Introduction to Suffolk
Suffolk has a gentle coast, mainly sand and shingle, with a few low cliffs. It faces the enclosed North Sea, so the rise and fall of the tide is slight - a couple of metres usually, compared with Cornwall's 13-15m.
The beaches tend to be fairly straight sections of coastline rather than picturesque bays, but the bathing is safe and, in the past, the fishing has been reliable.
Being sheltered from the west winds that come off the Atlantic, the shore does not get pounded as often here as elsewhere. When the wind comes from the north, in a winter storm, however, the sand is easily eroded. The effect that this has had is described in the Shifting Coastline section of Introduction to Suffolk.
The effects of facing Europe on trade and defence are discussed in the Introduction to Suffolk. Not mentioned there, however, is the prevalence of smuggling - often thought of as a romantic interlude in the 18 th and early 19 th centuries, but also a very real concern for the port authorities at Felixstowe and elsewhere in the present day.
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