Assets
From HalesworthTownPlan
Contents |
Location
Access
Halesworth is easy to access especially from London as it is just a 2 hour train journey from London Liverpool Street and there are connections to Ipswich, Lowestoft, Norwich, Cambridge and Peterborough. It has good links to Ipswich, Norwich and Cambridge being quite close to the A12 and also to the A14 at Stowmarket and the A47 at Norwich. All of East Anglia is within 2 hours by road.
Countryside
Positioned in the Blyth Valley where the coastal sandy soils meet the clay uplands the town enjoys both landscapes. To the south of the town lies the shallow valley of the River Blyth with its grazing marshes whilst to the north lies the clay plateau with its wide arable fields, hedgerows and small, ancient villages.
Millennium Green
Halesworth is very fortunate to have the largest Millennium Green in the UK with over 44 acres of grazing marsh and woodland. This is managed by the Millennium Green Trust and an active team of volunteers. The main threat to this asset is over access and disruption of the grazing by ill controlled dogs.
Footpaths, Cycle Routes and Bridleways
Halesworth is fortunate to be on Sustrans Cycle Route 1 and also has an excellent network of footpaths of all kinds connecting to the town to the surrounding countryside. This is a large subject and is discussed in some depth here footpaths and cycle routes
Food & Drink
One of the attractions of a visit to the countryside and to rural market towns is the access to great locally produced food. Halesworth is very fortunate to have a wide range of local food producers in the area with many selling their produce through local shops or the monthly produce market held in the town. There are a number of high quality local meat producers using rare breeds and many working to organic standards. There is an award winning local vineyard producing superb wines. There are a number of small and not so small breweries too.
Whilst there are many such producers and outlets they suffer from a lack of overall promotion and these really needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Shopping
Halesworth is fortunate that so far it has resisted encroachment by the national retail chains and the vast majority of the shops in the town are locally owned and managed by people who have a detailed knowledge of their business and market sector. The pedestriansed Thoroughfare is delightful and gives visitors a shopping experience that is getting harder and harder to find. This asset is under severe threat from plans to open a new supermarket and redevelop the town centre.
