Turn Right At Liverpool And Keep Walking- Day 178 – Lowestoft To Wrentham – 30 May 2023

I always have a good night’s sleep after a long walk, and generally wake up early. 04:30 this morning, which is good timing to catch the first train into Lowestoft, there being no breakfast served at the hotel. My plan is for a McDonald’s.

Arriving in Lowestoft I start out to cross the river, and am held up by the bridge, which rises to let a large ship through. As it is a novelty I am one of the few people in the queue who is not inconvenienced.

The town is empty, this being very early. The sea is also much calmer on this side, with a sandy beach stretching in the distance. The south side seems to be the tourist side, I find the only breakfast place open, which is McD, but have the worst meal ever and have to leave it. Stale bread, and everything tastes like it is cooked in dirty fat. On the good side it has put me off the place for a very long time. Probably put me off eggs too.

This does appear to be the more genteel side of town, with a terrace of Victorian houses some of which I guess were once hotels, or perhaps merchant dwellings.

The town becomes more pleasant as I leave the centre, and with the beach huts becomes more of a seaside place than port.

However, the suburb of Pakefield has suffered from a great deal of coastal erosion. On reaching here, the path (which is still not signposted as coastal) veers off into the town, and there is a diversion along the main road. It is depressing walking with cars whizzing past constantly and the only interest along this route is the advert for a Rock’n’Roll revival weekend later in the year. Charlie Gracie is topping the bill, as he did in 1957 at the London Palladium. I wouldn’t rush to buy a ticket to see him on this show though, as he died in December, aged 86.

After a walk through fields and some housing estates in Kessingland, I reach the beach once more. Kessingland has its fame through its Jurassic and Neolithic treasures which are found in the crumbling cliffs from time to time. The beach path is firm and grassy which makes it an easy walk. However it is barren and given that the day is overcast, very bleak. Having been to parts of Suffolk before, I remember the coast is a lot like this (Southwold excluded) and remember that I have Sizewell to negotiate further south. The area is quite sparse and barren.

I see on my map there is a waterway to cross. I never quite trust a crossing until I am on the opposite side. However, this one is real and once more I am diverted inland as a sign (just telling me the beach is blocked by erosion, not indicating which is the coastal path) tells me so. I bid farewell to the bleak coastline and wander to my destination.

It is country lanes and farmtracks now. At least the road is quiet and the only obstacle I have is an irrigation hose which is spraying more water onto the tarmac than the surrounding fields. It’s a three mile hike into Wrentham and the time passes quickly.

Arriving in Wrentham, I spot more yarn bombing,

and catch a bus to Norfolk (handy for the return journey I think) The one drawback with that plan is that the bus station in Norfolk is 2½ miles from the train station. You also have to wander into the centre to get a bus to the station. Why did they build the train station so far from the town centre? So it would be near the railway line!

Anyway, rant over, 10 miles covered today. 1,034 coastal and 1,782 total. Two bad meals in Lowestoft. Lesson is don’t eat there.

Map below, video here.

© Allan Russell 2023.