FREE CoSuaffoslk t & Heaths Autumn/Winter 2016/2017 One good turn deserves another
How the AONB can help your health and well-being, and what you can do in return See centre pages e v r e s e r
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- and muddy boots Page 4 k a explores timelessness Page 3 and wildlife Page 14 d l n i n u o W J S www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty • 1 Your AONB A Message from UK Power Networks goes underground he lovely coastline and rivers of the Suffolk Coast & Heaths undertaken by the our Chairman AONB are due to be further enhanced by the removal of 10km company, which will Tof overhead powerlines between Ipswich and Felixstowe. install two 1.1km and 1.7km directional drills The work is part of a £30 million scheme and also includes laying two underneath the rivers. high voltage electricity cables under the rivers Stour and Orwell to boost power supplies to Felixstowe, Shotley and Harwich. Chris Sugars, project manager at UK Power Networks, said: “The project is very challenging, not only because we will be UK Power Networks, which owns and operates the electricity drilling beneath two rivers and laying more than 35km of networks in the East of England, London and the South East, has cable in total, but large swathes of the land adjoining the carried out archeological investigations and dug bore holes ahead of rivers is of historic and natural importance and so we have the two-year project which will see 16km of 132kv cable installed been consulting with a number of organisations to between Ipswich and Felixstowe. The scheme also involves 33kV safeguard the wildlife, habitat and any possible ancient cables being installed into Shotley and Harwich to provide artefacts which may be in the ground.” underground supplies to regions currently supplied by overhead lines. Work began in September 2016 and is due to be completed The development is set to be the longest drilling scheme ever in late 2018. A panoramic view across the countryside near the Port of Felixstowe s k r o w t e N
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elcome to the Autumn/Winter 2016/17 edition U
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Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) newspaper. o
W t o h What an interesting year we’ve had! So many things we P have taken for granted have been blown off course – perhaps not such an unusual experience if you live on or New grants and old near the Suffolk coast – or come to an end. Dark skies here have been over £78,000 of grants awarded in In the wake of the Brexit storm we have had a government better 2016, with more to come! The Suffolk Secrets AONB shake-up, and Lord Gardiner of Kimble is now TFund is a new two-year, £25,000 fund that reflects Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and without the considerations of holiday cottage letting agency, Biosecurity. We look forward to his support. Suffolk Secrets www.suffolk-secrets.co.uk and the obtrusive AONB, with additional objectives specifically about Changes are afoot locally too as we continue to consider encouraging out of season family events and activities that the extension of the AONB boundary, and we will keep you support the AONB and local food producers. informed via our website www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org. lighting Sadly the wonderful Touching the Tide project has finally Map of England showing light pollution Suffolk Secrets has raised money on behalf of the AONB beached, although Project Manager Bill Jenman, who led so for more than ten years, encouraging awareness of the many amazing initiatives, is still with us, developing follow arkness at night is one of the key characteristics of rural areas and it represents a major difference between what is conservation of the area from visitors. The Suffolk Secrets up ideas for a future funding application to the Heritage AONB Fund is open for applications until Thursday 10 Lottery Fund. Drural and what is urban. We are concerned that, even in the depths of the countryside, genuine dark starry nights are November 2016, and organisations will have the full 2017 year to complete projects. One thing that does remain constant though is the quality becoming harder to find. of our countryside. I’ve really enjoyed sharing my 2016 has been a bumper year for grant-giving around the knowledge of the area, and appreciation of the work put in The AONB Partnership has produced a ‘position statement’ on lighting, and has made it available to the planning authorities. AONB. We also administer four other funds that benefit a by so many people, when I’ve been talking to visitors as a variety of community and conservation, access and Suffolk Coast Greeter, part of our Coastal Communities The AONB Partnership recognises that lighting can be beneficial to society in terms of guiding and providing a sense of security, recreation projects throughout the Suffolk coast area: Fund project linking conservation volunteering with the • Galloper Wind Farm Fund – thanks to Galloper Wind visitor economy. however lighting in the wrong place or at the wrong time is a form of pollution as it has an adverse impact upon the Farm Ltd; supporting six projects with just over £15,000 • Amenity & Accessibility Fund – now in its fifth year, Once again, the National Association of AONBs held their environment. You can see the full document on the AONB website. thanks to EDF; supporting seven projects with just over annual celebration of our landscape during Outstanding £19,000 Landscapes Week in September. Our AONB teams in Comments include: • AONB Sustainable Development Fund – supporting Suffolk and Essex were at the Aldeburgh Food and Drink eleven projects with £39,693, thanks to Defra Festival - what better place to taste the fruits of land? • Exterior lighting proposed as part of any development – within the AONB or where it may impact upon its setting or where • AONB Community & Conservation Fund – supporting lighting within the setting impacts upon the AONB – should be eight projects with over £4,000, from our small grant fund Now is a great time to get out in the AONB. After the rush that grows through fundraising of Summer, Autumn and Winter gives us an opportunity to kept to the minimum required and only appropriate to its purpose, so as to protect the area’s natural beauty and special by local businesses and reflect and recharge our batteries. This issue of the donations newspaper looks at health and well-being – not just our qualities • Proposals for exterior lighting should follow good practice as set own, but that of the AONB itself. On the centre pages you’ll Information on the find some suggestions for where to go and what to do, and out in: Guidance notes for the reduction of light pollution produced by the Institute of Lighting Engineers Suffolk Secrets AONB ideas you can put into practice for the benefit of our wildlife Fund and all grants and countryside. • Development proposals should demonstrate that there is not a significant adverse impact, individually or cumulatively, on the can be found on the character of the area (including its natural beauty and special Grants and Funding Councillor David Wood, Chairman qualities), the visibility of the night sky, wildlife, residents or those pages of the AONB Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB Partnership enjoying the area. website.
2 • Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Discover the Sandlings
How well do you know the Sandlings? Leaf through local author Rosy The Sandlings Walk Thornton’s collection of short stories, then stride out along the Sandlings Walk The Sandlings Walk is one of three long distance routes in the AONB, linking the remnants of the Sandlings heaths on a 60 mile walk between the very Discover the mystery contrasting end points of Ipswich and Southwold. The route passes through a variety of villages and and history of the hamlets, and a mosaic of habitats, including three of our estuaries, with a new view around every corner. Sandlings Whatever the time of year there is always something to enjoy and discover. In Winter, the heaths are lit up imeless is a word used frequently about the with common gorse, glowing golden yellow and landscape of rural Suffolk. I spend many ccompanied by a heady coconut scent. Listen out for Thours walking the tracks and lanes around the flutey melodic song of the woodlark, or the my home in coastal Suffolk, through forest and ‘chack chack’ of the brightly coloured stonechat. farmland, over heathered heath and flat estuarial marshes. And it’s hard not to think, as you tread The woodlands burst into life in Spring with carpets those paths, of generations that have walked that of bluebells and other flora. Adders, slow worms and way before you. The Sandlings Walk is a physical lizards emerge from their hibernation and bask in the embodiment of this: worn down by years, even welcome early sunshine. Heaths come into their own centuries, of wayfaring feet, so that now you wind in the Summer, feeling almost desert-like on the along in a deeply sunken furrow, flagged shoulder- baked sand. Bell and ling heather create a purple high by brackened banks. haze, providing valuable nectar for a myriad of insects, such as the delicate and rare silver studded When I began to write a series of short stories set blue butterfly. In turn, the insects are the food source here which became the collection, Sandlands , it was inescapable that time of many birds such as the Dartford warbler, hobby and timelessness should run through and connect them. Migrating birds fly and the mystical nightjar – the emblem of the walk. a thousand miles to rear their young in the same patch of gorse where they As the days shorten, the change in colours heralds were fledged. Strollers in the village lanes retrace the tracks of earlier the onset of Autumn, and the red deer rut, made generations, or of their younger selves. Churchgoers slide into well-worn famous by BBC Autumnwatch, can be seen on the grooves inherited from pagan ancestors. In ancient woodland, bluebell heaths around Dunwich and Minsmere. The bulbs push up fresh shoots for two millennia: different flowers but the Sandlings are steeped in mystery and history. Walk same bluebells. The ripples in the salt marsh mud take different shapes with through them - and bring Rosy’s book to life! n
each receding tide, but it’s still the same stretch of shore. o t n r
o Lynn Allen, Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB h
Sandlands by Rosy Thornton (Sandstone Press, £8.99) T Countryside Officer y www.sandstonepress.com/books/sandlands s o R Cutting edge conservation
ou may have noticed this year that the grass on some sections of sea wall within the Alde-Ore and Butley estuaries has been cut in Ya different way. The Environment Agency has introduced a modified grass cut that leaves portions of the sea wall unmowed in alternate years. This has been done to benefit a declining species of butterfly fittingly called the Wall Brown.
Why cut the grass at all? In times of extreme flood such as that which occurred in December 2013, sea water overtops the wall, knocking grass and herbaceous plants flat, and flows down the rear slope. The vegetation acts as a protective blanket in effect, protecting the wall from the full erosive force of the water. Cutting the grass helps maintain a grass rich sward and keeps
n the trees and scrub under control. It also enables inspection for any structural defects. w o r B
n It is important that the wall itself is free from trees and scrub which can inhibit grass cover and e r a provide refuge for burrowing animals such as rabbits and badgers. Bare earth and broken K y
b ground is easily eroded and flood waters can quickly create holes that will cause the wall to fail. y l f
r There is more than 300km of embankment along Suffolk’s coast and estuaries. Built primarily of e t t clay, these defences support a corridor of grassland habitat that can be home to many rare u b
n species of flora and fauna. It is recognised that management can have an impact on some of w o these species and this is why the new butterfly cut is being trialled. r B l l a W
Elsewhere, cutting is timed to reduce impact on the most vulnerable species. Cuts are usually
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once per year and are restricted during bird nesting season. They are carried out late in the year n a
h at some locations so that sensitive flowering plants and invertebrates can complete their life c a r
t cycles. Cutting an entire estuary requires a programme which includes a range of times which S s i can benefit a diversity of species. Impact is further reduced by cutting to a minimum of 15cm r h
C retaining an area of undisturbed habitat below the mower blades. y b
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0 Chris Strachan, Biodiversity Officer, Environment Agency 2 r e b m e c e D
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www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty • 3 Living and working in the AONB
Continuing our series focussing on businesses within the AONB, CATHY SHELBOURNE meets Jonathan Dyke, managing director of Enjoying this the Suffolk Yacht Harbour, the largest marina on the East Coast yacht and wildlife haven Room for a view 1. The Suffolk Coast Path runs through the marina and is f there was a competition for the The annual dredging is an important part of accessible all year round occupant of the office with the most Suffolk Yacht harbour’s recycling policy and www.suffolkcoastandheaths.or Iwonderful view, Jonathan Dyke would relationship with the environment. The nutrient g/things-to-do/walking/long- surely win it. Below his first floor window rich mud is deposited on the foreshore in the distance-routes overlooking the Suffolk Yacht Harbour at inter-tidal zone, enriching the grasses and Jonathan Dyke, managing director of the Suffolk Yacht Levington, yachts and motorboats sparkle supporting a variety of wildlife. The company 2. Learn to sail! The East Anglian Harbour at Levington in the sun (or ride the waves, depending actually owns a much bigger acreage than that Sea School is a Royal Yachting on the weather). Behind this 550-berth occupied by the harbour and the associated Association (RYA) training centre, marina are a host of related businesses, businesses: from Loompit Lake westwards to teaching shore-based and practical What happens including riggers, sailmakers, marine Levington Creek and behind the marina yachting, motor boating, dinghy or engineers, and even a sailing club housed towards the road. Much of this Site of Special powerboating courses, as well as to the mud? in an iconic red lightship. Beyond the Scientific Interest (SSSI) is managed by Suffolk Own Boat Tuition. harbour, the river Orwell ebbs and flows, Wildlife Trust and others to support the www.eastanglianseaschool.com and on the horizon, the cranes and ships different habitats of, for example, waders on very winter, SYH uses its much-loved The East Anglian Sailing Trust of the port of Felixstowe are silhouetted the foreshore, wildfowl on the saltings, and dredger Muddy Boots to clear (EAST) is a voluntary organisation against the vast East Anglian sky so deer in the tree belts. thousands of cubic metres of silt from providing sailing activities for E beloved of painters. the marina and the entrance channel, to disabled people and their carers. With up to 550 boats, owners, and as many as maintain a minimum depth of 2.5 metres www.eastanglian-sailing- The wonder of all this commercial activity 80 people working on the site in the high throughout the marina. Dredging is carried trust.org.uk is that it is firmly located within the Suffolk season, waste disposal is treated very seriously. out under licence and the terms and Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Boat owners are strongly encouraged to use conditions of the licence must be tightly 3. Already sail? Join the Haven Natural Beauty (AONB), and that humans the eight separate recycling and disposal areas adhered to. Ports Yacht Club and experience and wildlife, businesses and environmental around the marina and hardstanding. their extra-ordinary clubhouse, the organisations, happily co-exist. The mud is discharged on to the foreshore, old Cromer lightship LV87. The company has its own sewerage treatment and the marshes in Levington Creek and www.hpyc.com Jonathan is the managing director of the plants, and everything else is recycled – even around Loompit Lake - some of the most Suffolk Yacht Harbour, and has helped to the water in the harbour, which is used in a important bird-life habitats on the river 4. Come along to the Clarke and steer a successful passage between the heat exchange process to keep warm the Orwell. Migratory birds overwintering on the Carter Yacht Fair from 28th-30th development of the marina and its splendid new building housing the Stour and Orwell marshes include dunlin, October, and Workshop Open associated enterprises, and stewardship of harbourmaster, chandlery, and offices. . Weekend from 29th-30th October. e
Brent geese, redshank, pintail, grey plover, n their immediate environment. r Explore the facilities, talk to the u black-tailed godwit and knot. o b All this makes for a very happy ship. Staff l
staff, discover the walks. For more e h
“This lovely landscape is one of the main turnover is low; job satisfaction is high. S details see www.syharbour.co.uk The aim is to restore the intertidal area and y h reasons for yacht and boat owners to Jonathan himself came to SYH over thirty years or telephone 01473 659465 t salt marshes, which are being degraded by a C choose to berth here,” he says. “They buy ago as assistant harbourmaster, after y
coastal squeeze and sea level rise. b
into the beauty of the AONB - the walks graduating in yacht and boatyard management s o t
along the shore, a seal bobbing in the in Southampton. “We love what we do. We o h P
harbour, wading birds feeding on the are passionate about boats; the environment . B
saltmarshes. And of course the dredged and the changing seasons make for a N O
marina gives them access to the river at all A wonderful lifestyle; and we have a great team s h stages of the tide.” of people here.” t a e H
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4 • Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org
Wildlife under threat Wildlife in Life on the Edge – Shingle Street A brief history of
hingle Street is a tiny hamlet on the Suffolk Shingle Street coast perched precariously between land “Do people live here?” ask the people who visit and sea. About 60 people live here – but S Shingle Street to fish, walk, watch bird life or that’s only the population of Homo sapiens . We simply enjoy its peace and the healing of sea, are surrounded by more than 1,300 other life wind and weather. They are surprised to find forms, which also give this place its identity. The that the hamlet remains a living community reason why Shingle Street is classified as a Site whose residents are those with a love and of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is part of knowledge of nature and a passion for the an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) seas. In the past, everyday life for the men and has nothing to do with the beauty or interest of snails, sedges and molluscs. The total of 1,305 women of the hamlet was hard and its human residents, alas. It’s all down to the The Shingle Street residents responded to this could easily have been over 2,000 if we’d had challenging, and this short book tells their story, wildlife, and in 2015 we decided to survey and challenge splendidly. We formed survey teams, more time and expertise available, but we think in the place described in 1876 as having “the record this larger local community, with the very recruited experts, examined historical records this already amply demonstrates the natural grandest views possessed by any place on the welcome support of Touching the Tide and the and compiled a detailed technical report, which can be studied on our website at wealth of the area. Suffolk coast.” Heritage Lottery What we now hope is that other communities Fund. www.shinglestreetsurvey. org.uk . This has images of the on the coast will follow Life on the Edge this example and show is a companion Britain’s wildlife is more striking species recorded just what makes this piece to the currently and gives the link to the stretch of Suffolk coastline Wildlife guide, threatened as popular booklet, Knowing such a significant part of and was never before. In Your Place: Wildlife in Shingle our local and national published in the last 50 years Street by Jeremy Mynott, heritage. 2016 and we have lost over which is available via this printed with the half of it. That is a website or in local bookshops. Jeremy Mynott support of the shocking statistic. AONB Did you realise the So, what did we discover? Community & rate of decline of Would you have guessed we Left: location map of Shingle Conservation these much-loved had 379 different moths Street; above, curlew in Fund. bird species, for visiting Shingle Street or 59 flight; centre and right, Knowing Your Place and example, all deeply embedded in our national species of spiders? We found Tim Miller otters, bee orchids, harvest Life on the Edge booklets, culture: skylarks down by 61%, cuckoos and available from Shingle curlews by 62%, nightingale by 90% and turtle mice and clouded yellow Street Publishing. dove by 96%? And the figures for flowers, butterflies, as well as a host butterflies and moths are as bad or worse. of less charismatic but rare
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Over 800 lots every week, to include cottage antiques & modern furniture, household appliances, garden machinery & produce, poultry, game & rabbits. Viewing prior, and every Saturday 9am - 12noon Refreshments available from the Tea Room A list of selected lots and some images will be available online, on the weekly sale section of our website - www.clarkeandsimpson.co.uk
Clarke & Simpson Auction Centre Campsea Ashe, Nr Wickham Market, Suffolk IP13 0PS T: 01728 746323 www.clarkeandsimpson.co.uk
To advertise in Suffolk Coast & Heaths please ring Greg on 01728 622030
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6 • Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Health and well-being in the AONBs
So much Emma Dixon, Simon Amstutz, Being Well in the AONB Manager Wild Officer, more than Suffolk County Suffolk Coast & Heaths: Council Get out into the countryside. By bike or walking, pick one the view Why not tick off one of our guides, preferably for of our Fab 40 an area you don’t know so well, and enjoy one of our Adventures (see self-guided routes. If you can combine the trip with a Feeling frazzled? Need to Reconnecting with camping (or glamping) experience, all the better as you blow away the cobwebs Nature on page 10) will see the coast at one of my favourite times - and think more clearly? and take time out to witness the annual red deer rut? daybreak or twilight. Our AONB is one of the best places in England to Nothing beats time experience this spectacle of nature. Or kick fallen leaves Dedham Vale & Stour Valley: Hire a canoe or take an spent in our AONBs for on a walk in the ancient woods at the spectacular Arger organised trip. What’s better than paddling down the recharging the batteries. Fen in the Stour Valley? river stopping to see the views and wildlife or having a spot of lunch? I have done it in the heat of summer We’ve asked people who live and when it was so hot I needed to jump in, or in the pouring rain (also in the height of summer), and enjoyed work in the AONBs to share with Emma Black, Countryside Officer them equally. An evening, or those that can, early in the us their suggestions for healthy Dedham Vale AONB morning, is particularly beautiful. activities and ways to well-being. Coppicing a wood with our In the words of John Grant, volunteers as you’re working hard, enjoying great camaraderie and environment correspondent for David Wood, Chairman, Suffolk Coast surrounded by silhouettes of trees & Heaths AONB Partnership the East Anglian Daily Times: and the lie of the land. “AONBs and National Parks offer Head fo r the Shotley peninsula for lovely walks around a wide range of environments A lton Water, or along the foreshore of the rivers Orwe and methods of bringing benefits ll and Stour – they are excellent exercise and a grea to our health and well-being. t opportunity to watch the terns on the rafts in the r Walking, for example, is one of Karen Turnbull, eservoir, or the wading birds feeding at the water’s Economic Growth edge. Follow this up with a nice cup of tea or the easiest, cheapest and most even Development a meal in the Suffolk Food Hall’s first floor ubiquitous ways of keeping fit.” restaur Manager, Colchester ant at Wherstead for a wonderful view up and down Borough Council the river Orwell. Make it your pre-new year resolution to try one of these! Walk in the footsteps of Constable. Experience the e skies and landscap Robert Erith, “I think it’s important for everybody Dedham, Flatford around Chairman, Dedham ast Bergholt that to experience hills and open space and and E Vale AONB & Stour made him a painter. grass under their feet. It makes you Valley Partnership
breathe differently.” Go out on a dark night, see the stars and wond Anita Rani, presenter of Countryfile er at the magnificent Milky Way. The Dedham Vale an, Chairman, Nigel Chapm qualifies as a Bronze ale AONB and Dedham V Level International Dark- y Joint Advisory Stour Valle Sky place. There are very ) Committee (JAC few in Southern England! ion is to ‘My afternoon relaxat s walnut stroll through Boxted’ pond orchards, down to the er to and await the kingfish
wonderful!’ A flash past – P L F
Jonathan Dyke, Managing Director, Suffolk Yacht Harbour
A lovely day’s sail, followed by a drink in the Haven Ports Yacht Club, provides a gentle workout and totally unloads the brain!
www.dedhamvalestourvalley.org www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty • 7 Giving nature a helping hand t t
AONB Team’s Haidee Stephens, Lynda Gilbert, o n y
Suffolk Estuaries Officer M
Countryside Officer y m e
top tips for r e
LEAD by example – put your dog on a Allow some of your garden to be J
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lead if it will otherwise roam on the wild. Leave an area of grass to grow d e i wildlife, saltmarshes, heaths and beaches a bit taller, create a pile of twigs and l p p
especially during nesting time and leaves – not being too tidy allows u s
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around livestock. Locals - you have space for wildlife. Provide a habitat t
conservation o the power to set the tone: neighbours h for invertebrates, mammals, birds etc P and visitors will follow your LEAD. to feed and live. Bee orchid, as seen at Shingle Street. and people And don’t forget to Bag it and Bin it! Volunteer with a conservation charity Pollinator pointers Just as we look after Put water out for birds all year round or the AONBs. Find a good local Can you bee-lieve that a bee’s wings beat ourselves, so too does – keep a bird list on the kitchen wall project, muster local support (all ages for the family to add to and and backgrounds) and get some 190 times a second, and beetles pollinated wildlife need caring for. You binoculars handy if you have them, extra help from the AONBs. the first flowers when the dinosaurs were can do your bit in your own and put a bell on your cat. alive more than 140 million years ago! back garden or even with a Support your council in leaving Pollinating insects are essential to maintain the Shop locally – treat yourself in the window box. And if you’d verges uncut for longer (in places exciting variety of plants and wildlife in the UK village shops, pubs and tea rooms and like to assist on a grander where it doesn’t affect road safety). and play a vital role in food production: research at the farmers’ markets – there’s an estimates their value to crops at approximately scale, the AONB team would abundance of local produce to enjoy. be very happy to see you on £600 million as a result of improved productivity. Due to changes to the British landscape over the a volunteer project, litter last century, not all pollinators can find the food survey, or one of the many Emma Black, and shelter they need. Countryside Officers from other activities all year Neil Liste r, Countryside Officer the two AONB teams will ‘bee’ encouraging communities in each AONB to ‘plant well for round. Countryside Officer Composting can save you money pollinators’ this year, with help from the and is good for your garden and Sustainable Development Fund. The team have put together Keep the AONBs looking special by wildlife, but be careful not to picking up litter – think of it as a some top tips to help you disturb the residents that will make Top Tips: Advice to families, gardeners, two-minute neighbourhood clean! support conservation in the use of compost heaps! farmers, developers, land owners and local Specially the really bad litter such as authorities is simple: AONBs. broken glass, balloons, plastic yokes Enjoy being outside, improving your from beer cans, fishing line – these health and well-being, while also Grow more flowers, shrubs and trees. Make have a high risk of harming wildlife supporting local community projects sure that at least two kinds of nectar and (also dogs and children). that encourage wildlife to your local pollen rich plants are in flower all year for a area. constant supply Encourage children to notice and not be afraid of small things such as Top tips to help you Get to know your local patch so you Grow plants with a variety of flower shapes, woodlice and worms; encourage can care for what you’ve got on for example tubular, bowl-shaped and bell- their respect for living things – don’t your doorstep and benefit from shaped, as each species of bumblebee is farm for nature squash wildlife that enters your seeing hares, new flowers and bird adapted to feed on certain flower shapes home. life in Spring; ripening crops, Ensure you are looking after butterflies, wildflowers and nice dry Let your garden grow wild, cut grass less Follow good counsel – please read established wildlife habitats paths in Summer; blackberries, elder often – your ‘pollinator patch’ should be less and follow any official signage and 1 berries in Autumn; sloes and formal and a bit ‘hairier’ with longer grass to keep those already info that you come across. breeding in a welcome and bracing walks in Winter. Say hello to and weeds to provide pollinator nest sites your fellow walkers. thriving environment. Don’t disturb insect nests and hibernation spots – and leave piles of dead wood lying Maximise the environmental about for nests value of the field boundaries Alex Moore da Luz, 2 Bees need to drink and evaporate water to by realising that they are River Stour Project Officer Cathy Smith, cool their hives. TOP TIP! They drown in potential habitats for wildlife. Communications Officer water bowls, so fill a bowl with glass beans, Be observant when you are out pebbles or marbles to provide a surface for and about – notice signs of Create small areas of rough Respect, protect and enjoy the them to drink from pollution, keep an eye out for AONBs – leave only your grassland where surface invasive species (crayfish, plants footprints. Take your litter home, Think carefully about whether to use 3 etc) and report them. water channels through close gates, help your dog be well pesticides fields to act as a buffer for behaved and responsible, enjoy hedgerows. Please don’t plant or encourage exploring in every season! By following these steps we can all help give non-native plants or species in bees and pollinators the food and shelter they your gardens, especially near the Be a good cyclist – ride in single need to survive. Pollinators in numbers: Establish flower-rich habitats water where nature helps them file; ring your bell or call out to tell to encourage insects spread even more quickly! people you are there; don’t cycle • 1500 species of insects pollinate plants in the 4 through pollen production in on public footpaths, in nature UK including bumblebees, honey bees, solitary Fishermen, please don’t leave Spring and Summer, helping to spaces or along river walls; slow bees, hoverflies, wasps, flies, beetles, butterflies any kit behind on the river banks down, enjoy looking around and and moths diversify your wildlife. or beaches or in the water – say hello to people as you pass. these are harmful to dogs, swans • 25 species of bumblebee, 260 species of Provide food for birds in and children, and also to the Don’t release balloons or sky- solitary bee, 1 honey bee species and hundreds Winter by leaving things you may not be able to lanterns – you don’t know where of types of hoverflies, butterflies and moths live see like otter and voles. 5 overwintered stubbles on they will land and what damage in the UK they will do when out of your 5% of arable land. sight. • 70 of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of food worldwide are pollinated by bees
8 • Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty www.dedhamvalestourvalley.org www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Giving nature a helping hand
From business to barn owls: my ten month placement
am studying for a BSc I(Hons) Wildlife enabled me to meet many new people. Conservation The conference itself was really insightful, with Natural and the view outside was stunning! No such thing as dead wood Resource Management at The AONB team has allowed me plenty of ead and decaying trees are vital parts of a woodland ecosystem and play a key Harper Adams opportunities to go on training courses, role in supporting biodiversity, soil fertility and energy flows in streams and University in ranging from First Aid to LANTRA Drivers. The amount of deadwood has decreased dramatically because of Shropshire. For Chainsaw Maintenance and Crosscutting. removal of wood for firewood, and forest management practices which remove my industrial I have also attended smaller courses, deadwood for safety and aesthetic reasons. business usually run by the Suffolk and Essex placement, stretching over 44 weeks, Wildlife Trusts, including Saltmarsh and its How can you help? I joined the AONB team in September Plant Life, and an Introduction to 1. Dead wood standing 2015. What lay in store for me over the Biological Recording. The skills and This is of great value to insects, fungi, mosses and lichens. next ten months? knowledge I have gained Birds such as woodpeckers feed on insects that make their from these courses will home in old wood. A decaying tree with a snagged bough I have been able to get come in handy during my or a small cavity might provide a nest site for a bird or bat. involved with many final year at Harper Adams, Dead branches also make excellent song and display different aspects of the as well as in the long term. perches for birds. Leave dead trees and shrubs standing to AONBs. One that really decompose naturally. Instead of felling trees when they are stands out was working There is no question in my dangerous you could cut them to a safe height so they with the wonderful Stour mind that working with the become standing dead wood. Valley and Suffolk Coast & AONB team over the last 10 Heaths volunteer groups. months has considerably 2. Log piles They were more than broadened my horizons, Woodpiles are a valuable habitat for mosses, lichens and fungi, as well as many happy to let me join in, and and will certainly be a big insects which in turn feed other animals. They also provide homes for amphibians I’m so glad I did! bonus on my CV when job that hibernate underneath them as they are dark, damp and cool. Leaving piles of hunting. The various job wood to rot down will provide a source of food for other animals and will ensure I have learnt so many practical skills that roles I have encountered have given me valuable nutrients are recycled back into the ground. I will no doubt use in my future career, much food for thought regarding the from coppicing to deer fence building, as direction of my own career, from ecologist Lay a stack of logs on their side in shaded, open, wet and dry areas to provide a well as management skills such as how to to countryside officer. The fact I am now habitat suitable for a variety of different species. To prevent them rolling, drive a organise a group, and how to correctly relocating to Suffolk from the Midlands stake into the ground either side of the pile. Logs at least 10cm thick with the bark access a situation from a health and safety surely says something about what a still attached provide the best wood. Hard wood trees such as ash, oak and beech point of view, always ensuring that the wonderful place it is! are particularly good. Birch logs can look particularly attractive. Be careful of freshly volunteers’ (and your own!) safety is top cut willow and poplar logs, as these can easily re-sprout if left lying on the ground. priority. As an added bonus, I was invited Lauren Goring, out with one of our Countryside Officers, Volunteer Placement Student 3. Stag beetle pyramids Neil Catchpole, to monitor barn owls on The stag beetle is the largest terrestrial insect in the Tendring Hall Estate, where we found Britain and north of the Colchester area is a a few youngsters! Simon Amstutz, notable stronghold. They breed in rotting tree AONB Manager, writes: stumps and other sources of decaying wood, We are delighted to offer the where the larvae will remain for up to five opportunity for a volunteer years. To create a stag beetle pyramid dig a placement for students as it gives large hole in the ground and partially bury logs the successful candidate a chance of different diameter and length vertically to a to learn some of the skills needed depth of 45 - 50cm in a pyramid shape then to work in the protected backfill with soil and firm in. landscapes environment. In addition the AONB team gets new 4. Dead hedges projects delivered and a fresh set A dead hedge is a barrier constructed from cut of eyes looking at what we do and branches, saplings and foliage. Dead hedges are how we do it. Lauren grabbed this the most primitive and ancient form of hedging. opportunity with both hands and Instead of burning the cut material or taking it to I have also been able to help out with the we were delighted with what she waste disposal sites reduce your carbon footprint many conferences and forums the AONBs achieved for our AONBs. She has and create a dead hedge. It creates an attractive attend and organise. One of the first was learned much that will give her barrier, works as a corridor for wildlife and is the 2015 Saltmarsh conference at Snape many advantages in a very great for insects, small nesting birds like wren Maltings. I provided admin support prior competitive employment market. and mammals such as hedgehogs. Just make to the event, and then helped set up the For our latest opportunities some stakes, push them into the ground about displays and register arrivals, which give us a call. 50cm apart in alternate rows and place the cut material with butt ends facing the same way in Placement student Lauren Goring, from top, working with Stour Valley Volunteer Graham, at Spouse’s Vale; barn between. owl monitoring with Neil Catchpole; her first task ... way marking improvements on the Sandlings Walk; and carrying out practical work as part of the River Stour Restoration project
www.dedhamvalestourvalley.org www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty • 9 Health and well-being in the AONBs Reconnecting Suffolk’s Year of Walking: The past from above come along for the stride! he Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB is richly endowed with with nature archaeological and historical sites spanning the full range of uffolk is an inspiring and human history. Worked flints more than 700,000 years old are uffolk’s Fab 40 Adventures are beautiful county to walk T eroding from the cliffs at Pakefield and Benacre, while the Cold War wonderful ways to step outside and in with approximately S Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Orfordness has recently Sexplore the amazing world of nature 3,500 miles of public footpaths been designated as a Scheduled Monument. The AONB has been on your Suffolk doorstep and around the spanning the coastline inland subject to extensive archaeological study, most significantly from the wildlife-rich coast and countryside beyond. to the Brecks and Fenlands. air, and aerial photographs have enabled us to identify and map Suffolk’s Year of Walking is swathes of new archaeological sites. Getting out into the natural world a celebration of walking in promotes mental and physical well-being; Suffolk; promoting walking Some of these sites are still visible as earthworks, including extensive helps prevent disease and is proven to aid events and encouraging new walking opportunities. Second World War military training areas at Westleton Walks, recovery after illness. So this Autumn and The Year of Walking launched as part of the iconic Dunwich Heath, Orford and Aldeburgh. Others appear as cropmarks Winter make sure you switch off the Suffolk Walking Festival on Saturday 14th May 2016 at when buried archaeological features affect the rate of growth of screen, unplug the wi-fi and take time to the scenic RSPB Minsmere Reserve and will run until crops planted over the top of them. The ploughed-out remains of reconnect with nature. May 2017. numerous Bronze Age (2350–700 BC) burial mounds have been The Fab 40 project is all about putting identified in this fashion at places such as Shottisham and Alderton. family time first – modern lives are all too busy, especially when both parents are Details of all of these sites and many others like them can be found working. Getting active all together on the Suffolk Heritage Explorer website, which contains details of outside for just a few hours really can be a over 30,000 archaeological sites and finds from the county. Visitors to walk in the park – but there are plenty of the website can also download a series of guidebooks about the wild outdoor places to discover through coast’s Second World War defences. The Suffolk Heritage Explorer can gentle activities too. be found at www.heritage.suffolk.gov.uk
Beaches and woodlands, forests and Dr Richard Hoggett, Senior Archaeological farmland, heaths and saltmarshes – our Officer, Suffolk County Council AONBs have so much to offer. Find out more about Suffolk’s Fab 40 Adventures www.fab40suffolk.co.uk Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to @suffolkfab40 #40adventures get more active, lose weight and become healthier. It is ideal for people of all ages and fitness levels who want Emma Dixon, Being Well in the Wild to become more active. Officer, Suffolk County Council Regular walking has been shown to reduce the risk of chronic illness and can also be a great way of reducing social isolation and improving mental health.
OneLife Suffolk provides Health Walks – a wide range of free walking opportunities available for everyone. There are over 200 walks available every month – This 2007 photograph from Google Earth clearly shows the earthworks of a Second many of which take place within the AONBs. All of the World War strongpoint to the north of Aldeburgh, comprising a series of pillboxes details about the Health Walks can be found and linking communication trenches. Image: © 2016 Getmapping Plc. www.suffolkyearofwalking.co.uk
Come Along for the Stride! Recreational avoidance and mitigation strategy
Celebrating our Outstanding Landscapes lanners from Ipswich Borough, Babergh and Suffolk Coastal District Councils are being supported by the Suffolk County Every year the National Association of Areas of Outstanding PCouncil Senior Ecologist in taking a joined-up approach to Landscapes (NAAONB) holds a week of events nationwide. The mitigating development impacts on internationally important wildlife Suffolk and Essex AONBs celebrated in September with a variety of sites and de-risking projects for developers. Providing new housing activities. Farmers Jonathan and Miff Minter hosted a Farm Walk in developments without an adverse impact on the environment is aid of the Stour Valley Environment Fund, and the AONB team were challenging anywhere but more so in areas surrounded by nationally exhibiting at the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival. and internationally important countryside and coast.
The Habitats Regulations Assessments of the three Local Plans identified mitigation measures to address likely significant effects from recreational disturbance on internationally important wildlife sites. The three Councils are working together and have started producing a recreational avoidance and mitigation strategy across their areas. This will identify any cost measures necessary to mitigate recreational impacts, and confirm how they will be funded and delivered. The strategy is being drafted by specialist consultants for public consultation before being adopted by March 2017. Once approved by the three Local Authorities, the strategy will provide an option for developer contributions to an agreed and costed scheme of mitigation for residential developments with the zone of influence, over the plan periods.
Sue Hooton, Senior Ecologist, Suffolk County Council
10 • Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty www.dedhamvalestourvalley.org www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org LEATHER & SHEEPSKIN
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One(B) Thoroughfare, Woodbridge Phone: 07919911440 Email: [email protected] www.leatherandsheepskinltd.co.uk Tel: 01394 388705 www.harwichharbourferry.com
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Australian resident Jeremy Cooper cycled their bikes from home. The good thing about folding bikes See magnificent machines around East Anglia on a borrowed Brompton is you can take them on trains and buses free of charge. M6R. We join Jeremy in Southwold, heading FINAL FLING I was still conscious about time, so pressed on towards south for Felixstowe, where he grew up. Orford and stopped there to look at the jetty and have a AUTUMN STEAM & ACTIVITY DAY break (and a Wherry) at The Jolly Sailor . I chatted with a SUNDAY 23RD OCTOBER 11AM-4PM A short cycle ride few people interested in the folding bike, and a couple who had one electric-assisted bike and one normal one. I Half term activities along the Suffolk Coast asked whether they drew lots to see who would get which. for families outhwold is a very busy holiday town in the summer I eventually got to Butley Creek at about 13.30 for my season with holiday-makers and their cars, crossing. The tide was out, so the water was a narrow CHRISTMAS FAIR Severywhere. On my way to find my hosts’ house I ribbon within wide strips of mud. The ferry only operates passed a pub (name forgotten), so I called in for a Wherry. on weekends, May to September, and is run by volunteers SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER who do it for fun and to keep the ferry For full details visit I found my hosts’ street in Reydon, the tradition going. It is said to be England’s www.longshopmuseum.co.uk village next door to Southwold, easily, but smallest licenced ferry. Taking the shortcut Tel: 01728 832189 could not find the house, eventually through Hollesley rather than the detour to spotting a bicycle parked in a driveway and look at the penal institution, I reached made the assumption that this was indeed Bawdsey just before 16.00, in good time for ‘it’. My host Murray told me that he the next ferry. sometimes rows the ferry I was to go on in the morning, and of course knows all the I stopped at The Ferryboat Inn , on the other ferrypersons (there is a woman Felixstowe side, for a very welcome break (and among them). Today was a 50-mile day. Wherry) and then cycled home. It was a very satisfying excursion, but would have been a I was the first and only cyclist at the ferry at 10.00 and the lot more enjoyable if my backside had been more ‘battle- ferryman was Luke. I cycled the narrow and picturesque hardened’ before I started. I arrived in Felixstowe at 17.00, roads to Snape, via Leiston (not strictly on the route), having cycled 205 miles in the five days I had been away. beginning with an off-road section which included some soft sand patches, making cycling impossible, so a little bit of walking was forced upon me. Once back on roads I Jeremy’s tips found there are so many roads, cross-roads, and junctions • I belong to ‘Warmshowers’, a web-based group of that it seems impossible to always choose the right one. cyclists offering free accommodation to other travelling cyclists on a reciprocal basis www.warmshowers.org Of course, it doesn’t really matter what road one is • Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB very kindly sent to me travelling on when one is only there to look at the in Australia the Suffolk Coast Cycle Route pack of maps countryside. In the event I got to Snape at about 12.30, and guides which I found very informative indeed and stopped just long enough to take a picture from the • I also bought Sustrans cycle maps of Suffolk and bridge and talk briefly to two other cyclists who were Norfolk. See National Cycle Route 1 (NCR1). My there, with exactly the same Brompton bikes as mine. They planned route was a hybrid of Suffolk Coastal Cycle turned out to be Germans on holiday, and had brought and Sustrans Routes
thanks to the Coastal Communities Fund, are accessible Food glorious food via the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival website. The trails are free for local businesses to register and free for Build a food trail, the general public to use. We have had a great name it, share it experience getting to know some of Suffolk’s producers, with your friends chefs and crafts people even better while producing our and on social media new book Un-Earthed . It’s a self-published book looking says Jess Brown. It’s behind the scenes and discovering people who a great way to get contribute to Suffolk’s growing foodie credentials. out and discover Available online at what Suffolk has to offer. The Suffolk Food Trails, www.aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk.
Conservation contributions in our Outstanding Landscape
arly May 2016 saw the very first Wild Days “For me” said one participant, “the pull of conservation Conservation holiday being held on the Suffolk coast – work closer to home is strong. I feel more directly ESeptember and October saw another two. These small responsible for and connected to the environments I have group holidays specialise in undertaking research and grown up in and will continue to live in, and closer to the conservation tasks, and it is thanks to the Coastal contemporary challenges and issues. It is also rewarding to Communities Fund that we have been able to bring visitors be learning more about the native species of trees, animals, to Suffolk! landscapes and plants that are around me all the time.” The May programme included: small mammal trapping and surveying findings at the National Trust’s Dunwich Heath; a Wild Days Conservation encourage attendees survey of pirri pirri burr (an invasive plant from New to understand and support native species, Zealand) on a site at RSPB Minsmere, including researching and enjoy a bit of local heritage, food and how it affected plant/insect life around it and some drink and excellent accommodation too! clearance; bird surveying of Dartford warbler (saw lots!), stonechat and wood lark (saw a few) at NT Dunwich Heath; See www.wilddaysconservation.org/holidays/ and also an MCS beach litter survey on Dunwich beach. location/suffolk for holidays in 2017.
12 • Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Volunteering in the AONB
strategic plan for dynamic habitat management. These will be Suffolk’s Silver-studded Can you help Suffolk’s complemented by key sites away from reserves that support healthy numbers of breeding waders through first class agri- Blue butterflies wading birds? environment support. he Suffolk Wader Strategy consists of a core group of The strategy aims to build on the recent success at several sites organisations who have come together to reverse the such as Hollesley Marshes where all three wader species had a Tdecline in wader populations in Suffolk. The strategy highly productive season in 2014. focuses on three species: lapwing (right), redshank and avocet (below) and currently concentrates on coastal sites. Both lapwing and redshank have undergone significant declines (nationally 50% and 59% since 1975 respectively). Although avocet numbers appear to be increasing y r (1500 pairs in the UK in 2010), productivity varies r e B
significantly between years, often falling below t t a
the level required to sustain local populations. M
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s o t o h P Accurate estimates of current wader populations and Members of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation productivity are critical to the success of the strategy; have for some years been monitoring the Silver-studded Blue the resulting data can help inform us of potential butterfly, which although rare, is found across many of problems and also where we are doing well, therefore Suffolk’s heaths. helping us to improve habitat management. There is a need for increased monitoring both on and off reserves and we are We are looking for volunteers to walk a couple of the looking for volunteer observers who can identify lapwing, transects, at Dunwich Forest and Minsmere, during the redshank and avocet and preferably have some previous survey butterflies’ flight period (June-July 2017). Together, as organisations working in partnership, the strategy experience, although this is not essential if you attend the has the ability to influence land management both on nature workshop. We would require volunteers to carry out a We are also helping to restore heathland habitat for the reserves and more widely across the countryside. The minimum of four field visits from April to July. The training butterfly and other species. As part of the Ipswich Heaths partnership is made up of conservation charities (RSPB, Suffolk workshop will be run at Stanny Field Centre on 21st January project, we have regular work parties and would welcome Wildlife Trust, National Trust), a government agency (Natural 2017. www.stannyfarm.org. England) and the private sector (Stanny Field Centre, Iken). new volunteers. The aim is to have a key set of reserves that complement each To register your interest please contact Robin Harvey on If you would like to get involved, please email Helen other at a landscape scale, which together support exceptional 01728 648072 or e-mail [email protected] breeding wader populations, underpinned by a long term Saunders at: [email protected]
the Sandlings Walk – all with Valued volunteers! wonderful volunteers.
A big thank you – say Lynn Allen and Neil Lister We welcomed more – to all our volunteers for their hard work, volunteers to the Coast & whatever the weather! Estuary Warden scheme this year. Their reports he Work Party Volunteers undertake landscape and confirm that all is well at a conservation tasks to benefit wildlife, recreation and local given location, which is as Tcommunities – in six months they did 14 tasks. Volunteer valuable as reporting an numbers remain low for some tasks however and we would like incident of concern. They some more volunteers – are you interested? We’d also like to report on overgrown hear from you if you have a site that might need the ‘elbow footpaths, damage to grease’ of volunteers to achieve conservation improvements in information signs, litter, the AONB. erosion, dog fouling and even jellyfish strandings. Our Promoted Route Volunteers help check and improve the These have been reported to long distance path (LDP) routes, including surveying the signage, the relevant organisations, such as East Area Public checking waymarker posts and reporting on path conditions. We BEACHWATCH: The Great British Beach Clean takes place annually in mid September and regular Beach Watch teams do have three LDPs – Stour & Orwell Walk, Suffolk Coast Path and Rights of Way, the other seasonal litter picks. Get in touch to join a team. Above: Trimley and Felixstowe Scouts. Environment Agency, Suffolk Coastal Norse and Natural England – and the Marine This is reflected nationwide, according to the MSC’s pollution Conservation Society (MCS) through their national jellyfish campaigns officer Emma Cunningham. “In every part of the UK survey. The Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch scheme the number of bottles our volunteers found had increased in and the annual Great British Beach Clean, which the AONB 2015 compared to 2014. On average, 99 bottles were found per promotes and co-ordinates in Suffolk, have continued to be kilometre of beach cleaned – an overall increase of 43%.” well-supported by our many dedicated existing and new teams. Corporate events have been very popular, as team building Across the whole of 2015 the surveys in Suffolk covered more exercises or as a means of community payback. AXA Ipswich, BT than 15km of coast and estuary, and on average, 1,200 items of and Essex & Suffolk Water are just some of the businesses who litter were found on each kilometre. The mountain of rubbish have participated. collected by 785 volunteers weighed more than 1.248 kg. Plastic and polystyrene made up 71%. See the AONB website for the A whole lotta bottle? full 2015 report. The highest number of items per metre surveyed was on a 100m Reviewing the last ten years of beach litter surveys, Lynn Allen stretch at Bawdsey East Lane South. This was down to the found that 7,517 volunteers have taken part in Suffolk and diligence of the 20 volunteers, organised by Jenny King. Other together collected 15,510kg of litter. “Plastic items have high-yielding areas were north of Felixstowe Pier, Bawdsey, and consistently made up between 8-10 of the top ten items found Trimley Marshes, where teams of Scouts, and volunteers from in Suffolk,” she says. the AONB, BT, and Suffolk Wildlife Trust, took part. www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty • 13 News from around the AONB Beating the bounds in Hollesley n a very changeable Summer Sunday afternoon, 18 intrepid Hollesley residents (and two very well Obehaved dogs!) donned hat and coat and ventured out on to the Hollesley Lower Common to ‘beat the bounds.’ This ancient tradition goes as far back as Roman times and involves the replenishing of small mounds of earth that mark the common boundary.
Starting at the first mound, just beneath the new WI tree at Moorlands Close, the group, led by Alan Shelcott, walked over four kilometres around the Common, past Poplar Park, on to Manor Farm, up to Eagle Lodge and then along the new fence erected by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust at the back of the Common and back to the village. Amazingly, 44 mounds were either replenished or reinstated where they had been depleted over time. The group witnessed much wildlife including a large herd of deer and were joined at one stage by the four ponies on the Common.
• Personalised Gifts & Presents The plan for later in the year is to beat the bounds of • House Signs the Upper Common. If you would like to join us please contact Judi Hallett, the Parish Clerk, at • Stone Carving [email protected]. • Bespoke Memorials & Headstones • Hand Carved Lettering amilies living around the Suffolk coast have Wild beach, wild been taking part in a series of workshops on • 0 7933 804590 • t [email protected] FSizewell beach, Sizewell Belts, Thorpeness and • www.suffolkstonemason.co.uk Kenton Hills to help them access and understand belts, wild woods the coastal and woodland habitats that surround them.
Wild Beach, Wild Belts, Wild Woods , which was organised by Suffolk Wildlife Trust and supported by the Galloper Wind Farm Fund ran throughout the Summer holidays.
The scheme included six free family workshops, enabling up to 30 people per session to get hands- on with wood, waves and wildlife.
The regions original The Trust’s Bev Rogers, who led the project, said: “It
county magazine n
was fantastic to see so many people coming out to o s u
enjoy and explore the coast. From beach combing g r e F
and mini-raft-making to discovering the hidden n
worlds of plankton, these sessions helped people h o J
really engage with the wild spaces close to where y b
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they lived.” t o h P A great local view
Be it a couple of hours chatting about churches, a guide to a Greeter’s favourite food and drink spots, help figuring out where good playparks are, • Local people doing well, and celebrities visiting the region or finding out what a local loves about our wonderful natural environment, • History and stories about local towns and places of interest a Greeter can help you make the most of your visit. You can find out more Fu•l Rl edgeutlaairl sfo oondl &in der aintk w, iwntwer.siourfsf oanlkdn uoprcfoomlkinligfe emveangtsa zfeianteu.rceos m about individual greeters from www.suffolkcoast.greeters.info/about-us/ • Occasional features throughout the year for weddings, schools, greeter-of-the-month. motoring, days out, jewellery, Christmas and short stays. The Suffolk Coast Greeter programme has been developed with funding from the Coastal Communities Fund. Alongside and supporting Wild Days Conservation holidays (see page 12) the AONB has also been developing a Join In! programme, supplying information to visitor businesses about all
Pick up a copy from your local newsagents or s e the conservation and volunteering activities that visitors can do along the l y E
Suffolk coast. r Subscribe online from only £30 e t e P
www.suffolknorfolklifemagazine.com y b
See www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org/volunteering/join-in for all o t
the opportunities to Join In! o h P
14 • Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Also available by phone on 01728 622030 News from around the AONB Suffolk Community SWANN’S NURSERY for Barn Owl Project Conifers, Shrubs, Ornamental Trees Nursery on A1152 Landscaping, fencing and forestry EYKE ROAD Suppliers of High Quality Sovereign Turf he original aim of this project Hand-in-hand with the box repair BROMESWELL Nr. WOODBRIDGE was to halt the continued programme we will be equipping our Open 7 days a week decline of barn owls in Suffolk. volunteers with tools and materials WOODBRIDGE 01394 460127 T Email: [email protected] It began in 2005 when the county’s and training. This includes running barn owl population was down to monitoring/repair workshops around a mere 45 pairs and now, sessions for health and safety and after celebrating over 11 successful provision of essential equipment, Good Feeds Naturally years of community working, we tools and computer software, as well have over 450 pairs. as holding community events to help A complete range of performance and local people to learn about barn owl recreational feeds for all animals. The project manages over 1,860 conservation. from Alpacas to Horses to Zebras and boxes, with 14 voluntary Area Co- all in between ordinators and 150 voluntary We have been asked by the BTO to Monitors/Ringers recording their trial and test their new data success. This information is processing programme, ensuring that forwarded annually to the national barn owl data held in Suffolk will be database managed by British Trust up-to-date and current. for Ornithology (BTO). Continued CHARNWOOD MILLING support from Suffolk Coast & Heaths Monitoring for this season is now Charnwood-Milling Company Ltd, and Dedham Vale AONB’s well underway and the results are Saxtead Rd, framlingham, Suffolk Sustainable Development Funds will encouraging despite less than Tel: 01728 622300 allow us to monitor the condition of favourable weather conditions this e: [email protected] our existing boxes and carry out Spring. Occupancy of the boxes has www.charnwood-milling.co.uk minor repairs or replacement. again been high but productivity is relatively low with an average of 1-2 i k The careful and constant chicks fledging from each nest and s w o r
management of the habitat in the the breeding season one of the most t o i P
AONBs is paramount. Each year the protracted in recent years with early y h barn owl parents need to catch birds going down in March and some t a K approximately 10,000 mice or voles on a fresh clutch of eggs in August. y b
to enable them to successfully raise a s o t family. Steve Piotrowski o h P
The Station Hotel is a busy, popular pub for those who enjoy good food WOOD FIRED PIZZAS ! - Call 727167
Station Road FramlinghaM Woodbridge Suffolk IP13 9EE 01728 723 455 • www.thestationframlingham.com
THE PASSIONATE ABOUT LOCAL QUALITY FOOD SINCE 2001 CRETINGHAM The farm cafe + shop at Marlesford is an oasis on the A12, a few miles from Woodbridge in Suffolk. We've been offering locally produced, quality food since One of the most charming inns 2001 and our cafe has built a reputation as a destination for good, honest, BELL mouth-watering breakfasts and lunches (not to mention our famous homemade on the Suffolk coast scones!). We also have a convenient shop next door, so if there’s anything on the • Daily Specials • Snug, Lounge & menu that you’ve particularly enjoyed, you can buy it in the shop and cook it • Log Burners Restaurant • Award winning restaurant yourself at home! • Exposed Timber • Available for Hire Beams • Open 7 Days a Week • Imaginative menus and wine list Cafe opening times • Selection of real ales Monday to Saturday, 7am – 4pm Lunch Served 12 - 2pm • Evening Meals 6.30 - 9pm • Crackling log fires Sundays and Public Holidays, 8am – 4pm Breakfast served: 7am – 11.30am • Charming terraced gardens Lunch served: noon – 4pm • 34 stylish bedrooms Coffee and cake served all day. • Children and dogs are very welcome Shop opening times Monday to Saturday, 8.30am – 5pm The Westleton Crown, The Street, Sundays and Public Holidays, 8.30am – 5pm Westleton, Nr Southwold, Suffolk IP17 3AD Mon - Sat 11.30am - 3.00pm & 5.30 - 11pm Farm Cafe + Shop Sun 12noon - 4.00pm & 7.00 - 11pm Main Road (A12), Marlesford The Cretingham Bell, The Street, www.westletoncrown.co.uk Woodbridge, Suffolk IP13 0AG Cretingham, Suffolk, IP13 7BJ 01728 747717 w b 01728 648777 www.farmcafe.co.uk 01728 685419 • [email protected] www.cretinghambell.com www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty • 15 W R S T S C E D P T E W A d b T W E D S W S C i C F L L N E B P R E w n y y u e w i a x t e m o d e u m o y i i l i o a e h m o 1 c l c w o n n e s a a p e
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Suffolk Coast & Heaths is typeset by Today Type and Design: 01728 720789 Advertising: Today Magazines, 01728 720789 Printed October 2016