The words 'The Real England' are often overworked (by people like me) when enthusing about a destination but in the case of the county of Suffolk, this week's 'star' of my Britain Insider column, it holds more than a grain of truth. 2 hours northeast of London and home to the cruise port of Harwich, there are very few major roads, motorways and railway lines carving their way through the rolling landscape, preventing it from becoming a major commuting community for London. It means that the county's attractive villages and market towns remain largely as they have been for centuries.
There are several names associated with the area that you'll be familiar with, and they include the artists John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough, writers like Ruth Rendell, P D James and Dick Francis and one of the 20th century's most famous composers, Benjamin Britten.
This week's Read More will take you a place of wooded vales, timber-framed houses, villages of pink-washed houses, moated castles, grand houses, award-winning gardens, great abbeys, cathedrals and medieval churches. Their 15th and 16th century pubs are pretty enticing as well.
Welcome to the England you've been looking for. Read on.
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