Waldringfield: A Suffolk Village beside the River Deben

Waldringfield History Group

Golden Duck

£29.50

Waldringfield is one of those little bits of yachting nirvana: a pub, a boatyard, a long stretch of sandy beach, a bunch of moorings, all on a pretty river. It looks timeless, but as this book, created by the village’s history group, reveals, it wasn’t always like this. In the late 19th century it was dominated by a cement works and a coprolite (dinosaur dung) extraction industry. And of course it goes back even further. This book is a fascinating compendium of stories, of people and buildings, of yachts (the King’s Britannia and Arthur Ransome’s Nancy Blackett both feature) and barges, of recent and older history. If you sail those waters, it’s a book to keep and dip into.

(Review by Peter Willis)