Walking Off The Beaten Track

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So, this is not so much a holiday tale, as a day out walking. I like long walks and exploring new places and having heard of a magical gem called Covehithe beach I decided it was time to investigate, only to find it also had a Broad.

Monday 10th October and the sky is crystal blue with not a cloud in the sky. It is time to head off to Covehithe beach and walk. But first, the all important disclaimers and there are two!

1. As I headed off on the walk I saw several signs saying that it is no longer possible to walk along the coast to Southwold due to cliff falls. Well, I like exploring and so I decided to walk as far as I could and then turn back. Finding myself at the end of Southwold pier, I pondered where I might have gone wrong? Well, I concede that at high water you probably couldn't make it to Southwold, but I was about two hours after high tide and made it without getting my feet wet. As ever I urge you to use your own common sense and not take any risks. I would never encourage anyone to ignore signage.

2. Covehithe beach and Broad are a hidden gem. It is not for everyone, indeed don't all rush at the same time please. There are NO facilities there. I will repeat that, there are no facilities there. That is part of its charm. There is no direct access to Covehithe beach from Covehithe village. There is no pub. There is no official public car park. There are no public toilets. There is no cafe. There is no convenience store. There is not even a rubbish bin. Take only what you need onto the beach and leave nothing behind but your footprints to be washed away by the sea.

I took the turning to Covehithe from Wrentham and went down Mill Lane. As you approach Covehithe you reach a Y junction with Mill Lane carrying on to the village and the road joining from the right heading back towards the B1127. As you approach this junction on the right is about enough space for 12 or so vehicles to park on the verge. If you do a virtual U turn at the junction and head back inland there is space for about another 12 vehicles on the righthand verge. This is the only parking if you are planing a long visit. If you carry on along Mill Lane into the village you will reach a church within a church and there are three parking spaces outside it, which are limited to two hours. The lane eventually peters out into a footpath which ends at the cliff edge with Covehithe beach below you. There is no safe access to the beach from the village.

I didn't take any pictures of St Annes church, but found a good website worth a look. It is basically a modern church 17th century, built within the ruins of an old medieval church. There are some pictures on the following website. http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/covehithe.htm

Covehithe village consists of a church, a few houses, a couple of farms and a road junction with some cars parked around it.

If you park where I suggested and then continue for a few yards down Mill Lane towards the village you will see on the righthand side a public footpath. This leads you along the edge of a farmer's field for a little while before turning left along the edge of the field and then it turns right into a narrow path between two rows of hedges. As you walk along this path the hedges gradually thin out to give tantalising glimpses of the sea to the left and straight ahead and Covehithe Broad to the right. Eventually the hedges thin out more and more until the path drops down onto a grassy sand bar between the sea on the left and the Broad on the right.

The picture below shows the approach long that footpath. Covehithe Broad is to the right, the sea to the left and Southwold somewhere in the distance.

Walking down onto the beach and turning back towards the village I took the following picture which shows St Annes church in the distance. The village is about three quarters of a mile away. Vaughans observations about sandy soil on the Guess where it is thread were closer than he probably realised. Covehithe Broad is a saltwater Broad and the sea probably flows over the sand bar on a regular basis at high water. It is totally unspoilt.

 

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Below is part of the sand bar that separates the Broad from the sea.

In the distance is The Warren and Easton Wood. 

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Getting closer to The Warren and the beach starts to narrow.

I'm now about 1.5 miles away from Covehithe and looking back towards the Broad and village.

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As you approach The Warren the cliffs start to rise again and the woods meet the sea. The coastal erosion is happening so fast here that according to Google maps I'm walking along the cliff, yet I'm on the beach!

Trees are succombing to the force of the sea and the whole area takes on a slightly medieval feel about.

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The sea and the sands of time have cleaned the trees of any bark.

It is almost a land that time forgot.

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We are now fastly approaching Easton Broad and there are more signs warning I will not make it to Southwold!

Easton Broad is now slightly ahead and to our right as is The Benacre National Nature Reserve. Unfortunately much if not all of it is beyond the reach of the public.

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You can walk for miles along here and not see another soul. Easton Broad ahead.

Another shot of Easton Broad.

And now looking back towards Easton Broad

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I'd been walking so long I thought that was Southend pier in front, but thankfully it was Southwold.

Along the Easton Bavents you can see the remains of services in the cliff that once supplied water, or power to properties long since gone and reclaimed by the sea.

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Eventually I find myself at the end of Southwold pier without getting my feet wet. Looking back towards The Easton Bavents.

And the famous beach huts of Southwold as seen from the end of the pier.

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Looking out towards Southwold from the end of the pier.

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Not wishing to retrace my steps, but wanting to turn it into a circular walk I then headed back inland across Southend Warren and down a private track out to the B1127. My plan was to walk along the road until Pottersbridge Marshes. A word of caution here. The B1127 is a busy road and not for the feint hearted. Having reached the public footpath I intended to use I found my way blocked by some bits of timber and a notice announcing the temporary closure of the public footpath in 2019 due to the dangerous nature of the boardwealk down by Easton Broad. A further notice informed me that discussions between Suffolk Council, Natural England and the land owner had so far failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion and the path still remains unsafe and closed.

So it was back to the B1127 for a bit longer until I was able to take a second public footpath / byway which was much needed respite from the busy road. I walked so far down this path and then tried to double back to get to the other end of my intended path only to find the other end equally as closed and no access here either to The Benacre National Nature Reserve.

I continued along footpaths until eventually reaching the road that took me back into Covehithe and my awaiting car.

 

[SwanR]

Thank you so much for sharing this. We passed signs for Covehithe so many times when we used to drive regularly from Essex to Lowestoft. I was just never adventurous enough to plan the trip that you made. 

[kpnut]

I expect that was a tiring walk considering having to walk on all that sand. But how very interesting seeing the tree stumps etc. One day in many millions of years, having been claimed by the sea in the near future, they’ll all be exposed again and geologists will be raving about the petrified trees of the Suffolk coast. That’s if humans are still around to comment in awe and wonder!

Many thanks for posting such an excellent log. 

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59 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Thank you so much for sharing this. We passed signs for Covehithe so many times when we used to drive regularly from Essex to Lowestoft. I was just never adventurous enough to plan the trip that you made. 

To be honest you can be as adventurous or not as you want to be. As long as you can walk about 2 miles then that is enough to park where I suggested and make it to the beach and Broad, have a wonder and then back to your car. I use the Ordnance Survey app which give detailed Explorer maps on the phone and shows where all the public foot paths should be.

I'll post details a little later of a second walk I did in the opposite direction to Kessingland and back. It would be possible to make a short circular route incorporating the start of both the walks I did. 

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55 minutes ago, kpnut said:

I expect that was a tiring walk considering having to walk on all that sand.

Too be honest it wasn't that bad. If you walk along the freshly exposed sand as the tide is retreating it is pretty firm and you can still manage a decent pace if you want without sinking into the sand. If was too cold in October, but in the Summer I'd be inclined to walk barefoot or with sandals along the water's edge.

[Gracie]

Thank you for this MT, really enjoyed reading it and the pics are lovely. Not sure I could walk that far, 20 minutes is my limit unless there's a wine bar on the horizon of course  x

[Turnoar]

I think I may have been one of the fleeting references on this forum re the lockdown question if you could go for a day trip then where would that be?

Here’s a couple of pics from circa 20 years ago, shots taken from the vicinity of the hide I think. Nice place to be!

 

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Yes, I think it was you and Jenny Morgan that made a couple of references to Covehithe and Benacre. Your pictures above are of Benacre Broad which is in the other direction heading North towards Kessingland. I'll post up some pictures from the walk I did the day before heading that way, including a picture taken from the bird hide which is pretty much the same as one of yours above.

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So, the day before the 9th October I parked in the same place in Covehithe and took the path as described above down to Covehithe Beach and Broad. However, the destination for today was to head North towards Kessingland. The picture below was taken as you come off the footpath onto the sand bar and shows more clearly how close The Broad is to the sea. This is looking towards Southwold.

This next picture is looking inland across Covehithe Broad. Never really expected to see reedbeds so close to the sea. It was mentioned on the bird flu thread I think about the lack of dragonflies. Trust me, they are all here.

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This is looking back along the foot path that leads you down to the beach. You can clearly see St Annes in the distance.

Looking along the beach towards Kessingland the cliff in the distance is roughly where Covehithe village is, so you can see there is no safe direct access to the beach from the village.

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You can see from the footprints in the sand how firm the sand is if you walk along the freshly exposed sand. It really is nothing like walking on soft dried sand and means you can comfortably cover some distance.

It was a windy day and the tide can get a bit lively at times, especially when the wash hits the beach from passing ships.

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This is the cliff roughly where Covehithe village is. To the right you can see some service conduits hanging from the cliff that used to feed a second world war defense shelter that is now lying on the beach.

I was quite surprised that these shelters had so many comms and services running to them.

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As you walk further along the beach you again come to a wooded area and behind that is the start of Benacre Broad.

This is taken from the edge of Benacre Broad looking inland towards an area known as the Bay of Biscay.

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48 minutes ago, Turnoar said:

 

The picture below was taken from the bird hide and is pretty much the same as the one taken by Turnoar 20 years ago.

The next picture is looking slightly more towards the sea. I have no idea why, but the water of the Broad looks much Bluer than that os the sea which is Greyer. I'm such that must be a scientific explanation, but I don't know why.

 

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This is the sand bar that separates the sea from Benacre Broad.

And now I'm standing on the sand bar looking across the Broad towards The Bay of Biscay.