Walking the |Suffolk Coastal Path - Bawdsey Lane East _ Shingle street (Walk 4)

( Thursday 21st March - 2.2miles. Route taken: Sea wall. Time 1hr.15min)

I have walked this part of the route before so am confident of where I am going. It is a warm day but overcast. The path on this part of the route is still very muddy and the track below is still water logged.

The coastline around East Lane has, over the centuries, experienced several episodes when defense works became necessary due to the risk of invasion. Recommendations for the defense of Bawdsey were made as early as the sixteenth century. In the early part of the nineteenth century fears of invasion by Napoleon led to the building of seven Martello Towers.
During World War II emergency coastal defenses were erected at Bawdsey to prevent invasions from the sea.

As I passed the various lagoons on by left I thought I saw the ears of a hare along the track below me. I expected it to have moved before I was near enough to get a photo but it didn't seem to know I was about. I took one photo and then moved forward to try for another. This time I did disturb it and it shot off up the side of the field.

Ahead of me I saw 'Found Tower', a luxury converted holiday let. It comprises almost a million bricks over three levels. There are 360 degree views and a roof terrace with panoramic views. Opposite the tower is another of the many lagoons along this part of the coast.

I heard so many birds on my walk. I saw Linnets, Oystercatchers, Egret, Skylarks and in one field I counted thirty four swans. (I wished I had my three hundred lens plus convertor with me).

Continuing along the footpath I passed another Martello Tower on my left and  a set of steeping stones on my right. I discovered that they were actual anti tank blocks.

From here I could see Shingle Street in the distance. It is always good to know when you are nearing your destination. Shingle Street is a remote stretch of coastline, known for it's shingle and pebble beach. The beach is at the mouth of the River Alde facing the 10-mile-long shingle spit, Orford Ness. The beach is a cove, with lagoons, where Terns lay their eggs nestled in the shingle and seals bask at the estuary entrance.

The houses in the above image were originally coast guard cottages. These were requisitioned in the 1940's by the military as they feared an invasion by the Germans. They are now holiday lets. The white line of shells running along the pebbled beach to the cottages were laid by two ladies, who were friends. They were diagnosed with breast cancer within two months of each other, and they laid the white whelk shells as part of their own therapy and vowed to return every six months to lay more. The tradition of adding to the trail has continued ever since.

The image above is much photographed by photographers with the lagoon in front of the bungalow. The lagoons at Shingle Street shift and move with the tides and the weather so each time you go you are likely to see something different from the last time you went.

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