Lavenham

 I had long wanted to visit the renowned village of Lavenham, but it really isn't accessible by public transport as day trip from London. But my visit to James in Bury St Edmunds gave me the excuse.

The reason to visit Lavenham is just the opportunity to wander around its medieval streets. In the medieval period Lavenham was one of the richest towns in England due to the wool trade. As wool became ever less important to the nation as an industry, the town's fortunes reverted to being those of a country village. With the result that all those fine houses that in a very prosperous town would have been demolished and upgraded to something more modern in the 18th, and then again in the 19th and again in the 20th centuries instead were merely patched up for the modest local farm workers. And so have remarkably survived in tact and in large numbers.

The only catch of course is that the village has become a tourist trap with most shops now being either a gift shop or a tea shop. But it is all extremely picturesque.

The Wool Hall is now a museum. A rather small one. Don't come to Lavenham expecting large amounts of entertainment.

The Wool Hall is definitely the stand out place if only for its sheer size.

The orange house below is unsurprisingly known as the Crooked House

We diverted into the very pretty Swan hotel for a decent lunch. The soup was delicious.