Walkers can now explore a new 13-mile stretch of the King Charles III England Coast Path after a section along the Suffolk side of the Stour Estuary officially opened on Wednesday.
The new route links Cattawade and Shotley Gate, extending public access along one of Suffolk’s best-known estuarine landscapes and connecting with the existing coast path that continues north towards Southwold.
Running through Brantham, Stutton, Lower Holbrook and Harkstead, the trail follows the Stour Estuary before it meets the River Orwell and flows into the North Sea through Harwich Harbour. The route lies within the Suffolk and Essex Coast and Heaths National Landscape, an area internationally recognised for its habitats supporting wintering birds, including black-tailed godwits and dark-bellied Brent geese.
The trail combines established public rights of way with around 4.5 miles of newly created access. At Stutton Ness, part of the path has been moved inland to protect walkers from coastal erosion while maintaining views across the estuary.
Along the route, visitors pass several historic landmarks, including the site of Britain's first commercial plastics factory at Cattawade, St Mary's Church at Erwarton, which is linked to Anne Boleyn, and the Royal Hospital School at Holbrook, founded to educate the children of seafarers.
The walk ends at Shotley Gate, home to the former HMS Ganges naval training establishment, where more than 150,000 naval recruits trained between 1905 and 1976. From there, the England Coast Path continues around the Orwell Estuary.
Hannah Thacker, Natural England's Deputy Director for Norfolk and Suffolk, said the new section would give people access to "one of the county's most beautiful estuaries" and would provide an attractive destination for families during the summer holidays, with regular bus services linking Shotley Gate to Ipswich.
She added that the route includes a "rollback" mechanism, allowing sections of the path to be relocated inland in future if coastal erosion alters the shoreline.
Morgan Brobyn, Suffolk County Council's Cabinet Member for Food, Waste and Rural Affairs, said the latest section means walkers can now travel continuously from Cattawade to Southwold along around 120 miles of the coast path in Suffolk, with only a short section still to be completed.
The opening marks another milestone in the development of the King Charles III England Coast Path, which is expected to become a continuous 2,700-mile walking route around the English coastline. The trail was officially inaugurated by King Charles III in March and is being delivered by Natural England with UK government funding.
