The scene has hardly changed in more than 200 years. As you stand outside Willie Lott’s house opposite Flatford Mill, all that’s missing is the wagon which John Constable immortalised in his classic painting, The Haywain.

Constable’s pastoral views of the River Stour and Dedham Vale made the English countryside famous throughout the world.

The area’s natural beauty still survives and has proved a magnet for lovers of outdoor pursuits as well as fans of the painter who come in their thousands to see for themselves the scenery which inspired him.

It has been said affectionately of Suffolk that it has barely woken up to the 20th Century, let alone the 21st.

Certainly its windmills, thatched cottages, ancient churches, log-fired pubs, market towns and gaily-painted seaside beach huts are reminders of a bygone age.

Yet most of its inhabitants are proud of their reputation for continuity in a fast-changing world.

During a week’s walking holiday, I encountered fishermen mending their nets, a ruddy-faced thatcher harvesting reeds and a pair of lifeboatmen scouring the horizon.

I also spotted a Land-Rover sporting the sign Suffolk Mountain Rescue Team – a joke about the flatness of the driver’s East Anglian homeland.

We were based in Walberswick, a tiny fishing port on the south bank of the River Blyth as it flows into the North Sea. The endless skylines here have earned it the title of The Sunrise Coast. On the north side of the river is Southwold, the trendy resort where Michael Palin spent summer holidays during his teenage years.

The star of recent journeys to exotic destinations still retains fond memories of Southwold. In 2002 he returned to the town to open the Electric Picture Palace, a small cinema with only 66 seats but boasting a mighty Wurlitzer organ.

The town’s individually-owned shops have changed little since the post-war years. Indeed the local butchers has been here for more than 300 years.

A more recent addition to the town is Southwold Lighthouse, built in 1890, which dominates the coastline and can be seen for 17 miles by ships in the North Sea.

At the end of Ferry Road is a museum containing the Alfred Corry, Southwold’s old sailing lifeboat which saved 47 lives during a gallant career between 1893 and 1918.

Mementos of Southwold’s maritime past can be found in the charming Sailors’ Reading Room, which is crammed with models of famous ships and photos of ancient mariners with beards like Captain Birdseye.

Although geared for the modern tourist industry, Southwold is still an active fishing port, where you can buy freshly-caught Dover and lemon sole, cod, plaice, brill, dabs, sprats, skate, whiting and haddock, as well as whelks, crayfish tails, cockles, mussels and prawns.

Southwold also has its fair share of lively pubs, our favourite being the Lord Nelson where they serve cheap-and-cheerful grub and Adnams bitter at #2.40 a pint.

For that special occasion, the Crown Hotel on High Street offers impeccable service in plush surroundings. A two-course meal from the table d’hote menu cost #23.95.

Back in Walberswick, where we were staying in spacious Lea Cottage, there were two good pubs, The Anchor and The Bell Inn.

We were given a warm welcome in both, but preferred the atmosphere in the 600-year-old Bell, with its low beams, open fires, flagged floors, high wooden settles and framed photos of characters from yesteryear.

I can recommend the Suffolk smokies (flaked smoked haddock, baked in a creamy cheese sauce) at #5.50 and the Walberswick Pie (cod, smoked haddock, prawns and hard-boiled egg in a rich white sauce topped with mashed potatoes and cheese) at #8.50.

From Walberswick you can take a three-hour walk through marshes and woods to the village of Dunwich.

If Constable’s Dedham Vale represents the natural beauty and continuity of Suffolk, then Dunwich demonstrates the changes which nature can enforce.

In medieval times, Dunwich was an important city, a major seaport exporting wool and grain to Europe, and importing wine and cloth.

The city prospered until a violent storm in 1286 silted up the harbour and Dunwich went into decline. The last of its six churches tumbled into Davy Jones Locker in 1920 and, according to legend, you can still hear the bells pealing on stormy nights. All that remains of Dunwich today is a handful of houses and The Ship, an old smugglers’ inn.

Another walk from Walberswick took us through Southwold and across marshland teeming with birdlife to Blythburgh and the Holy Trinity Church.

This provides a spectacular view at night when it is backlit and known as The Cathedral of the Marshes.

Local legend has it that scratch marks on the north door are the fingerprints of the Devil, who appeared in Blythburgh in the guise of Black Shuck, a huge, ferocious dog which inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write The Hound of the Baskervilles.

In fact they were caused by a violent lightning storm in 1577.

On rainy days, Suffolk has plenty to offer. A trip to St Peter’s Brewery at St Peter South Elmham was both interesting and, ultimately, thirst-quenching.

In less than 10 years, using local organically-grown malt in its prize-winning beer, St Peter’s has become the third biggest brewery in Suffolk (behind Greene King and Adnams).

It uses water drawn from St Peter’s Hall, a 13th Century house built partially from a dismantled convent. Nowadays the hall has been converted into a busy pub-restaurant.

A 90-minute drive from Walberswick is the home of horse-racing, Newmarket.

Retired trainer Peter Feilden is a guide with Hoofbeats, which takes parties on organised tours of the gallops, the Harraton Stables at Exning where his daughter Julia trains 30 horses, the British Racing School where the jockey stars of tomorrow are taught, and finally The National Stud.

Here we learned how top stallions such as Bahamian Beauty earn #10,000 a time for two minutes’ “work”.

The 12-year-old chestnut certainly rose impressively to the occasion when a party of giggling teenage girls went to see him perform in his “honeymoon suite”.

The visit ended with a visit to the mares and their long-legged offspring in the paddock, where the future champions were happy to be stroked.

The historic city of Bury St Edmunds, 12 miles from Newmarket, is also well worth exploring, as is nearby Ickworth House.

This distinctive ancestral home of the Earls of Bristol, with its towering central rotunda, is now owned by the National Trust.

The descendants of the Hervey family, Victoria and Isabella, have only visited for photo-shoots for glossy magazines.

Their frequent mentions in the tabloid gossip columns pale to insignificance compared with the activities of their forefathers, one of whom was known as Fairy Hervey because of his bisexuality.

Another was a lecherous Bishop of Derry, and in more recent times the 7th Marquess of Bristol, who died in 1999, was twice jailed for drug offences.

Ickworth is packed with important collections of Regency furniture, Georgian silver and family portraits painted by Reynolds and Gainsborough as well as works by Velazquez and Titian.

WHAT'S THE DEAL

- Lea Cottage, at Walberswick, sleeps up to seven people and costs from #320 to #800 a week through Suffolk Secrets. Call 01502 722 717 or visit www.suffolk-secrets.co.uk

- For a free copy of Choose Suffolk short breaks brochure visit www.choosesuffolk.com

- For St Peter’s Brewery ring 01986 782 322 or go to www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk

- For Hoofbeats, go to www.hoofbeats.co.uk