The Suffolk Coast Cycleway
Westleton Heath
‘I must down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky’
(John Masefield, Sea Fever)
The coast of Suffolk and Norfolk is like a rounded prow beating through the North Sea’s waves. To ride along this beguiling coast in summer, is to combine the wild and windswept with the gentle pursuits of crabbing and licking ice-creams. It is a curious part of the world, both melancholic and timeless, where you can stand alone on the marshes listening to the lonely gull or mix with the cheerful holiday makers emerging from their beach huts onto the wide expanse of the sandy shore.
This sea-fashioned coast is full meres and heaths, creeks and shingle spits on which mankind has sculpted his will. At Bawdsey Manor, Robert Watson-Watt perfected the radar system without which the Battle of Britain would never have been won. Nearby on the haunting spit of shingle - Europe’s longest - atoms of war were tested in the pagodas and sheds of Orford Ness. Dotted along the coast are the ex-fishing towns of Orford, Aldeburgh, Southwold, now dependant on the sale of artisanal ice-creams, holiday-lets and fish and chips, rather than the riches of the sea. Huge flint churches tower above the meadows and you’re never more than a few miles from the industrial modernity of the coast’s two big ports of Felixstowe and Ipswich.
Nature too, plays its part. This coast is where the sea is hungrily devouring the land. Four and a half metres of cliffs disappear into the sea at Covehithe each year, and whole villages have succumbed to the waves - Dunwich and Easton Bavents were thriving medieval ports and it is said their bells can be heard ringing beneath the sea. The creeks of the many rivers which bisect the soft land, bristle with life - marsh harriers, nightjars and curlews fly with the gulls across the wide-brimmed sky and in winter, the shore is alive with millions of birds who migrate to these food rich stores.
The riding is gentle. There are no steep hills, no sudden lurches into coves and bays. Sandy lanes follow the old field boundaries in a series of ninety degree bends. Gravelly byways travel across the purple heather’d heaths. Riding this coast on a bike, is a delectable way to spend a couple of days.
Ride Practicalities
START/FINISH: Orford/Lowestoft DISTANCE: 198km TOTAL ASCENT: 1200m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: Narrow lanes, often covered in sand and loose gravel, sandy bridleways RECOMMENDED CAFÈS/PUBS; Felixstowe Ferry; The Ferry Boat Inn, Orford; The King’s Arms, Pump Street Bakery, Aldeburgh; Aldeburgh Fish and Chips, The Cross Keys, Walberswick; The Bell Inn, Southwold; The Harbour Inn: CAMPING: Nether Hall Farm, (42km) Wild camping, whilst illegal may be found on the heaths and around the Alde Estuary, Southwold; Pigs in Blankets. There are plenty of large campsites where tents mix with caravans and motorhomes along the coast. ACCOMMODATION: (Recommended) Orford; The Crown and Castle. There are plenty of rooms and hotels along the coast MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Felixstowe, Ipswich, Lowestoft LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: The Thames Estuary Cycleway, The Norfolk Coast Cycleway, NCN 1
A gravel/adventure bike with tyres 30mm or wider is best for this route
Book a visit to Orford Ness (April to October, advance booking essential)
Orfordness - part of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment
All the details given on this route are given in good faith. However, situations on the ground can change, so if you know of any access issues, closures, or have any thoughts and feedback on the route, please include them in the comments section below.