Felixstowe

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A view of Languard Fort

Felixstowe is a North Sea seaport in Suffolk, England. It is the largest container port in the United Kingdom.

A village has stood on the site since before the Norman conquest, eventually becoming a lynchpin in England's defence, as proved when in 1667 Dutch soldiers landed and failed to capture the local Martello Tower. The town only became a major port in 1886. In addition to shipping, tourism increased, and a pier was constructed in 1905. Indeed, during the late Victorian period (after circa 1880) it became a fashionable resort, a trend initiated by the opening of Felixstowe railway station, the pier, (see above) and a visit by the then German royal family. It remained so until the late 1930s.

During the Second World War the majority of the pier, at the time one of the longest in the country and complete with its own train, was purposely demolished by Royal Engineers to prevent it being used as an easy landing point for enemy troops. Unfortunately after the war the damage was never repaired and the pier never regained its original length. Felixstowe was also one of the few places bombed by the Italians during the blitz. Mussolini's airforce proved to be no match for the RAF, who shot down a fair number of Italian biplanes over the channel and around Felixstowe itself - one of the few pictures of a shot-down Italian plane over the UK being from here.

By the late 1990s the pier been neglected so badly that it was deemed to be unsafe and closed to the public. Ambitious plans have been presented from time to time since the closure of the pier for its redevelopment along with large disused areas of the seafront near the former site of the Felixstowe Beach railway station, but as yet nothing has come of them.

The beach railway station itself was demolished in 2004 despite a storm of protest from many local people keen on saving the 137 year-old historical building which the council had branded as 'unsafe'. The station was originally opened in 1877 and was used continuously until 1959, after which it was the site of a small printers for many years until its demolition.

Felixstowe also had a third station, Felixstowe Pier, which was actually sited inside the area of the modern day docks at a small pier popular with pleasure boats. This station was the first to close in 1951. The only remaining station, previously known as Felixstowe Town, opened in 1898 in the well-preserved building which now houses a Solar supermarket. In its prime the station saw more than 20 services an hour, but now hosts only one (the service to Ipswich) on its single remaining platform, which has been created from the far end of one of the original platforms.

Felixstowe is twinned with the German towns Wesel and Salzwedel. It is administered by Suffolk County Council Suffolk Coastal District Council, and Felixstowe Town Council.

There is a nature reserve and bird observatory at Landguard Fort and a [Golf Club]which is amongst the oldest in the UK having been established in 1881.

The Rt. Hon. Arthur Balfour Captain of the Golf Club in 1889, became Captain of the R&A in 1894 and British Prime Minister from 1902-1908.

Today Felixstowe is one of Britain's top three ports (along with Southampton and Tilbury), dealing with 35% of container cargo, and is Europe's fourth busiest, after Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp. In 2002 it was ranked 20th in the world. It has good road links to the Midlands via the A14 and to London via the A12 road. The single-track railway line to Ipswich has recently been upgraded to allow larger containers, and many containers are now transported by rail.

The town is also noted for its Spa Pavilion theatre and Sunday Market, the latter being larger than the one at nearby Ipswich.

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