Attractive Hadleigh; recreational facilities for user groups

The charming market town of Hadleigh, Suffolk has a rich history. To find out more about this interesting location, have a look at the following websites:

Hadleigh Town Council
http://hadleigh.onesuffolk.net/

Welcome to Hadleigh  
http://www.hadleigh.org.uk/

Information Britain, Hadleigh pages  
http://www.information-britain.co.uk/county6/townguideHadleigh/

Suffolk Tourist Guide, Hadleigh pages  
http://www.suffolktouristguide.com/Hadleigh.asp

Visit Suffolk:  http://www.visitsuffolk.com/explore/hadleigh.aspx

Rebranding Places in Walton; coastal/ rural

http://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/business/regeneration/walton/Walton%20Regen%20F'work%20-%20Exec%20Summary%20Final%20(Low%20Res).pdf

New towns? are they needed?

An interesting article from the BBC - New towns - do we need them? how would they look in 2013?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24928082

Clacton-on-Sea photographs

Here are some photographs of Clacton - feel free to use them but please don't forget to reference!

                                     

 

a cafe by the beach

The Pier, with entertainment

                                              

Signs of development?

  

Signs of decline? Does this need refurbishment?

 Evidence of entertainment

There are some shops that have clearly been there a while;

 without modernisation or development

The Grand Hotel - a vision that never came to fruition

 Here are some photos of Hotels that once were successful, but now have either been turned into apartments or just completely shut down. How does the closure/ decline of grand large hotels relate with the Butler's Model? What does it indicate?

 















The Comfort Hotel - all the signage still there; but clearly no business taking place. 

History of Clacton-on-Sea

Clacton-on-Sea, as we know it today, was actually designed as a 'Seaside Resort' in 1871 by a gentleman named Peter Bruff, an engineer from the 'Eastern Union Railway'.

This website is about the Renovation of the Royal Hotel in 2011 - is it an indicator of decline that it was never finished and is now for sale again? or just a victim of the recession? 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/essex/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8344000/8344488.stm


Some good local historic photographs - can you compare with the fieldwork photos? what has changed? has any of the character from Victorian Clacton been retained?
http://www.francisfrith.com/clacton-on-sea/photos/

Although this website primarily focuses on Whales and Dolphins - there is an excellent range of historical photographs of the pier, and how it has changed.
http://www.clactondolphins.co.uk/Pages/pier-history-page.html


A useful page regarding the building of the Pier by Peter Bruff
http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=199

The Sunshine Coast, Essex

Tourism along the Essex coastline is a vital part of the economy. Especially along the 'Sunshine Coast', which encompasses the towns of Clacton, Frinton Walton and Harwich.

Here are some useful web links:

The official Essex Sunshine Coast website: http://www.essex-sunshine-coast.org.uk/

Visitor Guide:  http://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/visitor_guide/HTML/index.html#/20/

Introduction: http://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/leisure/tourism-explore-our-essex-sunshine-coast

A little bit of history.... http://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/a-summer-holiday-on-essexs-sunshine-coast/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Essex-Sunshine-Coast/104941502995124

Why people may want to visit: http://www.britishdestinations.co.uk/destinations.aspx/Essex_Sunshine_Coast_-_Tendring_Coast_-and-_Countryside

Visit Essex: http://www.visitessex.com/discover/maritime/Coastal_delights.aspx

http://www.essexlifemag.co.uk/out-about/places/discover_10_top_essex_spring_days_out_1_1631435

There is probably plenty more but this should be enough to keep you going for now!

Felixstowe - useful websites

The Suffolk Coast:
http://www.thesuffolkcoast.co.uk/the-suffolk-coast/felixstowe/?gclid=CJal4azwpLcCFS7KtAodR04ACg

Visit Felixstowe:
http://www.visitfelixstowe.co.uk/

Walton land use and information

Here is another website;

http://www.essex-sunshine-coast.org.uk/

with lots of useful information regarding the Tendring Peninsula, and more specifically Walton on the Naze

Walton on the Naze management

This is the community website for Walton on the Naze, Essex. There's lots of information on here regarding the community and what goes on; 
http://www.walton-on-the-naze.com/



You can use Google Earth to see the different management techniques. How many can you spot? 

See if you can see the following, then research how each of these work and why we have them at Walton on the Naze.

1. concrete sea wall 
2. rip rap
3. wooden/ concrete revetments
4. groynes
5. Crag Walk

A need for more container ship space - Felixstowe Video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15082311


This is a video from the local news which explains why we might need to consider the need for more container ship space/ room at the Docks...


A nice introduction to whether we need the space at Harwich or not!

Storm surge at Walton

This week we visited Walton on the Naze where we were going to measure the beach. However, very strong south easterly winds meant that the there was no beach to get on to! Even though it was a falling tide.
Through the 4 years of measuring the beach at Walton I have only ever seen it this stormy on a couple of occasions. See the photos below (taken on my phone so apologies for the lack of quality!) On our return we looked at the weather station on the end of Walton Pier - gusts had been getting up to 44mph during the time we were down there!

      

you can really see the waves with the wind here - you can see how LSD works!

And this was the part of the beach we should have been standing on by now!

 

 It's quite rare to see the sea all the way to the base of the cliff.

 


Well done to all the students who braved the weather :)

Save the Mere, Walton

Another example of conflict at the coast - Walton would appreciate some regeneration, especially in the High Street area, which would in course set the multiplier effect into motion. One way of instigating this would be to reclaim the local mere and develop the land in to new housing/ shopping area/ waterfront and so on. However; some locals are not so keen!
For further information see the following links:

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/walton_on_the_naze_protest_over_marshland_development_1_1077513

http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/9276372.Plan_for_the_Walton_Mere_will_save_town_from_decline_says_developer_s_man/

Walton's potential regeneration project

see 
http://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/21802114-C2DF-4F52-8AD9-498009C6A8E1/8787/WaltonRegenFworkExecSummaryFinalLowRes.pdf 
for information regarding the potential regeneration project at Walton on the Naze. 

a useful link for Walton weather updates

For live weather updates at Walton on the Naze - this is very useful!

http://www.waltonfrintonlifeboat.co.uk/live_weather/live_weather.html

ramblings of a student......

Today I had a great day doing the investigation on outer city areas!

Suffolk: Creating the Greenest County.

Rebranding the county - how is Suffolk attempting to rebrand itself as a green county?


http://greensuffolk.onesuffolk.net/  There is a lot of information on this website. If you have a look it outlines how Suffolk is attempting to promote sustainability and environmental awareness.


So, what do we need to consider in order to understand this topic area?


To aid you in your studies use the website to answer the following questions: 
1. How is climate change predicted to affect Suffolk?
2. What is Suffolk doing to respond to climate change? (both now and in the future)
3. Why does Suffolk need to take this action?


It is clear therefore that localisation is key to sustainable communities. A prominent specific focus throughout is the localisation of food produce and food sourcing. Therefore, we can examine a couple of studies - Hadleigh included - where the community is really concentrating on the promotion of this. Throughout the day we will be focusing on how Hadleigh can achieve this.


See you in Hadleigh!
Rachael :)


p.s. look at other posts on this blog to see more photos, and to see what issues are currently surrounding Hadleigh. A good video link is: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2010/jun/10/outrage-revisited-hadleigh-tesco-architecture for explaining what's going on!

Harwich!

I saw that Harwich (or rather Dovercourt!) seems to have a new deli on the High Street. This is exciting news indeed :)

Photos of a completed Crag Walk

Here are some more photographs of the finished Crag Walk at Walton 
(taken at Easter, 2011):

The Naze Tower

The Crag Walk from the north end

The slumped cliffs - lots of sands and gravels. Clay at the bottom

the Rip Rap underneath the Crag Walk

the view from above

from the end of the Crag Walk (north). High water.

I think the Crag Walk will stabilise the slumping
therefore stabilise the cliffs

some photos for Hadleigh...

I have taken some photos of the area where the proposed Tesco site would be and the surrounding area. As I said before, the new Tesco site is just behind the High Street, with the access through the allotments at the very end of the High Street by the river. As far as I can see the River Walk wouldn't be directly affected as it is on the other side of the river; however obviously pollution and litter could potentially influence the River Brett, which would in turn affect the River Walk.

Hadleigh High Street - a threat under Tesco

The old Brett Works site - Tesco owned

the entrance to the works

the old works

the beginning of the River Walk

evidence of people being against

the River Brett from the opposite side

The River Walk

the countryside on the other side of the River Brett

hanging baskets - community pride?

Watch this space for any further development regarding the Tesco campaign.
Rachael

Hadleigh - to tesco or not to tesco...?!

We visited Hadleigh last week as I was confused with the arguments surrounding the proposed Tesco development site. The old Brett Works site apparently (according to a random resident we bumped in to and got chatting to) has been owned by Tesco for some years, and they have just let it go into disrepair and dereliction. Therefore it is not an aesthetically pleasing location!
Looking into local opinion on websites such as the local town website and facebook it is apparent that there is a strong division. What was most confusing was that the residents who are pro the development were describing the area as 'an eyesore' where the land needed to be cleared up whereas the people who were against the proposed development talked about how the Tesco would ruin such a beautiful River Walk and water meadows. This got me thinking; how could the area be beautiful and an eyesore all in one go? so, I decided to go and do a little bit of exploration myself.
It turns out that the River Walk isn't actually on the same side of the river as the proposed Tesco site after all. Obviously if the Tesco development does go ahead then they will have to play with the river system to reduce flooding such as placing in reservoirs and the such like. This will clearly have an influence on the drainage basin for miles around, and this in turn will effect the river walk, but Tesco aren't proposing to build on the River Walk - so that cleared that one up!!


For any extra information and plans etc then you can access the website: http://www.hands-off-hadleigh.co.uk/ this is obviously an anti Tesco campaign but there is a lot of information for you to gather and make a more rounded opinion.


Below is a list of issues from the Hands off Hadleigh website:

Safety issues with access on a bend on a bridge
Traffic congestion when almost every route into Hadleigh is effectively single lane
Increased noise levels and pollution from increased traffic drawn into the town, when by-pass built in mid 80's to avoid this
Vitality and viability of existing traders and small shops in the High Street that sell a fine selection of locally grown produce
Impact on natural environment and neighbouring allotments -
First application to build a supermarket (not Tesco) turned down in 1987 on environmental grounds, what has changed since then?
Concern about run off of excess water and flooding
Impact on surrounding historic conservation area (St Mary's, The Deanery, The Guildhall) that proposed store will impinge on
73% of the town voted against a supermarket on the Brett Work Site in Electoral Reform Society Referendum involving every household in Hadleigh
Hadleigh - should it have a Tesco? there's clearly an area that needs maintaining and generating but is building a large superstore the answer? certainly food for thought when considering Hadleigh as a successful traditional market town.Here's a useful video which weighs up the pros and cons quite nicely:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2010/jun/10/outrage-revisited-hadleigh-tesco-architecture