Helen Greengrass, Pennant 103

The Sleeping Dinosaur – Cobbold Point

Helen Greengrass

This walk is one that is familiar to me as my back garden, one that I walk regularly with my dog, Honey.

I love how the walk changes as I round Cobbold Point. I leave behind the neat row of beach huts, and northern promenade, and skirt the tide across a short stretch of beach before making my way round Cobbold Point. Here Dutch invaders landed and marched on Landguard Fort in 1667.

The sea defences at Cobbold Point make me think of a sleeping dinosaur. A snake like trajectory with distinctive, almost geometric shapes, making up a spine that curves out to the groyne marker. When high winds bring crashing waves it withstands and holds strong. When the sun is shining and the sea is calm it protects a safe bay where fishermen sit, young children swim and dogs run free. Occasionally a seal will pop its head up and both dog and seal stare at one another in mutual curiosity.

My eye is drawn to the horizon and the passing of big ships which evoke memories of my father. He was once a master mariner who sailed the high seas in the 1950’s and 60’s, before settling to family life as a North Sea Channel pilot navigating ships in and out of the estuary here in Felixstowe. I have memories as a little girl of my mother taking me to meet my father whenever he sailed into port. He had often been away for months, sometimes a year or more but we never missed welcoming him home. Seafaring is a hard life.

In the distance the giant cranes at the Port of Felixstowe resonate with the blunt architecture of Cobbold Point.

I wonder at how climate change may render this sleeping dinosaur obsolete if sea levels rise significantly. I want for future generations to respect the sea more than my own generation has, and that children will continue to play in safe harbours.

I finish my walk and observe social distancing as I share the busier promenade with others. I reflect on how COVID19 has challenged me. I long for my very own sleeping dinosaur to protect me and my loved ones.