Suffolk Coast and Heath Walks: 3 long-distance routes in the AONB: the Suffolk Coast Path, the Stour and Orwell Walk and the Sandlings Walk

FOREWORD

Suffolk contains some of the finest and most diverse countryside in lowland Britain and much of the strip along the coast is rightly designated as the Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The national designation recognises an area of contrasts, outstanding landscapes, wildlife havens and superb views.

Walking through the Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB is the best way to experience the area’s wonderful landscape and remarkable stories. There are three long-distance trails within the AONB – the Suffolk Coast Path, the Stour and Orwell Walk, and the Sandlings Walk. Each of these paths has been carefully developed to reveal the most distinctive features of the area, which can be explored in easy stages.

Although this coastal landscape is low-lying, it lacks nothing in drama. Its spectacular views and big skies have built the area’s reputation as one of the country’s finest lowland walking areas. Much of the drama is down to coastal changes – floods in December 2013 will remain long in the memory – and it was coastal changes that led to the loss of medieval Dunwich, once the most important port in eastern England, which gradually silted up as the sea eroded the coastline. Dramatic changes such as these, and the impact of defences against possible invaders over many years, simply add to the area’s mystique.

But change is usually a story that plays out slowly here, and is revealed in the way the AONB’s communities have responded to the challenges posed by the sea, the fear of invasion and the unique geology of the area. It can be seen in the many miles of sea and riverwalls, the historic heathland sheep walks, and the lonely Martello towers that punctuate the coastline. The development of the landscape in response to local circumstances is also reflected in the unique natural heritage of the AONB, a landscape that contains some of the most famous nature reserves and rarest wildlife in the UK.

The Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB challenges many common preconceptions about Britain’s coast. While the coastal towns of Felixstowe, Aldeburgh and Southwold provide a taste of the traditional British seaside at its best, much of the area confounds conventional thinking about beauty, and challenges notions of a permanent coast ‘line’. This is a soft coast, shaped and continually re-formed by the capricious whim of the cold North Sea. It’s a sea that is constantly nibbling away at the land, making no distinction between the area’s sandy cliffs and small coastal towns, and causing some of the highest rates of erosion in Britain. But it’s not all about loss – in other places the sea is building new landscapes and creating some of the most extraordinary coastal features in Britain, such as the shingle spit of Orford Ness.

Behind the coast lies a remarkable area of heathland known as the Sandlings. The Sandlings once covered a vast area of east Suffolk, stretching along the coast from Lowestoft to the edge of Ipswich. The surviving remnants of these heaths are not as wholly natural as they appear, but are a product of the way people have used the land over hundreds, or even thousands, of years – a response to the arid sandy soils of the area. This human influence created an open heathy landscape that became home for plants and animals that would previously have lived only in small woodland clearings. It also established a way of life, based on sheep farming, that whole communities would come to depend on – one that would continue virtually unchanged until swept away in the 20th century by modern agricultural practice.

Another striking feature of the Suffolk coast is its estuaries, which are internationally recognised for their wildlife. All are remarkable, but the two most southerly – the Stour and Orwell – are wetlands of particularly contrasting character. Here, a dramatic tension exists between their beautiful scenery and spectacular wildlife and, in contrast, large-scale human usage – most starkly expressed in the mighty cranes and giant container ships that populate the Port of Felixstowe, one of the largest and busiest ports in Europe.

With miles of footpaths to explore in the AONB, this guidebook opens up to walkers the beauty and history of this unique area. Don’t forget to take a moment to enjoy the area’s hospitality but, most importantly, enjoy your walks!

Simon Amstutz

AONB Manager

A gnarled old tree marks the Freston Wood boundary (Stour and Orwell Walk, Stage 3)

Former coastguard cottages at Shingle Street (SCP, Stages 7 and 8)

INTRODUCTION

Scots pines at sunset at Bawdsey on the Suffolk Coast Path (SCP, Stage 8)

The sky seems enormous here, especially on a bright, early summer’s day, and the sea beyond the shingle almost endless. Apart from the gleeful cries of children playing on the beach, the aural landscape is one of soughing waves and the gentle scrape of stones, a few mewing gulls and the piping of oystercatchers. Less than a mile inland, both scenery and soundscape are markedly different – vast expanses of heather, warbling blackcaps in the bushes, and a skylark clattering on high; the warm air is redolent with the coconut scent of yellow gorse that seems to be everywhere. This is the Suffolk coast, and it seems hard to imagine that somewhere quite so tranquil is just a couple of hours’ drive away from London.

The big skies, clean air and wide open scenery of the Suffolk coast has long attracted visitors – holiday makers certainly, but also writers, artists and musicians. The Suffolk coast’s association with the creative arts is longstanding, and its attraction is immediately obvious – close enough to the urban centres of southern England for a relatively easy commute, yet with sufficient unspoiled backwater charm for creativity to flourish.

It is not hard to see the appeal – east of the A12, the trunk road that more or less carves off this section of the East Anglian coast, there is a distinct impression that many of the excesses of modern life have passed the region by. The small towns and villages that punctuate the coastline and immediate hinterland are by and large quiet, unspoiled places that, while developed as low-key resorts in recent years, still refect the maritime heritage for which this coast was famous before coastal erosion took its toll.

The county of Suffolk lies at the heart of East Anglia, in eastern England, sandwiched between the counties of Norfolk to the north, Essex to the south and Cambridgeshire to the west. The county town is Ipswich, by far the biggest urban centre in the county, while other important towns include Bury St Edmunds to the west and Lowestoft to the north. Much of the county is dominated by agriculture, especially arable farming, but the coastal region featured in this book has a wider diversity of scenery – with reedbeds, heath, saltmarsh, shingle beaches, estuaries and even cliffs all contributing to the variety. There is also woodland, both remnants of ancient deciduous forests and large modern plantations. Such a variety of landscapes means a wealth of wildlife habitat, and so it is little wonder that the area is home to many scarce species of bird, plant and insect.

This region can be broadly divided into three types of landscape – coast, estuary and heathland, or Sandlings, as they are locally known – and the three long-distance walks described in this guide are each focused on one of these landscape types. All three have plenty to offer visitors in terms of scenery, wildlife and historic interest, and the footpaths, bridleways and quiet lanes found here make for excellent walking.three long-distance walks described in this guide are each focused on one of these landscape types. All three have plenty to offer visitors in terms of scenery, wildlife and historic interest, and the footpaths, bridleways and quiet lanes found here make for excellent walking.

Sandlings heath and conifer plantations at dunwich Forest (SW, Stage 7)

Almost all the walks in this guide fall within the boundaries of the Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which stretches south from Kessingland in the north of the county to the Stour estuary in the south. The whole area – both coast and heaths – is now one of 46 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, having received AONB status in 1970, a designation that recognises, and protects, the area’s unique landscape.

THE AONB

The Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB was created in March 1970, has a population of roughly 23,500 within its border, and covers 403km2 of coastal Suffolk from the Stour estuary at the eastern fringe of Ipswich to Kessingland in the north. This AONB is recognised as one of the most important areas for wildlife in the UK and boasts three National Nature Reserves, the flagship RSPB reserve at Minsmere, several SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) and wetland sites of national and international importance.

As with any AONB, a balance needs to be struck between the need for conservation of its unique landscape features and its role as an area of both agricultural and recreational use. The Suffolk Coast & Heaths Partnership that manages activities within the AONB is made up of 26 organisations that include local councils and wildlife groups; farming, business, tourism and historical interests; and the Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB Team, based at Melton, just outside Woodbridge, which acts as a champion for the AONB, coordinating the work of the Partnership and promoting the area’s conservation.

Three Long-Distance Walks

The three long-distance walks described in this guide are the Suffolk Coast Path, the Stour and Orwell Walk and the Sandlings Walk. The first two follow the coast as closely as possible, while the third follows an alternative route through the sandy heaths that lie a little way inland.

The Suffolk Coast Path (sometimes referred to as the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Path) and the Stour and Orwell Walk are connected at Felixstowe to provide about 100 miles (160km) of continuous, largely coastal walking – although there are also some inland stretches that are needed to detour around the many estuaries that are a marked feature of this coastline. When combined with these, the Sandlings Walk, which meanders mostly inland for nearly 60 miles (96km) between Ipswich and Southwold, offers the possibility of a complete circular tour of the Suffolk coastal region for those with sufficient curiosity, time and energy. All three walks have their merits, and all can easily be completed in manageable stages or even cherry-picked as day walks for sections that hold particular appeal.

Fingerpost and footpath through reedbeds close to Southwold (SCP, Stage 3)

None of the routes described in this book is especially demanding – all are suitable for newcomers to long-distance walking and all can be done by anyone with a reasonable level of fitness. All the routes are clearly way-marked and involve easy walking on the flat, although some stretches along shingle and sand will inevitably be more tiring, as will muddy paths after wet weather. Facilities are plentiful, and the routes are described in convenient stages with accommodation usually available nearby at the end of the day.

The Suffolk Coast Path

The Suffolk Coast Path stretches along the coast between Lowestoft in the north and Landguard Fort, close to Felixstowe, in the south, a total distance of 55–60 miles (89–97km), depending on whether beach walking or inland options are followed. The path can be walked in either direction, but has been described north to south here in order to link up with a south to north traverse of the Sandlings