Places with quirky shops in Essex/Suffolk and near Bath

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Hi...just trying to have a couple of short overnight breaks with teenager. We need to go Colchester and I was thinking we could drive on from there to stay overnight and find interesting things to explore. We have previously enjoyed places like the Laines in Brighton and the Christmas Steps in Bristol...does anyone have any suggestions for a place to do a stopover?
Also I was thinking we'd try to squeeze in a visit to Bath before school starts back up, so maybe a similar area near there? Thank you all!

Bath has lots of quirky shops

Colchester has a castle and a zoo.... Not sure about quirky shops but there are probably a few. (Are you visiting universities?)
There are places near Colchester that are very pretty (Constable country, Dedham, lovely village popular with tourists, good pubs/restaurants. Or Burnham-on-crouch, on the estuary/sea but they might not exactly set the world alight as far as a teenager is concerned.

Ha ha! 'Set the world alight'! Yes I can see what you mean - but he's pretty accommodating! Don't know Burnham, but I do like a good estuary! Thank you both!