Sandlings Walk: Snape Maltings to Sizewell

Snape and Snape Maltings

Snape is a small village based near the first crossing point of the River Alde. It is most famous as being the site of Snape Maltings, an massive complex of buildings that closed in 1960. The area had long been the home of the composer Benjamin Britten, who started the Aldeburgh music festival in 1948. Over the years the festival moved to various locations, finally settling into a concert hall converted from one of the malting's buildings in 1967. Since then more of the buildings have been converted into studios, rehearsal spaces, shops, a pub and residential accommodation.

The village of Snape itself is home to two pubs, and allegedly was J.K. Rowling's inspiration for the surname of one of Harry Potter's enemies, Severus Snape.

In 1862 a boat grave, believed to date from 530CE, was found under a burial mound on Snape Common; this was similar to the famous boat grave later found at Sutton Hoo. The boat was clinker-built with rivets; although the grave had been plundered many interesting finds were found, including a gold ring that is now in the British Museum.

Rivers Alde and Ore

The River Alde runs from Laxfield in Suffolk southeastwards towards the coast; just below Aldeburgh it curves to head southwards, prevented from joining the sea by the large shingle bank that forms Orford Ness. It runs south and then southwestwards for ten miles, becoming the Ore before finally draining into the sea at Shingle Street near Hollesley. It once entered the sea near Oford (which is why the small village has such a prominent castle), but the spit grew by another five miles southwards.

The river is tidal as far inland as Snape, and is little more than a freshwater stream beyond. The first crossing point of the river is at Snape Maltings, although a foot ferry does operate occasionally from Orford across to the shingle spit of Orford Ness.

Aldeburgh

Aledburgh is an exceptionally picturesque village situated on the Suffolk Coast. It is based around a long street of largely Georgian houses that stand a couple of streets from the sea. A beautiful half-timbered town hall - called the Moot Hall - stand near to the beach. It is home to many small shops, including an excellent fish and chip shop. Many fishing boats are to be found pulled up high onto the beach.

The area is famous for its music, helped by the fact that Benjamin Brittain lived in the town. Along with the singer Peter Pears he started the Aldeburgh Music Festival, which is now held a short distance away at Snape Maltings. On the beach a short distance north of the town stands a memorial to Brittain, in the form of a large metal clamshell facing the sea.

A shingle beach called Orford Ness stretches for ten miles south from the town, separated from the sea by the River Ore.

Thorpeness

Thorpeness feels like a strange place; its eclectic collection of buildings appear to be ancient, with many Tudor- and Jacobean-styled structures. Yet the entire village was only a fishing hamlet before 1910, when a barrister and railway engineer called Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie bought a vast swathe of the Suffolk coast. He set about building a private fantasy village in a staggering range of styles. His rather eccentric vision can be seen in the form of the 'House in the Clouds'; the village's water tower that is disguised by a wooden house that sits hat-like on the top. He also erected a windmill that used to stand a couple of miles away. The style of the place brings Portmeirion to mind, but whilst the Welsh village is brash and brightly coloured Thorpeness seems stately and refined.

There is a large car park and pub near to The Meare, a sixty-acre artificial boating lake that forms the centre of the village. Although the village was owned by members of the Ogilvie family until the 1970s, many of the houses are now owned by other people. It is an absolutely unique place, and is well worth spending an hour to two exploring its lanes.

Sizewell A and B power stations

The small hamlet of Sizewell on the Suffolk coast is famous for its two nuclear power stations. Sizewell A started operating in 1966 and ran through to 2006; it could generate 420MW of power. The building is an ugly grey concrete monolith that seems totally out of character with the area.

In the 1980s work began on Sizewell B power station, the country's first and only (so far) Pressurised Water Reactor. It started generating power in 1995, and has a maximum output of 1,195 MW. Unlike the A power station, the B station could be described as beautiful, with its white containment dome sitting above a squat blue building. The dome can be seen for many miles along the coast in either direction.

In 2010 it was announced that Sizewell was one of eight preferred sites for new nuclear power stations; the current plan shows Sizewell C as being a 1,600 MW unit that could be operating as early as 2020. If it is built, then we can only hope the design is more like the B unit than the hideous A unit.