Shotley Walk

Shotley is at the end of a peninsula between the Stour and Orwell estuaries and once was the naval training base of HMS Ganges until 1976 and the only thing left standing is the mask of HMS Ganges. I have been here before about fifty years ago when my brother Martin was stationed here when he first joined the navy.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 29/09/2013

• Distance: 6.4 Miles

• Car Park: Opposite the Bristol Arms at Shotley Gate IP9 1QP

• Refreshments: Bristol Arms & Tea on the Quay

• Photos Taken on Walk

We all went up there as a family for a open day I believe, they laid on displays and one was a number of sailors including Martin climbing up the mast, mind you they would not be able to do that now as it is in a bad condition and needs restoring. This was one of the places Martin & Eileen visited when they were over and he was quite upset to see the condition of the mask. 

The car park opposite the Bristol arms is right on the waterfront and this is where we started the walk, we managed to park there but there is only a few places mind you I believe you can park further down outside the HMS Ganges museum. we headed towards the museum and round the Marina and over the lock gates to Shotley Point from here you have good views of Felixstowe Docks.

From here we walked along the flood bank separating the marshes and mudflats and you can see redshank, lapwing and snipe wading birds digging in the mud. We passed some Grand houses along the way Shotley Hall which is used as a venue for weddings, Edwarton Hall. with its red-brick Tudor gatehouse. Later on the walk you have good views over the River Stour and here is where we stopped for a little time and had our packed lunch.

The rest of the walk we followed the Heath path along the Suffolk coast where you can see the Harwich International port on the other side and it was not long until we came back to the Bristol Arms. There was a ice cream van and after de-booting we treated ourselves to 99 and we then went to the HMS Ganges museum to have a look around, they have loads and loads of photos of sailors that had been there at sometime, tried to find a photo of Martin without any luck.