After three days of glorious blue sky and sunshine, the sun not powerful enough to melt the thick frost and ice in shady places, we woke yesterday morning, the first of the new year, to gloom and cloud and increasing wind. Richard and I had hoped to go to Minsmere with Elinor, walk round the bird reserve and have lunch in the café. However, after her late night seeing in the new year Elinor didn’t get up til midday by which time it was too late to get there for lunch. We decided we would try to get to Minsmere at the weekend and drove to Dunwich and had a short walk there instead.
Rough sea at Dunwich beach
No matter what the weather, there are always at least two tents belonging to sea fishermen on this beach. I only had my phone with me so these photos aren’t too good.
We found it difficult walking on the beach because of the strong, cold wind and Elinor who hasn’t been very well recently decided to return to the warmth of the car.
The coast here is being eroded away very quickly and there are frequent land-slips.
I am glad I don’t live in the house whose chimneys you can see at the top of the picture.
Dunwich, in the 13th century was a port city equal in size to London (as it was then). It had six churches, two monasteries and its own mint. In 1286 a storm washed away many houses into the sea and this was followed by three further storm surges in quick succession until almost all of Dunwich was lost to the sea with only a tiny fragment of the city remaining. There is a legend that the church bells can still be heard tolling beneath the waves on quiet days. The port and river mouth became silted up and the trade went away. The storm surge we had in December 2013 caused a lot of damage all along this coast and many people are still in danger of losing their homes.
Archaeologists have been working in recent years to map the sea floor across the entire area of the town. A lot of ruins have been discovered and stones with lime mortar attached dating back to the early medieval times. This is the largest medieval underwater site in Europe.
The huts contain winching gear to help pull the boats back up the beach.
The ‘must-have’ gear of a fisherman
About ten days before Christmas I went shopping in Bungay and, as it was a nice day and I wasn’t in a hurry I decided to walk down Bridge Street to the river and see how high the water was.
The colourful houses in Bridge Street.
Looking back up the street towards the Buttercross in the Market Place
More colourful houses
And yet more!
The white heap is two Mute Swans. I didn’t have my camera with the zoom lens and this is the best I could do.
The River Waveney seen from the bridge.
Looking at the River Waveney from the other side of the bridge.
If you would like to hear more about Bridge Street please click here to listen to local historians and residents talk about the area. Turn up the volume on your phone/computer. In the recording you will hear about Nursey’s the sheepskin shop. Unfortunately, since this recording was made the shop has had to close as they couldn’t find a buyer.
I hope you enjoy listening to this audio tour.
Happy New Year to all my readers!
A Suffolk Lane 
Another great walk.
I wonder what will happen to houses like that hillside one with the several chimneys. Those pastel-coloured houses remind me of some in St. Johns Newfoundland.
Good pix for a cell phone!
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Most of our colourful houses are ones at the seaside – but recently inland villages are starting to brighten their homes. There is only so much that can be done for houses like the one with the chimneys. People who live this close to a coastline prone to erosion know the risks involved and eventually they know that the house will go over the cliff. When that house was built perhaps 150 years ago there seemed no danger as there was several miles between it and the shoreline. People’s investment in their home is lost as they cannot insure it and no-one wants to buy it. We have lost such a lot of land in just the past couple of years and the cost of sea defences is getting higher and higher.
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Yikes. It hardly seems possible that miles of land could have been lost in 150 years. ain’t nature remarkable?
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I really liked the colorful houses, here in the states, no one does color, houses are white, tan, or maybe light blue if the owner is adventurous. 😉
The River Waveney is a beautiful river, I’d love to float it in my kayak sometime!
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Thank-you Jerry. As the commentator in the audio tour says, these houses have only quite recently been painted these bright colours, since the road became a one-way street. Now it is quieter and cleaner people have discovered these bright house paints.
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I think your pictures turned out fabulous, Clare. Such a pity about the erosion. I like the house with multiple chimneys, but I guess I wouldn’t want to live their either considering where it’s situated. I love the street with the colorful houses. They are delightfully charming. Enjoyed strolling with you this morning. 🙂
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Thank-you Elizabeth!
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It must be devasting to live that close to erosion – wish the govt would do more to help.
Love the swans – if you hadn’t said I would have assumed they were a rock or a pile of ice!
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I think the problem is that however much money is put into this there will always be erosion. There is continual work along the coast building up flood defences which are ugly things and protect the houses just behind them for a while but also cause worse problems further down the coast. There is a problem of priority too. Should we maintain some of these buildings at the expense of pretty beaches or salt water marshes or agricultural land or fresh water marshes. Everyone has a different agenda and there is only so much money. When we bought this house we made sure we were quite a few miles from the coast. We have good drainage ditches all round us and we are a number of feet above sea level. So many people have bought houses round here built by unscrupulous builders on flood plains which flood when we have high rainfall. Despite there being a history of significant erosion on this coastline many people fall in love with house with sea views and then find they are in danger of falling into the sea. I am really sorry for them.
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Two well illustrated walks. I often think that I would like to live by the seaside but i like living among the hills as well.
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Thank-you. I think you are fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. You aren’t too far from the sea either.
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Amazing that almost an entire city could be eaten up by the sea. And scary too. I wish I lived closer than two hours from our shoreline but I’m also thankful that I don’t live too close to it.
Staying in a tent on the beach must be quite and adventure. I hope they’re well above high tide!
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I personally think these fishermen are a bit crazy! I’m not sure that they sleep there but they have camping stoves and other home comforts and settle themselves in for a long fishing session. I think they like to be there as the tide comes in as the fish come in too.
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It’s so nice to meet you through our mutual friend, Elizabeth. Your photos are beautiful, Clare!
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Thank-you very much Jill!
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Hello Clare…so pleased I heard about your blog via Elizabeth…what a fascinating post! Absolutely adore anything to do with medieval-England so learning about the town of Dunwich being lost to the bottom of the sea truly captured my attention….definitely expect to see more of me-Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thank-you so much for visiting and your kind words!
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Hello Clare, I loved your pictures and have found your delightful blog through Elizabeth. A Happy New Year to you all. 🙂
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Thank-you so much Jane! I am glad you like my blog and I wish you a Happy New Year too!
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We have serious erosion here in the US, too. So much so that if you don’t already leave on the shore you probably never can. I personally would take the risk; I love watching the ocean so much. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
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I think my younger daughter would agree with you – she is never happier than when at the beach. We used to take her there when she was very tiny because it would stop her crying! I remember standing for ages on the beach in mid January nearly freezing to death while she made sand pies. The Dutch are currently pioneering new ways of combating erosion; it all looks very hopeful.
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Hi there Clare
Stunning photographs and I much enjoyed joining you for these two walks…
Waveney river surroundings are magical, indeed… beautiful landscapes, my friend
Sending hugs and wishing you a remarkable 2015!…
All the best to you and your family ⭐
Aquileana 😀
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Thank-you so much dear Aquileana! Best wishes to you and hoping you also have a wonderful new year.
Clare xx
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That was a lovely walk! Thank you, and thank you to Elizabeth Melton Parsons for introducing you!
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Thank-you too, Resa for your kind words.
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