My Adventures 3: Harwich Ferry

A 14 mile coastal walk along the prom to a nautical ferry to Bawdsey then across farmland to the docks,Harwich Ferry and Landguard Fort.

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On Friday the 14th December 2018 I left home and after a 1 hour 15 minute drive I park up on Sea Road, where there is free parking.

I leave the car and I am immediately hit with the cold icy wind blowing in from the sea.

This is my first ever visit to Felixstowe and it looks better than I expected from a dock town.

I make my way down the promenade towards the pier.

Sea Road now becomes Undercliff Road West.

The pier was opened in 1906, and was then was rebuilt in late 2017 and re-opened in 2018. During the Second World War the majority of the pier, at the time one of the longest in the country and complete with its own train, was purposely demolished by the Royal Engineers to prevent it from being used as an easy landing point for enemy troops. After the war the damage was not repaired and the pier never regained its original length.

Next to the Town Hall is Town Hall Gardens.I'm sure these would look even better in the Summer months.

The newly restored Felixstowe Seafront Gardens sit on cliffs between the town centre and beach.

The eight Grade II listed gardens are of significant historic interest and give the town its title, "The Garden Resort of East Anglia".

These beautiful landscaped and sumptuously planted gardens were created a hundred years ago, as a result of the popularity and fashion in late Victorian times for visiting coastal locations, in pursuit of improved health and relaxation.

The natural springs occurring along the cliffs, together with the proximity to the beach, encouraged this site to be developed as a pleasure ground around a pump room for people to take the spa waters. Today the interconnecting gardens stretch for almost a kilometre along the promenade, with a significant proportion of original planting still surviving and the original path layout little altered.

Felixstowe Seafront Gardens was awarded the prestigious Green Flag Award and Green Heritage accreditation in 2016 and 2017.

Much of the gardens now forming The Seafront Gardens are believed to have originated piecemeal during the 18th C. as houses along the seafront were built and embellished by the landed gentry, such as Lord and Lady Harland, Philip Thickness, Sir Samuel Fludyer and much later FT Cobbold.

A visit to the town by the then German Imperial family in 1891 boosted tourism to the area. This, coupled, with the famous 'Felixstowe Spa', providing high quality spa water, made Felixstowe a fashionable destination. In place, at this time, were the Hamilton Gardens along the cliff top, the Town Hall Gardens and the steep ivy-clad terraces edging South Beach Mansion. The previous Cliff Shelter, located on the upper terrace of the Town Hall Garden, was described as 'one of the earliest municipal facilities to be provided for the holidaymaker, erected in 1899 at a cost to the urban district council of £2,759. Set into the cliff between Bent Hill and Convalescent Hill, it contained a tea room and public conveniences'.

War Memorial

This memorial commemorates the residents of Felixstowe who were killed or missing in World War I (163 names) and World War II (111 names).

To build on this success the Urban District Council passed the Felixstowe and Walton Improvement Act in 1902 to develop the seafront further. A promenade and granite sea wall were completed in 1904 whilst in parallel, gardens belonging to the Felix Hotel (now Harvest House) were extended and improved in 1903 by the then owner of the hotel, the Hon D Tollemache.

A bandstand was erected in the Spa Gardens in 1907 and the first Spa Pavilion named the ‘New Floral Hall’ was built in 1909 accompanied by impressive terraced gardens laid out by local horticulture and landscape company, Notcutts. At this time it is thought the construction of the Pram Walk beneath South Beach Mansion was constructed, to enable visitors a grand vista down to the Spa Pavilion.

A new Spa Pavilion was completed in 1939 but was promptly destroyed by a bomb in 1941. A third Pavilion on the site was opened in 1957. Having hosted such acts as Jimi Hendrix and The Who, the Spa Pavilion remains a very popular venue to this day - the heart of the Seafront Gardens.

Harvest House (once The Felix Hotel)

ONE of the most imposing buildings in Suffolk where Wallis Simpson secretly hid while awaiting her divorce is celebrating its centenary.

Harvest House, Cobbold Road, Felixstowe, was built by Douglas Tollemache and opened as the prestigious Felix Hotel on May 14, 1903.

Harvest House, Cobbold Road, Felixstowe, was built by Douglas Tollemache and opened as the prestigious Felix Hotel on May 14, 1903. It was a hotel for nearly 50 years, the head office for Fisons for 30 years and then divided into retirement apartments.

There are now 59 apartments in the five-storey building and anyone wanting to buy has to be 55 years or over. Communal facilities include the Palm Court, dining room and sun lounge, kitchen, games room, chapel, laundry, gardens and a nine-hole putting green.

Mr Tollemache had a vision for a grand hotel for the seaside resort and it was designed by Thomas Cotman, an architect.

The hotel was a great commercial success due to the growing popularity of Felixstowe as an upmarket holiday resort. The wife and family of the German Kaiser Wilhelm spent time in Felixstowe in the summer of 1891 and German physicians were said to have selected the town on account of its health-giving air. This helped to publicise the town and the hotel was built at a time when Felixstowe was becoming well known.

''In 1936 Mrs Simpson (the future Duchess of Windsor) stayed in Beach House, Felixstowe. She was awaiting her divorce from her second husband Ernest Simpson. Ipswich was selected as a quiet provincial town less likely to attract unwelcome attention. It was necessary for her to live in the area of the court's jurisdiction.

''To relieve the monotony of her provincial existence during the lead-up to the abdication crisis she also had her own room at the Felix Hotel, where the staff were sworn to keep her identity secret.''

The hotel was used by leading tennis players after they had played at Wimbledon. Percy Humphrey, the hotel's general manager, was a keen tennis player and a leading light in the town's tennis club.

He attended the Wimbledon championships to invite players to stay at the hotel and play in the East of England tournament.

Fred Perry, the last British men's Wimbledon champion, came to the hotel to coach budding players and was a major supporter of Felixstowe's tennis week which still follows the Wimbledon fortnight.

Mr Ramsey said: ''After World War II further financial difficulties led to the hotel closing in 1951 and the building was put up for sale. In 1952 Fisons became the new owner and used it as the company's head office for the next 30 years.

''When Fisons planned to demolish part of the building for redevelopment the proposal was blocked by the Government Inspectorate. Fisons then decided to relocate and the building was sold to Norsk Hydro who sold it on in 1984 to Rogers Bros of Felixstowe (owned by Dencora plc of Beccles) who converted it into retirement apartments. The first leases became available in 1985.

A Dripping Well by the Spa building was a huge attraction and made use of the natural spa water seeping through the cliffs. In 1910 the Serpentine Steps and associated Round Shelter were completed. These proved a garden highlight to be featured in many subsequent postcards.

We are now on Undercliff Road East.

The old Felixstowe hamlet was centred on a pub and church, having stood on the site since long before the Norman conquest of England. The early history of Felixstowe, including its Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norman and medieval defences, is told under the name of Walton, because the name Felixstowe was given retrospectively, during the 13th century, to a place which had expanded to a form beyond the boundaries of Walton alone. In the Doomsday book, for instance, only Walton is shown, and not Felixstowe, which at the time held little more than a few houses scattered over the cliff tops. Walton was a settlement on the River Orwelland in 1844 had a population of 907 compared to the relatively small Felixstowe Parish holding only 502 people. Walton had always preceded Felixstowe as a settlement as seen by the presence of Walton Castle, built by the Romans in the 3rd century, but today Walton is generally considered part of Felixstowe due to modern expansion.

The Felixstowe area as a whole provided a linchpin in England's defence, as proved in 1667 when Dutch soldiers landed near the Fludyers area and tried (unsuccessfully) to capture Landguard Fort due to strategic location. The town only became related to a major port in 1886 when the port opened to trade, following the initial construction of the dock basin in 1882.

In 1810 or 1811 seven Martello Towers were built along the shore, of which 4 (Manor Road, Q Tower in the town, and two more towards the Deben mouth) survive. Q Tower was the HQ of the Harwich-Ipswich-Martlesham Heath anti-aircraft guns between 1941 and 1945 (earlier it had been in Landguard Fort).

On 11 August 1919, the Felixstowe Fury sideslipped and crashed into the sea 500 yards offshore soon after takeoff while on a test flight. It was preparing for an 8,000-mile flight to Cape Town, South Africa. The wireless operator, Lt. MacLeod, was killed, and the 6 passengers were rescued. The wreckage was towed ashore.

At the turn of the century, tourism increased, and a pier was constructed in 1905 of which is partially functional to this day as an amusement arcade. Indeed, during the late Victorian period (after circa 1880) it became a fashionable resort, a trend initiated by the opening of Felixstowe railway station, the pier, (see above) and a visit by the German imperial family. It remained so until the late 1930s.

Felixstowe played an important role in both world wars--in the first as Royal Naval Air Service and RAF seaplane base, and in the second as the Coastal Forces MTB, MGB and ML base HMS Beehive. It was the first base from which 2nd World War German E-boats and coastal convoys were systematically attacked--by flotilla led by Lt-Commanders Howes, Dickens, Hichens and Trelawney. Felixstowe was also HQ of the Harwich Harbour coast and anti-aircraft defences, and accommodated the RAF's 26th Marine Craft (Air-Sea Rescue) Unit. In 1944 the piers near the Dock were used to load troops, tanks and vehicles onto the British and American landing craft of "Force L", which reinforced the Normandy Invasion on its first and second days. In 1945 the German naval commanders in Occupied Holland arrived in E-boats at Felixstowe Dock to surrender their boats and charts to the Royal Navy.

Felixstowe has a recently refurbished sandy beach south from the pier, and a stoney beach north of the pier. A Victorian promenade runs along part of the beach, from the nature reserve in the southwest to Cobbolds Point (Maybush Lane in east), with traditional beach huts along most of that length. An amusement arcade with snooker halls and food outlets occupies the southern end. The pier, incorporating a cafe and amusement arcade, stands before a leisure centre, with swimming pool, owned by the local council, now managed by a contractor.

I now pass the rear of Cramner House. with its entrance on Maybush Lane.

Cranmer House was built in 1885 in Maybush Lane, Felixstowe, overlooking the sea, by Thomas Cotman for the Cobbold brewing family. It is now divided into 5 units and Grade II listed.

Looking back

Cobbolds Point takes its name from the Cobbold brewery family who built Cranmer House on Maybush Lane in 1885. It is a Grade II-listed mock Elizabethan mansion by Thomas Cotman. Its listing describes it as "a fine house of the period reflecting the wealth of this important Suffolk family of brewers".

The architect Thomas W Cotman (1847-1925) designed many of the most famous buildings in Felixstowe including the Railway Station, Harvest House (Felix Hotel), the Orwell and Bath Hotels, Barclays and Lloyds Banks plus many others. He also designed and lived in the original bungalow that forms the lower two floors of Cotman Lodge care home. He was the nephew of John Sell Cotman, the famous Norwich water-colour artist.

I reach Cobbolds point, where I went to walk on the beach only to be met by a bloke with his trousers down taking a crap! Think I'll walk around via Martello Lane and onto Golf Road.

There are some serious expensive looking properties here.

I rejoin the clifftop from the Golf Road Car Park.

I now pass the Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club,which is amongst the oldest in the UK, having been established in 1881. The Rt. Hon. Arthur Balfour, Captain of the Golf Club in 1889, became Captain of the R&A in 1894 and British Prime Minister from 1902 to 1905.

I pass Martello tower T. Between 1805 and 1812 eight Martello Towers were built on the Felixstowe Peninsula as a defence against a possible invasion by Napoleon's forces. These squat, ovoid-shaped brick-built towers were immensely strong and were inspired by an ancient watch tower at Mortella Point in Corsica. Part of a larger network along the east and south coast of England, the towers were named with letters of the alphabet.

Four of these towers can still be seen along Felixstowe’s coastline today. A fifth Tower 'R' is incorporated into the fabric of the former Bartlet Hospital, which has been converted into new housing.

Looking across the River Deben to Bawdsey Manor in Bawdsey

Bawdsey Manor Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter. Requisitioned by the Devonshire Regiment during World War Iand having been returned to the Quilter family after the war, it was purchased by the Air Ministry for £24,000 in 1936 to establish a new research station for developing the Chain Home RDF (radar) system. RAF Bawdsey was a base through the Cold War until the 1990s. The manor is now used for PGL holidays and courses, and has a small museum in the Radar Transmitter Block.

I now pass Martello Tower U, which is now a private residence.

I am now at Felixstowe Ferry.

Felixstowe Ferry is a hamlet in Suffolk, England, approximately two miles northeast of Felixstowe at the mouth of the River Deben with a ferry to the Bawdsey peninsula.

Local businesses include the Ferry Cafe and the Ferry Boat Inn, freshly caught fish is usually available at the quay side. St. Nicholas's Church was built in 1954 on the site of the prior church, which was built in 1870 and destroyed by German bombing in 1943.

The Felixstowe Ferry Millennium Green Trust was set up in 2001 to save an area of land from building development and put it to use as a community open space for recreational use. The land became known as the Millennium Green.

I pass The Ferry Boat Inn, wish I had visited but I was pressed for time. I'll have to go back.

The Ferryboat was originally built in the 15th Century (1465) as home to the Ferry master, later becoming a hostelry for travellers and fisherman alike in the 16th Century.

Set at the mouth of the river Deben, the village has a timeless atmosphere with its collection of residences, shacks and houseboats, alongside a pub, church, fresh fish for sale, boatyard and sailing club.

The Ferry Cafe

I stop for lunch on the Ferry Jetty, the ferry doesn't run at this time of year, but I will return to use it.

A foot and bicycle ferry runs between Felixstowe Ferry and Bawdsey from the 1 May to 30 September. Weather permitting. Please visit the website for full timings and fares. 01394 282173/07709 411511. www.felixstoweboats.co.uk

I leave Felixstowe Ferry and head along The River Deben and pass Felixstowe Marshes.

I pass a moored houseboat with cartoons posted outside, I see a face staring out of the window, so I give a wave. Still it just stares at me, bit creepy I thought until I realise its just a head in the window haha...

I now pass Falkenham Marshes.

I approach a jetty, I can see a sign at then facing outwards. Intrigued I walk the floating jetty as it bobbed and swayed and see its used by East Sufolk Wakeboard and water ski club.

I now head inland over farmland following a dyke.

A field full of Mute Swans

After much walking over farmland, I exit onto Sheepgate Lane and then turn left onto Lower Road.

After much walking I pass through Falkenham and then cross over into more farmland.

I then cross Candlet Road the A154, a busy road so a quick dash across.

I walk out into Walton.

TRIMLEY WATER TOWER - Built in 1930 and holds up to 3,000,000 gallons of water. The Water tower is 132ft high and built of steel covered in concrete.

I walk down the High Street passing The Half Moon Pub before turning right onto Maidstone Road.

After much boring road walking I pass a lovely house just before I cross the bridge over the railway line.

Loads more walking on roads passing some depressing looking Council housing and estates, I come to the roundabout opposite McDonalds by the A14, I cross and walk along the busy noisy and dirty A154 Beach Station Road.

I pass the entrance to Felixstowe Port.

Felixstowe is Britain's largest container port.

The main navigation channel is dredged to 47 1⁄2 feet (14.5 m) below chart datum, and a depth of up to 49 feet (15 m) alongside the quay. Felixstowe boasts deep-water able to accommodate the world's latest generation of deep-draughted ultra post-Panamax vessels. There is a continuous quay of 1 1⁄2 miles (2.4 km), equipped with 25 ship-to-shore gantry cranes.

It has road links to the Midlands via the A14 and to London via the A12 road. The single-track railway line to Ipswich has recently been upgraded to allow larger containers, and many containers are now transported by rail.

The port is owned by Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd with additional land on the peninsula owned by Trinity College, Cambridge.

The port has its own Police Authority, which also currently has jurisdiction over the area local to the port (with permission from Suffolk Constabulary's Chief Constable). Alongside the Port Police, they also have their own joint ambulance and fire service. One of the port ambulances, call sign 'Alpha 1', can also come off port to attend 999 emergencies in Felixstowe.

Now this is the grim image I had of Felixstowe, thankfully the rest of the town further up is much nicer.

I am now back on the seafront, I can see the car and I'm almost tempted to go to it as my legs are tired, but I wanted to see the Fort and Port so I walk up the seafront towards the port.

A brave or crazy man windsurfing on this cold day

Recently restored Tower 'P' set within Martello Park to the south of the town incorporates about 750,000 bricks and cost approximately £2,000 to build. With the end of the Napoleonic wars, the tower was transformed into a station for the forerunners of today's Coastguards and Revenue and Customs services. During World War I, the building became a signal station intercepting secret German radio messages. Today the tower's lookout is one of the stations of the National Coastwatch Institution - www.coastwatch-felixstowe.co.uk.

I am now walking through the Landguard Common, a little grim here.

I see a rabbit and I was surprised it was letting me get so close, once almost on it, it scarpered off. It appeared to be blind in at least one eye.

I now reach Landguard Fort and it was as I feared closed!

Landguard Fort defends the approach to Harwich Harbour, a safe haven for shipping. It was the site of the last opposed seaborne invasion of England, by the Dutch in 1667, who were repulsed by the Royal Marines in their first land battle. The current fort was built in the 18th century, and modified in the 19th century, with substantial additional 19th and 20th-century outside batteries. It was manned through both World Wars and played an important anti-aircraft role during the Second World War. In 1951 two of the old gun casemates were converted nto a 'Cold War' control room. The fort was disarmed and closed in 1956.

Originally known as Langer Fort, the first fortifications from 1540 were a few earthworks and blockhouse, but it was James I of England who ordered the construction of a square fort with bulwarks at each corner.Darell's Battery at Landgard Fort Felixstowe

In 1667 the Dutch landed a force of 2000 men on Felixstowe beach in front of (what is now called) Under Cliff road east and advanced on to the fort, but were repulsed by Nathaniel Darrel and his garrison of 400 musketeers of the Duke of York & Albany's Maritime Regiment (the first English Marines) and 100 artillerymen with 54 cannon.

The fort was considered part of Essex in the 18th and 19th centuries; births and deaths within the garrison were recorded as 'Landguard Fort, Essex'.

A new Fort battery was built in 1717, and a complete new fort on an adjoining site was started in 1745 to a pentagonal bastioned trace. New batteries were built in the 1750s and 1780, but the biggest change was in the 1870s where the interior barracks were rebuilt to a keep-like design, the river frontage was rebuilt with a new casemated battery covered by a very unusual caponier with a quarter sphere bomb proof nose. Several open bastions were enclosed, and a mock ravelin block constructed to house a submarine mining contingent.

In the Napoleonic Wars the strength and combat readiness of the Fort caused the Army repeated concern. In 1801 it was visited by General Lord Cornwallis, Eastern District commander-in-chief, and formerly vanquished at Yorktown in America but victorious in India. After 1804 steps were taken to extend and strengthen it, with the supply and ammunition stores moved across to Harwich for safety. The badly disciplined garrison drank the gin found on a captured smugglers' boat and four died--probably of alcohol poisoning.

During the Second World War, it was used as one of the balloon launch sites of Operation Outward. This was a project to attack Germany by means of free-flying hydrogen balloons that carried incendiary devices or trailing steel wires (intended to damage power lines.) Between 1942 and 1944, many thousands of balloons were launched.

However the main uses of the Fort and nearby structures were:

--HQ for the coast artillery guns defending Harwich Harbour. In 1944 radar was installed for their fire control. By 1941 4 6-inch and 2 twin-6-pdr guns were operational on the Landguard Peninsula, housed in concrete emplacements which remain;

--HQ and Plot Room for the heavy anti-aircraft defending the Harwich-Ipswich area, till this moved to Q Tower in Felixstowe town in 1941;

--Naval Port War Signal Station; controlling ship movements in and out of Harwich Harbour, Stour and Orwell;

--Remote control station for defensive minefield in harbour entrance.

Observers on top of the Fort witnessed and plotted many air raids, German minelaying actions, shipwrecks and air crashes. In 1944, in a probable false alarm, the Landguard guns opened up on supposed German midget-sub raiders in the harbour entrance. Later that year Allied landing ships loaded at the former RAF piers just to the north.

The 10inch gun pit in Left Battery was converted into an Anti-aircraft Operations Room for Harwich in 1939. The Army left the Fort in 1957. The fort has been structurally consolidated and is open every day from April to the end of October. It is now in the guardianship of English Heritage.

A quick look at the Felixstowe to Harwich Foot Ferry also closed at this time of year.

Harwich Harbour Foot & Bicycle Ferry 01728666329

The 58 seater Ferry operates daily in safe weather until 28th October. We advice to buy a ticket online latest one day in advance or on the day, this will ensure that we know that someone expects the ferry and it gives us a contact number for any unlikely event.

Always buy a return ticket if you wish to come back. In July and August the ferry gets regularly fully booked.

If we have space, you can use your ticket on any one crossing of the day.