The Stour Estuary is divided down the middle between Essex and Suffolk; on the Essex side the road runs east from Manningtree and ‘The Walls’ at Mistley to Harwich past a coastline of woodland and wetland nature reserves and, near Wrabness, the House for Essex. On the Suffolk side, it is equally wild with nothing except saltmarshes and mudflats until Shotley Gate. We stayed for a birthday weekend in a beautiful, old Suffolk farmhouse of deep red with lovely gardens that run down to the estuary. From posts on social media, it seems to be owned by Griff Rhys Jones.

Just above the farmhouse, St Peter’s Church has a stained glass window to mark the millenium; it is described as being ‘absolutely outstanding of its kind, at once enthralling, theologically articulate and inclusive. I remember Mel Smith saying precisely the same thing in one of those head to head conversations in Alas Smith and Jones.

On the coastal path there is a good view of the Royal Hospital School; the buildings are built to the same regimented Queen Anne design and line the hill crest like an army before battle. The disciplined architecture beneath an imposing clock tower is unsurprising given that the school was, historically, the ‘Cradle of the Navy’ with a long tradition of educating the children of seafarers. Perhaps a House for Suffolk looking over to the House for Essex would loosen things up a little.

The estuary is shallow and a pair of fishermen wade in to cast presumably for bass, then walk up with the tide. There was little boat traffic and the estuary was quiet and empty; the birds idled on the foreshore enjoying the easy days of high summer. The peace is broken by a ‘screeching’ Sandwich tern repeatedly diving for fish just offshore, an anxious, ‘chipping’ redshank which must have its young hidden in the saltmarsh and a handful of exuberant oystercatchers.