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Ride Recomendations from Felixstowe?
I'm due to spend several days in Felixstowe in early August.
Can anyone recommend rides of around 50-100 km in the area.
Are the trains in the area bike friendly - and if so do they
allow any good 'one-way' rides? ta Kirby
On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 21:18:28 +0100, Kirby James wrote:
> I'm due to spend several days in Felixstowe in early
> August. Can anyone recommend rides of around 50-100 km in
> the area. Are the trains in the area bike friendly - and
> if so do they allow any good 'one-way' rides?
reasonably bike-friendly, the local train services are very
good with bikes in my experience, but remember you'll be in
the holiday season and pressure on space will be high.
Number One place to visit must be Sutton Hoo, about 1.5
hours ride if you use the "foot" ferry across the River
Deben. Going north you'll find Orford Castle and lots of (anti-
)Napoleonic fortifications along the coast until you reach
some of the Roman castles. The railway runs somewhat inland
from the coast, but it works quite well for a day out on the
bike and an easy train ride back.
Start here <http://www.oneanglia.com/timetable/route-
map.asp> for local trains, but you'll need the local O.S.
maps for details of roads, which should be available
somewhere in Felixstowe.
If you fancy crewing in a yacht race, go to one of the many
marinas on the River Orwell at 08:00 on a Saturday or Sunday
and proclaim that you can tie a bowline reliably and you'll
be "hired" instantly. Got to be able to live up to it or you
may be marooned on a sand bank 15km offshore .....
The local brew is Adnams, and the closer to Southwold the
better it gets (in particular their "mild beer").
HTH,
Mike
> I'm due to spend several days in Felixstowe in early
> August. Can anyone recommend rides of around 50-100 km in
> the area.
I am a newbie in this group but live in the area so ...
Firstly East Anglia is pretty flat :o)
You can get ideas for rides from the Suffolk CTC. Their
pages at http://www.irene.org.uk/ctc/sun.htm list places
they ride to and most have something interesting to see so
you could base rides around them.
Suffolk county council also has some cycling pages here: http://www.suffolkcc.gov.uk/e-and-
t/homepages/cycling.html
Take a look ar OS Explorer maps 197 for Ipswich, Felixtowe
and area. Also going north 231 (Southwold) and 212
(Framlingham). Going south 184 (Colchester and Clacton) and
inland 196, 211, 230.
>> Are the trains in the area bike friendly
The majority of the trains that service the area are the
little, 2 carriage diesel ones that sound like lorries.
http://www.oneanglia.com/home/ is the local train
operator. The mainline train London, Ipswich & Norwich has
a guards van.
>> and if so do they allow any good 'one-way' rides?
http://www.oneanglia.com/home/ operates 'rover' ticket which
allows you unlimited travel all day all over East Anglia.
This will give you access to Norwich, the Norfolk Broads and
the north Norfolk coast, Cambridge, the University's and the
Fens, both via Ipswich.
Also see Mike Causer's post. He is spot on about the beer.
Have a good holiday. Andy.
Following on from Kirby James's message. . .
>I'm due to spend several days in Felixstowe in early
>August. Can anyone recommend rides of around 50-100 km in
>the area. Are the trains in the area bike friendly - and if
>so do they allow any good 'one-way' rides? ta Kirby
>
>
* Follow the link in the sig block which has some detailed
info. o Trains are OK for bikes and can be good for 1-way
trips. NB for the next 6 weeks there are no trains, only
buses :( south of Ipswich while they dig and drain Ipswich
tunnel. o Beware of light soils and flints that can be
washed/blown onto the lanes at bends and dips. o 'Light
winds' or often not insignificant and can often turn into
a beastly sea breeze from the coast. o Just in the
Felixstowe peninsular there seem to be a lot of drivers in
a hurry, but elsewhere it is very calm.
Don't listen to the Adnams is better in Southwold mob. (a)
IMHO opinion it is too green in Southwold, and (b) there are
plenty of other local beers worth trying.
--
PETER FOX Not the same since the deckchair business folded
peterfox@eminent.demon.co.uk.not.this.bit.no.html
www.eminent.demon.co.uk/wcc.htm Witham Cycling Campaign
www.eminent.demon.co.uk/rides East Anglian Pub cycle rides
On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 11:26:42 +0100, Peter Fox wrote:
> Don't listen to the Adnams is better in Southwold mob. (a)
> IMHO opinion it is too green in Southwold,
Green beer? Eeewwwww! Accepting that outside Suffolk Adnams
is getting a bit touchy (in Cambs the Queens Head in Newton
definitely has the best), the compromise seems to be to
drink it between 25 and 50km from Southwold. Which includes
Felixstowe in fact :-)
> and (b) there are plenty of other local beers worth
> trying.
Indeed, and here's a list:
http://www.quaffale.org.uk/php/county.php?county=49
The visitor should be advised to skip Tolly, and to take
Greene King only when there is no alternative.
Do St. Peter have any pubs? I've only found it in bottles.
Mike
In article <uDcLVJAiLn7AFw3V@eminent.demon.co.uk>,
peterfox@eminent.demon.co.uk.not.this.bit.no.html says...
> Following on from Kirby James's message. . .
> >I'm due to spend several days in Felixstowe in early
> >August. Can anyone recommend rides of around 50-100 km in
> >the area. Are the trains in the area bike friendly - and
> >if so do they allow any good 'one-way' rides? ta Kirby
> >
> >
> * Follow the link in the sig block which has some detailed
> info. o Trains are OK for bikes and can be good for 1-
> way trips. NB for the next 6 weeks there are no trains,
> only buses :( south of Ipswich while they dig and drain
> Ipswich tunnel. o Beware of light soils and flints that
> can be washed/blown onto the lanes at bends and dips. o
> 'Light winds' or often not insignificant and can often
> turn into a beastly sea breeze from the coast. o Just in
> the Felixstowe peninsular there seem to be a lot of
> drivers in a hurry, but elsewhere it is very calm.
>
>
> Don't listen to the Adnams is better in Southwold mob. (a)
> IMHO opinion it is too green in Southwold, and (b) there
> are plenty of other local beers worth trying.
>
>
>
>
>
My post in reply to the OP seems to have got lost in the
ether. not to worry, Peter covers the important bits about
the lack of trains and the beer. Adnams bitter can be very
good, their mild is called oyster, which tends to be a
winter brew, which is a shame. Broadside is bes consumed
either as the odd pint, or whne you've got a morning free
the following day to sleep it off. Nice though. And at this
time of year they brew Regatta, a bright and light beer,
Yuk. (IMHO of course) Oh and the best thing to do in
Felixstowe is... get out of it as often as possible. But if
you decide to do so on your bike, be very careful.
Felixstowe docks (as you are probably aware) is a major uk
container port, and there is a LOT of container traffic on
the main road out.
and as an aside, the reason for the rail closure is to lower
the rail track through the tunnel, as some daft sod on the
conteinet decided it woud be a Good Idea to make containers
larger. The new size won't fit through the tunnel, and as
mentioned above, a lot of containers arrive on these shores
via Felixstowe. Just thoought you might like to know that.
ps, peter, I've bookmarked your web site for future perusal.
I particularly like the idea of bikes and beer :)
--
.paul
If at first you don't succeed... Skydiving is probably not
the sport for you.
In article <Z8HHc.444$r34.298@newsfe1-win.ntli.net>,
mikec@firstnamelastname.org says...
> On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 11:26:42 +0100, Peter Fox wrote:
>
> > Don't listen to the Adnams is better in Southwold mob.
> > (a) IMHO opinion it is too green in Southwold,
>
> Green beer? Eeewwwww! Accepting that outside Suffolk
> Adnams is getting a bit touchy (in Cambs the Queens Head
> in Newton definitely has the best), the compromise seems
> to be to drink it between 25 and 50km from Southwold.
> Which includes Felixstowe in fact :-)
>
>
> > and (b) there are plenty of other local beers worth
> > trying.
>
> Indeed, and here's a list:
> http://www.quaffale.org.uk/php/county.php?county=49
>
> The visitor should be advised to skip Tolly, and to take
> Greene King only when there is no alternative.
>
My local, Ye Old Bell and Steelyard in Woodbridge keeps a
good cells and serves a fine pint of Greenking IPA. But I
have to say the the Cherry Tree also in Woodbridge, keeps a
very good cellar also and serves Adnams. The beer in the
Kings Head is very hit and miss since it was taken over by a
larger drinking landlord. I've yet to have a good pint of
Tolly, though they did do some good bottled beers for a
while, when a friend of mine was head brewer.
>
> Do St. Peter have any pubs? I've only found it in bottles.
>
Yes, but the only ones I know of are the brewery itself and
Farringdon.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
--
.paul
If at first you don't succeed... Skydiving is probably not
the sport for you.
Kirby James wrote:
> I'm due to spend several days in Felixstowe in early
> August. Can anyone recommend rides of around 50-100 km in
> the area. Are the trains in the area bike friendly - and
> if so do they allow any good 'one-way' rides? ta Kirby
In addition to the other posts..
The trains from Felixstowe are only "moderately useful" as
they all run to Ipswich, from which you'd need to get
another train. The old Anglia franchise was fairly cycle
friendly, though did charge for carrying them (£1 on the non-
London trains). As the new franchisee has only just taken
over, I doubt the rules or staff attitudes will have
changed. In August there is the tunnel closure at Ipswich,
which affects trains going south towards London.
I think instead of the train, you're likely to become very
familiar with both the old main road to Ipswich (signed as
cycle route) and the Kirton-Martlesham road(s).
There are a few ferries which can make your bike ride more
interesting. Do research/check they are running before
commiting yourself, but there are/were ferries across the
Orwell (Felixstowe to Harwich and Shotley) and Deben
(Felixstowe to Bawdsey). Both should be OK with a cycle.
The Bawdsey Ferry opens up a lot of quiet roads heading
north towards Snape. There was a ferry at Butley which would
get you over to Orford, though not sure of its current
status - last time I used it, you rang up and a chap came
from a nearby cottage and rowed you over.
There are decent cafes at Felixstowe Ferry (Bawdsey ferry),
Butley, Wickham Market, Framlingham. No doubt dozens of
others, but I've used those recently.
One ride you can do, though you need to do your own route
planning, is the "Suffolk Bottoms". This links up all the
trig-pillars below 30m in Suffolk. (Clue, there is one trig
pillar on the Shotley peninsula, the rest are stung out
heading north from Bawdsey, the last being on the RSPB
reserve just south of Dunwich. The lowest is at 0m ! ).
--
NC - Webmaster for http://www.2mm.org.uk/ Replies to
newsgroup postings to the newsgroup please.
Thank for all the helpful replies.
The idea of using ferries appeals - I'm from Devon where
there are a large number of ferries which add considerably
to the interest of the rides.
I've been looking at some OS maps of the area but they seem
to have left off the contour lines and the double arrows on
the steep hills.
thanks again, Kirby
Mike Causer wrote:
> On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 11:26:42 +0100, Peter Fox wrote:
>
>
>>Don't listen to the Adnams is better in Southwold mob. (a)
>>IMHO opinion it is too green in Southwold,
>
>
> Green beer? Eeewwwww! Accepting that outside Suffolk
> Adnams is getting a bit touchy (in Cambs the Queens Head
> in Newton definitely has the best), the compromise seems
> to be to drink it between 25 and 50km from Southwold.
> Which includes Felixstowe in fact :-)
>
>
>
>>and (b) there are plenty of other local beers worth
>>trying.
>
>
> Indeed, and here's a list:
> http://www.quaffale.org.uk/php/county.php?county=49
>
> The visitor should be advised to skip Tolly, and to take
> Greene King only when there is no alternative.
>
>
> Do St. Peter have any pubs? I've only found it in bottles.
>
I think the PH at Metfield does, it did the last time I
cycled out there.
>
> Mike
On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 13:18:50 +0100, "NC" <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>There was a ferry at Butley which would get you over to
>Orford, though not sure of its current status - last time I
>used it, you rang up and a chap came from a nearby cottage
>and rowed you over.
>
I _think_ it's still going. Bit pricey mind, three quid per
adult, two for children.
Tim
--
For those who have trouble distinguishing, cynicsm, sarcasm,
humour etc, try mentally inserting smilies thoughout my post
until it either matches what you'd like to read, or what
you'd expect me to write.
(Jon Senior urc)
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