Visit Suffolk Coast LogoWelcome to the Visit Suffolk Coast website, providing you with a comprehensive guide to the area which will help you get the most out of your visit to Suffolk.

Researched and written by the team at Suffolk Cottage Holidays this site provides you with articles and information on a variety of topics affecting your visit.

We have just added a new discussion forum to our site. From here we are attempting to expand the existing information on the site by allowing you to add your own views and comments. So any questions about the area, whether it is eating out, activities, beaches or just general questions, just post them under the relevant heading on the forum and we will post an answer. Likewise if you have information relating to the subjects covered please feel free to post your comments and opinions.

The River Deben, 'An Old World Fairway' by Michael Weaver

River at Letheringham


“Who will come a-sailing,

Who will come with me,

Down the sunny Deben

To the distant sea?”

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Bawdsey Radar Station, Bawdsey and its influence on the ending of World War II

The radar masts at Bawdsey, Suffolk

It may have seemed a strange candidate for the BBC's 2004 Restoration programme. A concrete bunker on the shores of the Deben Estuary overlooking a quiet shingle beach on the East coast of Suffolk; perhaps not exactly everyone’s idea of architectural interest. But what Bawdsey Radar Station lacks in design finesse is more than made up for by its historical importance and indeed impact on the eventual outcome of World War II.

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Poetic Suffolk

First page of Beowulf, the great Saxon epic

Most English counties can call upon a famous poet or two but Suffolk has the proud claim to have inspired two of the greatest and most celebrated poems in the English language. These poems are so separated by time and spirit that no one to this date has ever linked them but Suffolk is the link. Explore by car and on foot key locations linked to these masterpieces.

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The Zing of Spring

Helleborus orientalis

There's nothing like a bit of zing in the garden to get you going! A fabulous verdant glow has taken over the garden in the last few months as the shoots of bulbs and perennials emerge from their dormant state.

The bulbs have put on a tremendous show despite being submitted on a nearly weekly basis to hail, sleet, snow and widely fluctuating temperatures. I'm convinced that they have all benefited from the snug thick mulch of leaf mould that we laid over the entire garden early on in the year.

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Minsmere 5th April - Black-necked Grebe and Garganey

My wife, Lisa, and I took a drive down to Dunwich Heath on Saturday. We stopped briefly en-route at Westleton Heath to listen to Woodlark singing in the rain. From there it was only a few minutes to the National Trust car park on Dunwich cliffs. Walking down the cliff and along the beach, we made it to the first RSPB hide before getting to wet. Bearded Tit were "pinging" in the reed beds, an Avocet was right in front of the hide and I tried to get a few pictures of these iconic waders.

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Rebellion at Bulcamp by Dennis M. Skeet

While today occupants of what is now known as Blythview tend to be holiday visitors enjoying the pool facilities, the beauty of the Blyth valley and the beach at Southwold there was a time when these buildings served a very different purpose and those that occupied them had very little satisfaction from their surroundings

England’s ancient Poor Laws brought violent reaction from some of our forefathers.

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SUFFOLK AT WAR by Dennis M. Skeet

Parham Air Museum

Nearly sixty-five years ago, in the summer of 1943, B17F Flying Fortresses belonging to the 390th. Bomb Group USAAF, roared off from their base at Framlingham in the middle of the tranquil Suffolk countryside. On each aircraft four 1200 h.p. radial engines strained against the load they were carrying. Their mission: to fly high above the German heartland and unleash their bombs on a merciless enemy. It was their duty to return home safely, but not all made it back from their perilous journey.

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Southwold seafront in old postcards (part 2)

East Cottages and Beach House in danger of falling January 1906

Since time immemorial, coastal areas of eastern England have been inundated repeatedly. Storm winds have raised sea levels and generated huge waves. Coastal defences have failed. Agricultural land has been flooded. People and their livestock have perished.

Along the coast of eastern England from the Humber to the Thames, there have been many failures of coastal defences.

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A Walk Around Orford

The Loft, Orford Suffolk Cottage Holidays

A Walk around Orford.

Without doubt a really delightful and fascinating village, Orford has retained almost all its historic charm, despite its failing fortunes over the centuries and some not terribly attractive house building over the last twenty years.

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The Blyth Navigation - A Walk through history from Southwold to Halesworth

Walberswick from the north wall of Southwold dock

If you enjoy country walks, far away from busy roads, where you are likely to see a good variety of birds as well as breathtaking landscapes and some pretty exciting industrial history then may I recommend the path tracing the old Blyth Navigation which links Walberswick and Southwold on the Suffolk coast with Halesworth, an extremely attractive Suffolk market town.

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