Bawdesy - 20/8/2020

The Suffolk coast always has the ability to surprise, even to someone who knows it well. This was the case of Bawdsey. Today was my first visit to that place, an area just south of Hollesley. 

I came to Bawdy to look at the lagoons that lie just behind the sea wall. These bodies of water are four rectangular shaped reservoirs bordered by a luxurious growth of reeds. They are the haunt of breeding SWANS, TUFTED DUCK, COOT and LITTLE GREBE, families of which could be seen in various stages of life here. The rest of the landscape was low lying arable fields, reclaimed from the sea.

There really wasn't much else, no beach, a small area of scrub but that's it. So what has it got to recommend it? Well, because it has a great assortment of historical architecture. There are several pill boxes, gun placements and plenty more Second World War buildings. In the crumbling concrete SWALLOWS would swoop in and out, the perfect habitat for this civilised bird.

Further down the road lies Bawdsey Manor, a typical Victorian pile, which happens to be the place where radar was created. There isn't much here, there's a beach on the river Deben, but that was overly busy, populated by sea siders,  and provided views across to Felixstowe Ferry, which I visited a couple of weeks ago.

Two of the reservoirs

On the way back I had a look at Hollesley Marshes, but as usual the scrape was drained and there were few birds about, just some grazing sheep.

It's not the best time of year to really experience this area of the coast. This was a short visit to check the area out. Probably in conjunction to a visit to other places nearby, it might be worth a look, perhaps in winter. And that's it from this week.