Bawdsey

The Red Crag Formation is a geological formation in England. It outcrops in south-eastern Suffolk and north-eastern Essex. The name derives from its iron-stained reddish colour and crag which is an East Anglian word for shells. It is part of the Crag Group, a series of notably marine strata which belong to a period when Britain was connected to continental Europe by the Weald–Artois Anticline, and the area in which the Crag Group was deposited was a tidally dominated marine bay. This bay would have been subjected to enlargement and contraction brought about by transgressions and regressions driven by the 40,000-year Milankovitch cycles. The sediment in the outcrops mainly consists of coarse-grained and shelly sands that were deposited in sand waves (megaripples) that migrated parallel to the shore in a south-westward direction. The most common fossils are bivalves and gastropods that were often worn by the abrasive environment. The most extensive exposure is found at Bawdsey Cliff, which is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI); here a width of around 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of Crag is exposed. At the coastline by Walton-on-the-Naze, remains of megalodon were found.The Red Crag Formation at depth in eastern Suffolk clearly has one member, the Sizewell Member, a coarse shelly sand with thin beds of clay and silt. It was interpreted as having been deposited in large scale sand waves where the sea bed was deeper. The overlying Thorpeness Member, was provisionally assigned to the Red Crag based on its lithology but there is more evidence to suggest that it is part of the Norwich Crag Formation. It has been proposed that the Red Crag started in the late Pliocene and to have possibly extended up into the early Pleistocene, but there is disagreement on more precise dating. According to the British Geological Survey, the Red Crag sits within a segment of time from about 3.3 to 2.5 mya. It is considered that the Red Crag at Walton-on-the–Naze is the oldest and that it was deposited in only a few decades at some time between 2.9 and 2.6 mya. This has led to the UK stratigraphic stage name Waltonian, which is usually correlated with the final Pliocene Reuverian Stage in the Netherlands. There are difficulties in reconciling how the Red Crag equates with international chronological stages. In particular, the start and end dates are poorly defined due to the general paucity of age-diagnostic stratigraphic indicators and the fragmentary nature of the geology. It can also be difficult to separate the Red Crag from the overlying Norwich Crag Formation.

Bawdsey Cliff is a 17.4-hectare (43-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Felixstowe in Suffolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.This two kilometre long section provides the largest exposure of the Early Pleistocene Red Crag Formation, and it is rich in fossils of marine molluscs. It is described by Natural England as having great potential for the study of non-glacial Pleistocene environments.The site is in the publicly accessible Bawdsey Beach.

Alderton is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about six miles north of Felixstowe, 10 miles south-east of Woodbridge and 2 miles south of Hollesley, on the North Sea coast and in the heart of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 2007 its population was 430, reducing to 423 at the 2011 Census.

Buckanay Farm Pit, Alderton is a 0.7-hectare (1.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Alderton in Suffolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.This fossiliferous site exposes rocks of the marine Red Crag Formation, with a megaripple sequence showing the gradual reduction in depth of the sea. The Red Crag spans the end of the Pliocene around 2.6 million years ago and the start of the succeeding Pleistocene.There is access to the site from Buckanay Lane.

Royal Air Force Bawdsey or more simply RAF Bawdsey is a former Royal Air Force station situated on the eastern coast in Suffolk, England. Also known as Bawdsey Research Station (BRS), the first Chain Home radar station was built there, characterized by eight tall masts, four for transmitting and four for receiving. When the research group moved to Dundee in September 1939, the radar station was left active under the name RAF Bawdsey. The site later hosted a Bristol Bloodhound surface-to-air missile station until 1990, with the station closing in 1991.

Bawdsey Manor stands at a prominent position at the mouth of the River Deben close to the village of Bawdsey in Suffolk, England, about 75 miles (120 km) north-east of London. Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter. Requisitioned by the Devonshire Regiment during World War I and having been returned to the Quilter family after the war, it was purchased by the Air Ministry for £24,000 in 1936 to establish a new research station for developing the Chain Home RDF (radar) system. RAF Bawdsey was a base through the Cold War until the 1990s. The manor is now used by PGL for courses and children's holidays. There is a small museum in the radar transmitter block.

Shingle Street is a coastal settlement on the North Sea coast of the English county of Suffolk. It is 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Felixstowe and 12 miles (19 km) east of Ipswich at the mouth of the River Ore and opposite the tip of Orford Ness. It is within the parish of Hollesley with HM Young Offender Institution Hollesley Bay Colony nearby. A report from October 2004 suggests that Shingle Street is at risk from coastal erosion and flooding and could disappear within 20 years if sea defences are not erected.

Felixstowe Ferry is a hamlet in Suffolk, England, approximately two miles northeast of Felixstowe at the mouth of the River Deben with a ferry to the Bawdsey peninsula. Two Martello towers dominate the sea front. The Felixstowe Ferry Millennium Green Trust was set up in 2001 to save an area of land from building development and put it to use as a community open space for recreational use. The land became known as the Millennium Green.

The River Deben is a river in Suffolk rising to the west of Debenham, though a second, higher source runs south from the parish of Bedingfield. The river passes through Woodbridge, turning into a tidal estuary before entering the North Sea at Felixstowe Ferry. The mouth of the estuary is crossed by a ferry connecting Felixstowe and Bawdsey.

Hollesley is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk east of Ipswich in eastern England. Located on the Bawdsey peninsula five miles south-east of Woodbridge, in 2005 it had a population of 1,400 increasing to 1,581 at the 2011 Census. Hollesley Bay Prison is located nearby. The Irish writer Brendan Behan, arrested for I.R.A. activities in 1939, was sent there, subsequently describing his experiences in Borstal Boy. Since 2002 the prison has been repeatedly criticised for the apparently large number of escapes, which has led to the nickname "Holiday Bay".The church of All Saints is thought to date from the 11th century. The tower and church bell date from the 15th century. The stained glass is by the Welsh artist Meg Lawrence.Hollesley Bay is a nearby coastal feature.

HM Prison Warren Hill is a male prison located near the village of Hollesley in Suffolk, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is situated next to Hollesley Bay Prison.

The River Alde and River Ore form a river system in Suffolk, England passing by Snape and Aldeburgh. The River Alde and River Ore meet northwest of Blaxhall. From there downriver the combined river is known as the River Alde past Snape and Aldeburgh, and then again as the River Ore as it approaches Orford and flows by a shingle spit before emptying into the North Sea. Both rivers are named by back-formation from key towns on their route: the Alde is named from Aldeburgh, and the Ore is named from Orford.The first section of the River Ore flows around 18 kilometres (11 mi) from its sources west of Dennington south and east through Framlingham, Parham and Marlesford, meeting the River Alde to the northwest of Blaxhall.The source of the River Alde is Brundish near Laxfield in the same area as the River Blyth. Soon after combining with the River Ore, it reaches Snape where it becomes tidal and widens considerably. It meanders east past Aldeburgh, before being turned south and running parallel to the coastline behind a narrow shingle spit. The River Ore is the name of the final section of around 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) of the river, from just above Orford to the sea. It has one tributary, the Butley River, and Havergate Island is found at their confluence. Though it once entered the sea near Orford, the mouth of the river has now been pushed some five miles further south as shingle has accumulated over hundreds of years. During Tudor times, the river served as a port from which four ships were launched to fight against the Spanish Armada. The river no longer serves as a commercial port but as an area for yacht sailing. The lower reaches of the river pass through marshland and shingle or sand beaches, most of which is now owned by the National Trust as the "Orford Ness National Nature Reserve". Before the National Trust took ownership of this land, it was the site of a secret military base where Cobra Mist trials of over-the-horizon radar were carried out during the Cold War.The shingle spit that blocks the river, Orford Ness, is now some 10 miles in length and is owned by the National Trust, The main area through which the Rivers Alde and Ore flow is open countryside in private ownership, much of it arable farmland. The tidal reaches (below Snape Bridge) are within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as well as being a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a designated Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area. An RSPB reserve, Boyton Marshes, is situated between the River Ore and the Butley River. A registered charity, the Alde & Ore Association, exists to "preserve and protect for the public benefit the Alde, Ore and Butley Creek rivers and their banks from Shingle Street to their tidal limits".The novel What I Was by Meg Rosoff is set on the coastline where the River Ore meets the sea.