A Weekend in Lowestoft by Stephen Emms
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It’s a little known fact that famed Victorian architect Samuel Peto’s dream was for Lowestoft, the most easterly town in the UK, to rival Brighton. But it’s not hard to see why. Stretching from the golden sands and elegant squares of his South Beach right up to the historical conservation area perched on the cliffs, Lowestoft possesses an undeniable beauty, yet, unlike its swanky southern rival, is still an understated place.
Its story is the classic coastal yarn of prosperity from fishing, followed by Victorian development and post-war decline (it was the most bombed town per capita in the UK), but this has been reversed by a £14 million ‘Sunrise Scheme’, whose public art and European-style piazzas won the ‘Best Regeneration Project’ in Coast’s 2006 awards.
Culturally, compared to neighbour Southwold, its rebirth might just be beginning, but if you’re a fan of epic Dungeness or work-in-progress Folkestone, then you’ll fall for Lowestoft. And who knows? Peto’s dream may yet come true.
Saturday morning
Explore the historic high street, with its 15th-century cottages, grand Georgian merchant houses and Triangle Marketplace. Well-placed plaques dotted at regular intervals fill you in on some remarkable history – including tales of John Wesley, Cromwell, and Dickens – and there are dozens of independent shops selling everything from bric-a-brac and stamp collections to flowers and second-hand books.
After visiting Lowestoft Arts Centre, in the Triangle, grab a latte at the very stylish Vintage Café (101 High Street), a deli and brasserie with wood floors, retro wallpaper, comfy sofas, low-hanging lights – and some gorgeous, hand-selected vintage clothes.
Lunch
Head through town to the focus of the regeneration, the Royal Plain, a Europeanised piazza with ‘Sunrise’ mural and interactive fountain, whose 74 jets shriek, in summer, to the squeals of drenched kids in swimsuits. At South Pier, wander along the groined seafront, past the elegant Wellington Esplanade built by Samuel Peto (pick up a Peto guide at the Tourist Info), to Claremont pier, where Captain Nemo’s restaurant serves the best fish and chips in town: fried, grilled or poached.
You might prefer a take-away: as well as saving a few quid, what finer pleasure is there than devouring flakes of foot-long fish in the blustery sea breeze?
Afternoon
You can’t visit Lowestoft without exploring the best art gallery in town, so carry on battling the wall of wind along the esplanade, whilst admiring South Beach’s award-winning sands, and passing colourful huts, tufts of hairy dunes, and the manicured Kensington Gardens, until you reach Pakefield (a mile or so from Claremont Pier).
Pause at the shrubland beach with a bracing pint at the Jolly Sailors, before heading a hundred metres further to the Ferini Art Gallery (27 All Saints Road) where local artists display their work over two floors. Particularly recommended are Richard Dack’s evocative oil paintings and etchings of the area.
Evening
Lowestoft can’t yet boast a glut of top restaurants. Pricey Flint House, a 15th-century building on the historic High Street, has had mixed reviews for its multi-course menu (80 High St), but much more innovative is Go Fish (School Road). A waterfront eatery in a working boatyard, and brainchild of the quixotic June Mummery, whose day job is running a fish auctioneers, here, in a simple industrial space, you can enjoy the view of clinking masts and boats on stilts whilst sampling skate wing, whitebait or mackerel “so fresh it’s just jumped out of there,” as June says, pointing to the moon-reflected water.
Sunday morning
Ness Point is Britain’s most easterly outcrop, and an atmospheric start to a chilly Sunday. Wander across Belle Vue Park (Yarmouth Road) and, after popping into the Aladdin’s cave of the Maritime Museum (Sparrow’s Nest), cut across the wilderness, with its old netting posts, until you reach the Sea Wall promenade, built in 1947.
Hold your nose as you pass the hum of the Bird’s Eye factory, and you’ll soon encounter the circular grid that signifies Ness Point, with distances marked out to cities across the world. It’s satisfyingly bleak: you’ll have only the huge freighters of cloud, the odd fisherman perched on the rocks, and the dark waves for company.
Lunch
The southerly most point of the Broads is only a couple of miles west, so head over to Oulton Broad, with its bobbing boats, rattling masts, and arts and crafts shops, before lunch in nearby Oulton Village at the Blue Boar gastropub. In simple, seasidey blue-decked rooms with groove-panelling, you can choose from comfort food classics like salmon and crab cakes, hummus and brown shrimp, seared tuna, or roasted cod with tomatoes, olives, and crushed potatoes. They’re also well-known for excellent, well-priced Sunday lunches.
Hidden Gems
Oldest smokehouse in the UK
Established in 1760, Raglan Smoke House (35 Raglan Street) whose owner William Buckenham has kept it in his family for the last 50 years, is the destination for herring, mackerel, and haddock, all smoked for centuries without change.
Scores
The ‘scores’ (from the Norse ‘skor’, meaning notch) link the historic town to the beach area; explore them with the Red Herring trail (leaflets available in the tourist office at Royal Plain), as each contains an intriguing public art work by Paul Amey along its brick or flint-flanked walls.
Where to Stay
Bay Tree House
If you’re after boutique hotel/B’n’B accommodation, an excellent choice is Bay Tree House, 10 minutes’ walk from the historic high street, and just a moment from the cliff-top and shimmering horizon beyond.
A restored Victorian pile, it boasts stripped boards, eclectic period furniture, and chandeliers, but what really stands out is owner Liz Goldspink’s sheer delight in her job: fresh lilies and roses are strewn everywhere; on arrival, there’ll be home-made cakes waiting for you in your room (along with delicate chocolates); each day she bakes a different bread – spelt tin, raisin, orange & cinnamon, or bacon, black pepper and sage – and, in the summer you can enjoy her award-winning garden and dine alfresco.
Continental breakfast is included in the room price, but our advice is to opt for the full English, a perfect combination of locally-sourced or grown ingredients. Liz’s home-made marmalade is also deliciously tangy – try the Clementine and Cointreau.
Elsewhere in town, for direct sea views, try the traditional Britten House, where the composer Benjamin Britten was born and lived until he was 21; or for a ‘country house’ weekend, nearby Ivy House is popular but expensive.