Suffolk Coast and Heath Walks. Laurence Mitchell

      Lowestoft Ness, Britain’s most easterly point

      At low or mid-tide you can walk south from here along the beach either to Covehithe, as described in this stage, or as far as Southwold at the end of Stage 2. However, at high tide it will be necessary to follow the route that leads away from the sea. This is described below.

      Following the inland route, go past the Oddfellows public house and a line of benches facing out to sea. There are boats beached on the shingle here and views back to Lowestoft harbour and the huge wind turbine beyond at Lowestoft Ness. Walk past a field that has a collection of beach huts and along a tarmac path with holiday chalets on the right. At the junction with the neighbouring holiday village, where there is a footpath sign pointing along Pakefield Cliffs and a Suffolk Coast Path sign pointing inland, take the latter, heading up a lane past Cliftonville residential cul-de-sac. Go straight on at the junction along Arbour Lane, and continue past the holiday park and a McDonald’s to reach a roundabout.

      The next section of a mile or so (1.6km) is not particularly pleasant walking, following a section of the busyA12. Go left along London Road towards the next roundabout and, just before reaching this, bear left along Catherine Terrace and Barnard Terrace, where a sign telegraph pole reassures that you are still on the Suffolk Coast Path. Cross the roundabout, past an ‘Ipswich A12’ sign and the entrance driveway to Pakefield Hall. At the next roundabout, bear left along the B1437 towards Kessingland.

      Passing woods on the left and a row of terraces on the right, soon come to a road (Cliff Farm Lane) on the left with a caravan park sign. Turn left along this road and, near the reception centre, bear right then shortly right again along a path (no sign) between a field and a wooded area. Turning a corner, the tall square tower of Kessingland’s St Edmund’s Church comes into view. The path continues between open fields parallel to the beach. Go past a footbridge over a ditch to the right and continue to the end of the field, at which point turn left following the Suffolk Coast Path sign. At the end of the path, where there is a house on the left, take the rough track to the right, which just after a footpath leading to the beach turns into a tarmac road with bungalows. Continue parallel to the beach, passing an information board on Kessingland parish, and then turn left along a narrow footpath next to a hedge and down steps to the beach where you turn right.

      Kessingland, once the summer residence of the novelist H Rider Haggard, consisted of two separate communities – Kessingland Beach and Kessingland Street – until the 1960s. The village is now a popular holiday centre with several holiday parks and an Africa-themed wildlife park, Africa Alive!

      The beach at Kessingland is a wide, windy expanse, where in high summer a number of specialist plant species such as sea kale, sea pea, sea holly and yellow-horned poppy are to be found growing among the shingle. Parts of the beach are barred to dogs between 1 May and 30 September, so dog walkers should use the promenade as an alternative. Walk along the shingle for a little less than 1½ miles (2.4km), past a holiday village at Kessingland’s southern edge, until reaching a fenced-off pumping station outfall at Benacre Ness. Between the outfall and the large brick pumping building pass through a gate that leads into Benacre National Nature Reserve, managed by Natural England.