{"id":2344,"date":"2021-10-30T01:50:57","date_gmt":"2021-10-30T00:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=2344"},"modified":"2021-10-30T08:36:38","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T07:36:38","slug":"southwold-walberswick-and-the-marshes-suffolk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=2344","title":{"rendered":"Southwold, Walberswick and the marshes, Suffolk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=740,width=1230,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script><br \/> First published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('Southwold.jpg');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426397843_fff859d38c_z.jpg\" title= \"Southwold Beach\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426397843_fff859d38c_s.jpg\" alt=\"Southwold Beach\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51425399637_7f784ebe68_z.jpg\" title= \"Sandlings Walk towards Southwold\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51425399637_7f784ebe68_s.jpg\" alt=\"Sandlings Walk towards Southwold\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426146131_86abd856bf_z.jpg\" title= \"Southwold from the marshes\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426146131_86abd856bf_s.jpg\" alt=\"Southwold from the marshes\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51427129615_af8697596b_z.jpg\" title= \"Ferry cross the Blyth\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51427129615_af8697596b_s.jpg\" alt=\"Ferry cross the Blyth\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426396658_ecd432874d_z.jpg\" title= \"bronze autumn bracken on Busscreek Marshes\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426396658_ecd432874d_s.jpg\" alt=\"bronze autumn bracken on Busscreek Marshes\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51425400152_18d40fb740_z.jpg\" title= \"fleets of water on Busscreek Marshes\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51425400152_18d40fb740_s.jpg\" alt=\"fleets of water on Busscreek Marshes\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426396913_fb8793e888_z.jpg\" title= \"water tower on Southwold Common\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426396913_fb8793e888_s.jpg\" alt=\"water tower on Southwold Common\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426146916_9a54a1243a_z.jpg\" title= \"Easton Marshes\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426146916_9a54a1243a_s.jpg\" alt=\"Easton Marshes\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426397308_7db72ff9e8_z.jpg\" title= \"Buss Creek and Easton Marshes 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426397308_7db72ff9e8_s.jpg\" alt=\"Buss Creek and Easton Marshes 2\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51425400792_7fabeae474_z.jpg\" title= \"Buss Creek and Easton Marshes 1.\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51425400792_7fabeae474_s.jpg\" alt=\"Buss Creek and Easton Marshes 1.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426909589_337e514e6e_z.jpg\" title= \"Sandlings Walk approaching Southwold\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426909589_337e514e6e_s.jpg\" alt=\"Sandlings Walk approaching Southwold\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51427130755_3b27e36b81_z.jpg\" title= \"old wind pump on Reydon Marshes\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51427130755_3b27e36b81_s.jpg\" alt=\"old wind pump on Reydon Marshes\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426909959_80197bbe5d_z.jpg\" title= \"Gun Cliff, Southwold\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51426909959_80197bbe5d_s.jpg\" alt=\"Gun Cliff, Southwold\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"javascript:pwindow=window.open('\/Walks\/prn.php?f=2344','pwin','height=700,width=1000,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes');\" title=\"Click for printable version\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Walks\/print.gif\" align=\"right\"><\/a><br \/>\nSouthwold at the cusp of autumn and winter; a trim little resort out on the Suffolk coast, its tight lanes packed with bookshops, cake shops and bric-a-brac emporia. The lighthouse, sited well inland, towered over the town like a guardian nanny in a white cloak.<br \/>\nOn the seafront promenade the Sailors Reading Room, built to offer Victorian seafarers an alternative to the demon booze, was packed with photos, drawings, models and mementoes of bygone ships, shipmen and the sea. Below the white railings of the prom a beach of pebbly sand and an orderly rank of beach huts led north to the skeletal finger of Southwold\u2019s pier, its line of neat pavilions and shelters lending it the air of an old-fashioned railway station miraculously suspended above the shingly grumble of the North Sea.<br \/>\nBeyond the pier the fast-crumbling cliffs extended in a low pink arc. We turned inland along the reedy ditch of Buss Creek, the dimity charm of the town instantly exchanged for rough grazing marshes and scrub woodland.<br \/>\nA wild babbling in the sky heralded the approach of a great crowd of barnacle geese, all yapping like excited puppies as they came in to land, the clean white of their heads and breasts  in contrast to the sober grey-black of their backs. Further on behind the town on Botany Marshes, the water of the creek lay mirror-still. The flanking reeds were trapping the wind, tossing their feathery heads with a loud hissing, every empty seed cone glistening in the strong afternoon sunlight.<br \/>\nA scuffling in the grass drew our attention. A rabbit was scampering along the seabank nearby, pursued by a stoat, a lithe streak of ginger. The rabbit bounded up the slope and into its hole so adeptly that the stoat seemed baffled, and soon undulated off in search of other prey.<br \/>\nWe turned south and crossed the Bailey Bridge that spans the narrow tidal reach of Southwold harbour, its outflowing water olive-green and wrinkled. Beyond lay the church tower and roofs of Walberswick, neighbour and rival to Southwold. Feathery grasses made a ground haze of silver on Robinson\u2019s Marshes as we headed for home by way of the rowing boat ferry that links the twin communities. The jolly ferryman sculled us over the tide, and we strolled back along Southwold promenade with nothing more noble on our minds than a nice pint of the town\u2019s famous Adnams ale.<\/p>\n<p>How hard is it? 5 miles; easy, level walking<br \/>\nStart: Southwold Pier car park, 27 North Parade, Southwold IP18 6LT (OS ref TM 512769) &#8211; \u00a36 all day. <\/p>\n<p>Getting there: Bus 146 from Norwich.<br \/>\nRoad: Southwold is on A1095, signed from A12 between Blythburgh and Wangford<br \/>\nWalk (OS Explorer 231): Turn north from car park; in 50m, left (513769, fingerpost) on path across marshes. Cross A1095 (504769); on across Botany and Busscreek Marshes to Bailey Bridge over River Blyth (495759). Right across bridge; follow cycleway. In \u00bd mile, just before Heath House, left (492750, bridleway fingerpost). In \u00bc mile, left at road (496748); in 150m, left (\u2018Bird Hide\u2019). At hide (497750), right (yellow arrow). Follow ditch on right for 250m to gate and steps (500748); left along bank to West Harbour and Walberswick ferry (501749). Cross harbour; ahead (\u2018Sandlings Walk\u2019) for \u2154 mile to Queen\u2019s Road (508758). Right across green to Gunhill Cliff (509757); left along promenade for \u00be mile to car park.<br \/>\nLunch\/accommodation: Crown Hotel, High Street, Southwold IP18 6DP (01502 722275; <a href=\"http:\/\/thecrownsouthwold.co.uk\">thecrownsouthwold.co.uk<\/a>)<br \/>\nInfo: <a href=\"http:\/\/thesuffolkcoast.co.uk\">thesuffolkcoast.co.uk<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/exploresouthwold.co.uk\">exploresouthwold.co.uk<\/a><br \/>\nWalberswick ferry: runs on demand. Adults \u00a32, children under 5 free, under 18 \u00a31. Check timetable first! \u2013 <a href=\"mailto:walberswickferry@gmail.com\">walberswickferry@gmail.com<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/walberswickferry.com\">walberswickferry.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Southwold at the cusp of autumn and winter; a trim little resort out on the Suffolk coast, its tight lanes packed with bookshops, cake shops and bric-a-brac emporia. The lighthouse, sited well inland, towered over the town like a guardian nanny in a white cloak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}