Sizewell Belts

Sizewell C nuclear power station is a project to construct a 3,200 MWe nuclear power station with two EPR reactors in Suffolk, England. The project was proposed by a consortium of EDF Energy and China General Nuclear Power Group, which own 80% and 20% of the project respectively. In 2022, the UK Government announced a buy-out to allow for the exit of CGN from the project and forming a 50% stake with EDF, though EDF expect this to fall below 20% following anticipated external investment. As of 30 June 2024, the project is 76.1% owned by the UK Government and 23.9% owned by EDF. The power station is expected to meet up to 7% of the UK's demand. The project is expected to commence in 2024, with construction taking between nine and twelve years, depending on developments at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, which is also being developed by EDF Energy and which shares major similarities with the Sizewell plant.

The Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Suffolk and Essex, England. The AONB covers ancient woodland, commercial forestry, the estuaries of the Alde, Blyth, Deben, Orwell and Stour rivers, farmland, salt marsh, heathland, mudflats, reed beds, small towns and villages, shingle beaches and low eroding cliffs along 60 miles of coastline. Features include the coastal towns of Aldeburgh and Southwold, Bawdsey, Covehithe, Dunwich, Minsmere, Orford, Orford Ness, Sizewell, Thorpeness, Walberswick and the RSPB Minsmere Reserve. There are three National Nature Reserves in the area and many Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Three long-distance footpaths pass through the AONB: the Suffolk Coast Path, the Sandlings Walk and the Stour and Orwell Walk. In July 2020 the AONB was extended by around 38 square kilometres to cover land north of Brantham, and an area around Mistley and Wrabness in Essex. It was the first extension to any AONB in England since 2011.

Sizewell is an English fishing hamlet in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It belongs to the civil parish of Leiston and lies on the North Sea coast just north of the larger holiday village of Thorpeness, between the coastal towns of Aldeburgh and Southwold. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the town of Leiston and belongs within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. It is the site of two nuclear power stations, one of them still active. There have been tentative plans for a third station to be built at the site.

Sizewell Hall houses a Christian conference centre in Sizewell on the Suffolk coast, England. The estate is owned by the Ogilvie family. Back in the 1950s it housed a progressive school for 7–13s. It has historical connections with a classic taxidermy collection. The present Christian conference centre is run by Sizewell Hall Ltd, a registered charity. In 2007, 6,500 visitors stayed there, mainly local church groups from East Anglia, national bodies and a local youth organisation CYM from Ipswich. CYM has developed an activity holiday for schoolchildren in the African Village in the Hall grounds.

RSPB Minsmere is a nature reserve owned and managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) at Minsmere, Suffolk. The 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) site has been managed by the RSPB since 1947 and covers areas of reed bed, lowland heath, acid grassland, wet grassland, woodland and shingle vegetation. It lies within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Suffolk Heritage Coast area. It is conserved as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and Ramsar site. The nature reserve is managed primarily for bird conservation, particularly through control and improvement of wetland, heath and grassland habitats, with particular emphasis on encouraging nationally uncommon breeding species such as the bittern, stone-curlew, marsh harrier, nightjar and nightingale. The diversity of habitats has also led to a wide variety of other animals and plants being recorded on the site. Before becoming a nature reserve, the area was the site of an ancient abbey and a Tudor artillery battery. The marshes were reclaimed as farmland in the 19th century, but were re-flooded during World War II as a protection against possible invasion. The reserve has a visitor centre, eight bird hides and an extensive network of footpaths and trails. Entry is free for RSPB members. Potential future threats to the site include flooding or salination as climate change causes rising sea levels, coastal erosion and possible effects on water levels due to the construction of a new reactor at the neighbouring Sizewell nuclear power stations.

Eastbridge is a village in the English county of Suffolk. It is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Leiston, 2 miles (3.2 km) from the North Sea in the parish of Theberton, immediately south of the Minsmere RSPB reserve. It borders the Minsmere River which cuts through an area of drained and undrained wetland known as the Minsmere Level. Eastbridge Windpump, which stood on the Minsmere Level marshes, is preserved at the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket. The marshes are also the site of the remains of the medieval chapel of St Mary which stands on the original site of Leiston Abbey. The chapel ruins date from the 12th-century and include a World War II pill box which was built into the walls to protect against invasion. The site is a scheduled monument. Located in Eastbridge is the Eels Foot Inn, an ale-house dating as far back as 1533 which obtained a full license to sell alcohol in 1950. Because of its proximity to the sea, the pub was a favourite stop of travellers, drovers and smugglers. The pub is the main feature of the small village. It is associated with folk music, and hosts a weekly gathering in which people sing songs and play folk tunes.

Minsmere River is a river in the English county of Suffolk which flows into the North Sea at Minsmere. The river is formed from the River Yox at Yoxford before flowing through Middleton, Eastbridge and Minsmere. It flows to the south of Minsmere RSPB reserve helping to form many of the wetland habitats at the reserve. The river valley was largely drained and used as agricultural land in the past. The original course of the river, the Minsmere Old River, runs to the north of the Minsmere New Cut, an artificial drainage channel built in 1812. This reaches the sea at Minsmere Sluice, a tidal sluice which discharges water from the channels into the sea.

Minsmere is a place in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast around 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north of Leiston and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of Westleton within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. It is the site of the Minsmere RSPB reserve and the original site of Leiston Abbey.

Alde Valley Academy is a secondary school with academy status in Leiston in the English county of Suffolk. It has approximately 500 pupils aged 11 to 16, and a staff count of approximately 82. It draws pupils from the surrounding coastal area, including the towns of Leiston, Aldeburgh and Saxmundham. The academy was previously known as Leiston Community High School and was, for many years a 13 to 18 school. In September 2012, as part of reorganisation of high school education in Suffolk, the school became an 11 to 18 school and rebranded itself as Alde Valley School, a name chosen to reflect its large and rural catchment area. On 1 January 2015, Alde Valley School converted to an academy sponsored by the Bright Tribe Trust. The school is now known as Alde Valley Academy. In 2019 the school joined Waveney Valley Academies Trust. The academy's ethos is underpinned the motto 'Achievement for All'. The Acting Headteacher is Mr J Harris and the Deputy Headteacher is Mrs L Isaac. The academy was awarded a 'good' rating in 2017.

Leiston Abbey outside the town of Leiston, Suffolk, England, was a religious house of Canons Regular following the Premonstratensian rule (White canons), dedicated to St Mary. Founded in c. 1183 by Ranulf de Glanville (c. 1112-1190), Chief Justiciar to King Henry II (1180-1189), it was originally built on a marshland isle near the sea, and was called "St Mary de Insula". Around 1363 the abbey suffered so much from flooding that a new site was chosen and it was rebuilt further inland for its patron, Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk (1298-1369). However, there was a great fire in c. 1379 and further rebuilding was necessary. The house was suppressed in 1537. A Cartulary or monastic register survives. The Abbey's annual rolls of their court of wreck from 1378 to 1481 are a most important historical resource. A series of late visitations, and a list of abbots, are in Premonstratensian records. The impressive remains of the second abbey stand in the fields to the west of the road going north out of Leiston towards Theberton. After the Abbey was closed the estate was granted to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The Abbey became a farm, the farmhouse being built into the abbey walls. A Georgian frontage was added to the house, which was extended in the 1920s. In 1928 the ruins and farm were bought by Ellen Wrightson for use as a religious retreat. At her death in 1946 she bequeathed the house, ruins, land and buildings to the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It was purchased in 1977 to become the home of the Pro Corda Trust, a centre for the specialized education and training of chamber musicians. The site is managed by them, and is in the guardianship of English Heritage.

Leiston ( LAY-stən) is a town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is close to Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, 21 miles (34 km) north-east of Ipswich and 90 miles (145 km) north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at the 2011 Census.

Thorpeness railway station served the seaside resort of Thorpeness in Suffolk, England. It was opened in 1914 by the Great Eastern Railway on its 8.5-mile (13.7 km) branch line from Saxmundham. It was closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching Axe.As of 2023 the platform of the former station, now overgrown with vegetation, survives, just north of the B1353 road nearly a mile west of the coast. The trackbed is now a footpath.