask. The workmanship is impressive for that time in England, although not as sophisticated as Greek or Egyptian articles from much earlier. But the mask and the boat burial are very unusual for this country. Most of the actual objects, which were only found in 1939, are in the British Museum but there are some excellent replicas in the visitor centre. This centre is very new and delivers a lot of information without it ever seeming overwhelming. TSH and Diva saw the burial mounds in the pouring rain but they made it round the guided walk.
The excavations were done by Basil Brown, who was invited to dig by the local land owner. There is a recording of his voice, in response to a challenge that his knowledge was not great enough for him to be trusted with what turned out to be an important task. He declared that he was well qualified, because at age 15 he had gained his school certificate in geography, astronomy and archaeology!!!
The rest of the day was a bit disappointing because of worsening weather and visits to Aldeburgh and Woodbridge were extremely brief. And the forecast is bad for the next few days.
TSH had a couple of disappointments on the first night. The portion sizes in the restaurant are extremely small. The starters were a couple of mini (very mini) beetroots with tiny pieces of breaded cheese. All tasty and artfully arranged but without sustenance for someone who had eaten only one large piece of chocolate and Guinness cake since his full English breakfast. And then he thought he had turn-down chocolate. Diva was a bit doubtful as the box on the pillow had 'Molton Brown' on it so there was a risk of it tasting a bit soapy. And it turned out to be 'temple soother'. TSH is not a believer in such products as 'temple soother' but Diva thought it smelled nice.
No comments:
Post a Comment