Back in 2002 the Suffolk Punch Trust announced its ambitious plans to build a brand new visitors centre on the site which has been home to the Suffolk Punch Hollesley Colony Stud for over 100 years. The new education and heritage centre will soon welcome the public to find out more and truly celebrate these magnificent, genteel animals. The Trust’s initial plans are soon to become a reality, after eight long years of fundraising and sheer determination the new Visitors Centre is due to open its doors to the public for the first time on 23rd March at 10am.  They’ve a new General Manager Krystyna Smithers who’s worked tirelessly with the centre volunteers since last November to ensure a high quality visitor experience.  She kindly opened her doors to give us a sneak preview of the new facilities soon to be on offer.  A new gift shop and coffee shop serving light snacks were just having the finishing touches applied to them the day we took a tour around. Next door there’s a large exhibition area and Krystyna explained there would be regular displays, themed around the Suffolk Punch yet bringing in other interesting elements including; agriculture through the ages, blacksmithing, food, transport and the CO-OP have kindly offered to put together a display of one of their shops from times gone by. There’s a separate education room, which has already been tested by a group of inner-city children who visited the centre thanks to the Countryside Foundation.  The Suffolk Punch Trust have retained close links with the Hollesley colony and one of the officers, a dog handler, came across to give the children a dog training display, plus some of the staff brought along birds of prey to give a stunning flying display.  As you step through from the Education suite you find a sizeable meeting room for businesses who’d like space for some wide-open thinking perhaps.  The Trust are asking for a small donation as room hire and with catering facilities on site I would imagine it will be popular with businesses around the Woodbridge area and beyond.  Next to the new visitors centre is their museum of agricultural machinery. By taking a look at the various wooden carts and farm machinery you get to really appreciate just how hard these Suffolk Punch horses had to work on the fields throughout the County.
Outside the views are far reaching and at certain times in the day the Suffolk Punch Horses stand grandly along the skyline in perfect silhouette making the whole vista appear as if Constable had painted it. If you like to walk, there’s now two walks mapped out for you across the 180 acre site.  One is a short version just a delightful 20 minute stroll and the second takes you right the way around the picturesque site.  There’s a pond which volunteers have worked hard to clear in time for the opening so that children can go along in the warmer months and have a go at pond-dipping and Krystyna has plans too for a rural craft centre.  The site is home to 30 Suffolk Punch horses and also rehabilitates ex-race horses so during my visit I was able to witness the 13 or so thoroughbreds being brought in from the fields. However the sheer size and magnitude of the Suffolk Punch horses never ceases to amaze visitors and Krystyna explains they are quite frisky for their size. ‘It’s wonderful to see them free to roam around the fields and especially once they are free of their tack they really like to run and play it’s a fabulous thing to see.’ Talking of tack there’s a room within the stable block which is chock-full of gleaming horse brasses, I certainly wouldn’t want the job of keeping it all sparkling clean.
The visitors centre has a new entrance and if you’ve not been before it’s situated in Hollesley, Suffolk. To find them you need to drive along the A12 heading for Lowestoft then just outside Woodbridge at the roundabout take the second exit which is the A1152/Woods Lane towards Melton. At the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill drive straight over, drive over the railway crossing until you come to a small roundabout with Hollesley signposted straight over (B1083). Follow the road to Hollesley then turn left towards the Hollesley Colony and you’ll come to a cross roads.  Go straight over the cross roads and you’ll see the new visitors centre (near the water tower) and the new entrance on your right hand side. For more information about the Suffolk Punch Trust’s work visit their website. The new centre will be open from March 23rd 2010 and you can visit them Tuesday – Sundays 10am – 4pm (closed Monday’s except Bank Holidays) plus in July and August the centre will be open 7 days a week. To call them for more information its 01394 411327.