Southwold

[Daydream believer]

You did not answer the question about your Kitchen worktops


Your post is rather insulting to us carrot crunchers in Suffolk

With due respect - you did have a dig at my work tops. & i did reply by telling you that they were fit for purpose.
I have nothing against those on the Suffolk border & would not intentionally insult them. Furthermore I would not refer to them as " Carrot Crunchers". Unless , of course I felt that I had to respond to a dig coming my way.

I would prefer (I am sure that you would agree) that we should call that one evens & desist from further comment.

Really my post is not directed at those that live in Southwold but more to the harbour authorities that maintain the harbour. It was really meant to express my shear disappointment at what I saw & disbelief that others seem to find it acceptable.

 

[Bigplumbs]

With due respect - you did have a dig at my work tops. & i did reply by telling you that they were fit for purpose.
I have nothing against those on the Suffolk border & would not intentionally insult them. Furthermore I would not refer to them as " Carrot Crunchers". Unless , of course I felt that I had to respond to a dig coming my way.

I would prefer (I am sure that you would agree) that we should call that one evens & desist from further comment.

Really my post is not directed at those that live in Southwold but more to the harbour authorities that maintain the harbour. It was really meant to express my shear disappointment at what I saw & disbelief that others seem to find it acceptable.

The situation at Southwold is a scene that Artists go to paint.... If it was all new and modern they would not bother...……… Does that tell you something

 

[PeterBoater]

Well fit for purpose, works properly, not 100 years old, are carefully maintained, can be used at any time without fear of one catching a major disease & not covered with bits of left over food scraps. Bit like my boat really

i suppose if one is used to living in filth, or a run down squat, or has a mangy old boat about which they have no pride if it gets mangled against a poorly maintained pontoon, then arriving at Southwold would pose no problem.

As for history - Is that just a poor excuse for failing to spend money on a rotten footbridge or this:-
View attachment 74809
That is history is it
Well it soon will be:ambivalence:

1. It's a harbour and not a marina.
2. Virtually all of the single boat pontoons/stages like the one you picture are privately owned and maintained (or not); what would you have the harbour authority do?
3. If the HMs were not in their office they would be contactable on their mobile VHF radios by any boat.

 

[Daydream believer]

The situation at Southwold is a scene that Artists go to paint.... If it was all new and modern they would not bother...……… Does that tell you something

Not really!!- What is it supposed to tell me?

 

[matthewriches]

I was driving though North Street in Southminster the other week and saw a run down kebab house with some paper all over the front of it and some graffiti. I didn't stop to take a picture of it and talk about it online

The concrete harbour wall is really for commercial fishing boats and the RNLI, etc. Not for yachts to moor up to, as you can see by Laura K the fishing boat moored up alongside.

The pilings are, as already mentioned, to be used with fender boards, as yachts used to do before floating pontoons were devised.

And the tides last and this week have been very high, often flooding half the Harbour Inn carpark.

I like my wonky mooring, the early and late sunrise and sunset. There is something that is quite special about an unspoiled bit of countryside which is favoured by artists and photographers. Summertime you'll struggle to get a berth as the place is rammed.

You best not visit anywhere like the Deben or parts of the Orwell or places like Maldon, the Hythe or on the Medway or some of the Thames Get yourself immediately to Henley or St Kats, ask concierge to sweep the path in front of you too just incase there is a dog egg that you fail to see and then stand in.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Surely it's OK for people to not find Southwold to their liking ?

Not everyone likes Olde Worlde river moorings, not everyone likes posh marinas, not everyone likes quiet anchorages. Depending upon my mood, i might like any of them. It's good that we on the East Coast are fortunate enough to have plenty of each. :encouragement:

 

[PaulRainbow]

You best not visit anywhere like the Deben or parts of the Orwell or places like Maldon, the Hythe or on the Medway or some of the Thames Get yourself immediately to Henley or St Kats, ask concierge to sweep the path in front of you too just incase there is a dog egg that you fail to see and then stand in.

I don't know of anywhere on the Deben or Orwell that is quite like Southwold.

 

[LittleSister]

i suppose if one . . . has a mangy old boat about which they have no pride . . .

What about those of us who have a mangy old boat about which they do have pride?

 

[Daydream believer]

I was driving though North Street in Southminster the other week and saw a run down kebab house with some paper all over the front of it and some graffiti. I didn't stop to take a picture of it and talk about it online

.

Well you are now.:encouragement: i suppose that means that you find it historically enchanting:ambivalence:
Get an artist down there quick.

 

[PetiteFleur]

Well. I like Southwold, I've not been there for a few years by boat, but it is nice, we like it and the town has good shopping, says my wife. You won't like the Deben either, a terribly difficult entrance - you'll just run aground...

 

[Bigplumbs]

Well you are now.:encouragement: i suppose that means that you find it historically enchanting:ambivalence:
Get an artist down there quick.

Go on post a picture of your kitchen worktops...……. I think that will tell us a lot

 

[Gargleblaster]

Well this thread has certainly given me a great desire to visit Southwold by boat. Last time I went past there it was in a club flotilla which was overnighting at Lowestoft. I wanted to go into Southwold then rather than start my engine to get to Lowestoft before 2200.

People keep asking me what my plans are for next year. I now have an answer: 'I'm going to Southwold'.

 

[Greemble]

I approached by the coastal road ( followed by a short stretch of deep water filled potholes) & my first impression was that Southwold was trying to give Grimsby a run for its money in the derelict harbour contest

I did want to cross the river by the foot bridge further up river & take some pictures from the other side with the sun on my back
But the sign said - Footbridge closed- Unsafe- Use another route
Needless to say the ferry was not operating either

What a Dump

I rather enjoy a visit to S'wold now and then. Makes for a pleasant day trip, there & back.
Mind you, I also have use of the Club's (floating) pontoon which is not far from the Harbour Inn and on the right side of the river to get there.
I also used to live in the town as a kid, my parents having a house on the sea front.

However, as much as I love the old place, you do have an undeniable point about the general run-down, derelict air of the place. This does has reasons for being this way, going back many years.
Simply put, no-one quite knows (well, I don't anyway) who is responsible for the general upkeep and maintenance of the harbour & the lands around it. The Town Council (Southwold) say it's theirs, while the District Council (Waveney) are trying to get hold of the title - which the locals are very suspicious of the District's intentions - and as a result, very little money has been spent over the years.
There's another thread - by Javelin, here - that gives more detail.

The footbridge used to be a railway swing bridge and some people (well, me) suspect it's been closed as a cost-cutting exercise by the District Council - I'm seriously wondering if it will be re-opened or just sold as scrap.

 

[matthewriches]

Bridge is now open again after maintenance work.

 

[Chalk]

My wife and I love the Blackshore. It is beautiful. Not too keen on the town though, a little bit Disney, full of shops like Boden, Joules and White stuff. Sure indicators of what to expect. Great for some. Not for me.

 

[jimi]

I like it.

 

[Javelin]

Each to his own I guess.

Matt Summed up the main points earlier.
90% of the stages up and down the river are privately owned and most are then rented out on a season basis, (from around £25 to £35 pw)
Some have had a lot of money spent on them (15 to 20k) but most, such as mine, have had minimal money spent as any surplus I have tends to get sucked up by my "mangy old boat".

The council run visiting yachts facilities, I concede are poor and expensive and the new floating pontoons on the Walberswick side have been put in the wrong place.
This is a result of people making decisions who know little about the harbour, live 20 miles north and absorb the harbour income into their general council fund.
I have a list as long as your arm, of examples of cock-ups and general mismanagement that the existing harbour management have made over the years not to mention the misappropriation of funds that should have been made available.

That said it is a working harbour, with, for its size, a large number of individually owned fishing and charter boats which are active all year round.
It has the lowest rise and fall in the UK and even though my boat draws 2.1m, I can leave and enter for 9 hours out of 12hrs so for most fishing type vessels the harbour is always open, as long as there are not strong onshore winds.

The harbour has suffered from surge floods in the winter.
As a result the road has to remain as shingle as concrete or tarmac would simply wash away.
There are strict rules on what you can build and how you build it due to it being in a conservation area.
This tends to force the rather rustic nature of the buildings and stages.

The harbour also does not give too much room for error.
Standing water only lasts for 10 minutes, so there is almost always flow one way or the other.
It is not a sterile, artificial marina for the benefit of pleasure craft and really should not be compared to one.
For many, especially our friends across the water from Holland and Belgium, this is its main attraction as there are very few active working harbours left that have not been swallowed up by big business.

The footbridge is the responsibility of Suffolk CC - we hate the dammed thing and wish it didn't exist and replaced with a lifting bridge or the previous swing bridge to give better access upstream.
Fat chance of that happening.
However the proposed formation of a Harbour Management Committee, with the inclusion of stakeholders for the first time, might help move things in the right direction.

A lot comes down to your own preferences.
When I visit the Orwell, my favourite stop is an inside berth at Harwich Town Quay and a few pints at the Alma.
The thought of stopping for the night at SYH or Wolverstone fills me with despair.

 

[Tradewinds]

The council run visiting yachts facilities, I concede are poor and expensive and the new floating pontoons on the Walberswick side have been put in the wrong place.
This is a result of people making decisions who know little about the harbour, live 20 miles north and absorb the harbour income into their general council fund.

Can you expand on that a little - I thought the 'new' floating pontoons on the Walberswick side replaced original stagings?

Just curious - absolutely no axe to grind.

 

[Cantata]

Here's a pic of the pontoons that I took passing over a few weeks ago.

 

[Javelin]

The new pontoons have taken up a section of the turning area.
In other words there was nothing but mud there before they were installed.

The turning area is a section of unobstructed muddy bank so that vessels with poor turning like smacks, barges and the like could run their bow up on the mud and let the tide do the work.

The issue I have with the new mooring position, is that most new visitors tend to arrive on a rising tide.
This means they will need to turn back into the tide to moor up.
The position is such that visitors then pass the existing turning area, pass the new moorings and then have to turn, further upstream, on the bend, with private berths on each side of the river.

If the boats arrived on the ebb no problem except for when they leave they head further up stream to turn between the moorings before leaving the harbour or if leaving on the flood, stern to tide they tend to turn opposite the moorings never getting near the turning area.

Just plain nuts.