Waldringfield Horse and the Winkle

A Horse is a common feature in rivers. It is normally where the flow is fast and is usually associated with a seaward bar and a trough between them, as at Felixstowe Ferry.

In Suffolk Sea Borders the yachtsman H. Alker-Tripp recounts how, in the 1920s,

‘the bank in mid-channel at Waldringfield could be walked upon at low water and revealed its presence by the strong ripples when covered.’

Gossiping, at sundown, with a ‘native’ (This was Ben Page a one-time cement barge mate from the village) about his previous groundings he was told:

‘Lots on ’em gets stuck wot’s used to it, let alone strangers’.

Earlier charts show a ‘Horse’ near the island which has disappeared within living memory. The 1845 survey shows this with a depth of 1 foot very close to a depth of 12 feet, so it was definitely a hazard and it was unmarked. The alignment of the beacons was not helpful in avoiding it either. In 1927, Irving described the Horse thus:

‘there is a small horse, The Middle Ground, under a cable in extent… At LWOS the Middle Ground is awash – gives transit of a white beach hut and round topped tree.’

T.N. Waller produced an informative chart for the WSC Regatta in 1926 which shows the Horse. By 1972 it was decided to no longer buoy the Horse as no shallows could be detected, but it had re-appeared and was re-buoyed in 1974/5. By 1981 it was in Stanford’s chart as a shallow patch to be avoided. There are no further mentions, sic transit Equus.

Another smaller feature, upstream of the Horse opposite the steps to the cliff, was known as ‘The Winkle’ or Winkle Island, although this too is now gone. The demise of these features may have been brought about by a change in flow through the Stonnor channel east of the island or from changes at the Quay.