Ferryside Felixstowe

We rose and breakfasted late, then walked to the main street shops, as Ann had a few errands to do and I wanted to buy some wine. Then we drove to a long beach on the eastern side of the peninsula on which the town stands, and walked from a car park along the coast path as far as the ferry across the river Deben to have lunch at a small eaterie called 'Winkles at the Ferry' by the slipway for a snack lunch.

The shingle beach is about two miles long, and above the coast path along a low ridge are no few than three long rows of attractive simple brightly coloured beach huts. The demand for these exceeds supply. Beach huts are a popular family holiday pastime along the east coast. The local golf course occupies the land behind the sea wall. Off-shore several large banks of shingle protrude from the sea at low tide, but are hardly visible at high tide. The river Deben flows into the sea at the far end of the beach. I imagine these waters must be tricky to navigate with the different currents and tides.

On the north bank promontory of the Deben is a large country house Bawdsey Manor where James Watson-Watt, pioneer of World War radar (RDF) system carried out the first operational trials of early warning radar. It was acquired by the RAF in 1936 as a research station, and served as a tracking station from 1939 until 1980. The iconic radar masts were demolished long ago. Two of the eight Felixstowe Martello towers dating back to the Napoleonic war. One of them has been converted into a family home, the other is empty, unused and has one of the golf greens right in front of it.

The Felixstowe ferry is a motor launch which takes about half a dozen pedestrians at a time across the Deben to Bawdsey Peninsula. The ferry-boat is still summoned from the opposite side with a hand held paddle. No need to modernise further in this lovely rural backwater. 

We were rained upon several times during our walk there and back, but it didn't deter me from taking lots of photos. The coastal landscape is such a vivid contrast to ours in the Vale of Glamorgan. It was a most enjoyable outing.

Ann cooked us supper, and afterwards we watched 'The Dig' on Netflix. It's set in nearby Sutton Hoo, and tells the story of the excavation and discover of the renowned Anglo Saxon burial ship, which we visited when we came over to spend time with Eddy and Ann back in 2012. It's hard to believe that it's nine years since we went there.