Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Aldringham-cum-Thorpe is situated in the Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB. Discover more about this lovely area from their website. Read of the Special Qualities which define the AONB and will be taken into account by EDF, who prepared the document, if Sizewell C is built.

Monthly Updates are now being published by the AONB Team and can be seen on the left.

Walks, Public Rights of Way & Countryside Access 

There are lovely walks throughout the Parish and beyond. Find local footpaths, more information and links to useful websites relating to the county and how to explore on the Tourist Information page.

If you enjoy our beautiful environment why not find out more about Suffolk’s Public Rights of Way & Countryside Access by visiting the one-stop source of information for walkers, landowners and other lovers of the countryside, put together by the Suffolk's Rights of Way Officers.

Thorpeness Coastal Erosion

In common with other parts of the Suffolk Coast Thorpeness is suffering from erosion caused by the sea and high winds. 

The report on the further studies on the coastal defences at Thorpeness being carried out by Mott McDonald on behalf of SCDC is now expected by the end of 2016. See Suffolk Coastal District Council's website for the latest news on the coastal protection work.

The Thorpeness Coastal Futures Group is an independent body established to seek, promote and communicate a suitable shoreline management strategy for the village of Thorpeness. It draws its members from the local community, and from the wider public, academic, professional, governmental and non-governmental organisations who want to see a successful and appropriate future for the village.

The Environment Agency

The EA looks after our surroundings and their website has lots of information.

Flood and Water Management at Suffolk County Council has created the “Report a flood in Suffolk” webpage. This helps to inform users which organisation they should report their flood to, and provides links to try and make this process as simple as possible. See this page for more information about flooding.

Alde & Ore Association & Alde & Ore Estuary Partnership 

The Alde & Ore Futures project was set up to help rural coastal communites develop plans for a long term sustainable future. The good work of the pilot project now continues through the Alde & Ore Association, helping to find ways to preserve the local river estuaries.

The Alde & Ore Estuary Partnership (AOEP) was formed in 2012 and took on local responsibility for upgrading and maintaining the flood defences in the Alde and Ore Estuary. In the 3 ½ years since formation, the AOEP has assessed the sustainability of the current defences and designed the upgrades which will be required to give a 1:200 standard in 2050. This means that, although the defences may be overtopped during a surge tide, they should not breach. The Estuary Plan detailing the flood defence management for the whole estuary has been agreed and endorsed by the District Council, the final statutory authority to pass the Estuary Plan. Work can now start in earnest!

The river defences in the Alde and Ore Estuary affect every one of us living and working here and the Alde & Ore Estuary Partnership is keen to encourage active support from everyone locally. They would be delighted to hear from you if would like to help. Anyone with IT/website experience, or wishing to offer practical help on the estuary – monitoring saltings restoration and sheep grazing trials, river wall assessments (only once a year) are a number of ways to be involved. If you would like get involved with the Partnership, or receive the newsletter please let Amanda Bettinson, Partnership Secretary, know - email: amanda.bettinson@gmail.com.

Read how the tidal surge on 5 December 2013 affected the Alde & Ore, the Partnership's progress since the surge, reports, Minutes of meetings and much more on the Partnership's website.

Suffolk Preservation Society

The Society is a the only charity dedicated to Suffolk alone that stands up robustly for Suffolk's environment - its historic buildings, towns and villages, distinctive landscapes and the sustainability of its communities. Read about the work they do on their website.

Rainfall in Aldringham

Rainfall in the Parish varies from year to year. I've recorded it for the 15 years to 31 December 2016 near Aldeburgh Road in Aldringham and thought my spreadsheet might interest some of you.  If you have Excel on your PC you can see my comments too, by hovering over cells with red tabs (the floods refer to the Hundred River overflowing it's banks) - otherwise use the PDF version.