Did You Know?

Suffolk is an East Anglian county of historic origin in England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east.

It has its own breed of horse, Suffolk Punch horses are chesnut in colour, gentle and hardworking in nature, and very stocky, hence the ‘Punch’ in their name. They were bred as draught horses, and their existence dates back to at least 1506. Amazingly, the male line of Suffolk Punches can be traced back to just one stallion!

The medieval village of Lavenham in Suffolk was the inspiration for Harry Potter’s fictional birthplace, Godric’s Hollow, and its magical streets feature in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2. You can even spend a week in the Potters’ cottage (known to muggles as De Vere House), which is a cosy, historic holiday home.

The Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk is Britain’s largest and busiest container port. Britain’s first container terminal was created there in 1967. In 2011, it became the first UK port capable of accommodating the next generation of giant container ships.

Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a Tyke from Yorkshire and a Yellowbelly from Lincolnshire; the traditional nickname for people from Suffolk is 'Suffolk Fair-Maids'

In his youth, Eric Arthur Blair spent several summers at his parents’ house in Southwold, Suffolk. From that beautiful coastal town he went on long voyages through the surrounding countryside, now designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Famously aliens landed (well, not quite – they apparently hovered) in Suffolk. The “Rendlesham Forest Incident” is one of the most notorious UFO events in England and (though comprehensively debunked) is sometimes referred to as "Britain's Roswell". The truth is out there people.

Lowestoft is home to the most easterly point in the UK - with “Ness Point” the first place to view the sunrise in the entire country. How romantic is that? A circular plaque displaying distances to other major cities across Europe (and in Britain) marks the spot. And here’s some bonus trivia: in 2005, “Gulliver” – that’s the UK’s largest wind turbine – was built here.

Writer George Orwell; TV cook Delia Smith; actors Bob Hoskins, June Brown and Ralph Fiennes; comedian Griff Rhys Jones; composer Benjamin Britten and TV presenter Jimmy Doherty are just a few of the names to have been born in the country or have a home here. We also can’t forget the super-famous Ed Sheeran, who was born in Framlingham and currently resides there, releasing a song about the town’s 12th century castle.

Fan of chocolate and beer? it may well produce some of your favourite items. Two major brewers reside here – Adnams, based in Southwold, and Greene King in Bury St Edmunds. Aspall produces cider in the village of Aspall, and Copella makes fruit juice at its farm in Boxford.

Woodbridge, is the location of an early mediaeval burial area where an Anglo-Saxon king’s grave or cenotaph is located. One of the Germanic richest burials ever discovered in Europe, the burial shed light on the wealth and connections of early Anglo-Saxon monarchs by containing a ship outfitted for the afterlife (but without a body); its discovery in 1939 was noteworthy because ship burial was uncommon in England.