Aldeburgh, Suffolk

[Spiderbee]

Anyone know anything about this place?

What sort of shops are there?
Transport links and bus service?
The people - is it more older people or young?

Thanks for anything anyone can tell me.

[Buenchico]

(Multi-part post):

I live in Suffolk and I know Aldeburgh well.

Aldeburgh used to be a pleasant, sleepy little fishing town which was hardly known by anyone outside of Suffolk. That was up until 1948 (which is even before my time!). It was then that Benjamin Britten founded the Aldeburgh Festival, which has seen the continuous rise of Aldeburgh's 'up-market' status. (Some, including myself, would replace 'up-market' by 'pretentious' or 'snobbish' but I know others who would disagree).

These days, much of the population of Aldeburgh is seasonal. A few years ago, of all the many properties in a row facing the sea, only two were lived in all year round. The rest were holiday homes, mainly for rich Londoners. (I doubt that the position will have changed much now except that, by now, all of those properties might be holiday homes).

Of those people who live in Aldeburgh all year round, very few find employment in the immediate area. There are lots of people who commute to Martlesham (to work at the massive BT research centre), to Ipswich (to work in the many insurance firms based there) or to London (to work in the City). This means that Aldeburgh has plenty of wealthy City bankers living alongside relatively poor local people. (Suffolk is one of the lowest paid counties in the country).

[Buenchico]

Aldeburgh certainly has a fair amount of charm but it comes at a price. You won't find many charity shops or bargain stores. You will find quite a few chintzy tea-rooms, pricey restaurants and snooty art galleries selling art works for many thousands of pounds.

For day-to-day shopping (i.e. basic foods and household essentials), it's hard to avoid paying 'village store' prices. The nearest major Asda, Tesco or similar store is about 15 miles away.

The population balance seems to be heavily weighted towards the older end. (That's possibly because you must have worked for most of your life in order to afford a house there. Aldeburgh is just along the coast from Southwold, where a simple beach hut recently sold for �80,000 within a few minutes of coming onto the market).

The nearest rail station is at Saxmundham, 7 miles from Aldeburgh. It's on the London-Ipswich-Lowestoft line, which normally sees one train, in each direction, every 2 hours. Those Aldeburgh residents who commute to London usually drive to Saxmundham and then take the train from there.

[Buenchico]

Two different bus companies run buses to Ipswich (24 miles away). Both operate at 2-hourly intervals. The journey time of one service is about 1� hours. The other service takes half an hour longer. There are no buses into Ipswich after 6.00pm and there's no service on Sundays.

There are very few other bus services, except to the small town of Leiston (4 miles away) which offers slightly cheaper shopping opportunities. Buses run roughly hourly, with a journey time of about � hour. (Mon-Sat daytimes only).

There are very few taxi firms in the area. Evening journeys must be pre-booked because most taxi offices close at around 6.00pm.

Although Aldeburgh is famous for it's festival (which is primarily classical music), the main festival site is actually at Snape, 6 miles from Aldeburgh. Aldeburgh itself offers little in the way of entertainment. It's got a single-screen cinema and that's about it. There's a theatre and a small cinema 16 miles away in Woodbridge, otherwise you have to go into Ipswich for major entertainment centres. (That usually means driving, because of the lack of public transport).

Chris

[JonnoGenie]

An anecdote for Chris...

I went there on holiday as a child a couple of times, and had a great time. I later went to school nearby.

I remember there was a good chippie on the high street, and I ordered my first ever beers in a pub (the Cross Keys) on the sea front, by confusing the staff and pretending to be foreign. I was 14 I think lol.

We used to ride our bikes up and down to and from Thorpeness, and any girls that we thought might be a worthwhile opportunity we took out rowing on the mere, to 'press our case'.

One year coincided with my birthday, and we found some old derelict pavilion at a sports ground, that we explored and found a full keg of Adnams. We managed to roll this down to the beach, and a day or two later had a beach party.

.... many years later...

I was there again last year. I do like Aldeburgh, yes it has changed, but it still has charm.

The wind really comes in in colder months, but the views over the sea are quite direct and dramatic.