New year, new hobby? Eight options – all in Suffolk or Essex – to try in 2025
There’s no better time to embrace fresh beginnings and invigorate your routine by taking up a new hobby in the picturesque landscapes of Suffolk and Essex. Immersing yourself in a new hobby can lead to personal growth and fulfilment, making 2025 a year of adventure and discovery.
Inspired by BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing? Why not join the Newmarket School of Dance and learn anything from ballet, tap to hip hop in a friendly, happy and professional environment. Classes are held at Turner Hall and the Catholic Church, Newmarket, or the Victoria Hall, Fordham.
Tuition is for students from 18 months up to adults.
Follow the fairways
The pandemic – and a desire to get out into the countryside and exercise – saw many local golf clubs taking in more members. While several have now reached full capacity Gosfield on the Essex/Suffolk border is offering memberships.
You can pay and play at Newton Green, Bury St Edmunds (they have a reasonably priced nine hole course here as well as an 18), Haverhill and Stowmarket, plus some clubs offer food and golf deals to encourage players to venture out in the cold winter months!
For film connoisseurs
Are you a film buff who hankers after watching yesteryear classics, or modern movies that have somehow escaped the mainstream and should be better appreciated? The Bury St Edmunds Film Society may well cater for your tastes.
They show iconic films on a large screen in the convivial surroundings of the Hunter Club at St Andrews Street South, Bury St Edmunds. Members of this friendly club select the films and (if you are over 21) you pay £40 for a full year membership. Want to see a film on a one-night drop in basis? No need to book, just turn up and there’s a polite request to pay a £7 donation on the door.
Interested in photography? The Bury St Edmunds Photographic Society is a fun, friendly and lively camera club where ideas, images, knowledge, information and tips are freely shared at weekly meetings. Everyone is welcome – no matter what their level of photographic ability or experience. They regularly meet at the Newbury Community Centre, Westhorpe Avenue (off St Olaves Road), Bury St Edmunds.
Padel is said to be the fastest growing sport in Europe, and Risbygate Sports Club, Bury St Edmunds, is one of only a handful of places in Suffolk and Essex offering a chance to play it. The game, played on an enclosed court, is a combination of tennis, squash and badminton. Players use solid, stringless rackets to hit a small ball over a net and can bounce shots off walls, similar to squash.
Why not learn a new language? Colchester Institute offers evening classes in French and Spanish and the West Suffolk College in Bury St Edmunds has a number of French options.
Whether you are into dinghy sailing (pottering or racing), canoeing, kayaking, or stand-up paddleboarding, St Edmundsbury Sailing and Canoeing Association can help you enjoy spending time on the water at Lackford Lakes. You will have to bide your time a little as the club’s sailing season runs from the last weekend in March until early November and there are ‘have a go’ sessions for beginners throughout the year.
Here’s a chance to learn the skills of Asian cuisine with Lilian Hiw who grew up in Singapore and was a chef at some of the Far East’s most prestigious hotels. You can have a private cookery lesson, or join a class, and now Lillian offers a ‘Live Theatre Dining’ experience in her Culford home.
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