Felixstowe Sunrise Walk

This was the invite from Joyce:

"I'm feeling positive about hosting our annual Felixstowe Sunrise Walk next Friday, January 17th. Pls join us for a 7.45am start outside the Ferry Boat Inn IP11 9RZ (parking lay by in front). Public toilets available here. 'Morning Civil Twilight' is 7.16am and sunrise is 7.54am. We will then walk 6 brisk miles to View Point Cafe at Landguard Docks for a refreshment break (10am) and then the 6 miles back again. Car share from Skyliner Way at 6.50am."

Would we do better with the weather than we did on this walk last winter?

Well some of us met, as planned, at Skyliner Way and headed for our starting point, by the Ferryboat Inn to meet the rest. We assembled about 10 minutes before sunrise. Civil Twilight was already long past. But what did it mean? "When the street lights are switched off?", I suggested. But no. As explained here...  

'Civil twilight is a scientific term, and we define it as “the period after sunset or before sunrise ending or beginning when the sun is about 6 degrees below the horizon and during which on clear days there is enough light for ordinary outdoor occupations.” Some sources claim that the word was coined by the Swiss polymath J. H. Lambert in the 18th century, but there does not appear to be a record of the word used in English until early in the following century.'

So now we know. Anyway... Would we see the sun come up?

This was our route.

It was pretty puddly at the start.

As we set off we could see some breaks in the cloud. But 2 minutes after sunrise this is all we could see....

... and the clouds were thickening ahead.

The car lights were still shining brightly in the gloom.

But the rain was light and soon passed. We did a little loop inland where the prom stopped and passed a building site. What were these plastic structures for, we wondered? Something like this, perhaps?

Back at the sea-front we got one of my favourite views of Felixstowe, with the cranes at the dock standing proud in  the distance.

As we passed the sea-front gardens, we saw a heron. Well spotted, Barry.

We arrived at the Landguard Point Viewpoint Cafe. Breakfast!

While we were dining, Joyce got a text message from our walking friend Ann, who is currently in Australia, perfectly timed to coincide with our breakfast  saying something like "I reckon you should be in the cafe about now. Enjoy the walk everybody". Well that was nice! She would have been on our walk if she hadn't been away as she is a local; we had walked past her house already and would pass it again on the way back. Roland, who couldn't make the walk today had suggested we put a note through her door to say we had called, but we didn't. Did anyone bring pen and paper? Not me. Here is Joyce replying to Ann.

By now the sun was out and we had lovely blue skies for our return leg. Here is the DFDS freight ship to Rotterdam heading out to sea.

Darrell's Battery at the Landguard Fort gave a striking silhouette against the sky.

Then it was back through the nature reserve.

Jane was telling us about the Susie Dent show she was at earlier in the week, and some of the interesting words she learnt from it. We all liked the idea that we were now beeking in the sun. A new word on the rest of us and not in my Chambers Dictionary, so it wouldn't be allowed in some of the crosswords I do.

I liked this van we passed. "Taking the pub to the people", they say.

The recently restored Martello Tower 'P' is now  is one of the stations of the National Coastwatch Institution.

There are lots of display boards telling it's story alongside the path.

Soon we were back at the pier. Here is the view looking back southwards the way we had just come.

Instead of sticking to the promenade, we walked through the sea-front gardens.

Nobody got eaten by the shark,

But the pond next to where we saw the heron didn't have any fish in it. Hmm.

Instead of climbing up and down again, now the tide was well and truly out, we carried on along the beach.

No suds or cliff-falls like we saw in Norfolk on our Sea Paling walk in November.

Then it was past the golf course again. There were a few players out now enjoying the sunshine.

This is Bawdsey Manor over the other side of the mouth of the River Deben.

Soon we were back at the Ferryboat Inn.

But before we left, we visited the fish shop.

The fishmonger was very helpful and told us all about the challenges of supplying fish at this time of year, and how it was cheaper to import some than rely on local fishing.

I followed Peter's example, who got himself a good selection, by getting a couple of lovely smoked mackerel fillets. I had one for my lunch when we got home. Yum!

So thanks Joyce for the organising and the lift to and from Felixstowe and the others for the company. We never saw the sun rise, but we had a lovely walk and it turned out very nice in the end.

You can find more details of our route here on MapMyWalk and more of my Photos here on Flickr.