Suffolk
Felixstowe Felixstowe, bordered on the north by the River Deben and on the south by the River Orwell, is a well loved resort known for its Blue Flag quality sand and shingle beach, long promenade, perfectly kept seafront gardens and seaside attractions. Felixstowe became a fashionable seaside resort in the 1880s, and has retained many of its attractive Victorian and Edwardian houses and hotels. The seafront is over four miles long, with a wide promenade that stretches almost the entire length of the beach from Landguard Point to Felixstowe Ferry. Five Martello towers, built to prevent Napoleonic invasion, stand on Felixstowe’s coast. The front has all attractions of the traditional seaside holiday resort, with old-fashioned beach huts, fish and chip shops, a funfair, amusement arcade, miniature golf, bowling green, cafés and restaurants, as well the leisure centre’s pool, saunas and sunbeds. Felixstowe is home to the UK’s largest container port, and Europe’s busiest. The viewing area at Landguard on the southern edge of the town offers great views of container and passenger ships from Felixstowe and Harwich harbours. Next to the view point is the Felixstowe Museum, full of artifacts from Roman to recent times, and Landguard Fort, a multi-period military building dating back to the 16th century. The fort’s warren of tunnels and rooms is open for exploration every day throughout summer. Here too, at the mouth of the River Orwell, are the Landguard Bird Observatory and the Landguard Peninsular nature reserve, a significant site for shore and migrant birds, and rare shingle flowers.
The Spa Pavilion Theatre, a wonderful art deco style venue set amongst gardens on the seafront, has certainly been in the press a lot recently and we are happy to confirm the venue will continue to operate until at least January 2013. The theatre has been overwhelmed by the support it has received and hopes that continues with the exciting programme it has lined up this year, a fantastic selection of entertainment and culture including some fantastic new shows as well as some of the old favourites.
There are some great acts this season and some big names too including Pam Ayres, Jonathan Ansell, Jim Davidson, Naturalist Nick Baker, Elkie Brooks, Jimmy Carr and The Sounds of the Supremes featuring Karen Ragland. If it’s laughter you’re after then you won’t be disappointed by Comedy Ventriloquist Steve Hewlett, Patrick Monahan and Hypnotist / Mentalist Ken Webster. For the younger members of the audience there’s the welcome return of three sell-out shows from 2011; The Little Big Club featuring Thomas the Tank, Fireman Sam and Chris & Pui. To book tickets and support the theatre please call 01394 282126 or go to www.thespapavilion.com
Sometimes you have to go a little ‘off piste’ to find that special treasure. One such worthwhile excursion is to Reunion Gallery, Felixstowe’s only dedicated, permanent Art Gallery. The Gallery celebrates the coming of spring with an exhibition, ‘Lighten Up’. This brings together a range of artists who are focusing on the positive and creating uplifting scenes and sculptures. 2D Artists Penny German, Liz James, Ruth McCabe and Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy join with ceramicists Kate Reynolds and Pat Todd and Fused Glass Artist Verena Daniels to provide a wide range of splendid pieces. Resident artists Pat Todd and Verena Daniels work at the adjoining Reunion Studio and are foremost exponents of ceramic and glassware innovation respectively. The Gallery always displays a wide selection of artwork including prints, bronzes, ceramics, glass and hand made jewellery. Much of this is created by local artists. Hamilton Road 01394 273366 www.reuniongallery.co.uk
Felixstowe & Mrs Simpson In Undercliff Road East stands the site of a house which witnessed part of the biggest scandal to engulf the Royal Family in the 20th century. The six bedroomed property has now been demolished – taken apart brick by brick, its fireplaces, doors and other features sold at auction, pieces of history now furnishing other people’s homes. It was at Beach House that Mrs Simpson stayed during the abdication crisis in 1936 as she waited for the divorce which would allow her to marry King Edward V111, the man who gave up the throne of England for love. Wallis Simpson stayed at the two-storey, sprawling Beach House for six weeks in order to establish the residential qualification re-
quired for divorce from her businessman husband, Ernest. She left Beach House for the last time on 27th October, 1936, for the 17 minute hearing at court in Ipswich. Unfortunately, Mrs Simpson hated Beach House. Clearly used to more grandiose surroundings, she wrote in her biography: “My first impression of the little house in Felixstowe was
dismaying. It was tiny, there was barely room for the three of us (two friends and herself), plus a cook and a maid, to squeeze into it.” Out-of-season Felixstowe of the 1930s, too, was not to her liking. She commented “The only sounds were the melancholy boom of the sea breaking on the deserted beach and the rustling of the wind around the shuttered cottages. No hint of distant concern penetrated Felixstowe. When I walked down to town for the mail and the newspapers not a head turned….on fair days, we used to walk alone on the beach and for all the attention ever paid to us, we could have been in Tasmania.” While she waited, the King would frequently visit. His little red aircraft would land on open fields to the east of the seafront. eastlife.co.uk|119