Sunday 21 October 2018

Relaxing in Rumburgh

Where do country folk go on holiday? Well for us, it's not the city or even the beach this time but deeper countryside and farmland. Only about 60 minutes north of Ipswich, past avenues of autumn colour on the A12, lies Rumburgh Farm. It's a working farm between Halesworth and Bungay offering self-catering accommodation in the form of two spacious lodges around a trout lake. Mum and Dad had been before but it was my first adventure there. Away from the continuous bangs and rumbles of both Harwich and Felixstowe harbours, it was a quiet week away to relax, write, fish, and well, do nothing. 
I say quiet... Every morning turkeys were released into their orchard-like enclosure, screeching and popping but they settled down to become pleasant background noise... unless someone walked past them. Then they went manic again. There was a distant growl of cars over the flat Suffolk landscape and the farmers fertilising the fields around us. Some F-15 jets paid us a very low-flying visit but were too quick to photograph. And the moorhens and trout gave us some good entertainment. 
It's safe to say I haven't taken my camera out for an extended period for quite some time. I'm glad I did. The sunsets were beautiful over the lakes and the sunrises, when I was awake to catch them, were also special. We didn't do much exploring past the trout lake and the carp lake across the road, instead enjoying having no set activities or places to go. I fished, did little writing, and spent a lot of time just watching the changing moods of the lake throughout the day. The photos that follow are just a small selection from the week.



Kingfisher Lodge at sunset.


Sunset over the trout lake.











Sunrise at 7:30 on the first morning, over the carp lake.






The carp seemed a little more lively than the trout. These guys loved to send arrows across the water. That morning they played a comical game with me. Some of the fish enjoyed leaping fully out of the water but I could never catch them at it. Every time I turned to leave, a fish would jump and I would then decide to stay a bit longer to try catch the perfect photo. But they won the game and I just laughed at their comic timing.





Is that really a carp or at their more sinister beings in the tiny lake? 


Autumn colours always add to sunsets and sunrises.


After the first day and a bit, Storm Callum's winds left us and we were treated to a mirror for a lake. It's perfect stillness was only broken by the moorhens and the odd feeding trout.


Golden hour one evening meant some great shots of Dad fishing.


One evening the moorhens had a fight with what seems to have been a rival family. The light wasn't great for my camera and they were on the other side of the lake and I couldn't zoom in as far as I would have liked.




A still evening.



Mirror water




I didn't know it at the time, but this dragonfly had probably only recently emerged from his moult. His wings were still a little crinkled and he was determined not to leave the railing around the verandah even when I was inches from him.









We had a lovely time at the farm even though I failed to land any trout - I had a few hook in but the flies came loose from the line! Next time, perhaps we'll try another season so we can spot more wildlife and birds and explore the surrounding countryside more.