Southwold: Suffolk’s (slightly snooty) Coastal Gem
If you want a lovely seaside town, then Southwold is your man! This is a beautiful little place, with pretty buildings (many alas now holiday lets, rather than homes). Alongside real greengrocers and independent bookshops. And a lighthouse (which still guides ships today), despite being set back from the shore, in the middle of the high street!
If out walking, always follow the Countryside Code, to keep all creatures safe. Seasonal dog beach bans apply (read more on keeping dogs safe by the seaside).
The promenade leads to the small pier. But instead of fruit machines, you’ll find a unique amusement arcade of simulated games: train for the future on a Zimmer frame, or take out your frustrations on the ‘Whack a Banker’ machine!
The name is from the Anglo-Savon for ‘south forest’.
One local resident was the writer George Orwell, who with his poet wife adopted a baby at 3 weeks, due to being unable to conceive (his wife died 9 months later after an allergic reaction to anaesthetic, age just 39). George left Southwold for London, and he too died young from TB, age 46.
The Guardian reports that Southwold is lovely, but can be a bit snooty! It has its share of famous residents. But like St Ives and Salcombe, property prices have heaved upwards, with many Londoners buying holiday homes, and ‘rolling in on Friday nights with BMWs full of goodies from M & S for the weekend’.
Of course, this is the problem. Because Southwold is full of lovely little independent shops. And if Londoners do a big shop at a retail park before arriving, that money is not coming into the town.
We want holidaymakers who spend money here, not tourists who come and leave rubbish. Local councillor
When a proposal was put for the council to approve plans to build a swimming pool called ‘Splash 2000’, they refused it, saying ‘No, let them swim in the sea’.
