NORWICH — I left Colchester with a bit more planning this morning. I have been in the habit of spending some time looking at the road atlas just before driving away. The driveway for Charlie Brown’s is right on the corner of a very busy roundabout and backing out is fraught with danger except my host very kindly stood in the road and stopped the traffic whole I backed out—so there was no time to look at the map once I was in the car.

I headed north to Bury St Edmunds and Ickworth House, an eccentric stately home built by a family seemingly never out of the headlines: the Herveys. The house consists of a large rotunda and two wings. Originally the wings were intended to display the family’s collection of art while the rotunda would be used as living quarters. The rotunda is now used to display the art collection while the east wing is a family-run hotel. The west wing hosts a restaurant and gift shop. One of the features of the house is its library with only two walls. 

Then it was back on the road to Norwich. I arrived late afternoon in heavy traffic but managed to find the Bed and Breakfast without too much trouble. It helped that it was on a main road.

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