Season: autumn
Walberswick sits on the south bank of the River Blyth, across from Southwold. Its location is idyllic and attracts visitors throughout the year. There’s a sandy beach and plenty of crabbing for children. All in all, Walberswick is a great destination, either for a family day out at the seaside or for moorland walks nearby.
John’s testimony to the benefits of the beach and the sea.
Dawn at the beach in Walberswick.
Season: summer
A stiff, mild breeze was the order of the day for this seasonal visit to Walberswick. Clouds scudded across the wide open sky as the relentless sea rattled the shingle on the beach. The resulting atmosphere was vibrant and invigorating, a natural cauldron of sights and sounds, with gulls pitching on the breeze and the grass of the dunes bent with the wind. To step out from the shelter of one of the many beach huts was to enter a sensory maelstrom, wonderful in its detachment from everyday concerns.
What the beach means to Chrissie.
Season: summer
Here was a chance to enjoy Walberswick in the early evening light and the beach didn’t disappoint. Looking along to the Blyth from the sand dunes above the beach, long shadows cast a languid perspective on the shingle and sandy beach just before high tide. One generally approaches the beach via a small wooden bridge, which lends a sense of theatre to any arrival, guiding the visitor over a hill made by the dunes and down to the sea, looking due east, gazing out of the shadows at this time of day. This is a fine setting.
What the beach means to Mel.
Season: winter
A misty scene greeted me at Walberswick for this winter visit, the scene setting film taken on a late afternoon, followed by an interview at dawn the following day with a regular Walberswick swimmer. The slight crescent shape of the beach makes it a fine place for a walk, offering a consistent beach and sea vista as you walk by the shore.
The settling and the inspiring power of the beach for Jeremy.
A winter afternoon on the beach.
Nothing comes close to the feelings evoked by visiting the stunning coastline all around the UK. From wide, sandy stretches of beach that reach out in the distance as far as the eye can see, to foreboding cliffs, caves and sand dunes.
There is a cyclical and generational pattern that forms from your earliest memories with siblings and parents, to holidays with your own children, and then, visits with grandchildren. Each time, taking on the challenge to build that perfectly carved boat in the sand that your own Dad built for you a few decades ago!