It was Sunday morning at the Kissing Bridge in Walberswick and the crabbers were hard at work.
Young and old dangled weighted lines bearing bacon, crouching expectantly with their nets, waiting to scoop these scuttling crustaceans into plastic buckets half-filled with seawater.
However, these crabs are not for eating. The name of the game is to gently pop them back into the water to allow them to mature to full size. Catching the eye of a father supervising his brood, he waved a greeting:
“It’s a great day out, isn’t it? The kids love it and it’s free!”
But crabbing is far from the only reason to make the journey to Walberswick.
This secluded Georgian village on the Suffolk coast is a tranquil and unspoilt base for exploring the east of England. Its streets lined with weatherboarded houses have attracted a host of celebrities, including Richard Curtis and Paul Greengrass. Picture a long sand and pebble beach backed by sweeping grassy dunes, understated fishermen’s huts, a quintessential English village green and two great pubs.
It’s easy to understand why people keep coming back. Let’s discover some great things to do in Walberswick.
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Go Crabbing in Walberswick
Walberswick is the former home of the British Open Crabbing Championship, where the person catching the heaviest crab within 90 minutes took the prize. Sadly, the overwhelming influx of visitors meant the event became a victim of its own success.
Despite its demise, Walberswick is still one of the most popular crabbing spots in England. Stop by the Parish Lantern shop in the village to pick up supplies before heading to the bridge
Treat Yourself to a Cream Tea
For me, an essential part of any UK staycation is at least one cream tea. The combination of a crumbly scone topped with strawberry jam and clotted cream is hard to beat, and one of Britain’s greatest culinary traditions
The Tea Shed, a stone’s throw from the village green, is the obvious choice. If the weather is kind, the garden is lovely. Alternatively, do as we did and pick up supplies from The Black Dog Deli and make your own back at your accommodation.
Have a Pint at One of the Walberswick Pubs
Walberswick has two pubs and, purely in the interests of research, we tried both.
The Bell Inn is close to the dunes, part of the Adnams group, with a menu of local specialities, plenty of inside space and a large garden. The Anchor, along the main road towards St Andrew’s Church, has an extensive wine list and sources much of its food locally, with a garden to the rear and a terrace at the front.
Cross to Southwold on the World’s Shortest Ferry
Calling the Walberswick Ferry “a ferry” is pushing it a little. It’s less a ferry, more a two-minute row across the River Blyth to neighbouring Southwold. This family-run business stretches back five generations and carries passengers across up to 100 times a day between April and October.
You can also walk there along the riverbank and across the Bailey Bridge.
Once across, it’s a 30-minute walk along a soft caramel-coloured sandy beach to Southwold Pier, lined with candy-coloured beach huts with brilliantly named ones to look out for: Spunyards, All Mine, Quality Time and my personal favourite, Mr Blue Sky.
Southwold itself is well worth a few hours: the magnificent 15th-century Church of St Edmund, the 19th-century working lighthouse (tours available for a small charge), the 17th-century cannons at Gunhill Cliff and the Adnams Brewery, which has been brewing beer in the town since 1872. Try their Ghost Ship.
If you’re not able to join one of their brewery or distillery tours, make sure to stop by their store on Victoria Street for all things Adnams-related.
Relax on Walberswick Beach
Walberswick’s expansive sand and stone beach is a short walk from the village centre. Don’t expect kaleidoscopic beach huts here — these are dark wood fishermen’s huts that reminded me of those I’d seen in Norway. There’s something pleasingly unshowy about that.
Although the water is cold, it is shallow and suitable for swimming if you fancy a dip. However, note that there are no lifeguards on Walberswick Beach.
Pick Up Dinner at Southwold Harbour
Southwold Harbour is home to a handful of fishing boats and stalls selling freshly caught fish. Twice we picked up the sweetest scallops — the size of a small child’s fist — for searing on the Aga.
Look out for flood level markers showing the waterline from the devastating 1953 floods; a sobering reminder of the vulnerability of these coastal communities.
Hike Through Walberswick Nature Reserve
The Walberswick section of the Suffolk Coast National Nature Reserve covers nearly 3,000 acres of vast reed beds, grassland, woodland, shingle, saline lagoons, mudflats and the salt marshes of the Blyth estuary. It’s home to deer, otters and bird species, including Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit, Water Rail and Bittern.
Set out from Walberswick towards Dunwich following the blue and yellow Suffolk Coast Path markers. Download a Walberswick to Dunwich route map before you go.
Visit St Andrew’s Church
St Andrew’s Church, the fourth to be built on this site, is dwarfed by the ruins of its predecessor next door. It tells the story of a dramatic turning point in English history.
These remarkable ruins tell the dramatic story of a turning point in English history.
Forty-three years after St Andrew’s was built in 1490, Henry VIII drove the Catholic church from England, beginning the English Reformation. With parishioner numbers falling away under the new Anglican worship, the old church became unsustainable.
By the end of the 17th century, pragmatic locals were granted permission to dismantle it and build something smaller, on the condition that the tower be kept as a landmark for ships.
The new church, built in 1696, is full of character: memorials to fishermen lost at sea, a mosaic of rescued medieval stained glass and a pulpit and altar screen that survived from the original 15th-century building.
Take a River Blyth Boat Trip
For a different perspective of Walberswick take to the water. The owners of the Walberswick Ferry run boat trips during the spring and summer on the River Blyth through Walberswick Nature Reserve.
On the Southwold side of the river, Coastal Voyager runs a two-hour River Blyth cruise and a 30-minute high-speed trip out to sea.
Plan Your Visit to Walberswick
Getting there: The best way to reach Walberswick is by car, around 2.5 hours from London. By train, take a London Liverpool Street service to Darsham (changing at Ipswich), then a taxi for the remaining seven miles. Check times and prices at National Rail.
How long to spend: I don’t recommend Walberswick as a day trip from London — the journey is too involved for a single day. Stay at least two nights to do it justice.
Where to stay: Accommodation in Walberswick is mostly self-catering. Sadly, the place where we stayed – Admiral House – is not currently on the holiday rental market.
The Bell Inn and The Lodge get great reviews, although the latter is a 20-minute walk to the village centre. Nearby Southwold has more choice, and the Swan Hotel is the pick of the area.
Walberswick is special in the way that only slightly hard-to-reach places can be. Suffolk has no coast road, so its villages are tucked at the end of narrow lanes off the A12, each left to develop its own personality. In an increasingly homogenous world, that isolation is exactly the point.
That and the crabbing, obviously.
About Bridget
Bridget Coleman has been a passionate traveller for more than 30 years. She has visited 70+ countries, most as a solo traveller.
Articles on this site reflect her first-hand experiences.
To get in touch, email her at hello@theflashpacker.net or follow her on social media.
Great blog! Makes me want to go back again. We missed out on the chips at the Lord Nelson pub at Southwold so that is a good enough excuse.
Thanks Ben! Those chips are one of the best reasons to return. I’m salivating just thinking about them :)