Coastal Erosion at Thorpeness

A circular walk from Sizewell to Thorpeness along the Suffolk Coast Path

In recent years the Suffolk Coast Path has been rerouted in-land from Sizewell across the commons to Thorpeness due to coastal erosion. The old coast route can still be walked when the tide is right and there is always an escape up the cliffs to Thorpeness Common just before the Thorpeness cliffs where the tide cuts off access to the beach.

Read More

Suffolk Coast Path - Sizewell to Aldeburgh Circular Walk

A circular walk from Sizewell to Aldeburgh along the Suffolk Coast Path

The Suffolk Coast Path does not go into Aldeburgh but it is a simple excursion to continue along the beach all the way down to the unique clover leafed Martello Tower at the vanished village of Slaughden using the old railway track to make a circular walk.

Read More

2013 Storm Surge at Sizewell and Thorpeness

A walk at high tide of the 2013 Storm Surge between Sizewell and Thorpeness

This is a photographic excursion of the 2013 Storm Surge down the Suffolk Coast. With media firmly concentrated on events in South Africa the only real way to find out was happening was to visit this destructive storm surge oneself. Although this part of Suffolk was relatively unscathed it still presented awe-inspiring seas and crashing waves.

Read More

Aldeburghs Martello Tower Now Boasts an Anthony Gormley Sculpture

A 7 mile walk from Thorpeness to Aldeburghs Martello Tower

For a period of 12 months starting in May 2015, a life size sculpture of a human figure will look out across the sea atop Aldeburghs Martello Tower. This is the work of Anthony Gormley, the artist who is renowned for creating the iconic Angel of the North sculpture, and is part of the celebrations to mark 50 years of the Landmark Trust.

Read More

Autumn on Thorpeness Common

A 6 mile circular walk across the commons of the East Suffolk Coastal area linking Leiston, Thorpeness and Sizewell.

Autumn on Thorpeness Common is a great time to hunt out mushrooms, harvest sloes and admire the changing of the seasons. I am not expert on mushrooms and certainly would not even dare to pick a wild mushroom to eat without specific advice from a fungi expert, nonetheless, it is always good to view them. The sloes are a different matter though, for a second year running we have gathered copious quantities of this bitter fruit in order to get some sloe gin ready for Christmas. There were so many this year we ended up giving much of our labours away!

Read More

Suffolk Coast Path

An overview of the Suffolk Coast Path, a 60 mile long distance path following the coast of Suffolk

A 60 mile long distance footpath from Felixstowe to Lowestoft in easy stages through some of the characteristic landscapes of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The path also includes the Orford Loop which provides access through to Orford and the Butley Ferry. Alternative beach walks, providing the tide is right, can be undertaken throughout.

Read More

Winter Snows on Thorpeness Common

An 7 mile circular walk across The Walks and Thorpeness Common.

The winter snows finally arrived in February this year creating a wonderful winters scene across the Aldringham and Thorpeness Commons, enticing folk out to witness the scene and encouraging local kids to take advantage of sledging down the slopes of the marl pit.

Read More

In Search of Sizewell and Thorpe Beacons

A 10 mile walk following the southern side of the parish boundary of Leiston in Suffolk

This is the second article devoted to the walk following the route of a 17th century perambulation around the southern side of the Leiston Parish boundary. This article is concentrates on two landmarks from the past, namely Sizewell and Thorpe Beacons, which are thought to have been part of the Armada warning system.

Read More

New Sandlings Waymarker Design

The Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Unit has started to replace the old Sandlings Waymarkers with a new design. These green plastic plaques have been mounted over the previous logo on existing fingerposts. The new plaques carry a nightjar logo and are part of resigning process that is being carried out throughout the long distance walk that links Ipswich and Southwold. During the resigning process damaged fingerposts are being replaced.

Read More

Sun, Sea, Beer and Chips

A 13 mile circular walk from Leiston to the White Hart Beer Festival in Aldeburgh

Easter 2011 was a really warm and sunny occasion and what better way to spend a Good Friday and Easter Monday than a casual walk through to Aldeburgh where The White Hart pub was holding its 9th Annual Beer Festival. Over 30 ales from across the country plus a selection of real cider, this really had to have something for everyone.

Read More

The Sandlings Walk - Knodishall to Sizewell Belts

A 9 mile circular walk that links Knodishall and Sizewell Belts along Suffolk's Sandlings Trail

An easy walk across the typical heaths and commons of Coastal East Suffolk that make up the Sandlings. There is woodland, marsh, and rambling sandy heath full of flora fauna and wildlife.

NOTE: The section from Sizewell through to Leiston Common, Sizewell Belts is no longer part of the official Sandlings path. It has been rerouted along the beach in front of the power station and then through Kenton Hill woods. This Sizewell Belts walk as described here is still accessible using permissive paths.

Read More

The Sandlings Walk

An overview of the Sandlings Walk, a 55 mile long distance path through the forests and heaths of East Suffolk

The Sandlings is a 55 mile walk starting at Rushmere Heath on the eastern side of Ipswich with Southwold, passing through the remaining fragments of East Suffolks Sandling Heaths. The trail leads through Rendlesham, Tunstall and Dunwich forests and also includes riverside walks at Woodbridge and heathland walks across Rushmere Heath, Sutton Heath, Thorpeness Common and Dunwich Heath..

Read More

Aldringham Fen Walk Summary

A Short Circular Walk around Aldringham Fen

This is one of Suffolk's little secrets, hidden away from roads and off the beaten track. Tranquillity is guaranteed and there are some times of the year when one can walk around the entire route without seeing a soul. The area known as Aldringham Fens is a secluded haven of nature and wildlife, an area of marsh and reed-bed fed by the Hundred river which passes to the southern side of the fens.

It is thought that the fen may have possibly been the result of medieval peat extraction. It is known that before the railway arrived The Fens were a continuation of what is now Thorpeness Mere, the whole area being a vast shallow expanse of salt marsh. The railway provided an embankment to separate the Mere from the fen and the Mere became the modern day boating lake as part of Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie's early 20th century vision of a creating an idyllic Seaside village by the sea.

Access to the walk is via a footpath from Aldringham through to the picturesque Aldringham church. This is a pleasant path through an undulating Suffolk coastal countryside. The path continues down to the fen through more country side before circumnavigating the wetland by footpaths across boardwalks, across heath and through woodland . Return is back via the church.

This walk can equally be accessed from the village of Thorpeness, navigating along the side of the Mere to North Warren where there is access onto the Fen path.

Read More

Winter Walks in the Suffolk Coastal Area

Many of the walks on this site are suitable for any season, but just to get into the Christmas spirit here are a few that were specifically walked during the winter months. Frosty and snowy scenes. A little intrigue and some good old mysteries make a well worthy walk. From simple 2 mile town trails to walks that will use virtually all the daylight hours on these short winter days.

Read More

Completion of The Woodfordes Ale Trail 2011

The Woodfordes Ale Trail ended on 30th September and it was time to total up our stamps and collect our prizes. To recollect the rules, one has to visit Woodfordes outlets that are contained in their 2011 guide and on purchasing a pint of Woodfordes ale the publican will add an entry to the Trail Card with a unique stamp. There is only one stamp allowed for each venue and the trail only runs from June to the end of September. There is a different prize for collecting multiples of 10 stamps with the top prize being a polypin of ale for 60 stamps. In 2009 we managed to fill 2 Trail Cards and had started a third giving us a bounty of 2 polypins and a Nelsons Revenge t-shirt. This year we were not as successful due to being away from the area for a few weeks over the summer months. The end result was that we only completed half of the card. Nonetheless, this was thirty stamps collected which was rewarded with a mighty fine Woodfordes Hoody worth £25 as modelled by Kat in the photo above, an item that will most certainly keep us warm on our camping and walking expeditions

Read More

The Sandlings Walk - Knodishall to Snape

A 13 mile circular walk along the Sandlings Walk between Knodishall and Snape

With limited public transport this walk offers a circular route to incorporate the Sandlings path from Knodishall to Snape. Starting and ending at nearby Leiston it incorporates The Sailors Path and the Suffolk Coast Path to make a worthwhile day walk. The route passes Friston mill and Hall and the burial grounds where a Saxon burial ship was discovered. With pubs at Friston and Snape it provides for a great days ramble.

Read More

In Search of Sizewell Chapel

A 10 mile walk following the southern side of the parish boundary of Leiston in Suffolk

This walk follows the route of a 17th century perambulation around the southern side of the Leiston Parish boundary. The walk uses the ancient track down to Sizewell and continues down to Thorpe before turning inland to follow the River Hundred through to Cold Fair Green. The details are contained in two articles, this being the first, focusing on the medieval history of Sizewell.

Read More

Kenton Hills and Broom Covert Circular Walk

A circular walk around the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Sizewell

This walk has a diverse landscape that has something for everyone. Woodland, coast and beach, freshwater marsh and Sandlings Heath which is a delight to any visitor and worthy of its status as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The walk heads out of Leiston alongside the man-made Aldhurst Farm nature reserve, an area of wetland, heath and grassland created in 2015 as a sweetener for the local folk should the proposed Sizewell C Power Station get approval. It isn't presently accessible to the public other than the established footpath that runs along the valley and a new path running adjacent to Valley Road. The north side of the reserve was once known as Winters Heath, common land that was enclosed in the early 19th century. Therefore this is not so much as giving something to the community as returning the access rights to the people that such common land once afforded.

Views across the marsh to minsmere, an area that will be covered with spoil heaps from the construction of Sizewell C

Moving on up to the top of the hill on Lovers Lane where we take the track off to the right as the road bends around to the left. An interesting feature on the OS maps at this location is an area marked as Fiscal Policy. This is thought to be a so called Trap Street, a fictitious location that is used as a copyright marker for the cartographers work. This specific fictitious location has been added to OS maps since the 1920s and has varied its exact location over the decades, although keeping within the general area of the western side of Kenton Hills. It is certainly not a location known to locals and appears on no other maps of the area other than the Ordnance Survey. It is notable that there are many references to the area of Fiscal Policy made in modern documentation written by both Suffolk Council and EDF, the Power Station operators. This goes to show the lack of local knowledge these bureaucrats and business managers have which may account for their scant respect for the surrounding landscape.

The route then heads through a car park and into the woodland through the areas known as Kenton (marked as Tenton on 19th century OS maps) and Goose Hills. The naming of the area as Hills is not self evident from the tree covered landscape. It has to be said that there is a triangulation station in the depths of Goose Hill but this is only at an altitude of 9m with the surrounding landscape no less than 5m. I guess a mere 4m high piece of land surrounded by marsh may look like a hill but it certainly is not self evident within the dense forest. The names of Kenton Hill and Goose Hill date back from long before the forest was planted, when the area was Sandlings heathland. It wasn't until the 1960s, with the coming of Sizewell Nuclear Power Station, that the heath was planted with a managed forest. Going back further in history the area is thought to have been parkland attached with the 14th century Leiston Abbey, some documents describing it as a deer park.

There are many tracks through the woods including a section of the The Sandlings long distance trail as well as specific colour coded way-marked trails. This particular route takes the unmarked perimeter paths out to the extremities of Goose Hill where there are views onto the marshes to the south of Minsmere and a purpose built hide for those who want to spend some time discovering the wildlife of the marsh. Whatever route one takes, navigating to the eastern edge one will find two footbridges which provide access across to the coastal section of this walk.

Goose Hill and Kenton Hill Woodland

Sizewell beach offers both coastal heath and a shingle beach to walk along. The northern section at the point where the path emerges from the woods, was once a 19th century rifle range which I believe was also used during WWI as target practice for the troops. The beach and heath paths pass in the front of the two power stations at Sizewell and is a very popular for both tourists and locals walking through to Minsmere Sluice and beyond. For those wanting refreshments there is the Vulcan Arms pub at Sizewell as well as the Sizewell T cafe although this is closed over the winter months.

Return uses the medieval track through to Broom Covert. This was the original route between Leiston and Sizewell before the modern road was introduced in the 19th century. Broom Covert is an area of ancient Sandlings heath that is a delight to walk through and is another highlight of this walk, its contoured grassland hinting at hidden earthworks that may lie beneath. It is thought that this area was extensively used for troop training during WWII and there may be hidden structures dating from this period lying beneath the surface.

A permissive path leads across the meadow at Round Covert to Reckham Pits Wood which was originally part of Leiston Common, the woodland growing up in the early 20th century after it had been used for aggregate excavation. The mixed woodland is a much wilder landscape than that of Kenton Hills, with a cacophony of trees, foliage and fauna all competing for space, a blaze of colour and light in all seasons. Above the woodland is what is left of Leiston Common, correctly known as Leiston Dry Common to distinguish it from Leiston Wet Common which once occupied part of the marshes. The Common features in many local tales and stories of 18th century smugglers who would stash their booty in holes dug into the sandy soils of the common. There is a permissive path on the north side of the common that leads down to the marsh known as Sizewell Belts and across to Kenton Hill woods. The public footpath leads out onto Lovers Lane with a new footpath adjacent to Valley Road to take the walker back into Leiston.

Broom Covert, natural Sandlings heathland

It has to be stated that much of the landscape this route passes through may disappear in the next decade due to industrial usage despite its status as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The proposed Sizewell C power station will claim some of the woodland, specifically much of Goose Hill which will be replaced by an access road to the construction site and a railhead. The route of the proposed railway will run adjacent to Kenton Hills and may well devastate the fictitious area known as Fiscal Policy!. No doubt Goose Hill will be flattened with the introduction of the road, its trig point no longer applicable with the tallest structures becoming the 20-30m high spoil heaps which will dominate the landscape from the present site of Sizewell B through to Minsmere sluice and across to Eastbridge.

Public access to the woodland may become limited with no access through to the beach. The coastal access will be restricted during the construction of a loading jetty and sea defences, and the coast path may be blocked up for the duration of the build depending upon the design of the pier head that is chosen. The long distance routes of the Coast Path and the Sandlings Path will get diverted along Lovers lane and then taking the roads through to Eastbridge, a lengthy diversion along asphalt which is not conducive to committed walkers and hikers. There will no doubt be contention between road users and pedestrians, such confrontations already occur when walking the local roads so this will only get worse with the increased traffic. This re-routing is a big concern as many walkers make use of the coastal section from Sizewell through to Minsmere which makes the local area an attraction for outside visitors who may well be put off by such unpleasant walking diversions.

On the southern side of the route, Broom Covert was set to be requisitioned for the construction of Proposed East Anglia One/Two Windfarm Substations which were set to dominate the area, its buildings being some 18m in height. There was much opposition to this, the land being a prime example of Sandlings Heath and deserving of its Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty status. Fortunately it seems this threat has abated in preference to a site at Friston which itself is gaining significant opposition. The coastal land between Thorpeness and Sizewell is still threatened to be torn up and footpaths blocked up. Considering that this area is popular with both locals and visitors alike, it demonstrates the lack of local knowledge these corporations have of the area and just how much it attracts visitors. When, at a recent exhibition of the proposed development, the question about the blocking up of footpaths was put to ScottishPower Renewables, the rep seemed honestly aghast that we had walked two miles to get to the exhibition in Thorpeness. This demonstrates their lack of knowledge of the area. We walk. Two miles is around the corner. We do not want to be forced into cars. These footpaths are our access along the coast.

There are already two windfarm substations constructed at Sizewell. The big issue with all of this is each Power company appears to want their own substations whereas a more holistic and integrated policy would cause less development, less disruption and benefit all. Probably the best idea would be to have an off-shore ring main to connect all of these power sources rather than bringing the lines to a separate substations for every single wind farm that is built. However the power companies do not appear to be interested in such solutions. Cooperation appears to be a dirty word to these monolithic corporations.

To cap it all, there is an idea being put about to market this section of natural heath, marsh and sandling coastline as The Energy Coast. This is a gimmick to put a cosy name to what will be no more than industrialisation of the Suffolk Coastline. There are a lot of people out there, both local and from further afield who would prefer this to stay as a natural coast, a coast that harbours wildlife, where one can seek solace and peace, where one can sit or stand and admire the landscape, not a huge construction site under the marketed guise of The Energy Coast.

Finally, jumping the gun with the assumption that the construction of Sizewell C is a foregone conclusion, EDF have been given the permission to extend Sizewell B, destroying the 100 year old Coronation Wood in the proceess in order to accommodate a car park. This is currently being opposed by a local groups who have succeeded in forcing a judicial review in the High Court to challenge the planning decision.

Without a doubt this landscape will change drastically in the near future. Therefore if you want to enjoy this natural beauty, do so sooner rather than later or you will probably never get to see it due to the plethora of industrial constructions that are being proposed to completely devastate this area for the next 20 years and probably beyond. Gone the marsh. Gone the sandlings. Gone the peace. Gone the landscape. However, if you are into concrete landscapes, massive industrial constructions, busy roads, endless traffic, hoards of lorries then you will be in your element.

Read More

Leiston to Westwood Marsh

A walk encompassing the Westwood Marshes footpath into a circular route from Leiston

The Westwood Marshes footpath is little gem of a path that links the Newdelight Walks with the Suffolk Coast Path through the Westwood marshes. The route for this walk uses this path as the ultimate destination from Leiston but shorter alternatives to include this path are also detailed.

Read More

The Aftermath of the 2013 Storm Surge at Minsmere

A 10 mile circular walk to witness the damage caused by the 2013 Storm Surge

The 2013 Storm Surge proved to be the highest tide in 60 years. Although much of the flooding had recede the evidence remained of where the waters reached. Viewing the changes in coastline shows just how vulnerable this stretch of the Suffolk coast really is, especially in view of the fact that such storms appear to be increasing in frequency. The walk returns through the heath and forest via Dunwich Heath and Eastbridge where the results of Octobers St Jude storm are evident from the many fallen trees.

Read More