Yesterday we drove to the enchanting coastal village of Orford and took a ferry across the narrow sea channel that divides the village from Orford Ness.
Orford Ness is a vast, treeless island of marshland and shingle. Nowadays it is mostly a nature reserve overseen by The National Trust. However, through history it has seen many episodes - often connected with military matters.
Back in the nineteen fifties it hosted several vast and secret bunkers that were connected with the development of nuclear weaponry. Men and women in white coats stood behind banks of dials as Britain and her allies contemplated a brutal modern war with The Soviet Union.
Nuclear bunker - Orford Ness
There's a lot of military debris on Orford Ness and some areas remain prohibited because of unexploded bombs. I walked in the ruin of a nuclear testing laboratory and felt grateful that we left those awful Cold War times behind us... Didn't we?
How many pebbles are there on Orford Ness? Zillions of them. I found several with holes - eroded right through and I thought that somewhere on that windswept island there is probably a perfectly spherical pebble but you could spend many lifetimes searching for it.
It's a strange landscape of seaside vegetation and bits of concrete and metal as geese honk overheard and a wary heron flies off . Of course we visited the seaward eighteenth century lighthouse that gets closer to the North Sea each winter and must one day, like the rest of us, submit to the inevitable.
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| Handwoven hassock (kneeling cushion) in Orford Church |
I think you've been hacked by the Hack Geeks.
ReplyDeleteWow. That IS a zillion stones. I always wondered what a zillion looks like and now I know.
I wish I didn't live in a world where the words "nuclear bunker" existed.
I believe that kneeling pad is made of needlepoint which at one point in my life I used to spend some time doing. It's a nice one. I did one once of a Bob Dylan quote which was, "To live outside the law you must be honest." I still believe that. Which is not what hackers believe, I would assume.
At some time in the recent past the women of Orford made perhaps a hundred hassocks - each one different from the next. I just picked that one out because of the scene. I hope that The Hack Geeks burn in hell.
DeleteSimply leaving a comment, even an unwanted one, on a blog is not hacking.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Bob.
DeleteWhat a cool place! I definitely want to go there. I love that first picture with all the pebbles and the lighthouse. I hope we've left the Cold War behind us, but I fear that's not the case.
ReplyDeleteI think you would love the Suffolk coast as much as we have done but we have been very fortunate with the weather. It makes all the difference.
DeleteOne of the things I have always wanted to do in my life before it ends is to stay in a lighthouse for a little time. Alas, don't think that will happen, but some of our friends spent the weekend in such a place in Maine. They had a wonderful time. The top picture of the stones is magnificent, brother. But the pictures of the installation and the sign really creep me out! One can always hope, never again, but.......
ReplyDeleteThe sounds and the signs of recent months suggest that more shit could easily hit the fan and drive World Peace back into her box.
DeleteWhat an intriguing place, a combination of beautiful and eerie all rolled together. The pebble covered shore is lovely. Is it hard to walk on?
ReplyDeleteYes it can be hard to walk on Jenny. It's twice the effort and you are always accompanied by a crrunch-crrunch sound ... but every pebble is a little bit different from the next one.
DeleteMy landlord's brother and sister-in-law live at Orford. They run a little tea house there.
ReplyDeleteActually, my landlords will be heading off to there within the next couple of weeks. The two brothers enjoy going fishing together.
Every year, between September-October my landlords visit Orford for a few weeks. And every other year or so the folk from Orford visit here.
http://www.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=27535&cmd=sp&place=Orford%20Ness&file=Orford%5FNess%2Ehtm
DeleteFor your information....
I never realised there was an Orford Ness in Australia! Thanks for the heads up Lee!
DeleteTo be honest with you, Yorkie...until this morning...neither was I! lol
DeleteArmed forces never seem to be able to clean up a site. I visited a WW II radio site in the arctic. They just blasted the 300 foot tower down and left it there. Much of the DEW line site was left on Richardson Island.
ReplyDeleteThere must be many thousands of "bits" left by the military on Orford Ness. They must have thought that the ad slogan "Keep Britain Tidy" did not apply to them!
DeleteEven the wreckage of a former nuclear facility makes my hair stand on end.
ReplyDeleteAlphie
What a waste of human ingenuity! A nuclear waste!
DeleteIn another remarkable coincidence, one day just along a bit, at Thorpeness, I found a stone with a hole in it. I was told it used to be considered very lucky to carry such a stone with you at all times, as it keeps witches away. It's worked ever since, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteIf I had searched for a couple of hours I am sure I could have found enough holey stones to make a necklace.
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