WALBERSWICK

Walberswick is a beautiful, unspoilt village situated at the mouth of the River Blyth. There are no amusement arcades or candy floss to be found, but families seeking pleasure in the peace and quiet of the beach, river, marshes and heathland will find it here. Perhaps one of the most iconic views of Walberswick is that of its fishermen's huts and houses on stilts. They were once far more numerous, but the great storm of 1953 washed many away and the picturesque Tea Rooms was last seen floating merrily away down the river.

THE VILLAGE SIGN

Clifford Russell, an architect and artist living in the village, designed the sign to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. The ship in the design was copied from a contemporary picture of a 17th-century man-of-war representing Walberswick's ship building past. The sign, which stood at the entrance to the village was stolen in 1984. Its replacement was copied from a photograph and is two-thirds the size of the original and stands on the Green. However, the original sign has recently been recovered. It has been restored and erected opposite the church. Appropriately, it was unveiled during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations

ARCHITECTURE

Hidden away among Walberswick's genuinely old buildings, are some little known gems from the early 20th century. Frank Jennings may be better known for his father, Tom, who was a famous Newmarket trainer, or for his equally famous son, Humphrey, who made classic documentary films during the 1940s, yet Frank was an Arts and Crafts architect of the highest calibre. Luckily for us, he built a dozen or so houses in Walberswick (one of which was bombed in the Second World War). Frank Jennings was not only a fine architect but he determined to salvage Suffolk's heritage from the demolition that was much in vogue at the time. Thus, Walberswick boasts two beautiful Jacobean staircases, some unique stained glass, medieval ironwork and carved beams, as well as an entire house bought for £80 and literally carted here from Lavenham.

THE SCROLL

Between 1931 and 1932, J. Doman Turner, a local artist, decided to paint a picture of every house in the village. Starting as you enter the village, he worked his way along one side, round the Village Green, down to the ferry and back up the other side. The scroll is over 200 feet long and is an incredible record of the village as it was at the time. He paid particular attention to notices: a tortoise is lost and the list of prices for different uses of the then steam ferry is long and intriguing. We have a last peep at the station, Manor Farm and the Walberswick Pottery, together with glimpses of then contemporary village characters.