Local
Attractions
The
Woodcraft
Folk
If you're planning on staying at Darsham Station with a group of
young people, this guide gives practical advice on what's to do in the
local area, without information overload. Detailed information like prices
and opening hours will have to be got by phone (see below) or Web (linked
from the Web version of this guide). Suffolk County Council's tourism
Web site is an excellent companion to this guide.
To get the most out of this guide, it's best to have a local map beside
you. Obviously, there's the Ordnance Survey, but by Sod's Law, Darsham
Station is right in the corner of the PathFinder #987 so you'll need #966
too. There's also a very useful map called 'Walberswick to Minsmere
Walks' available in three languages for about 75p (pub: Heritage House).
It covers the coastal strip from Walberswick to Minsmere but inland only
as far as Westleton & Blythburgh. It shows local cafés, car
parks, pubs etc with useful information about where you are can walk off
as well as on public rights of way. As well as large-scale plans of each
village, it has a street map of the medieval city of Dunwich, which is
now completely eroded into the sea excepting the innermost corner.
Local attractions |
Key (just for this section):
|
meals |
café |
public toilets |
Darsham Station is about 6 miles inland of a beautiful stretch of the Suffolk coast. Most of the beaches are deep in pebbles except Southwold, Lowestoft and Felixstowe, which have sweeping golden sands. Thorpeness has pebbles with sand in patches... and so does Sizewell, but there's a couple of hulking great nuclear power stations there too. You can happily swim in the North Sea despite the reasonably strong southward current, and there's good amber hunting, particularly at Southwold.
Closest
to Darsham are Dunwich and Minsmere, which are about 2.5miles apart with
Dunwich Heath between. Dunwich beach sits under low sandy cliffs
(dangerous to climb) .
The imagination fills in the most interesting, but invisible, aspect of
Dunwich - the city under the sea that was the effective capital of East
Anglia in Medieval times. In the 12th century it was half the size of London
. The museum in the village is well worth a visit (free/donation), with
smuggling artefacts and a model of the old city. It's only open in season
and shuts 4:30ish.
From Dunwich you can take the coastal path southward past the ruins
of Grey Friars abbey on the receding cliff top. You cross the gorse-covered
Dunwich
Heath, which is a great place for kids to muck around .
At the northern end of the Heath is a small grassy area where camping is
sometimes allowed. Our Elfins slept there in bivvy bags one night
- the warden (Nat Trust) didn't want us bivvvying on the beach, the reason
being that the heath borders on Minsmere bird reserve - one of the
RSPB's best. The reserve is encircled by a good path with views of large
lakes full of interesting waders, duck etc. There are some public hides
accessible around the edges. To actually go into the reserve proper (better
views, visitor centre )
you have to pay a fiver, but the official entrance is on the inland side
(not Tuesdays). If walking from Darsham to either of Dunwich or Minsmere,
you would cross Westleton Heath and Dunwich Forest, which
are pleasant places to picnic and generally muck around. There's a little
supermarket in Westleton on the way.
For another day trip, quirky Thorpeness is within 9 miles to
the South-East. As well as a pleasant beach and a lovely walk along the
low cliff tops to the North, it has a large Meare with little Peter Pan
theme houses on each island and inlet - a bit tacky, but harmless fun.
You can easily spend an exciting two hours exploring in hired boats .
Most of this mock Tudor seaside village was created about a hundred years
ago. The oddest landmark is the house in the clouds, which looks like a
bungalow on a stick (actually on a water tower).
Within
9 miles to the North-East is Walberswick at the mouth of the River
Blyth. A great place for crabbing, just dibbling around on the beach or
loads of great walks along and around the river. There's a few little shops,
tea rooms and a couple of pubs. Walberswick can get rather full of people
these days. There's a row boat ferry that takes people and bikes on demand
across the river for a small charge (Apr-Oct). Alternatively the old railway
bridge is a fair walk up the river. 
Southwold
Harbour is on the other side where there's a pub with a large garden
and the lifeboat museum .
The marvellous sandy South Beach stretches from here for about half
a mile up to Southwold itself. You can make a day of just Walberswick,
the Harbour and the South Beach. But if you wish, Southwold has
a full High Street of shops, the Adnams brewery, and at the North end a
pier with simple amusements (as well as the more modern flashy ones) .
Tying all these places together, you can join the Coastal Path at any point and pick up as many of these places as you can muster.
Moving inland, 4.5 miles North of Darsham is Blythburgh which
doesn't have any special attractions other than its just stunningly beautiful.
Particularly at dusk, when the lights of the lonely 'Cathedral of the Marshes'
reflect over the still estuary - an ideal backdrop for ghost stories accompanied
by the eerie screeches of sea-birds and waders. Hardly anything left of
the village these days, but it still has a (haunted) pub with a large garden.
There are plenty of walks from here along the Blyth estuary to Southwold
or Walberswick, including ones along the sea wall in the midst of estuary
mud and water. Just to the South are Toby's Walks, haunted by a
young lad executed nearby in 1754 (more...).
I have fond memories of bivvying here once with refugees from Western Sahara
- dry rivulets cut into the sandy ground forrming near-tunnels are excellent
to sleep in .
Framlingham
Castle (English Heritage), 10 miles inland of Darsham, charges entry,
but if you prefer there is plenty to enjoy around the outside for free.
About three miles South of Fram is Easton Farm Park, which is a
pleasant 'show farm' with lots of rare breeds. Kids can watch the milking
in the afternoon and get close to most of the animals.
Orford Castle (English Heritage) is Framlingham's sister, about 13 miles South of Darsham. Whereas Fram has lost its keep, Orford has no remaining curtain wall, and has less to do if you don't pay to go in. On the way back from Orford is Snape Maltings, the famous Concert Hall surrounded by expensive art & craft galleries and souvenir shops that are always crowded. However, there is a quiet and beautiful walk from behind the Maltings to isolated Iken Church - about 2 miles each way. You bounce along a boardwalk with views of sculptures in the reeds before following the banks of the Alde estuary with good views of the birdlife. Alternatively, you can start half-way along at the picnic site at Iken cliff (there are no cliffs!), which has access to the passing road. An ambitious alternative would be to book a barge trip from Snape.
Four
stops down the railway line from Darsham is Woodbridge with pleasant
walks along the banks of the Deben estuary and the working Tide Mill on
the quay. It opens in season from 11-5 and costs about 50p per child for
a great couple of hours educational entertainment. Just across the estuary
is the famous Sutton Hoo Viking Ship Burial site, but it is about
3.5 miles along the estuary paths with a long stretch beside a straight
road in the middle but no vehicles for the last mile. Most of the artefacts
are in the British Museum, but it is still an impressive visit with good
replicas and displays. Guided tours only, at set times weekends and bank
holidays in season. Free for U-10s. No toilets. A new visitor centre is
planned for Spring 2002.
Finally, if you don't fancy the sea, there's a nice but basic outdoor pool at Halesworth, one stop up the railway from Darsham. Alternatively, the nearest indoor pool is at Leiston. No fancy flumes - just family pools.
Bike
hire:
A mile from the station is Biways Bicycles with a fleet of about
100 bikes. They do weekly rates, but an example daily price is £3.50
for one kid's bike. Open daily in season except Tuesdays, and by arrangement
out of season (don't rely on this as it's from a 1998 leaflet).
Train: Darsham Station is on the working line between Ipswich and Lowestoft. Most trains connect with London at Ipswich with about 20mins wait (some continue direct). Trains in each direction stop at Darsham about every 2 hours all days of the week. All those I've ever been on have had 4 bike racks that are often empty and there's room for more bikes in the doorways. There are usually just two carriages, so large numbers of bikes would be difficult. Example prices: U16 day returns: Darsham-Sax £1.55; Darsham-Lowestoft £2.50 after 10am; Group (10 or more) Anglia Day Rover £7.50/adult £2.00/U16 with up to 4 children per adult.
Bus: The X99 express bus serves Darsham two-hourly running along the A12 between Lowestoft and Ipswich (it always detours into Southwold too). The 195 also runs to and from Dunwich once or twice a day on most weekdays. Example price: Family Sunday Rover £10.00 (max 2 children 2 adults). Alternatively, Jacksons Private Hire run a minibus out of Westleton for 7 people max at about £10 for a typical run from the beach.
See Suffolk County Council's excellent TraveLine service on the Web including bus timetables and a map of Suffolk Coastal bus and train routes. For train timetables, use railtrack's Web service or phone numbers below.
Contacts
and Web links
Darsham Station
Country Centre Bookings Annette Day, (01728) 668736