"I hear those voices that will not be drowned"
Curious painted Villas' stand facing the sea, their picture windows thrown open to capture the bracing North Sea winds and the sound of the shifting shingle shore. Salt worn shacks proffer their sea-food treats and Gull's swoon predatory over strewn fishing nets and those brave enough to walk openly with food. This is Aldeburgh (Old Fort,) an area of outstanding natural beauty (ANOB) which has been immortalised in Benjamin Britten's opera 'Peter Grimes'.
It is the A1094 that will take you to Aldeburgh, through the beautiful Suffolk landscape and curiously named Anglo-Saxon village’s resplendent with their village greens appearing little unchanged since that time. Heath, woodland and characterful houses surrounded by their moats evoke the beautiful writings of Roger Deakin who lived in and loved this part of England.
It is, of course, Benjamin Britten who made Aldeburgh his home and subsequently famous for its annual music festival in nearby Snape (The Maltings) which he, along with singer Peter Pears and librettist Eric Crozier, founded in 1948. Britten settled here with his partner, the Opera singer Peter Pears in 1947 and the sound of the sea can be prominently heard in Britten’s work. He set about making Aldeburgh a home to music with the instigating of the music festival. Both Britten and Pears are buried 'side by side' in the parish graveyard of SS Peter and Paul church. A memorial window created by artist John Piper can be found here. http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk/
Aldeburgh: Heath and wild flowers greet the shingle shore.
The charm of Aldeburgh is the shoreline and wild flowers. Winter lilac and swathes of fennel dominate and stand proud. The 16th Century 'Moot hall' appears foreign in its isolated positioning with its late mediaeval architecture on the sea-edge. To the south stands a Martello tower and a converted windmill; architectural follies in the maritime. We must remind ourselves that this is also where great ships were once built. Francis Drake's 'Greyhound & Golden Hind' were made here in Aldeburgh.
Aldeburgh High Street is home to a handful of galleries, of sorts; mostly 'daubs' yet the Peter Pears gallery is more notable. The visitor will come to discover Aldeburgh’s famed 'Fish & Chip' shops. These two shops have been owned by the same family since the 1970's and are widely known to be the very best on the east coast, should such a thing exist.
Aldeburgh’s only drawback is that it attracts hordes of pretentious middle-classes posing with designer pushchairs and threatening their children with the 'naughty-step' and a visit from Gary Glitter (sic - comment by Mr. L Thompson). Let this not deter you, they drive back to the 'home counties' by tea-time and leave us to the ghost of Peter Grimes and the haunting sound of Britten, miasma-like in the wind and crash of wave.
To the north of Aldeburgh stands 'the scallop’, a work by Suffolk artist Maggie Hambling (2003) which stands amid the shingle. It’s fan shaped metal shell akin to a WWII listening device. It carries the Peter Grimes line "I hear those voices that will not be drowned". Imposing and controversial for this very reason, it appears an appropriate gesture to the great place.
The Scallop (2003) Maggie Hambling.
Aldeburgh is indeed a treasure. I find myself contently coming to spend a week in winter here. It is all about the wind, sea and the music of Benjamin Britten. Enjoy and treasure this truly special place.
Monty Trumpington. June 2011.
A link to a short piece of film by make space film company:
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