Capel St. Mary
There are some places that you can truly say have the best of both worlds. The Suffolk village of Capel St Mary is one of them, with the busy city of Ipswich 6 miles away and the unspoilt countryside of the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty even closer. The population is just the right size for a real sense of community, the setting is just right for achieving a work-life balance and the local services – which include a primary school, a playing field, a village hall and the local independent shops – are just right for settling into a new home.
Getting around
Capel St Mary is just off the A12, the key route all the way through Essex from Greater London and the M25, and on up through Suffolk to Lowestoft. The A12 joins the A14 on the outskirts of Ipswich, providing a bypass route on the way to Felixstowe. From Colchester, the A120 branches off to Harwich. Two important connections to two important port towns. A network of country roads cross the countryside to the northwest of Capel, linking with the A131 and A134 between Bury St Edmunds and Braintree. It takes about 20 minutes to drive the 13 miles to Colchester, 15 minutes to drive to Ipswich and 30 minutes to drive the 25 miles to Harwich. Public transport is provided by the local bus service, with the mainline station in Ipswich giving you a direct service to London Liverpool Street, taking under an hour and a half.
Ipswich and Colchester
These are the nearest large hubs for employment, retail, entertainment and leisure. Great facilities in two very different places. Ipswich has a maritime heritage and though the dock area has now been transformed into a sociable, fashionable, popular leisure and restaurant area, it still plays an important commercial role hand in hand with the ferry town of Harwich and the container port of Felixstowe. Colchester owes much of its heritage to the Romans and this thriving modern city is a great place to visit.
Living in Suffolk
Suffolk is one of the UK’s very rural counties. It’s so unspoilt and so easy to get off the beaten track. If you head inland you’ll come across stunning timber-framed houses in stunning villages like Lavenham. If you head to the coast, in the Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, you’ll find riverside market towns like Woodbridge, remote coastal settlements like Orford and traditional seaside towns like Aldeburgh.