Felixstowe Radio

~ Flying the flag for Felixstowe~

Introduction

Felixstowe has ‘huge potential’ according to David Lock Associates.

In the town’s library, on the same shelf as the David Lock report, there’s a 1929 guide book by Ward Lock & Co called ‘Felixstowe & District’. It says:

“The high reputation won by Felixstowe as a health resort at all seasons of the year is due to various and complex influences. The principal are the porous nature of the gravelly soil which renders the air dry, and the situation of the town which has the treble advantages of the bracing climate of the East coast, a southerly aspect, and a position sheltered from the North East wind......Felixstowe is a geographical paradox.” (What a great marketing expression!)

“If steps were taken to utilize to the full the Undercliff of Felixstowe, the central portion of which is one of the sunniest and at the same time most sheltered portions of the whole coast, it could not fail to have a most important bearing on the future growth and prosperity of the town.” (Written by the medical officer!)

“Felixstowe Spa – long since vanished - produced a mineral water....”

An older book includes an 1891 advert for ‘Felixstowe Spa – Natural Medicinal Water – from a spring at the foot of a boring 177 feet deep below the London clay.... It contains dissolved chloride of sodium, carbonate of lime, magnesia, iron, sulphur and phosphates. The last is an important element as it makes the water a capital medicine for those suffering from nervous prostration, depression and over work. The water belongs to the (same) class..... as Baden Baden.’

Some of these assets are still with us – perhaps even the water? Why don’t we make the most of them and, at relatively little cost, re-brand Felixstowe, as The Spa of the East. At the same time let’s get the whole community behind it - flying the flag for Felixstowe!

Felixstowe was clearly believed to have health-enhancing properties in the past (which is presumably why the ill-fated Herman de Stern was built). And one subject of undoubted interest to the twenty first century citizen is ‘health’.

Health & Vitality

Felixstowe is in a unique position to become a modern-day health resort. In addition to the factors highlighted in the old guide book we can capitalise on our other existing assets:

People flock to Felixstowe because of the feel-good factor that the sea & beach naturally provide. And our climate is amongst the best in the country.

‘Felixstowe Spa Pavilion’ exists as a well-known theatre, but we could reintroduce the original meaning of ‘spa’ to the town. As described in the Oxford English Dictionary ‘spa’ is “1) a place or resort with a mineral spring, 2) a place offering a range of beauty treatments, 3) a bath containing hot aerated water.”

Felixstowe continues to win a Blue Flag for its beaches and, with a lovely pool as well, swimming can be justifiably promoted as one of the healthy leisure pursuits to come to Felixstowe to enjoy.

But there are many others. Cycling could be improved - with cycle paths along the front and elsewhere - and the expansion of cycle hire facilities.

Boating, water sports, golf, tennis, bowling, kite-flying etc are all waiting to be exploited more. We have a wealth of healthy leisure opportunities.

And let’s not forget walking. With beautiful rivers on two sides, and a sheltered bay, with an extensive sea-front, on another, the walking possibilities are endless.

There’s never a shortage of empty sea front premises. It would be nice if enterprising entrepreneurs could be encouraged to open imaginative establishments using local produce to create delicious and healthy meals.

Even an upmarket ‘Spa Hotel’, offering a range of treatments, could be a possibility for the depressed sea-front area. Felixstowe was, after all, once the playground of the rich!

Felixstowe has a lot of alternative health practitioners who would surely be very keen to practise their treatments in The Spa of the East, especially if a way could be found to group them together.

Carnelians and agates are present on the beach, and jet and amber can be found too (all perfect for crystal therapy), as are hag-stones (prized for keeping witches away!)

Environment & Wildlife

The environment is another major subject of interest these days. And doing something green would be an obvious extension of The Spa of the East concept.

Naturalists already ‘flock to’ the Felixstowe peninsula (so do male naturists, I discovered recently, on a walk up the Orwell!!). We are absolutely blessed with the wildlife around Felixstowe – it is a bird watcher’s paradise, and not just limited to the nature reserves at Landguard and Trimley. And to see seals swimming up the Deben is a delight. There are very knowledgeable locals who could promote this aspect further – perhaps with short-break holidays including guided nature walks/tours?

Maybe close to Languard or adjacent to the Martello tower there could be a new ‘eco’ building – solar panels, wind turbines, recycled water, grass roof etc, with a shop selling merchandise similar to the RSPB at Minsmere, for naturalists and animal lovers, but with organic and recycled goods as well, and a wholesome café, plus outdoor seating and even a picnic area. This project could possibly be run in conjunction with an organisation such as Suffolk Wildlife Trust, with their army of volunteers. If ambitious enough in vision, the building could be extended to include a much-needed community/arts centre. It could certainly be the centre for the nature tours and cycle hire. And how about kite-flying lessons close by (not too close to the nature reserve), and a regular Farmers’ Market?

Other Attractions

There are other features of the resort that would clearly benefit the town if returned to their former glory - the pier, Manning’s fair ground, and much of Sea Road. If that’s not practical, perhaps demolition would be better! But a priority should be the main approach road. A first-time visitor turning left at the Ordnance roundabout and going past the parade of shops on Undercliff Road must surely consider going all the way round the next roundabout to find their way to Southwold or Clacton! It is so dilapidated, and a very poor first impression for visitors. Surely there’s something the council could do? (The word bulldozer springs to mind here!)

It seems that many visitors come to Felixstowe to enjoy the beach but spend little money. They want to spend more but there’s not currently enough to tempt them on the sea front, and it’s inconvenient to get to Hamilton Road. To help in this an attractive parade of shops and cafes/bars could be built from The Old Millars to the bottom of Convalescent Hill. The rents would have to take seasonality into consideration but, with the resort’s new vibrancy a tipping point could soon be reached when sea-front trading could be viable year round. And how about including pleasant consulting rooms for hire by complementary health practitioners?

The Tourist Information Centre is in an outstandingly attractive building but, again, its potential is so untapped. It could be far more welcoming and pivotal rather than incidental.

And the Port of Felixstowe is another under-capitalised attraction. Instead of just a mobile caterer and over-full car park, how about a landscaped car park, picnic area and even a panoramic café/restaurant where people would love to while away the hours watching the busy shipping activities?

Suffolk’s most famous artists – Constable and Gainsborough – both have Felixstowe connections. (Constable lived in ‘Constable Cottage’ in Brook Lane, near the end of Constable Road; Gainsborough painted a “well-known” picture of Landguard Fort). This connection could be used in the naming of an art exhibition space at the Martello tower.)

I have many more ideas but for now I will simply come back to where I started:

Flying the Flag for Felixstowe

Let’s take this literally. We have plenty of sea-breezes, so flags could be fluttering all along the length of the promenade and in other key locations. The community could be involved in design and message. Flags would add a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ to the town and give it a ‘unique selling point’ in Britain. Many French resorts have them, and the French, we have to admit, ARE stylish.

The town should encourage use of an active website – far more lively than the norm – and it should include professionally-produced videos – ‘arty’ and even ‘quirky’ but, most definitely ‘modern’.

Existing attractions – the vintage car rally, the drama festival, ‘art on the prom’ should be built upon and expanded to develop a calendar of events to draw in regular visitors throughout the year – emphasising that it is ‘healthier’ and ‘greener’ to visit The Spa of the East than pollute the atmosphere with flights abroad. How about starting up the Felixstowe Folk Festival again?

Felixstowe is the multi-faceted jewel of the East coast. Let’s make it shine again – as The Spa of the East.

We developed The Wharf in Felixstowe - the first of a group of 8 - which we sold a year ago, so I have always loved the town and I never let people knock it without putting up a spirited defence, and pointing out its many wonderful features. But I recognise that it needs to be revitalised to have a viable and sustainable future.

For years I mulled over the idea of ‘Edwardia’ - a massive project building on Felixstowe’s glorious past and establishing Felixstowe as a destination town. This would involve themed areas with shops, tearooms, entertainment, sea-side past-times, all of course, in period, with, for example, wedding packages as an add-on, using horse & carriage to the ceremony at the ‘New Spa’ and the reception in the’ Winter Gardens.’ I also imagined that the Beach Station could be re-built and steam trains could complete the picture. However, in reality, Edwardia would cost multi-millions and perhaps it’s too ambitious a project? Possibly grant-funding would be more accessible for the ‘green’ and ‘healthy’ Felixstowe future?

Helen Lakey

May 2007