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| Suffolk *****Mid Suffolk***** The heart of Suffolk the place in the country to get away from it all, lying between the heathland and the coast. Many of the villages are little changed from olden days, the poppies put on a colourful show in the hedgerows, the pubs always offer a warm welcome and there are plenty of places to pause for the night. The Rivers Deben and Gipping run through much of the region which naturally has its fair share of churches, museums, fayres and festivals. The little market towns of Stowmarket and Needham Market are full of interest and in this part of Suffolk some of the best-preserved windmills and watermills are to be found. Windmills have been part of the Suffolk scene for 800 years and William Cobbett writing in 1830 spoke of seeing 17 from a single vantage point. 200 windmills were working in Suffolk at the turn of the century hardly a dozen at the outbreak of World War II. Today in Suffolk about 20 windmills and the same number of watermills survive in more or less working order, most of them preserved and maintained at considerable cost by government or local subscriptions. The earliest windmills were post mills in which the whole body sails mechanism and all could be turned to face the wind on a huge central oak post. The end of the 18th century saw the introduction of tower mills, in which the machinery was contained in a fixed brick tower and only the cap with the sails could move to face into the wind. Tower mills with frames made of timber rather than brick were known as smock mills. Watermills were powered of course by the force of moving water and since Suffolk is a fairly flat county some mills replaced the waterwheel with a much more efficient turbine. Several examples of both windmills and watermills survive in Suffolk and Pakenham is lucky in having a splendid example of each. *****Northeast Suffolk***** While inland Suffolk has few peers in terms of picturesque countryside and villages Suffolk is also very much a maritime county with over 50 miles of coastline. All those miles have been constantly bombarded by the North Sea and out at sea the sandbanks have often proved disastrous to shipping; at one time as many wrecks were recorded here as anywhere around Britain's shores. The Romans build a series of signal stations and the Suffolk coast was the first to be systematically lighted starting with twin lights at Lowestoft in 1609. The whole coastline has been subject to erosion (and is in any case sinking as Scotland rises) and several communities have disappeared completely under the waves. The estuaries of the Waveney, Blyth, Alde, Deben, Orwell and Stour have somewhat minimised the erosion and the whole stretch is a marvellous mixture of estuaries, beaches, marshes, reedland, heath and pasture. In 1993 the Suffolk Coast and Heath Project was created to protect and conserve this area of outstanding natural beauty, which is home to an amazing variety of flora and fauna. The whole coast is a conservation area, which the 50-mile Suffolk Coastal Path makes walkable throughout. *****Southeast Suffolk***** The sea brings its own dangers and also brings them in human form and it was against the threat of a Napoleonic invasion that Martello Towers were built in the tradition of Saxon and Tudor forts and precursors of concrete pillboxes. The name of the towers comes from Cape Martella in Corsica when such a tower resisted for some time a stout cannonade in 1794 and on the Duke of York's recommendation the tower was adapted for use in England. Starting just before the end of the 18th century over 100 of these sturdy circular fortified towers were built along the coast from Suffolk to Sussex. They are generally around 30 feet in height with immensely think walls on the seaward side and surrounded by a moat. Entry was usually by bridge or ladder on the land side. They were never needed for their original purpose and now stand as a picturesque oddity along the shore. The marshes by the coast have traditionally been a source of reeds the raw material for the thatch that is such a pretty sight on so many Suffolk buildings. Thatch covered the majority of buildings in medieval times, but fear of fire made thatching less popular in the 19th century and tiles or slated (both also much easier to construct) because the standard material for roofing. Many of the reed beds were drained and given over to grazing but the threat of invasion caused many to be reflooded in World War II. This action brought about the renaissance of the reed beds and with it a lifeline to many threatened bird species. The wartime emergency measure led to an increased demand for thatch and the beds are carefully managed to bring about the best balance between the quality of the crop and the well-being of the wildlife. Reed cutting happens between Decemer and February the beds being drained in preparation and reflooded after the crop has been gathered. *****Ipswich and South Suffolk***** Much of Suffolk's character comes from its rivers and in this part of the country the Orwell and the Stour mark the boundaries of the Shotley Peninsula. The country side here is largely unspoilt with wide-open spaces between scattered villages. The relative flatness of Suffolk gives every encouragement for motorists to leave their machines and the peninsula still relatively peaceful is ideal for a spot of walking or cycling or boating or settling down with a good book. Writers have been inspired down the centuries to live among and write about the coasts and heath and forest, the villages and harbours and rolling farmland. Daniel Defoe, John Evelyn and William Cobbett all had nice things to say about Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich and in the last century Algernon Swinburne and Henry James were impressed with the mystery of Dunwich. George Crabbe wrote lyrically about the poor times in Aldesburgh and Slaughden, while Edward Fitzgerald showed his love of Woodbridge and its river in his writings, Suffolk has often been used as a setting for novels, notably by Charles Dickens - here in fact, his characters in fiction; P D James who found Dunwich and Minsmere suitably mysterious locations; Arthur Ransome, devoted to Pin Mill; Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, using several places in the country; Wilkie Collins setting a splendid part of No Name in Aldeburgh and Stevie Smith some of whose Novel in Yellow Paper takes place in Felixstowe.
Chediston Cratfield Haveringland
Some of the images taken by Ian Davey. |
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