13th May 2020

cycle
© sasastro
This will be my last daily walk diary entry. Today, those who are fit and well can go further afield for their exercise and do so more than once a day so essentially lockdown has finished. I know it hasn't for all of you but these daily walks were my way of recording the worst (and the best)  of the lockdown. I will still be going  for walks, I will still be taking and uploading photos, just not doing so  daily.
 
So for  our last Covid-19 self isolation walk we went further afield, I kept saying I missed the sea so this was our first chance in 51 days to go coastal. We took ourselves off to Felixstowe where it was cold and blowing a gale!
 
We start at the unloved end of Felixstowe. Beach huts back and front. Are they peculiarly British? They can be seen at most coastal places, some ornate and some less so. Coastguards atop a Martello Tower, I suspect they too are forgotten key-worker heroes. Manning's amusements closed, even the fountain has been stopped. Work has continued on the refurbished Fantasia. The pier also closed, the boardwalk locked and gated. The fountain on the seafront gardens is turned on, just as well public loos are nearby. A showy yellow shrub which Google tells me is called Phlomis. A Rock Rose looks more like tissue paper than a rock. People admire the gardens from above.
 
There are some beautiful buildings in Felixstowe, I think the one on the corner of Tomline Road may be Edwardian. No idea when the pink painted one dates from.  
 
Hamilton Road is empty of shoppers except for the socially distant queue at Tesco. A cycle looking like an art installation thanks the NHS and key workers. I had no idea there was a St Felix. seems he was the first bishop of the East Angles and is credited with bringing Christianity to us Heathen lot.
 
More flowers along the sea front where former hotels overlook seaside chalets. More beach huts too. Spa Pavilion is closed, awaiting its next summer season, whenever that will be. Meanwhile a dog patiently awaits the resumption of his walk.
 
The wind blows clouds in over the pier moments later the sky is clear. I couldn't resist the 3 pigeons, I liked the one that refused to conform. 50p to see the sea, or just look for free. Children play whilst adults seek shelter from the wind. Behind the beach huts a wildflower strip looks colourful.