Undoubtedly beautiful, Covehithe is sometimes called ‘the beach at the end of the world’ and it does have a post-apocalyptic feel to it.
Backed by sandstone cliffs that crumble like cake, no other place in Britain suffers such a high rate of coastal erosion; the North Sea has encroached here by some 1,640ft since 1830 (about five football pitches) and there’s even a little lane, running from South Cove past the medieval ruins of St Andrew’s Church, which stops abruptly at the cliff edge.
Strange and evocative dead trees that once grew on the clifftop protrude from the sands, salt-blasted, together with the remains of a wartime pillbox that crashed down some years ago.
On the far side of the cliff is Benacre Broad, a lagoon where bearded reedlings, water rails and little terns impassively watch the waves’ approach.
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