Magnificent nature reserves, huge skies and a wild, open coast. Welcome to the quiet drama of Suffolk in autumn, says Mark Cocker
“All where the eye delights, yet dreads to roam,
The breaking billows cast the flying foam,
Upon the billows rising – all the deep, Is restless change; the waves so swell’d and steep,
Breaking and sinking, and the sunken swells,
Nor one, one moment, in its station dwells”
This wonderful description of the waves rolling up the shingle is taken from ‘The Borough’ by the great poet of Suffolk coastal life George Crabbe (1754-1832). He was born in Aldeburgh and brought up in Orford, and no one knew better than Crabbe how the local beaches and sea were in a state of constant flux. For no stretch of English shoreline is more subject to change than the 30-mile belt between the tiny coastal villages of Covehithe and Shingle Street – with its extraordinary low-lying mix of tidal spit, deserted shoal, grazing marsh, salt flat, estuarine mud and pebble beach.
One very modern type of change is the relentless erosion that is more pronounced here than anywhere else in Britain. In the 40 years that I have been visiting the village of Covehithe, for instance, its beautiful church has ‘moved’ more than 160 metres closer to the beach. Yet the vulnerability of the shore once carried other connotations. Suffolk’s long outward-curving profile presented great temptation to smugglers sailing between Europe and England, and the quiet paths that still link Aldeburgh and Snape, and which are great today for birdwatchers, were used to sneak ashore contraband barrels of brandy or tobacco.
この記事は BBC Countryfile Magazine の November 2017 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は BBC Countryfile Magazine の November 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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Guilt-Free Meat? - Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians
Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians. Livestock farming around the world is facing scrutiny because of its greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the sector contributes somewhere between 11.1% and 19.6% of total emissions. Meat production is roughly twice as bad as the production of plant-based food, according to some analyses. And beef is the worst of all. Study after study has suggested that, in order to curtail the devastating effects of climate change, we ought to shift to a diet containing less meat - or even go vegetarian or vegan.
Discover Cider Country - Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks
Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks. I'm cycling Porter's Perfection, one of three cider circuits developed for Visit Herefordshire over the past few years. Each showcases a section of this bucolic county's loveliest villages, pubs, orchards and cidermakers via lanes suited to bicycles - e-bikes for hill-averse cyclists like me. The idea is to allow you to appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of cider country while traversing roads never meant for modern cars. If you have dodgy knees, or are keen to indulge in the local adult apple juice as you go (remember, it's illegal to cycle while under the influence), Visit Herefordshire also promotes cider bus routes.
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As science proves the many health-boosting benefits of eating at least 30 different plants each week, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall shares recipes to help you meet the magic target
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SPECTACULAR STONEHENGE FINDS
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GALLOWAY NATIONAL PARK DEBATE
Would this protected status bring welcome recognition and attention - or overcrowding and problems for farmers?
Farmers are valued, so why do they feel we don't care?
For farmers out in their fields in all seasons, worried about the future as dramatic levels of rainfall blamed on climate change damage their crops, inflation and uncertainty push up their costs and what they see as unfair imports threaten their livelihoods, here's a spot of unexpectedly good news: the rest of us think you are doing a good job.
Pumpkin patches
Find the perfect jack-o'-lantern for Halloween at a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Some are simple affairs in tranquil countryside; others offer activities ranging from ghost trains to spooky mazes.
