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AldeburghIn partnership with

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Local Adnams pubsCROSS KEYS Tel: 01728 452637Crabbe Street, Aldeburgh, IP15 5BNLocation: Town Restaurant/dining room -Garden/courtyard Yes Bar meals YesChildren welcome Yes Accommodation YesDisabled access - Dogs welcome YesParking available - Credit cards welcome Yes

MILL INN Tel: 01728 452563Market Cross, Aldeburgh, IP15 5BJLocation: Town Restaurant/dining room YesGarden/courtyard Yes Bar meals YesChildren welcome Yes Accommodation YesDisabled access - Dogs welcome YesParking available Yes Credit cards welcome Yes

RAILWAY INN Tel: 01728 453864Leiston Rd, Aldeburgh, IP15 5PPLocation: Town Restaurant/dining room -Garden/courtyard Yes Bar meals -Children welcome Yes Accommodation YesDisabled access Yes Dogs welcome YesParking available - Credit cards welcome Yes

WHITE HART Tel: 01728 453205High Street, Aldeburgh, IP15 5AJLocation: Town Restaurant/dining room -Garden/courtyard Yes Bar meals YesChildren welcome - Accommodation -Disabled access - Dogs welcome YesParking available - Credit cards welcome Yes

In partnership with

Felixstowe

Ipswich

oodbridge

Harwich

Aldeburgh

Southwold

Lowestoft

Beccles

NorthSea

W

In partnership with

This leaflet has been produced with the generoussupport of Adnams to celebrate the 40th anniversaryof the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.

“Adnams has been proud to work with Suffolk Coast andHeaths for many years on a variety of projects. We are basedin Southwold, just inside the AONB and it is with thisbeautiful location in mind, that we have great respect forthe built, social and natural environment around us. Overseveral years we have been working hard to make ourimpact on the environment a positive one, please visit ourwebsite to discover some of the things we’ve been up to.

We often talk about that “ah, that’s better” moment andwhat better way to celebrate that, than walking one ofthese routes and stopping off at an Adnams pub for somewell-earned refreshment.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the walks (and thepubs!), please upload your comments and photos to ourwebsite adnams.co.uk”

Andy Wood, Adnams Chief Executive

You can follow us on twitter.com/adnams

01 Pin Mill02 Levington03 Waldringfield04 Woodbridge 05 Butley06 Orford07 Snape

08 Aldeburgh09 Eastbridge10 Westleton11 Walberswick12 Southwold 13 Wrentham14 Blythburgh

More Suffolk Coast and HeathsAONB pub walks

The Moot Hall, to seaward of the Mill Inn, housesAldeburgh’s museum, open daily May – Oct (limitedopening Nov-Apr). It is a stunning Tudor building, oncecentral to Aldeburgh, perilously close to the beach now thatcoastal erosion has destroyed much of the eastern side ofthe town, although old maps indicate that little change hasoccurred since late 18th century.

Composer Benjamin Britten lived for a time in a housenear to the Mill Inn – see plaque on wall.

Aldeburgh

Start from seafront near Moot Hall (Parking available nearby).

1

Leaving Mill Inn on your right, walk up hill(Victoria Rd), and over the crossroads as if

heading out of Aldeburgh. Take footpath (signed)into churchyard , just before the church itself. 2

The church has a window dedicated to Britten, and he isburied in the churchyard as are Peter Pears and Imogen Holst.

Aldeburgh has an active lifeboat station, and in thechurchyard is an impressive memorial to lifeboatmen. Both The Railway and the Mill Inn contain memorabiliaunderlining the long association of the community – and its pubs - with the lifeboat station.

Long route – 3 miles/4.7km

ALDEBURGHH

A1094

B1122

AldeburghMarshes

Crag PitNurseries

CaravanSite

NorthWarren

Church FarmMarshes

FortGreen

River Alde

Scallop

Moot Hall

A126 miles

THORPENESS2 miles

Long WalkShort Walk

Public House

Points ofinterest 1Car Park/Layby

Place ofworship

Path, track orother roadFootpath/bridleway

A/B/C Roads

Woods

4

3

2 1

5

RAILWAYINN

1

2

3

4

5

WHITEHART INN

CROSSKEYS

MILLINN

Crown copyright. All rights reserved. © Suffolk County Council. License LA100023395

08Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONBTel: 01394 384948www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org

East of England Tourismwww.visiteastofengland.com

Public Transportwww.suffolkonboard.com0845 606 6171

Further information

Aldeburgh

The four Adnams pubs in Aldeburgh are all within1.3 km of each other. The two northernmost pubs,the Mill Inn and the Railway Inn, are taken in by thelonger, northern walk (Route 1). The White Hartand the Cross Keys are well-placed for the southernroute (Route 2).

Dogs will enjoy both routes, but they should beon a lead or under close control. It is especiallyimportant to ensure your dog does not disturbthe bird life on the estuary or other nature reserve areas.

The terrain ranges from urban pavement tounmade paths which could be a bit muddy in wet weather.

The Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of OutstandingNatural Beauty (AONB) is one of Britain’s finestlandscapes. Located on the coast of East Anglia andcovering 403 square kilometres, the AONB extendsfrom the Stour estuary in the south to the easternfringe of Ipswich and to Kessingland in the north.

www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org

In the marshes, thevulnerability of thelandscape is apparent.From the low viewpointhere, it is the shinglebank that defines theskyline to seaward, not thesea horizon. The buildingsof Aldeburgh hug thehigher ground.

Follow straight through churchyard and outvia small gate.

Continue straight on between housing, then turn left on a blockpaved road (Church Farm Road) and continue to Railway Inn. Note footpathsign off to right – the pub is another 100yds/mor so, and you’ll be doubling back to here tocontinue the walk.

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After about 450m, a well-made path leads offright , across the marshes, eventually to

meet the coast road . (For a much longer circuit,carry on up railway track to Thorpeness, then backalong beach.)

45 At the road, turn right along shingle beach, or

for an easier surface underfoot, use the trackthat runs from Thorpeness to Aldeburgh, parallelto road (also a cycle track, so take care, but buggyand wheelchair use is possible).

The shingle beach is a Local Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest. Yellow-horned Poppy andSea Pea are among the species here that can tolerate thisenvironment. The bulky Sea Kale clumps are astonishing intheir ability to nourish themselves from this stony base.They are spectacular in flower in summer, but in the winter, the plants survive underground and the fleshyabove-ground parts die back.

The roundabout by the Railway Inn is built over the site ofthe old Aldeburgh railway station, closed in 1966. A branch line was constructed in 1859 from Saxmundhamas far as Leiston, to serve industry there, then extended toAldeburgh, initially for the benefit of the fishing industry.

From the old railway line, you will have a clear view ofScallop, poised on the beach. This sculpture is a memorialto Britten by artist Maggi Hambling, her underlying conceptbeing a “conversation with the sea” - which so inspired hiswork. The Adnams Charity was instrumental in securingfunding for this work of art, which was given to SuffolkCoastal District Council by the Charity and the artist.

The House in the Clouds, at Thorpeness, is ahead.Beyond sits the white dome of Sizewell Nuclear PowerStation, still served by a short section of the old branchrailway line for the transport of nuclear waste.

Follow footpath sign at , and on to the oldrailway track leading north, a firm sandy path

(permissive path).

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Curlew (FLPA)

Aldeburgh beach

The route crosses thegrazing marsh of NorthWarren Nature Reserve(RSPB). In spring, the reedbeds fringing the path arefull of Reed and SedgeWarblers. These marshesare especially known forLapwing, Marsh Harrier,White Fronted Goose and Widgeon.

Coastal erosion hasclaimed a wide band of coastal fringe, and the shingle bank has encroached shorewards.Imagine: the ruined cottage at the end of the path oncehad an orchard extending seaward!

Reed Warbler (FLPA)

This can be a bleak exposed stretch of wall, but thepanoramic view takes in so much. The BBC World Servicetransmits from the network of aerials on the Ness(looking south), but this site was originally set up as ‘CobraMist’ – an over-the-horizon radar system intended forsurveillance over 2,000 miles eastwards.

To the right of these areOrford Castle and Church,on the mainland. The Castlewas built by Henry II, not torepel invaders, but to asserthis royal authority againstthreats from within hisrealm from Hugh Bigod,Earl of Norfolk.

Beyond the wall is the precious saltmarsh, a habitat endangered by sea level rise andresulting coastal squeeze: river walls prevent the saltmarshvegetation from shifting landwards to survive. Yet anotherwetland habitat is the borrowdyke, the ditch behind thewall from which material has been dug to build it.

Bird life on the river and marsh is prolific: Herons, Curlews,Redshanks, Avocets, Godwits, Ringed Plovers and Dunlin arethe usual residents, but there are often more exotic visitors.

AldeburghShort route – 1 mile/1.6km

From car park at Fort Green, walk south,converted mill on your left, then back up

to the sea wall, for about 300m.

Return to road, and before sailing club, turnright on a footpath that runs along the

river wall - the river Alde now on your left. (Above Slaughden, the river changes its namefrom Ore to Alde.)

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After 450m, before the river wall bendssharply left, turn right , onto a gravelled

track, then after 100m fork right on a grassy trackback towards Aldeburgh, crossing low-lying areaof grazing marsh .4

3

The path joins another track – turn right, thenleft between some houses, to a T-junction

with Park Road .

Return through the back streets of Aldeburgh: lefton to Park Road, right on to Lee Road, second righton to Hartington Road, right on to The Terrace, anda sharp drop down Choppings Hill to High Street.

Now for the pubs: the White Hart is just across theHigh Street to your right; for the Cross Keys, turnleft along the High Street until you reach the endof the on-street parking area – the pub is inCrabbe Street, which forks off to the right.

Return to Fort Green car park by walking southalong the beach or through the town.

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This is the eastern end of the reclaimed Aldeburgh TownMarshes, dependant on a network of drains and sluices,and owned by the Town Council since the 16th century.Traditional livestock grazing is practised. Look out forKingfishers, Snipe and Reed Buntings in the dykes. Inwinter, you may see occasional migrating GreenSandpipers, White Fronted and Brent Geese and Bewick’sSwans. Other residents are Short-eared Owls, Hen Harriers,Sparrowhawks and Merlins, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks.Spring visitors include Ruff, Greenshank and Whimbrel.

the port. None of these plans came to fruition, andmeanwhile, ‘coastal processes’ were at work: the shinglebank was moving closer and storm surges caused riverflooding. Today there is little left.

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Dunlin (FLPA)

You are now at Slaughden, at the narrow north end ofOrford Ness, which extends some 10 miles southwards.Beyond is the Martello tower (built to counter aNapoleonic invasion), and the popular angling spot, thestretch of shingle bank known as the Dirty Wall.

In Henry VIII’s time, the bank here was perhaps 500m wide,but the sea threatens to remove more shingle than itdeposits. Increasing storminess and sea level rise ispredicted, and the sea could eventually break through.River embankments, farmland and natural habitats wouldthen be open to increased erosion, flooding and saltcontamination, and the whole estuary would be affected.

Slaughden was athriving river port inthe 1500’s, despitethe long approach and the hazardousentrance, but therailway era heraldedits decline. Coalsupplies for Aldeburgh’s gasworks and brickworks arrived by sea via Slaughden. Therewere shipbuilding yards and a fishing fleet. Between 1813and 1870 there were proposals to improve access from thesea, by breaching the bank, and also extending the railway to

Martello tower