THE Suffolk Aldeburgh ('Aldeburc' of Domesday) —to which we must add 'on sea' to distinguish it from other Aldeburghs, of slightly different spellings, in Norfolk and Essex—lies right on the coast of the North Sea, four miles east of the main London to Yarmouth road.

It consists mainly of two streets, each a mile long and parallel to each other, more or less at sea level, which contain the business and shops of the town. Looking down on this from the inland side is the higher residential area, reached on foot by two long flights of steps between the shops and commanding wide views of the open sea. One of these flights is known as the Town Steps and halfway up stands a reminder of the town's ancient water supply in the shape of an iron pump, cast in 1840 at the nearby foundry of Newson Garrett of Leiston.

For centuries Aldeburgh has waged a losing battle with the sea, in the course of which several streets have disappeared beneath the waves.

Between 1767 and 1779 a number of disasters of this sort occurred, one carrying away a whole street and 11 houses in a single tide, includingthe cottage where George Crabbe (1754-1832), the Aldeburgh poet, was born, to which refers in the following lines: Till some fierce tide, with more imperious sway Sweeps the low hut and all it holds away.

Much the same applies to Slaughden Quay mile and a half to the south of the borough, arid again Crabbe refers: Ton is our quay where smaller ships from town Their various wares for country use bring down.

In times gone by this was a busy port containing many warehouses and boatbuilding yards, also the Three Mariners Inn where the boatbuilders quenched their thirst and the smugglers foregathered. Many a tale is told any unfortunate preventive officer who happened to arrive when business was in hand and had his head pushed down a rabbit hole and stake driven between his legs to keep him quiet until the contraband was safely conveyed inland.

Today Slaughden contains a few longshoremen's huts, the headquarters of the Aldeburgh Yacht Club and a number of yachts riding their moorings in the River Aide, in place of the working boats which wended their way up the treacherous tideway to Snape Makings, now home of the Aldeburgh Festival, rebuilt after disastrous fire in 1969.

It is here at Slaughden that the river almost enters the sea, but is turned inland by Havergate Island, which is virtually a shingle bar several miles long—a feature of the east coast rivers caused by the southward tidal drift—and breeding ground for avocets and numerous other sea birds. Thereafter the river wanders south, inside this bar, past Orford wherebecomes the Ore, eventually meeting the sea at Orfordness.

High upon the hill at the town's approach from inland stands the Church of Ss. Peter and Paul with a ring of six bells and a large giltfaced clock. Immediately inside the main door is a beautiful beaten copper panel in memory of the seven life-boatmen who lost their lives in the 1899 disaster to The Aldeburgh, and in a quiet corner of the churchyard is an awe-inspiring monument overshadowing the seven crosses raised to these brave men. Inside the church there is also a bust of George Crabbe sculptured by Thurlow of Saxmundham.

Nearer the sea and at the north end of the town stands the Moot Hall (open to the public), a fine two-storey building of flint and brick approached by an outside staircase. In the south wall is a recess which originally contained the town stocks, and on the gable above is a very fine sun dial bearing the legend 'Horas non numero nisi Serenas'. Inside is a veritable museum of many of the borough's treasures with photographs of past Mayors and life-boat coxswains including James Cable (1851-1930), whose book A Lifeboalman's Days . . . Told by Himself has recently been reprinted. The collection of ancient maps includes one which shows the sea in 1559 as being 10 times further from the Moot Hall than it is at the present day!At the lower end of the main street stands the ancient Custom House where George Crabbe's father was employed as a collector of salt dues and other customs. Across the street a couple of passages between the houses lead to the Crag Path, so named from the coraline crag upon which the town stands. This path runs the entire length of the beach for two miles and serves thepurpose of a sea-front promenade—but let anyone refer to it as a promenade at their peril! It is flanked by houses and hotels with many pleasing types of architecture on the landward side. To seaward, the encroachment of the sea has been halted by a stout concrete wall. At the south end of the path stands the new and up-to-date Coastguard station, and a little to the north of this are the two look-outs built in the last century by the pilots; one of these is still in use as a look-out, the interior walls being covered with photographs and newspaper cuttings about local life-boats.

In a clearing between the fishermen's huts, the drawn-up boats and the fishing gear, on its launching platform stands the life-boat Alfred and Patience Gottwald, a 42-foot beach type boat, 1 tons, built in 1959.

There has been a life-boat station at Aideburgh since 1824, indeed Aldeburgh was one ofthe first stations opened, and has a fine record of nearly 500 lives saved. The honorary secretary of the local branch, Mr. David J. Owen, is also the Town Clerk of the ancient borough whose coat of arms is a replica of the town seal of the charter granted in 1561 and shows a mediaeval ship in full sail with the St. George's Cross on the foresail and a lion rampant on the mainsail.

Members of the life-boat crew under Coxswain Reuben Wood are drawn entirely from the fishing fraternity and are ready to give a good account of themselves whenever their services are needed. Many are the stories told of the life-boats and their coxswains, not the least being James Cable who at a launch on a particularly stormy night was advised by an onlooker not to make the attempt as they would never get back. Retorted James Cable, the coxswain: 'We don't have to come back—but we have to go out!' Aldeburgh also boasts a strong and efficient ladies' life-boat guild whose members, beside the normal functions, provide refreshment for crew and rescued on the life-boat's return from service..