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On the morning of Saturday May 7th 2017, we drove to Hoist Covert, then |
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walked over East Hill and round the Corporation marshes to
Walberswick. |
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We reached the Harbour Inn (the PH marker on the Southwold side of the |
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River Blyth) at about 1.15. |
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We left the Harbour Inn at about ten past two, following the blue track on |
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the map, which goes along the tow path towards the Bailey bridge across |
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the Blyth on the way to Walberswick. We had just reached the high level |
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section of the tow path when we saw smoke billowing up over the gorse |
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common above Buss Creek, followed rapidly by dramatic flames. So the |
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camera came out without delay, and the first set of photos was taken at |
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that point. The photos are presented with each set taken at a particular |
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location together, which means that sets capture a specific period in the |
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development of the fire. The fire took a couple of minutes to jump the old |
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railway cutting, so the camera moved on to the Bailey bridge, a bit closer |
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to the scene of the action. |
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Once the fire reached the East side of the cutting dramatic flames spread |
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rapidly, and plumes of smoke rose high into the sky. We went up Squire's |
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Hill along the lane towards Walberswick, and saw huge flames rise again |
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in the area to the West, near to where the fire had started. |
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The flames were slow to die, and the smoke overhead grew ever thicker. |
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We found a good place to stop to take more photographs, but the gloom |
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had now obscured Southwold completely. Our final stop was just before |
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we reached the first houses in Walberswick, getting a good view down to |
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the Harbour Inn, while a pall of smoke still hung over Southwold. |
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