Kessingland and Benacre beaches
Even the weather had a nothingness about it when I arrived at Kessingland Beach. The sky was flat, the light not doing anything special, neither hot nor cold, flat nor windy. I often love an odd resort seaside town out of season but I wondered if I’d made a mistake spending some of my precious time on the Suffolk Coast but having had whispers that Benacre had something special about it I cracked on and turned right along the beach towards Benacre pumping station.
Walking on the shingle at Kessingland reminded me of Tide Mills, local to me in Sussex. It’s a strange place yet full of something you can’t quite put your finger on. Monty enjoyed the patches of sand where he busied himself burying his ball while I wandered around picking out frames with the camera.
As we meandered along Benacre pumping station came into view and we navigated our way through the gate to left of the pumping station, stopping to observe the signs about how to show respect as we entered what is one of the UK’s most important areas of interest for wildlife and natural habitat.
Because I had a lolloping labrador with me I decided to stick to Benacre beach to go as far Benacre Broad. It’s really important to observe tide times because you can get stuck along the beach without a way to get off.
As soon as you hit the west side of the pumping staton things get a little wilder and weirder. Theres an apocalyptic feel to Benacre beach in that trees have fallen from the land straight on the the beach - Benacre has seen the fastest erosion of land on the UK coast at a whopping 25 acres a year.
It’s both humbling and heartbreaking - sections of trees, buildings, pillboxes and waste jut out of the sand where they are buried and soon to be forgotten forever. You can’t stop looking at the layers of land and the textures within.
This is a wistful, peaceful place and getting to Benacre Broad emphasises that - as you stare out at the expanse of water you aren’t sure what emotions you’re feeling but you know you’re stood somewhere important.
Turning back on yourself from this point and heading back to the car park in Kessingland you take in the quirks of Kessingland as a town now the promise of the sea has been satisfied.
I highly recommend a drive to Southwold to enjoy some fish’n’chips on the seafront afterwards.
A note for van drivers - Kessingland car park isn’t accessible because of a height barrier but I found plenty of parking the first trying right before it.