A beautiful Suffolk beach, famous for its string of celebrities that own holiday homes in the village, has been named one of the best beaches in the UK.
Roughly a two-hour drive from Cambridge, Walberswick is the next beach along from the bigger seaside town Southwold. But the beach and village are certainly not shadowed by their tourist hotspot neighbour.
Loved by locals and tourists for its more wild beauty, Walberswick has a stunning long sand and shingle beach backed by grassy dunes. The beach definitely makes up for the village’s small size.
Condé Nast has named the best beaches in the UK with Blackpool Sands in Devon snatching that top spot. But Walberswick scored very high, coming in at fourth place, beating beaches in Cornwall, Devon, Wales and even Holkham Beach in Norfolk which came ninth place.
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Condé Nast Traveller said: “On the south side of the River Blyth’s mouth, Walberswick’s long, grassy dune-backed beach is much quieter and wilder-feeling than neighbouring Southwold across the river. It’s just a short walk from its postcard-perfect village, which has several solid pubs, and is the unofficial crabbing capital of the UK.”
Condé Nast also recommends visitors to Walberswick to catch Dani Church’s row-boat ferry across the river to the excellent fish restaurants right opposite on the Southwold bank.
But a day here could easily be spent roaming all around, from the sandy idyllic beach to the pretty village and beyond to the surrounding heath and marshland.
As well as the beach, the village is surrounded by over 1,000 acres of heath and marshland protected within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The area has many local habitats for birds and on the marshes you can also find a derelict windmill called Westwood Marshes Hill that dates back to the 18th century.
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A large proportion of the homes in the village are second homes or rented holiday homes and are not permanently occupied, many of which are owned by celebrities. Walberswick has never been as big as its neighbour Southwold but has attracted many celebrities and artists over the years.
Amongst these include Philip Wilson Steer and his circle of English Impressionist artists in the 19th century. Walberswick was also the birthplace of Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Humphrey Jennings famous for his World War II documentaries.
Today, Richard Curtis, screenwriter of popular movies like Love Actually and Notting Hill, owns a summer house in Walberswick. Other celebrities like the director of the Bourne Trilogy, Paul Greengrass, and actor David Morrissey also have holiday homes there.
