Sizewell C site walks

**Sadly it is no longer possible to do this walk as the track in Kenton Hills, past Sizewell marshes and through to the beach, has been closed since September 2023 due to felling and works in the woods.  For information about diversions to The Sandlings Way, see the Sizewell C works tracker website

To see the Sizewell C site, you can either:

  • park at Sizewell beach and walk north to the “tank traps” and return the same way
  • walk from Eastbridge down to Minsmere sluice and turn south towards Sizewell, returning the same way
  • If you have two vehicles, you can walk from Sizewell to Eastbridge via the coast and Minsmere sluice footpath or vice versa.
  • It remains possible to do a short circular walk from Kenton Hills car park, but you cannot see the Sizewell site from this walk.

This page outlines self-guided walks that can be taken through the proposed Sizewell C construction site.

Our map can be downloaded as a pdf here: SZC Site Walk updated, but we recommend carrying an OS map (and take no responsibility for anyone getting lost!) The full circular walk from Eastbridge takes 2 and a half hours to 3 hours or a return walk from Kenton Hills carpark to the beach takes around 1hr 30.

From Eastbridge: Head south out of the village. Continue up the road passing a track and then a field entrance on your left at a right hand bend. Take the bridleway on the left 50 yards further on.

Follow Bridleway 19 which will pass  between the sites for borrow pits (quarries) and spoil heaps on your left and the site of the (mostly) 4-storey campus for 2,400 workers and extensive car parking on your right.

EDF has diverted Bridleway 19 about halfway to Kenton Hills which it is necessary to follow. Watch out for moving vehicles. This is the area where the proposed new permanent site access road would cross . Continue towards Kenton Hills carpark. Note that the kissing gate where this route previously entered the woods is no longer accessible, but this is the point where the proposed railway line would cross into the construction site. A temporary road access is currently being created.

Continue to Kenton Hills car park and enter the woods through the metal gates on the left. At the end of the first short section of footpath, turn left (by the Queen’s Canopy tree) and join the main track. Turn right on the Sandlings Way towards the coast. All the area to your left would be part of the construction site, with the railway line and unloading area running along the edge of the wood. An earth bund would be constructed along this boundary. This boundary is now fenced in its entirety.

Follow the track for about a mile, ignoring any turnings (eg red track marked 6 which would be the limit of public access if construction went ahead). Keep straight ahead until you see the (fenced off) wood rising ahead of you. This is Goose Hill, much of which will be felled. Turn right and follow the Sandlings Walk marker around the base of the hill, where you will begin to see Sizewell Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on your right and Sizewell A & B in the distance.

A little further along the track leaves the marsh behind and you will see wet woodland on your right. When you see a sign marked with a number 8, turn to the right and cross a wooden bridge and boardwalk which crosses two streams (Leiston Drain and Sizewell Drain). At this point you need to imagine a permanent bridge several metres above your head as this is where the access road crosses the drains to reach the main platform. 6 hectares of SSSI will be lost forever.

At the end of the boardwalk, pass through a small gate and follow the path onto the beach near a series of WWII “tank traps” at the northern end of the proposed Sizewell C platform. Sizewell A & B are to the south. Your view from here will encompass the locations of the main site, the permanent and temporary beach landing facility and the coastal defences. Much of the dune slack will be buried under these defences.

To return to Eastbridge, turn left and walk north to the Minsmere Sluice. Observe EDF’S visualisation of the view from this point during construction (above, copyright Sizewell C Co).

Then turn inland through a gate on the south side of the Sluice (the one to the north will take you into Minsmere Reserve). Follow the well defined path back to Eastbridge Farm.  Works are visible on the left side of this track, to create a new wetland as mitigation for impacts on marsh harriers.

From Kenton Hills carpark: Enter the woods through the metal gates. At the end of this short section of footpath, turn left (by the Queen’s Canopy tree) and join the main track, where there is fencing along the edge of the wood. Turn right on the Sandlings Way towards the coast.  Follow the directions above to the beach. Return the same way.

If you have time, it’s worth walking north a short distance on the diverted Bridleway 19 from Kenton Hills carpark to view the area where the proposed railway line would cross.