Armchair AdventurersExplore The Rivers Alde and Ore

Aldeburgh to Orford NessGeography

GeologyArchaeology

History

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1588 map of Orfordness

Geology

The Suffolk landscape has advanced and retreated many times and in geological terms it is one of the youngest parts of Britain. In Eocene times, 56-34 million years ago [MYA] it was part of a large tropical sea and in Paleocene times [5.3 MYA] it was under temperate seas. 450 MYA it was under an ice sheet around a mile thick.

11 thousand years ago Suffolk was an upland on a vast plain, most of which is now the North Sea. Sea levels were 300ft [100m] lower than they are now. The area was home to a significant population of hunter gatherers in an area we now call Doggerland. Numerous spear points have been trawled up by fishermen many miles out to sea. It was a land of woolly mammoth, wild horses and reindeer.

As the climate warmed about 10,000 years ago sea levels rose and forests of oak, lime, elm and alder thickened and spread and the ice age species became extinct. In the Mesolithic period our ancestors continued as hunter gatherers, their encampments now buried under the North Sea. 5,000 years ago Neolithic farmers started clearing forests and draining land. The mud flats and tidal creeks slowly spread inland and shingle spits and banks formed due to long shore drift.

Diagram of longshore drift

The size of the Orford Ness spit has fluctuated over time. Before 1200 Orford was thought to have been a port open to the sea. Its growth has ranged from 64m a year 1962 - 1967

183m 1804 - 1812 2.9m 1812 - 1821

Map showing changes in the spit

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Longshore drift is a geological process that transports sediments such as gravel, sand and silts along a coast parallel to the shoreline and is deposited on an oblique incoming wind direction. The backwash deposits them at right angles. A spit, such as that at Orford Ness is formed by storm waves throwing shingle over the top of the beach crest where it is protected from ordinary wave action. Over time the process leads to the formation of stable ridges containing fine particles and coarser shingle.

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The spit is a cupsate foreland shingle spit linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh. It is divided from the mainland by the Rivers Alde and Ore.

The bedrock of the area is made up of Chisleford clay [ clay and silt], the Grag group [sand] and corralline crag formation [sand]. The superficial rocks are tidal flats [clay and silt] Lowestoff formation [sand and gravel], aluvium clay [silt sand and gravel] and on the coast marine beach deposits [sand and gravel]. At Slaughden, just south of Aldeburgh, is the base of a buried valley extending 7km into the sea; it is floored with Mesolithic peat deposits.

Orford Ness contains about 15% of the world reserves of coastal vegetated shingle which contains specialised plants.

The Rivers Alde and Ore

The same stretch of water links the towns of Aldeburgh and Orford. Somewhere between the sweep of marsh and flatlands the Alde becomes the Ore. The economy of both towns was, in the past, dependant on river bourne trade. The Alde rises to the western end of the Alde Valley and the stream becomes the snaking rivers we see today until blocked by the shingle spit that is Orford Ness. The Alde becomes the Ore at this point. It cradles acres of flatlands and a profound wilderness which is stunningly beautiful before it disappears into the North Sea.

The rivers Buttery and The Gull flow into the River Ore creating Havergate Island, an RSPB reserve.

Ship Building

During Tudor times Orford was a port open to the sea and where ships built and launched; four against the Spanish Armada. In this period there was generally little difference between merchantmen and men-of-war. Trading ships went armed for their own protection but fought as warships when the need arose. However, it was during this period that warships, began to be built and the Royal Navy was to emerge as an instrument of national policy.

Two examples of ships built were the Greyhound and Pelican used by Sir Francis Drake. The Pelican was later renamed The Golden Hind and was the first English vessel to circumnavigate the globe during 1577-1580.

Ship building would have been carried out on the river. The word ‘ship’ here covers all types of water-born vessels, be they the multi-masted Carracks with their several decks and well-raised fore-and after-castles; Galleys, which could be powered by either sail or oars, and Galleons, being a later variation of Carracks but lower in the water and without the extravagant castles. Smaller craft would also have been constructed.

Ships were built on slipways at the water’s edge by first laying down the keel, a heavy beam, preferably of elm which defied rot when immersed in water, and then attaching the stem post, a curved structure at the forward end of the keel. The transom stern was also created, from which would be hung the tiller-activated rudder.

Frames were subsequently fitted above the keel to give the ship the ribs of a skeleton. These ribs were formed of oak pieces and would give the ship its shape. Oak was again used to plank the outside of the hull, and secured with long nails. The ships were either clinkerbuilt, where boards overlap, or carvel-built, where boards are laid immediately above each other. Joints would later be caulked with tarred fibre to make watertight seams.

River Alde / Ore

The Golden Hind

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Ships would be launched before masts and ballast were fitted. Archaeological evidence suggests that a main mast could have a diameter of up to four feet. Yards, that is the horizontal spars from which hung the sails, were secured to masts with a set of rollers known as parrels. These allowed the yard to be rolled up the mast, with the roller balls themselves being made of walnut, a tree whose wood exudes natural oils and is thus self lubricating.

The fore and aft castles of fighting carracks were built of fir, to make them lighter and prefabricated to be left ashore until required for military purposes.

Archaeology

Snape is a village about 5miles from Aldeburgh. At Snape Maltings [home to the Aldeburgh Festival see page 11] a ship burial was found within an Anglo Saxon cemetery dated to the 6th century. Inhumation and cremation burials were found in approximately equal proportions, some contained within burial mounds. Most interestingly, a high status ship burial was discovered by antiquarians in 1827 which was thoroughly investigated by Septimus Davidson, the land owner in 1862. A grave containing the remnants of a ship 14m long by 3m beam which had been clinker built as iron rivets were present which would have held the planks together. The site had been partially robbed out but two iron spearheads, a ring with an onyx gemstone and a glass ‘claw’ beaker remained along with a ‘shaggy’ cloak and fragments of jasper and blue glass. The grave goods date the grave to circa 550. Some items are displayed in the town’s museum others at the British museum. Further excavation of the burial

Model of Snape ship burial Snape ‘claw’ beaker

Mounds in 1985 found grave goods typical of the Anglo Saxon period. Nothing remains of the site today. This ship burial predates that of the more famous one at Sutton Hoo, some 10 miles away.

Sutton Hoo

Following the withdrawal of the Romans in 410 the population of what is now Suffolk adopted the language, customs and beliefs of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who migrated to Britain. The Rivers Deben and Alde, being busy trading centres were likely to have been a seat of Royal power. Sutton Hoo cemetery [7th century] near Woodbridge contains the richest burial ever found in northern Europe by Mrs Edith Petty the landowner. Some 20 mounds on her property have been excavated revealing many important artefacts The most impressive coffin burial is that of a young man buried with his horse, weapons and other grave goods. Self-taught archaeologist Basil Brown was asked to investigate the largest of the mounds which revealed the most spectacular and famous ship burial. Beneath the mound was the imprint of a

Ship, 27m long and 4m beam, with a high bow and stern. The wood had rotted away but had stained the sand and the iron rivets remained. The ship contained a burial chamber with grave goods including Byzantine silver ware, gold jewellery encrusted with garnets, feasting utensils, coins, weapons and an ornate iron helmet all in a state of astonishing preservation. Thebody would have beendestroyed by the acidic soil.Ship burials of this type werea Scandinavian custom. It is Thought this grave may be that of Raedwald, the Saxon king of East Anglia who diedIn 624. He was possibly the first king to convert toChristanity.

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Nature Reserves

No fewer than nine reserves punctuate the river courses of the Alde and Ore whose estuary is nearly 16 miles long; all renowned for their wild life. Extensive salt marshes developed on the landward side of the spit; some of these were reclaimed as grazing land in the early middle ages.

The areas surrounding Aldeburgh lie within the ‘Suffolk Coast & Heath AONB’ and there is a plethora of SSSI’s, and Special areas of conservation and Special Protection. The ‘Orford Ness National Nature Reserve’ is Europe's largest vegetated shingle spit. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) long and the site covers a total area of approximately 2,230 acres (900 ha). Forty percent of this (890 acres) is shingle, 25 percent (556 acres) tidal rivers, mud flats, sand flats, and lagoons, eighteen percent (400 acres) grassland, and fifteen percent (330 acres) salt marsh.

Orford Ness has many rich and varied habitats that have developed over the years. These include

1) Grazing Marshes – Airfield Marsh and King’s Marsh.The grazing marshes on the Ness are flat and open with pools of water that expand and contract through the season providing habitat for breeding and migrant birds. Sheep graze to provide the varied grass height the birds prefer, eating around the military debris. The King's Marsh brackish lagoons provide an important habitat for invertebrates.

Shingle heath - acid shingle heath is one of the rarest habitats in Britain, with Orford Ness having the second largest area.

4) Reed Marshes

Reed-bed communities were relatively scarce on Orford Ness but in late 1997, work was carried out and one site was extended by 2 ha, from 0.4 to 2.4 ha. Since the work was completed the areas of reed expanded, and the new habitat is already benefiting, amongst others, marsh harrier and bearded tit as well as many invertebrate species. Marsh harrier have bred and successfully raised broods on this site since 1999.

5) Salt Marsh and mud flats at Stony Ditch

This tidal creek, which joins the River Ore about a mile downstream, is wide and shallow and at low tide an expanse of mud is exposed with only a tiny tidal channel.

Salt marsh - Within a salt marsh the type of plant species found changes from the high to low water marks according to the length of time (per day or month) each area of the marsh is covered with salt water. More species occur at the uppermost edge of the marshes (high tide), where they're exposed to salt water for a shorter time. Most salt marsh plants flower in late summer or autumn.

Stoney Ditch

Kings Marsh

3) Coastal vegetated shingle and shingle heath

Shingle vegetation - The result of this colonisation is the distinctive strips of vegetated shingle for which Orford Ness is famous. It has highly specialised and important flora communities.

2) Lagoons – Orford Ness contains one of the largest areas of unimproved brackish marsh in Suffolk. Brackish lagoons are an important habitat because they support a small but significant group of unusual plants and animals, as a result of the fluctuating salt content of the water.

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The island, which is 2 miles (3.2 km) long and 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) across at its widest point and covers 267 acres (1.08 km2), lies in the Alde and Ore estuary and is protected from the North Sea by the shingle spit of Orford Ness. It is bounded by the river channels known locally as The Gull, Lower Gull and The Narrows.

Boyton and Hollesley (RSPB) Marshes

These are two vibrant coastal reserves in the lower reaches of the Alde-Ore Estuary. They are both grazing marshes, which means they’re great places for watching birds of prey, owls, butterflies and dragonflies, depending on the time of year.

Snape Marshes is a 19.8 hectare nature reserve south-east of Snape and it is owned and managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The diverse habitats in this reserve include reed-filled marshes, dry heath and mature oak woodland. It has all four reptiles found in the county, adders, common lizards, grass snakes and slowworms. Birds include barn owls, hobbies and marsh harriers, and freshwater dykes provide a habitat for otters.

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Black - tailed godwits

Hazlewood Marshes - This 64 hectare nature reserve west of Aldeburgh is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. This was formerly a fresh water lagoon and marshes, but on 5 December 2013 a tidal surge broke through the sea wall and flooded the site with sea water. Whole communities of plants and invertebrates disappeared, and the site is converting to salt marsh, with birds including black-tailed godwits, dunlins, redshanks, lapwings and avocets.

Marsh Harrier

Dunlins

The Alde Mud flats is another important site on the Alde-Ore Estuary. It is a 22 hectare nature reserve west of Iken. It is owned by the Crown Estate and managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. It is not only a Site of Special Scientific Interest, but also a Ramsar ** site, a Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and a Grade I Nature Conservation Review site.

Mud flats - The mud provides excellent feeding for many hundreds of waders and wildfowl and is one of the most productive ecosystems. At the edges of the creek are areas of salt marsh, providing valuable feeding and roosting areas for large numbers of overwintering wildfowl (some species in nationally significant numbers).

Havergate Island (RSPB) is the only island in the county of Suffolk. It is found at the confluence of the River Ore and the Butley River near the village of Orford. It is a marshy nature reserve run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and is known for its population of avocets and terns. It is part of the ecologically important Alde-Ore Estuary and has protected conservation status.

** A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO, which came into force in 1975. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources

This three mile long stretch of inter-tidal mud and salt marsh supports internationally important numbers of avocets, and other birds including black-tailed godwits, oystercatchers, marsh harriers, pintails, widgeons and grey plovers. (There is no public access to the site.)

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Flora

Of the many habitats found near Aldeburgh and Orford, perhaps the shingle and the marshes are the most interesting because of the special adaptations of the plants that live there.

SHINGLEOrford Ness is nationally important for the drift line habitat on the shingle; it is one of the most important and challenging habitats in Britain. It occurs at or above mean spring tides which periodically, as at spring tides and in storms, are awash with sea water. The growing substrate consisting of fine gravel mixed with sand. The plants here have had to adapt to survive in the almost desert-like conditions of desiccating saline winds, extreme changes in temperature, very thin soil, extremely good drainage and salt.

Characteristic of the habitat is the Sea Pea (Lathyrus japonicus) which is related to the sweet pea rather than the edible pea. The pods can be eaten and the plant is used in traditional Chinese medicine but it can cause paralysis. It grows in the annual drift line communities. These are plants that tend to seed each year after being thrown up by the sea at the top of the tide on to the strand line. Germination occurs when the seeds are abraded by the waves washing them back and forth on the sand and gravel. The visible vegetation disappears in winter but its extensive root system is used to gather scarce water.

Sea kale (Crambe maritima) survives the harsh conditions because its leaves are fleshy grey green which enables it to withstand the desiccating winds. Its seeds are large and lodge between the stones of the storm ridge ready to sprout in the spring. It is a relative of the cabbage and is edible. It was served to the Prince Regent [later George IV] when he stayed at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

Sea Purslane [Halimione portulacoides], also edible, is rich in vitamins and fatty acids. It is being considered as a bio fuel as an anti ageing product by for the cosmetic industry.

Sea beet [Beta vulgaris maritima] the wild ancestor of beetroot, sugar beet and Swiss chard can also be eaten. It is often known as wild spinach.

Yellow horned poppy leaves [Glaucum flavum] are well adapted to the drift line; being fleshy they retain water and crumple reducing the area exposed to direct sunlight and wind. A waxy layer on their surface helps reduce evaporation whilst silver hairs reflect sunlight down and slow the wind. It is a toxic plant and can be fatal if eaten.

Salt MarshHalophytes is the Greek name by which plants living on salt marshes are known. Only 2% of all plants come into this classification having evolved to survive twice daily immersions in salt water. Thick fleshy stems and leaves with waxy surfaces help the storage of water and reduce transpiration. Cells within the plants have a higher concentration of salt enabling them, by osmosis, to take up water but not salt. They grow in mud flats composed of deep mud and peat.

Sea Lavender [Limonium vulgare] enjoyed by bees, butterflies and moths is one such plant. Known to gardeners as statice.

Sea Aster [Aster tripolium] a type of Michaelmas daisy that helps stabilise the marshes and mudflats.

Samphire [Salicomia europaea], also known as sea asparagus is edible. Up to the early 19th century it was was known as glasswort; being used to produce soda ash for the manufacture of glass.

Sea PurslaneSea Kale

Sea Lavender Sea Aster

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Orfordness Lighthouse

There is a history of lights in this area from 1637 when a pair of wooden leading lights were constructed. They were replaced by a pair of brick octagonal structures in 1780. Within twelve years one of them was precariously close to the sea due to erosion of the shoreline; it collapsed soon after. Anticipating this a new ‘high light’ was built in a different position in 1792. This is the lighthouse we see today. The older surviving

lighthouse was destroyed by erosion in 1887 and not replaced.

The lighthouse was originally fitted with Agrand lamps of fourteen burners and with a reflector. Trinity House purchased the lease of the lighthouse in 1837. Following the destruction of the older lighthouse, red and green sectors were added to the newer lighthouse along with a fixed optic in1868.

It was modernised again in1914 when a revolving optic was installed and remained in use for 99 years. During 1959 the lighthouse was electrified and in 1964 became the first to be monitored by telemetry. Keepers were withdrawn in1965 and it was decommissioned in 2013 because of the encroaching sea. The Orfordness Lighthouse Trust was established to preserve the lighthouse for as long as possible.

Orfordness Lighthouse

Storm weather in October 2019 damaged the bungalow at the side of the lighthouse and the Trust is not certain the lighthouse will survive into 2020.

Fishing in Orford

There has been fishing along the Suffolk coast from well before Norman times (1066). Orford itself was probably a small village until, in 1165, King Henry II started work on Orford Castle. Orford Ness provided a naturally sheltered harbour which continued until the 16th century.

Storm damage 2019

16th century chart of Orford

Orford at this time was an open sheltered harbour with good access to the sea. The building of the castle and the fine moorings resulted in a boom in fishing and trade. These continued until the encroachment of Orford Ness in the late 16th century. The increased size of vessels and the build up of sand banks rendered Orford unusable as a harbour [see diagram on page 1 showing the movement of the Ness].

The demise of Orford as a fishing port was probably hastened by the domination of Lowestoft and Yarmouth. Yarmouth had a fleet of over 200 vessels by 1670. In 1722 Daniel Defoe described Orford as... ‘ a once good town, but now decayed.’

By the 1960s fishing along the Suffolk coast was all but finished. The cessation allowed fish stocks to recover after decades of over exploitation. In the 1950s Richard Pinney moved to Butley Creek near Orford and set about laying new oyster beds as the area had had a fine reputation for the product in the 19th century. He also caught large sea trout and experimented with fish smoking. From these humble beginnings a thriving family business grew.

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Aldeburgh

Aldeburgh may appear to be a quiet place but storms from the North Sea make coastal erosion an everyday part of life. Six streets lying on the seaward side of the town vanished about 500 years ago along with the fishing port at Slaughden. The Moot Hall in Tudor times sat in the centre of a market place but now is close to the invading sea.

Moot is a Saxon term for meeting. This fine Tudor building was funded by and built by the Burgesses of Aldeburgh to reflect their wealth and civic pride. It was originally called the Town Hall but the 19th century Victorians changed it.

The name Aldeburgh is derived from Old English, ald [old] and burh [fortification].As a Tudor port Henry VIII granted the town borough status in 1529. The town seal of a three masted ship is now in the town’s museum.

The port declined as the River Alde silted up. It is now home to the sailing and yacht club which was founded in 1597.

Moot Hall Aldeburgh

Aldeburgh Borough Seal

The seaside town has pastel coloured villas lining the promenade and to the east the pebble beach has fishermen’s huts selling the day’s catch. On the north beach is a 4m high scallop, designed by Maggi Hambling and made of steel by local craftsmen. The wording over the left to centre

reads, ‘I hear voices that will not be drowned.’

The town has a cinema that has been screening films since 1919 when the auditorium was built into the back of a High Street store.

The C/E Church of St Peters and St Paul is a grade II listed pre reformation tower dated from the 14th century, the rest of the building being 16th century.

Our Lady and St Peter R/C church is a pretty 1920s building that has never been completed, as revealed by a wood panelled north wall. Originally conceived as a round tower style church. The building is aligned north-south rather than east-west. The alter is in what remains of a round tower. Bombing in WWII damaged the tower and it had to be taken down.

Yachts on the River Alde

Aldeburgh Cinema

Our Lady and St Peter church

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Military Links

Military links can be traced back to 1163 when Henry II built Orford Castle to try and consolidate his influence in what was a pretty lawless place. Powerful nobles, such as the Bigod family, were challenging the King’s authority and the castle was an attempt to counter their supremacy. It also acted as a coastal defence against foreign invasion. As previously mentioned, in the 12th century Orford was a busy port and trading centre. During 1217 King Louis of France briefly captured the town but it was not badly damaged.

It is the earliest British castle for which records of the construction still exist in the Royal Pipe Rolls of Henry’s court, including the cost of construction which was £1,414 9s 2d. Today only traces of the outer walls and defensive trenches are visible but the central keep is very much intact. The ‘controller’ of the castle changed quite a few times determined by the loyalty of the occupant in times of conflict. During medieval times the country was run on feudal lines meaning calls would be made on the castle occupants for money and forces. Landowners were obliged to accept knighthood and military service.

Roger Bigod [ in records sometimes written as Bigot] was from a family of Norman knights who, along with two other nobles, defeated Sweyn II of Denmark in 1096 near Ipswich. King Henry I gave him permission to build castles in Suffolk at Framlington and Bungay. He was appointed Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk consolidating his power, holding some 310 lordships over three counties.

He joined other barons in 1088 against William II and lost his lands after the rebellion failed, but regained them after reconciling with the King.

Orford Castle [Mark Seton]

In 1100 he was one of the witnesses on the Charter of Liberties at King Henry I’s coronation which promised later to influence the Magna Carter of 1215.

Martello Tower Aldeburgh

Martello towers are small defensive forts built around the British Empire at the time of the Napoleonic wars. Most, like that at Aldeburgh, were coastal. They would have had a garrison of 15-25 men with one officer.

The rounded structure and solid masonry made them resistant to canon fire. An artillery piece placed on the flat upper platform would have been mounted to enable 360 degree fire cover.

The Aldeburgh tower is unusual due to it’s quatrefoil shape enabling it to take four guns.

Built between 1808-1812 to a design by Royal Engineers, Colonel Twiss and Captain Ford, it has a deep brick moat and is the most northerly of the towers built in the Napoleonic wars.

It was sold into private ownership in 1932 and commandeered as a military watch tower in 1940. It is now a luxury holiday let.

Martello Tower Aldeburgh

View from top of the tower

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1913 onwards

A large part of Orford Ness was acquired by the War Department in 1913 for the building of an airfield. In 1915 the Experimental Flying Section moved to the site and by 1918 six hundred staff lived and worked there testing and developing new aircraft, parachutes, bombs, gun sights, aerial combat techniques, photography, camouflage and navigation. The site was one of the most secret military areas in the country. Armed guards, uncommon at the time, discouraged any interest from outside.

Known locally as Hazelwood Aerodrome it was used for night landing with occasional fighter planes taking off in response to Zeppelin raids. In August 1918 the Anti-submarine Inshore Patrol Observers School was formed on the site and was one of the bases for the Blackburn Kangaroo, an anti- submarine patrol aircraft.

In 1935 the Ionospheric Research Station [a cover name for the actual work undertaken] was set up under the auspices of Robert Watson-Watt. It was suggested by the the Committee for the Scientific Study of Air Defence that a radiation ‘death ray’ could be developed to stop enemy aircraft. Watson-Watt rejected this as impractical and went on to develop the use of radio waves as a detection system. It was briefly called the Radio Detection System [RDF] and then the American acronym by which it still known, RADAR [Radio Detection and Ranging].

Blackburn Kangaroo 1918

Harland and Wolfe of Belfast built the first ever radar masts and they were installed in1935 rising 20 feet into the air. A chain of such stations was developed and played a decisive role in WW2.

At the start of the Cold War in 1946 a secret cabinet committee decided that Britain needed its own independent atomic programme. Even the Government was unaware of the work that was proceeding in utmost secrecy. In 1950 specialised, purpose built facilities were constructed for testing the components of nuclear weapons.

Between 1953 -1971 the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment [AWRE] carried out environmental testing to simulate the conditions that nuclear weapons and their components might experience e.g. vibration, extremes of temperature, shocks and G-forces, to ensure detonation could not happen accidentally. These tests were important for the credibility of the UK’s deterrent forces. Although we are told no fissile material was involved, high explosive initiators were used and a test failure could have resulted in a catastrophic explosion. Tests were therefore carried out in remotely controlled, bespoke laboratories designed to absorb and dissipate any accidental explosion.

AWRE had two types of laboratories with thick walls and aluminium roofs to absorb shock and funnel blasts upward to the roof which could be blown off; the bombs were placed in an underground pit. The most impressive structures are the so - called ‘pagodas’ which were pits

designed to absorb accidental explosions and to vent and dissipate gases and other material in a

Radio Masts at Orford Ness

Test Laboratory Oford Ness

‘Pagodas’ at Orford Ness

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contained manner. The roof would collapse into the pit, sealing it with a concrete lid and shingle. Many of these buildings are still visible today. There were known accidents to our knowledge.

In 1969 the WE177 free fall bomb and Polaris systems were introduced but testing was moved to Aldermaston soon afterwards. Variants of the WE177 were developed for the RAF, and Naval strike aircraft and helicopters. It was withdrawn in 1998, all weapons being dismantled.

AWRE closed in October 1971; work continued until the 1990s to clear the area of unexploded munitions. In 1993 the site was aquired by the National Trust and opened to the public in 1995.

Over the 60s Horizon Radar [also known as OTH ]OTH is a radar system with the ability to detect targets at very long ranges beyond the normal radar horizon. It was used in the 50s and 60s as an early warning radar system, replaced now by airborne ones.

A powerful short wave signal from a large transmitting antenna reaches a target beyond the horizon by reflecting off the ionosphere. The returning echo signal from the target returns to the receiving antenna.

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The WE177

Map showing the extent of militry instilations at Orfordness

Transmitting antenna

The Ionosphere

Target

Receiving antenna

The operational system known as ‘Cobra Mist’ began construction in Orford Ness as an Anglo - American project to detect aircraft over the Western Soviet Union. Testing began in 1972 and an unexplained noise eventually rendered the system useless. It was abandoned in 1973, the noise never having been identified.

The system was owned by the Foreign Office, then the BBC after privatisation in 1990. They transmitted the world service from September 1982 until March 2011. Radio Caroline began using the site in December 2017. OTH ability for long range tracking is not to be underestimated and is being considered for use as maritime reconnaissance and drug enforcement.

Radio Masts

Music Festival

The Aldeburgh festival of music and the arts is an English festival of world renown. Founded in 1948, the idea was conceived during a tour of Switzerland. Peter Pears [British Tenor 1910-1986] suggested having a local festival with a few concerts given by friends. The English Opera group would provide the core programme of opera productions. This developed over years to include drama, poetry, literature and art exhibitions.

The festival soon outgrew the village hall and church as its venues. The Maltings, one of the largest mid-nineteenth century maltings in East-Anglia at Snape, a village just outside Aldeburgh, became available. The building was large enough for a full orchestra to perform. Bejamin Britten had the vision it would make a good concert hall retaining its character such as the distinctive square malthouse roof-vents which were retained. The new concert hall was opened at the start of the twentieth festival by the Queen on 2nd June 1967.

At the first night of the festival two years later the concert hall was destroyed by fire. The festival continued at the previously used venues, only one concert was lost. The Queen attended the opening ceremony one year later.

For the first six years the artistic directors were Benjamin Britten, Donald Pears and Eric Crozier. In 1955 Britten and Pears were the artistic directors, the following year Imogen Holst (daughter of Gustav Holst and a composer in her own right) became a joint artistic director and remained so for the next twenty years until her death. After Britten died in 1976 many world class musicians shared the responsibility. In 1999 Thomas Ades was appointed sole musical director.

The Festival from the beginning staged music from the classical composers but became particularly well known for commissioning new works from young composers. The introduction of the biannual Benjamin Britten composers’ competition award reiterated this aspect of the festival.

Performers have included John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, Joyce Grenfell, Peggy Ashcroft and actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company gave recitals. Princess Grace of Monaco gave a poetry recital. The Queen Mother was a regular member of the audience. Today Snape Maltings hosts concerts and festivals throughout the year from folk to opera to jazz and drama to ballet, poetry and visual arts exhibitions.

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten born 22nd November 1913 Lowestoft Suffolk; died 4th December 1976 of heart failure. Britten was one of the 20th century’s foremost composers, conductors and pianists. His compositions ranged from opera and choral works to orchestral and chamber music. His most well-known creations are his opera Peter Grimes and the Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra both written in 1945 and his War Requiem written in 1962 established his works in the repertoire of world-famous orchestras. He wrote 15 operas in total, performed at Saddlers Wells and Covent Garden Opera houses. He wrote several pieces for children and amateur performers; he also wrote for his long-term friend the tenor Peter Pears and other leading performers of the day – Kathleen Ferrier and the classical guitarist and lute player Julian Bream among them.

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Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears

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In 1930 he won a composition scholarship for the Royal College of Music in London. He spent three years at the RCM winning numerous composition prizes and awards. His main influences were Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Mahler He drifted reluctantly into the BBC music department and wrote scores for several documentary films.

In 1937 two events that had a huge impact on him occurred; Britten’s mother died; they were very close. He also met Peter Pears in 1937, his lifelong companion and friend. He began writing music to reflect his pacifist beliefs. His War Requiem was the result of his having been asked four years earlier to write a work for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral. Britten decided his work would commemorate the dead of two world wars. It is a large-scale score for soloists, chorus, chamber ensemble and orchestra.

Peter Pears died in 1986 aged 76 and was buried at Aldeburgh next to Benjamin Britten.

Notable residents of Aldeburgh

Looking at the list of notable residents 2 names sprang off the page, both pivotal in women achieving equality: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first woman in Britain to qualify as a doctor, and Dame Millicent Fawcett, suffragette, and they happened to be sisters born eleven years apart; Elizabeth in 1836, Millicent in 1847. Their father Newson Garrett, a Suffolk man, went to London where he met and married Louisa and they had 6 children including Elizabeth. When she was 4 years old they moved to Aldeburgh. Newson bought a company of barley and coal merchants at Snape Bridge and rapidly realised that there was an opportunity to export malt rather than barley so he built the Snape Maltings. After moving to Aldeburgh, five more children were born including Millicent.

Eventually, in his 70’s he became mayor of Aldeburgh, a position Elizabeth would eventually be appointed to, making her the first female mayor in Britain. She was also the first magistrate in Britain.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 1836-1917

At this time there was no school in Aldeburgh, so they were home educated. At age 13, with her older sister Louie, she was sent to the Boarding School for Ladies in Blackheath They learnt English literature, French, Italian, German and, of course, deportment but no science or maths. While at Blackheath the sisters became known as ‘the bathing Garretts’ as their father insisted they had a bath a week. Returning home, she led a domestic life but studied Latin and maths.

In her early 20’s two significant events occurred. She met and became a lifelong friend of Emily Davies, an early suffragette, and she read about Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in the USA. In 1859, The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women organised a lecture by Dr. Blackwell which was attended by Elizabeth. It is said that following those lectures, when she, Millicent and Emily Davies were sitting by the hearth in Aldeburgh, they selected their paths in life that would start breaking down what we nowcall the glass ceiling to women achieving equal rights. Elizabeth decided on medicine, Millicent on votes for women and Emily to open up university education for women; she went on to be co-founder of Girton College, Cambridge. Initially opposed to her idea of medicine, her father agreed to support her; his financial support made her success possible.

Louisa and Newson Garrett in their old age

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

Becoming a doctor was not easy. She started by becoming a surgery nurse at the Middlesex Hospital in London. She was refused enrolment in medical school but was allowed to attend private tuition in Latin, Greek and materia medica, which is knowledge about medicines. Privately, she employed a tutor to teach her anatomy and physiology. Eventually she was allowed into the dissecting room and to attend chemistry lectures. The male students objected to her being admitted as a medical student. She had to leave the Middlesex but did so with a certificate in chemistry and materia medica. Her applications to other medical schools and to the Royal College of Surgeons were all rejected. However, there was a loophole in the admissions criteria for the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, so armed with her certificates in anatomy and physiology she was admitted in 1862. Still battling to gain qualifications she studied privately with various professors from afar apart as St. Andrews and the London Hospital Medical School. Finally after four years of studying, aged 30, she took the exams and got her licence.

However, as a woman she could not take up any medical post in any hospital. So she opened a private practice in London soon opening an outpatient’s dispensary to enable poor women to be treated by a doctor of their own gender. This was in 1865 and in that year there was cholera epidemic in Britain; people forgot their prejudices and 3000 people attended her dispensaries. With the doors of all medical schools closed to her, she learnt French and got a medical degree from the Sorbonne in Paris. Finally, with her new medical qualification, in 1870 she was appointed a visiting physician at the East London Hospital for Children. Soon after her dispensary became the New Hospital for Woman and Children treating women for gynaecological conditions. In 1874 she co-founded the London School of Medicine for Women and became a lecturer in what was at the time the only teaching hospital in Britain offering courses for women. She worked there for the rest of her career and became dean in 1883; it is now known as the Royal Free Hospital.

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She gained membership of the British Medical Association. Soon after her admission the BMA followed the example set by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and banned women from their institutions. It would be almost another 20 years before the BMA again admitted women. During this time, she continued to work at the New Hospital for Women which for many years was staffed entirely by women.

She broke the mould in another way as well. At the time that she was running the first dispensary for women she married James Anderson but she went on working and had three children. Throughout her life she was an active suffragette. On retirement, she and James moved to Aldeburgh where she died in 1917. Her New Hospital for Women is now known as The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital.

Dame Millicent Fawcett 1847-1929

Both Elizabeth and her sister Millicent must have benefited from their father’s liberalism and his encouragement of discussion about politics and current affairs because both sisters were open to new ideas and wanted to attend lectures from original thinkers. Just as Elizabeth had been influenced by Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, so it was that the philosopher and political thinker, John Stuart Mill, had a similar effect on Millicent. At a public lecture, when she was 19 in 1865, she was inspired by his advocacy for universal suffrage. In that year, she collected signatures for the first petition for women to get the vote and became secretary of The London Society for Women’s Suffrage.

Caricature of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson from 1872

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John Stuart Mill not only influenced her thinking but he also introduced her to Henry Fawcett, a liberal MP. Although he was 14 years her senior and was blind following a shooting accident, they married (1867). Their marriage was described as being based on ‘perfect intellectual sympathy’. They had shared beliefs in proportional representation, trade unionism, free trade and opportunities for women. Millicent cared for Henry and ran two homes, one in Cambridge and the other in London. She also pursued a writing career publishing Political Economy for Beginners which ran to 10 editions and stayed in publication for more than 40 years. She also co-authored 3 books with her husband. She joined the London Suffrage Committee and went to the first pro-suffrage public meeting held in London. She and Henry had one child and then took to raising four orphaned cousins. After 17 years of marriage, Henry died. In 1885, she began to concentrate on politics leaving the Liberals and joining the Liberal Unionist party because they opposed home rule in Ireland believing independent Irish Catholics would hurt England’s prosperity. About this time she received an honorary doctorate from St. Andrews.

Millicent became leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, (NUWSS) the main suffragist organisation in Britain. She was a moderate opposing the more militant and violent activities of the Pankhursts and the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU); she believed their activities would alienate sympathetic MPs who were debating the issue. Although the WSPU got a lot of publicity, by1913 they had only 2000 members compared to the 50,000 who had joined Millicent’s more peaceful movement. She wrote a history of the suffragette movement in which she explained her principle of ‘argument based on common sense and experience and not by personal violence or lawbreaking of any kind’.

During the South African war she lead a commission to South Africa to investigate atrocious conditions in concentration camps where the families of Boer soldiers were interned. She campaigned for the rights of the interned women. Never before had a woman been entrusted with such a task in a time of war.

During her lifetime she backed many campaigns including curbing child abuse by raising the age of consent, criminalising incest, cruelty to children within the family, excluding women from courtrooms when sexual offences were considered and preventing child marriage. She also campaigned to reform the double standards of the Contagious Diseases Acts. Under this act any prostitute found to have a sexual disease which she passed onto a client could be jailed. Also under the act, any woman suspected of prostitution who refused examination, which was painful and intrusive, could be imprisoned. Men were not penalised at all. The acts were repealed. She believed that double standards would continue until women had representation in public matters.

With all this campaigning on issues, their marriage must have been an unusual one for the times. During this time, she co-founded Newnham Hall, Cambridge and campaigned for women to receive Cambridge degrees. (It took another 72 years, 1947, for Cambridge to cave in).

During WWI, NUWSS switched a lot of their activities to supporting hospital services at home and abroad in Russia and Serbia. They still campaigned for the vote and used the contribution women had made to the war effort to strengthen their argument.

In the New Year Honours, she was appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. Her legacy is votes for women and the Fawcett Society which is still campaigning for gender equality. Last year in Parliament Square, our second female Prime Minister, Teresa May unveiled a statue to her.

Statue unveiled on 24th April 2018

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Robert Watson Watt [1892-1973]

Robert Watson-Watt was born in April 1892 in Scotland. He graduated with a BSc inengineering in 1912 from the University of Dundee. He joined the met office in 1916detecting thunderstorms with radio waves. He became a British pioneer of radiodetection and its uses. During the Second World War he was well known for his work onthe detection of aircraft by radio methods.He was related to James Watt, the engineer and inventor of the steam engine.On 12 February 1935, Watson-Watt sent a secret memo of the proposed system to theAir Ministry, ‘Detection and location of aircraft by radio methods’.

Robert Watson-Watt did some further research at Orford Ness in May 1935 to put in a radar defence system as quickly as possible. Watson-Watt and his team developed the idea of Chain Stations, a 'command and control air defence reporting system' with several layers of reporting that were eventually sent to a single large room for mapping (modern day control rooms). This system provided the vital advance information that helped the Royal Air Force win the Battle of Britain. Robert Watson-Watt worked in USA in 1941 Improving air defences after Pearl Harbour.Robert Watson-Watt was knighted in 1942.

The Legend of the Merman of Orford

There are numerous tales, myths and legends about the existence of mermaids, but there are far fewer stories in respect of MERMEN. Orford has its very own legend – ‘The Merman or Wildman of Orford’.

Ralph Coggeshall, English Chronicler of the late 12th and early 13th century, wrote about this in his Chronicon Anglicanum as did Raphael Holinshed in his Chronicles, published in 1697.

The legend goes that around late 12th/early 13th century Orford fishermen are said to have caught something unusually heavy in their nets and as they pulled them back on board their boat they saw a large creature tangled amongst the nets and the rest of their catch. It was described as a naked body with everything about it in correct proportions of a man. His breast was hairy and he had a long straggly beard, but his head was bald. Ralph Coggeshall refers to the man as having feet, but later representations, which were created after the event, show him with webbed hands and feet and in more recent times he has gained the classic fish tail!

The fishermen took the creature to Orford Castle where the custodian, Bartholomew de Glanville imprisoned him in the dungeons. The merman was fed all manner of foods and ate everything including raw fish which he would squeeze in his hands to extract the water before drinking it.

This small plaque at the site of that first secret test, near Daventry in Northamptonshire, is currently the only memorial to his work in Britain, despite what it would go on to achieve. Only Watson-Watt, his colleague and one other witness knew of the test before the Ministry of Defence would agree to fund it. On 2 April 1935, Watson-Watt received a patent on a radio device for detecting and locating an aircraft.

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The merman could not or would not speak, even under the torture of being hung by his heels and horribly tormented. It is said that Bartholomew de Glanville took him to the nearby church but it was obvious the merman had never seen a church before and he showed no sign of reverence or belief. At no point was the Wild Merman described as violent, in fact he seemed to have a mild manner. While many mermaids and mermen are said to be active at night, the Orford Merman sought his bed a sunset and always remained there until sunrise.

Eventually he was allowed to return to the sea to exercise and three rows of strong nets were placed across the harbour to prevent his escape, but the merman dived beneath the nets and easily escaped into the sea beyond. Some accounts say that having made his escape he did in fact return to his captors and allowed himself to be taken back to the castle. As time passed interest in him waned and the guards became lax and one day the merman dived under the nets and disappeared. Other accounts say that having dived under the nets the first time he was allowed into the sea he disappeared immediately.

The Merman of Orford may have escaped from the village in the 12th century, but legend has it that his ghost still haunts the castle at Orford and is still very much at the heart of the community, he is everywhere you look in the village - in the castle, in the market place, in shops and very possibly on the font of at St. Bartholomew’s church.

He has also inspired the arts. Take time to see the following:-

Animated Video of the Wildman of Orford- https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Merman+of+Orford&&view=detail&mid=FFA4C84E0A3DFB6E217AFFA4C84E0A3DFB6E217A&&FORM=VRDGAR

For music Lovers: Somers: Chura-Churum - The Merman of Orford https://www.amazon.co.uk/Somers-Chura-Churum-Merman-Leslie-Dala/dp/B0094BO26E

St Bartholomew's Church Orford

The church comprises a ruined 12th century chancel, begun in about 1166 and abandoned in the 18th century, the Decorated nave and aisles, restored in the late 19th century, and the tower, restored in the late 20th century after the collapse of its upper storey in 1830. The chancel to the original church was built at about the same time as Orford Castle.

By the eighteenth century, the chancel was completely ruined and reconstruction concentrated on the nave and the tower. In the early 1880s George Edmund Street prepared a plan for a comprehensive restoration of the whole complex but this was not undertaken. Instead, rebuilding work spanned almost a hundred years, from 1894 to 1972.

The font is 15th-century with "four lions and four wild men" surrounding its base. Above the main altar is a painting of the Holy Family with St. John the Baptist and Donor by Bernardino Luini. It was a processional banner painted to commemorate an event at Milan Cathedral in 1525. The Nativity, with the Angel appearing to the Shepherds by Raffaelino del Colle hangs over the Altar in the St. Nicholas Chapel. The church contains an impressive selection of memorials and monuments, including one to Benjamin Britten, a green slate slab set in the floor of the nave.

Font

St Bartholomew's Church

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The Armchair Adventurers are

J AdamsP BrileyL EtheridgeV FroodL MartinM OliveJ PowellG ThomasM ThomasS UnsworthJi WibrowJo Wibrow