the old monkey } two days in hadleigh


let me introduce you to ‘the old monkey’: this is the entrance to ‘my’ cottage. the portico holds so much charm and its share of intricate cobwebs
I miss it already. I don’t know what it is about these Grove Cottages that has such a pull on me. This is my third visit to one of their cottages in less than a year: I’ve visited Rose in Edwardstone, Brook in Dedham and now this little gem: The Old Monkey in Hadleigh. This timber framed building was a pub for over 400 years, known as ‘The Kings Arms’. Now it’s a residential cottage, one section of which is a bed and breakfast and the other this. I was not supposed to be alone on this short stay, but ended up being so. Despite my alone-ness (and loneliness), I did fall in love with Hadleigh and my house of two days.

i’ll start my tour with the bedroom upstairs. i didn’t spend much time up here. in fact, i didn’t even sleep in this bed (although, believe me, i would have loved to)

sunny in the daytime, i was a little scared to be here at night. and this is why i should never, ever visit one of these gorgeous cottages alone. oh! look at the chair in the corner. i fell in love with this chair, which looked like it had seen better days. but i’m like that; i find charm in battered old things

shall we head downstairs? navigating these steps was an even bigger challenge than the ones at brook cottage, but i managed to ascend and descend without incident (of course it’s difficult to fall when you’re crawling up or climbing down on your bum)

i loved discovering this place. of course being me, i had to take all these photos before venturing out into town

a few steps down, the kitchen. one of the first things i was attracted to (even before i arrived; i saw it in the photos) was the meat hook. normally my mind would wander into slasher-movie territory, but there was no way i was going to feel threatened by this

ok! i did go to the king’s head but only discovered where the pizza booth was the next day. i ended up dining at the george

on my way up to the high street. the clouds looking a little too dark for my liking. as much as i love the rain, it’s not fun when you haven’t an umbrella. there was one provided at the cottage but i didn’t think i would need it

i really enjoyed reading this because so many of the buildings in this book still exist a few steps away. that excites me as we don’t have that sort of history in kuwait nowadays. it’s something i truly crave

straight to church for me. i don’t know why i’ve always been intrigued by churches. there’s a rich eeriness about them that gets my heart pumping. this is st. mary’s church on church street

every now and then i would glance around. this modern looking stained glass window caught my attention, breaking my attempt at meditation

…like the world cup match at 5! back at the george. i had such a good pizza but was upset that chile lost

the day of my departure i found one last monkey on the bedroom wall. needless to say, this freaked me out

time to give my key back to kathryn who was lovely and so generous to share this cottage with the world