June News

We’re heading into the Jubilee weekend with a bang – with a wedding for Lucy & Adam on Thursday which looks to be a corker, featuring plans for an outdoor ceremony in the South garden. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed for sunshine and there has been meticulous planning to ensure the music timings are correct for Lucy, as she arrives to meet her groom. Coming from a musical family, we’re expecting something orchestral for the bridal entrance – all very exciting!

Over the Jubilee weekend, we’ve noticed an abundance of garden fetes taking place in the local area – one of my absolute favourites has to be Bredfield Church Fete. It’s the epitome of this wholesome, much-loved British Summertime tradition. If you haven’t been, you must go. It’s held in the gardens of The Old Rectory on Saturday 4th June from 2pm.

Speaking of all things pretty, we recently hosted a styled wedding photo shoot at the Priory. This is where a team of wedding suppliers collaborate their efforts to produce a range of images for self-promotion.

Our thanks go to the team, and you can discover more of their work on Instagram here…

Photography: @maephotography_uk
Florist: @valefloraldesign_uk
Hair: @heavenlyhair_amayaspa
Make-up: @clarabo_uk
Dress: @lilychristina_bridalcollection
Suit: @coes_stores
Stylist: @pammystyles
Models: @crootrebecca, @jacoblevismith93

As part of our own self-promotion, we’re excited to announce that we’re now a featured venue on Coco Wedding Venues – the UK’s original style-focused wedding venue directory, showcasing a carefully curated selection of the very best wedding venues in the UK and beyond – and we’re proud to be selected.

This Friday 3rd June sees the start of the 73rd Aldeburgh Festival. This year they are back with an especially extended, 24-day celebration of music and the arts. Programming strands include Britten and Women and a celebration of the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme at 50, and there are also events marking the Platinum Jubilee.

Browse all the Festival events here and you can also download a copy of the Aldeburgh Festival Brochure

I must show you the glorious display of Lupins in the Butley Abbey Farmhouse garden, I happened to walk through just yesterday and was greeted by this striking rainbow of colour. I just love them! What a fabulous flower they are. Huge thanks to Baz for his tireless work in this spectacular garden – our guests next weekend are very fortunate to have timed it just right!

Lastly, we offer our heartfelt congratulations to Melissa and Mike, who held their wedding with us last month. They enjoyed beautiful sunshine on their day, where guests were greeted with a deliciously cool Fisher’s gin & tonic on the terrace before being ushered into the Great Hall for their ceremony. Drinks & croquet on the lawn, followed by a hearty wedding breakfast from Peter Harrison and then dancing into the wee hours with cool tunes from The Rustiques.

Have a happy & glorious Jubilee weekend and we’ll see you next month!

May News

Spring has definitely sprung here at Butley and we’ve enjoyed seeing the daffodils, tulips and now a glorious sea of Bluebells in the surrounding woodland.

As ever, we’ve been welcoming many lovely couples to Butley, showing them around the Priory, Cottage and Farmhouse, with viewings booked midweek, evenings and weekends – keeping us very busy indeed. 

April saw our first wedding of the year for Emily & Marie who enjoyed fantastic weather throughout their wedding weekend, albeit a little blustery.

Their ceremony took place inside the Great Hall, followed by a confetti line outside the Church gate where Emily’s father rang the church bell with gusto! Many of Marie’s family had travelled over from France to join in with the celebrations.

After canapes in the South garden, our guests were welcomed back into the Great Hall for a delicious four course dinner, complete with cheese course – interestingly served before dessert in traditional French style. After dinner, guests adjourned to a tipi on the front lawn for music and dancing until the wee hours – we wish them our hearty congratulations!

Butley Priory Cottage enjoyed its first influx of guests over the Easter holidays for midweek and weekend breaks. We’ve had wonderful feedback and many 5 star reviews. Guests particularly enjoyed its great location for visiting the Suffolk Coast and tourist hotspots, plus that it’s dog friendly, with plenty of safe outdoor space.

“Beautiful cottage in an amazing location. We had a great time as did our dog!” - Darren

“Great house and grounds. Great for dogs to run around safely in the grounds” – John

Meanwhile, Brian has been beavering away at repairing our stone wall just outside Butley Abbey Farmhouse. It’s taken a while, but he’s so nearly there and it’s looking fantastic, we particularly love the gargoyles he’s installed and don’t the red and yellow tulips look striking against it?

Our new venture ‘Suffolk Sandlands’ is gathering some attention with a brilliant feature in the East Anglian Daily Times. We’ve had a good response from the metal dectorists favourite magazine, the May edition of Treasure Hunting.

Suffolk Sandlands provides metal detecting enthusiasts with an incredible opportunity to enjoy a three-day detecting holiday on prime farmland with unrivalled archaeological interest, with evening talks from our local expert historians. You can read more about our tour dates for September HERE

Lastly, a couple of birthdays have been celebrated in the Events office for both Kimmy & Donna, where ample supplies of delicious cake were provided by Libby – too tasty for words, thank you Libby.

APRIL NEWS

And there I was, thinking April heralded the start of Spring!

As I write, there are proper snowflakes charging past the window and the temperatures have dropped considerably from the balmy sunshine we enjoyed last week. Though I must say, the Farmhouse does look very pretty with snow falling all around it.

April sees us hosting the first of many weddings this year for a lovely couple, which means we’ve been busy checking all our supplies are well-stocked, bar menus written, catering spreadsheets add up and that everything is in place and looking ship-shape. We’re excited to get wedding season underway!

We took delivery of the brand new ‘Extraordinary Escapes’ coffee table book, which complements the Channel 4 series of the same name where Sandi Toksvig pays a visit to the Priory, along with her pal Alison Steadman. It’s quite a beautiful book and features some most inspiring properties and locations. You can order a copy right here.

As well as working hard to ensure our venue is in tip-top shape, we’ve been beavering away on a tantalising new project for a niche activity holiday, with our first trips planned for September this year. We are launching “Suffolk Sandlands” this month which provides a three day metal detecting tour for small groups of detectorists, led by expert guides with talks from local historians and archaeologists. Accommodation will be in Butley Abbey Farmhouse.

If you haven’t yet heard the story, the Butley Seal was discovered in a field by a keen local 10 year old detectorist, George Henderson. It is believed to be around 800 years old and has fetched £4000 at auction – bound to have put a smile on the young lad’s face and that of the East Anglian Air Ambulance, who received 50% of the proceeds.

Image: SWNS

And with that, we’re delighted and thrilled to announce that the Butley Seal will remain in its rightful home. On hearing of the discovery, Sir Edward placed a bid that secured the return of the Seal to the Priory and we can’t wait to see it!

With perfect timing for our venture, National Trust’s Sutton Hoo (a few miles from us) will be exhibiting the extraordinary and wonderful Staffordshire Hoard from May to October this year. The largest hoard of Anglo Saxon gold and silver was found in 2009 by a metal detector in a farmer’s field. May this bring us luck.

Image: Sutton Hoo

Talking of history, last week we welcomed members of the Ufford Art History group for a tour of Butley Priory. Led by Sir Edward, the members enjoyed a fascinating talk of Priors and Royalty and a tour of the building, before settling down to enjoy tea & biscuits in the Great Hall.

MARCH NEWS

In February we saw a visit from our retail friends at Snape Maltings. If you haven’t been, it’s well worth a visit for a spot of retail therapy. Their home store is divine and very difficult to walk away without a purchase or two! Conversations revolved around our ongoing partnership with the ‘wedding gift list’ leading to potentially curating a range exclusively to Butley Priory, most of which you’ll see within The Farmhouse and Butley Priory Cottage. We’ll keep you posted as to how this exciting prospect develops.

On a more solemn note, we helped a local family say goodbye to their loved one by hosting a wake in the Great Hall. A warming log fire and a glass of Prosecco greeted our guests, with delicious finger food from Jake’s Kitchen.

Over at the Farmhouse we welcomed our first guests of the year for their half term family holiday, swiftly followed by a big birthday celebration for another charming family. It really is a warm and welcoming family home for large group stays in Suffolk.

Another two wedding viewing days saw many newly-engaged couples immediately falling in love with Butley Priory. Cupid clearly very busy working his February magic!

This time of year, although relatively quiet for events, is extremely busy with the general maintenance required in keeping our beautiful venue ship-shape. Nigel and Baz have been busy re-laying the terrace in the South Garden and we can’t wait to see our guests enjoying this area in the Summer with a glass of champagne in hand.

Electricians, plumbers, chimney sweeps, alarm guys and carpenters – we’re struggling to think of a service that hasn’t walked through our doors this month!

And for all their hard work, #TeamButley were treated to a delicious lunch at The Butley Oysterage. Homemade fish pie, moules mariniere, whitebait – it all looked so good and hard to choose what to feast upon! – Thank you, Edward and Clare.

We had perfect weather conditions for our Home-Start charity event, grey drizzle. What better way to spend a dank afternoon, than a game of bridge with friends, followed by a delicious a tea in beautiful Butley Priory in front of roaring log fires in the Great Hall and Drawing room.

Everyone deemed it a great success; we raised £3000 for the charity. The event was organised by Clare Greenwell, ambassador for Home-Start. Anthony Horowitz patron of the charity spoke to us about Suffolk Home-Start and drew raffle prizes included lunch for two at The Crown & Castle in Orford, a £100 voucher for brunch, lunch or dinner on the Lady Florence from Orford Quay, two overflowing hampers with smoked fish from Pinney’s, treats from Orford General Store, Fishers Gin , chocolate from the Pump Street Bakery, a handmade bridge cloth and cards from Catherine Pickthorne, a signed copy of Anthony’s book Moonflower Murders, while Hilton Macarons provided the prettiest and tastiest macarons for the event in various scrumptious flavours and a box for a raffle prize. Thank you everyone for your support and generosity for a fantastic cause.

Tree planting is going well, willow, copper & green beech and silver birches. Alas we lost a few in the storm, yet the Priory gardens are looking lovely with crocus, snowdrops and the wild daffodils are turning the woods yellow.

We look forward to welcoming Libby Pearson next week as our new assistant manager. Libby ran her own florist business Myrtle & Mint in Ipswich. She has been operational manager at the stunning florist Scarlet & Violet in London for the last four years. Libby is a keen gardener so we are excited that under her influence our gardens at Butley will blossom.

FEBRUARY NEWS

January often gets labelled as a fairly miserable month, but I have to say it’s been anything but dull here at Butley. Plenty of blue skies and sunshine for starters, viewings with newly engaged couples and a surge of planning meetings for weddings happening this year.

Hello, I’m Donna, your new General Manager and guest author of this month’s blog post. Now four weeks into the role and I’m nicely settling into life at Butley and absolutely loving my new surroundings.

A little bit about me…

Having worked in weddings & events for just over 11 years, I’ve been lucky to have overseen many ceremonies and receptions, with elopements and intimate weddings being my absolute favourite!

I have a son aged 12 & a daughter aged 16, so I’m fully experiencing the teenage years right now! They’re both obsessed with football, so you’ll usually find me cheering them on pitch-side on a Saturday morning. Sadly, there isn’t much time for hobbies, but last year my son and I discovered a love for fly-fishing, so occasionally we’ll head off for a weekend on the riverside which although a little exhausting, it’s so relaxing for the mind.

And for a couple of little random facts… I have an unstoppable love for Mr Kipling’s French Fancies and I once did a tandem skydive. But never will again.

It’s been a whirlwind of a month so far, meeting lots of new faces, still getting lost in the Farmhouse (the rooms are never-ending) and I quietly squeal to myself every time I see some deer. I’ve been lucky to see so many, particularly at dusk and even managed to see a baby muntjac with its mother. There’s a resident owl too.

Butley Priory Cottage has now had the final touches of décor with some beautiful prints for the sitting room and bedrooms. So, with the sunshine on our side, it was time to call in Sadie from Big Fish Photography to capture some charming photos of the cottage.

This adorable two bedroom cottage, (sleeps 4 + 2 with sofabed) sits right next door to the Priory, making it the perfect addition for wedding guest accommodation. With the forest on our doorstep, it’s an ideal location for a weekend break in Suffolk with plenty of enjoyable walks to be had and local pubs for lunch. You don’t need to be a wedding guest to come and stay and it’s a dog-friendly cottage too.

Nigel has been busy with sanding and re-painting the floorboards at the Priory. Arguably one of the mightiest annual tasks on the calendar, it’s a messy job and we’re very grateful to him and his right-hand man, Richard. We’re all excited to see it looking refreshed for our next wedding viewing day on 5th February.

The Farmhouse has received a thorough Spring clean which, with all its vast, endless rooms, has kept Kimmy occupied. We’ve also been planting trees, Winter flowering cherry and for Autumn colour, Liquid Amber, Maple, Cotoneaster and Forest Pansy.

Last week, I met up with Emily Chantal MUA, Kerry-Ann’s Cake Boutique and Gemma Giorgio Photography – three wedding supplier friends who I’ve known for some years now. They wanted to come and say hello to me in my new home and have a peek around the Priory and Farmhouse. I hope we’ll see more of them here this Summer.

L-R Kerry-Ann, Donna, Emily & Gemma

And so, we move into February, heralded as the month of love for Valentines. We’ll be greeting our first guests of the year to the Farmhouse and welcoming more couples to the Priory on our wedding viewing days.

For all you lovers out there, why not escape to a romantic cottage break for Valentines to Butley Priory Cottage? Available from Fri 11th-Sun 13th February, coupled with long forest walks, a visit to nearby Orford or Aldeburgh before returning to the quiet charm of the cottage with a roaring log fire, it’s an enchanting bolthole for a weekend with your love. To enquire, simply drop us a line here.

Photo: Big Fish Photography

Lastly, our congratulations to The Unruly Pig for winning the Number 1 spot in the UK Top 50 Gastropubs. Just 5 miles down the road from us, it’s a delightful place for a spot of lunch after your viewing or during your stay.

JANUARY NEWS

Happy New Year!

We have an exciting and packed year ahead, starting with the arrival of our new General Manager Donna Stockley. Our trusty Emma Thomas-Abbott is handing over the reins after four impressive years, and is setting up her own business. We wish her every success.

Emma has taken Butley Priory to dizzy new heights. It’s all thanks to her (24 hour) hard work, style and charm that we have weddings booked from April to December for 2022. Donna has many years of experience with weddings and events, we are eager to see her ideas and plans blossom, and take us to new level.

We wait with bated breath for our planning decision developing the Monks’ Barn to create a larger venue, which can be used instead of a marquee for larger weddings and functions.

December closed with a full Christmas programme. Our party was a rip-roaring success, mulled wine, sausages and mince pies – with children scampering about. Kimmy and Nigel, our head housekeeper and handyman/Mr Fix-it shared a few funny highlights/lowlights about working in the Priory over the years, from rock stars to blocked drains, and maybe the odd ghostly tale.

Butley Priory Staff Christmas Party

Sophie and Henry’s magnificent wedding on the 18th December was a blast with Christmas carols and dancing until the small hours. We had a series of family Christmas gatherings in Butley Abbey Farmhouse and Butley Priory Cottage. Intrepid guests made it all the way from Mougins in southern France, with Moose their Bernese Mountain dog to stay in the Priory. Some of our guests enjoyed the Christmas quiz at the Oyster Inn in Butley. In total 46 guests over the festive season. Thank you Kimmy for changing all those sheets, mopping floors and Nigel for keeping it ticking over and making everywhere snug for our guests.

Alas we have had to cancel our charity Home-Start bridge afternoon on 5th January due to covid, but we are rescheduled for Wednesday 2nd March. Currently we are fully booked (grand total of 92 participants) but do get in touch to see if we have any cancellations. We have some excellent raffle prizes including lunch for two at The Crown & Castle in Orford, a £100 voucher for brunch, lunch or dinner on the Lady Florence from Orford Quay, a hamper filled with goodies with Fishers Gin, chocolate from the Pump Street Bakery, smoked fish from Pinney’s and treats from Orford General Store. Special thanks also go to Hilton Macarons who are donating some delicious and pretty macarons for the event. Thank you all for your generosity.

Lady Florence at Orford

Hilton Macarons

DECEMBER NEWS

December News

The Priory garden has been uprooted and replanted by Kinna Mosley who runs Nature Alchemy a garden design company. We don’t want to rush winter, but we can’t wait for the spring. Shades of Sissinghurst, we’ve created a variety of blue and purply hues, whites and greens in the ancient Tudor garden. The east garden by the kitchen will be a mass of soft pinks, herbs and fragrant roses.

Tony from Kiwi Fencing, came to the rescue as the weather turned cold. He did a rapid job of deer proofing, keeping out the ever hungry and inquisitive muntjac. It’s been pretty chilly so morale for the work force has been kept buoyant with rhubarb doughnut sugar hits from the Pump Street Bakery. We’ve planted the front of the Priory with lavender and box balls. We found two beautiful urns from Marlesford Mill, for either side of the steps (actually need a bit of clever cement work….).

Our exquisite Butley Priory Cottage, next to the Priory is nearly refurbished. Just a few more finishing touches and it will be perfect for a cosy winter retreat for up to six guests. Brides get first pick for additional weekend wedding accommodation otherwise it’s yours. 

Open days have been packed with prospective brides and their families. There is nothing nicer than talking to the happy couples about their plans for their dream wedding.

We have our Christmas party in December when we will be decorating our 15ft tree in Great Hall.  On Twelfth Night, January 5th we have a Home-Start charity bridge afternoon -  a few spaces left. Raffle and a slap up proper afternoon tea included. Please book by clicking here.

NOVEMBER NEWS

November News

Hedges being cut, autumn bonfires, Nigel and Baz have been hard at work. The new garden gates are wonderful (thank you Clem) and the new turf in the Priory garden looks good enough to eat. Kimmy, our head housekeeper hasn’t stopped changing sheets, dusting and polishing, she deserves a medal (and a holiday on a sun lounger) along with her mother Tracey and Babs. Emma has been in Turkey and Daniela has been holding the fort in our swanky new office (or at least we think so) in the old billard room. We’ve been back to back with house lets and weddings so looking forward to a slightly quieter November to get the “to do list” done. 

Keeper’s Cottage

We are very excited to be offering Gatekeeper’s Cottage, next to the Priory, for up to six guests from December onwards.

Once the old stables, the Cottage was converted in the 19th century to a summerhouse for the Priory. It is small but charming: painted floors, creams and whites, and a private garden.  It consists of two double bedroom and two ensuite bathrooms upstairs. A good-sized kitchen with a scrubbed farmhouse table for six, door leads on to the south-facing garden. Sitting room with a comfy sofa bed.  There’s also a small swimming pool (or more of a plunge pool) and a studio in the garden with a double bed and bathroom. The studio won’t be ready until early spring. Weddings and brides next year will get first pick, but contact us for availability, low season and mid-week. Look at our website for more photographs and information.

Aldeburgh Documentary Festival is on 12-14 November at the Aldeburgh cinema – always a dazzling and fascinating array of documentaries, some getting their first showing, and usually introduced by the teams who made them. Look out for ‘Writing with Fire’ the story of Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women – the untouchables.  ‘An evening of the Beatles’ with Craig Brown, and ‘The Truffle Hunters’, set in the forests of Piedmont in Italy; old men with their beloved dogs searching for the elusive and priceless white Alba truffle.  Book tickets at www.aldeburghcinema.co.uk 

OCTOBER NEWS

September put to bed. Such a great summer with back-to-back weddings and staycations. No hitches, or none we care to mention.  It’s been a blast and we’ve loved it all, from rock n’ roll to dreamy weddings, family reunions to naughty hen parties. We are very pleased with our new office in the old billiard room opposite Butley Abbey Farmhouse, now up and running. The Farmhouse is pretty much booked up until Christmas; the Priory still has some free days. It’s very cosy and atmospheric in the autumn and winter: log fires in the Great Hall, Drawing Room and the exquisite Pilgrims bar.  We have big plans for the grounds and garden, landscaping and replanting. 

Autumn to do, musings and wish list

Priory – inside

Sumptuous new sofas, cream or grey? Umm….impractical colour…. nothing else quite works with our white interiors. Tricky. Need to be light in weight for moving in and out of the Great Hall.

Embroidered towelling dressing gowns for wedding guests. Ordered.

Outside:

Priory garden, new terrace – under the shady Portuguese laurel. Urgent. Replace bell gate (underway).

New turf for the back of the garden behind the metal cherry and rose arch. Garden seats for back corners of garden, wrought iron? (Use existing one from front of Priory?).

East kitchen garden – wrought iron (or rattan – more comfortable, leaning towards rattan).

Four large and beautiful terracotta pots (or move existing round terracotta pots to kitchen area and replace terrace pots). Need to go to Italy with truck! Plant them up for the Autumn – winter pansies?

Need to change plants 3/4 annually

Front of priory

60 Hidcote lavender plants for gravel.  

Replace Lutyens bench top of grass walk, which has been eaten by ants.

Two new 3-seater benches for gravel.

Butley Abbey Farmhouse

Outside Rattan corner sofas and table set.

Fire pit (ordered). Where best to place it?  

Repair wall opposite farmhouse and replant flowerbed. Lavender, Verbena and white Gaura, swirling butterflies – they like our sandy soil. New garden gate beyond rose garden.

Replant fruit orchard (bearing in mind it would be the perfect location for a swimming pool…..). Plant more specimen trees in the garden: magnolia’s galore, amelanchier, Judas tree, forest pansy, prunus, strawberry tree, mulberry, weeping purple acer – spring and autumn colour. More fun than shopping for clothes.

Inside farmhouse – pretty perfect, touch up some bathroom paint.

 Butley Priory Office

Pots for outside new Butley Priory office. Sorted. Blue pots with dusky pink hydrangeas, shades of the Caribbean next to our green doors.

Meadow behind Priory – landscaped, Brian and Adrian in hot demand; we are waiting patiently.  New trees: oak, copper beech, cherry, crab apple and Jacquemonti silver birch.  Estate metal tree guards to keep the munch jack at bay. Ancient Priory arch and flint walls repaired and ivy stripped off. Clear monks’ fishpond area of debris, plant more willows.

BP office sign – urgent! Office blinds (west facing, sunlight blinding) and extra large rug (ordered). Move the piano from the Priory to the office? Staff want larger fridge.

We are going to be busy.

SEPTEMBER NEWS

Oh for an Indian summer, we have weddings back to back until October. Autumn projects include more work in the Priory garden, new compost bins (thrilling), tackling the meadow between the Priory and Butley Abbey Farmhouse. We are planting trees, oaks, beeches and cherries, amongst the spring wild flowers, restoring ivy clad old walls and the ancient arch where the Abbey once stood. We are delighted that Kimmy our house keeper and Nigel our gardener/handy man and their two small boys our moving into a cottage on site.

Events on around Butley this autumn

Aldeburgh Literary festival 10th- 12th September

This year the 20th Aldeburgh Literary Festival has been moved from March to September 10th- 12th at the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh. Tickets are snapped up fast, so book on line or turn up to an event and join the queue for returns. Names this year include Alex Younger, Terence Blacker, Craig Brown, Amber Rudd, William Sieghart, Ester Freud, John Mullan and Charles Saumarez Smith. www.aldeburghliteraryfestival.co.uk

Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival 25th -26th September

Not to be missed for food lovers is a gourmet weekend at Snape Maltings. A magnificent celebration of Suffolk’s finest food and drink… as a county we certainly have a vast variety of local and distinctive food and drink to offer. From Adnams brewery to Maples Farm’s own milled flour, Fen Dairy cheeses and raw butter from their herd of Montbeliarde girls, to gin from Fishers distillery in Aldeburgh, to whet your appetite. The event includes wild cooking for children (guessing stuff from the hedgerows), interactive family area with stage, food photography, and master classes from our best chefs, street food and live music. Book tickets www.aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk/the-festival/tickets/

Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Britten Pears Arts at Snape is bursting with autumn events.  Some of Suffolk’s best young musician will appear in a Gala concert with the Suffolk Youth orchestra, Suffolk Wind Orchestra and Suffolk Young Strings on 5th September, 5pm. Festival of New 2021, 10th/11th September is a weekend of innovative music and sound developed at Snape and Aldeburgh residencies this year are being showcased.

Hot tickets for October include: October 3rd pianist Mitsuko Uchida, October 16th; a residency open session, a new operatic work with the Romania gymnast Nadia Comanceci; October 17th is an evening with the country music duo The Shires, Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes. Book tickets ASAP. www.brittenpearsarts.org/whats-on

HighTide

Further afield but worth the hike is East England’s theatre forum for new writers and productions touring the UK and festivals. The emphasis is cutting edge, contemporary and exploring the political landscape. For podcasts, current news and programmes look www.hightide.org.uk

Suffolk Academy of dance and performing arts

Aldeburgh Cinema

Check the website for the ever-changing programme. We love this small art house cinema where you can take in a glass of wine and watch the latest movies, foreign films, nostalgic golden oldies and children’s matinees in the holidays. Become a friend of this much loved and admired charitable institution.

www. aldeburghcinema.co.uk/AldeburghCinema.dll/Home

Riverside Cinema/Theatre/Restaurant, Woodbridge

Another cool art house cinema just twenty minutes away from Butley in Woodbridge.  Suffolk based Hollywood director Paul Greengrass is the new patron. Over a hundred years old, the cinema offers a varied programme from foreign films to NT Romeo & Juliet live. www.theriverside.co.uk/cinema/

Private chefs for house lets

We can highly recommend two local chefs for private parties at Butley Priory and Butley Abbey Farmhouse.

Chloe Glazier runs Doorstep Dining, www.doorstepdining.com, which will cook beautifully for guests up to 40 with a great team of waiting staff. Contact  hello@doorstepdining.com; 07807 832763 

Hay Hay are based close by in Orford. Nina cooks wonderful food and caters for private parties, buffets, and afternoon tea.  Middle Eastern a speciality. www.hayhaysuffolk.co.uk; 07947313156