The old Look Out Tower atop the cliffs at Hunstanton (Richard Croft/geograph)
Hunstanton has the rare privilege of being a resort on the east coast of England that has a westward facing beach.
It isn’t, however ( and despite what some guidebooks would have you believe), the ‘only’ east coast resort in the country that can lay claim to this fact.
Far from it as it isn’t, in reality, even the only location in Norfolk that can boast glorious sunsets as part of its overall package as those devotees of the beaches at, for example, Heacham and Snettisham would strongly attest.
Sunset at Snettisham. Spectacular just about covers it (Andy Peacock/geograph)
The devil is in the detail and all that.
In any case, it is quite probable that the birdwatchers and ramblers that enjoy the peace and quiet of those villages beaches are more than happy for Hunstanton to claim such a novel exclusive.
Because that can only mean the regions hoards of pillaging pleasure seekers and holidaymakers will invariably amass there for their evening cod and chips with accompanying sunset. Meaning that Chris Packham and the flocks of birds and attendant twitchers at Snettisham will continue to have ‘their’ beach all to themselves.
A win win situation. Particularly if you are a pink footed goose.
Regardless of all that, it cannot be denied that if you want to see a stunning sunset then observing it from the beach at Hunstanton is about as good as it gets. And that’s no hyperbole. Hollywood could spent billions of dollars trying to recreate it all as some kind of ‘special effect’ but they would never and could never come close to recreating the natural wonder of a Hunstanton sunset in June.
Sunset at Hunstanton. You’ll rarely see better… (Dave Hitchborne/geograph)
It looks great from the beach or cliff tops.
But what if you could have your own little private viewing space to watch it from. But not only that, one which is elevated above just about everything and everyone else in the town.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the coastal lookout tower at Hunstanton.
Hunstanton’s Look Out Tower photobombing its more famous Lighthouse (Richard Humphrey/geograph)
It was built in 1906 as a Marconi Wireless Station, one of a large number constructed throughout the country during the early years of the twentieth century in order to help tap in to the commercial possibilities of radio. The position at Hunstanton was, of course, a favourable one as it was sat atop a high cliff top with uninterrupted views over the Wash.
A glorious site picked for its practical possibilities rather than the view.
The listening station came into its own during World War One when it was used to gather military intelligence by intercepting German radio transmissions and, in doing so, helping trace the location of the German fleet.
This was a critical responsibility when one considers that the British Royal Navy, previously thought of as being peerless in its dominion over the world’s oceans, was now expected to go into battle against a German Imperial Navy that consisted of twenty-two pre-Dreadnoughts (sea-going battleships built between the mid-to late 1880s and 1905); fourteen Dreadnought battleships and four battle cruisers, a formidable array of naval hardware that the Royal Navy could not even think about engaging without having some intelligence about it’s strength and whereabouts.
The German Navy’s SMS Scharnhorst. You wouldn’t have wanted this in The Wash (Public Domain)
This meant listening posts such as this one at Hunstanton became as vital a part of the war efforts as the ships themselves. This role was repeated during World War Two when it was used as a signal station, one that received the royal ‘seal of approval’ in 1943 when it was visited by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, together with Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret who spent some time with the Coastguard before adding their names into the Coastguard’s log book.
The Look Out Tower was became a maritime museum in 1976 before it was purchased by new owners who undertook a thorough and very considerate restoration of the entire building ensuring, in the process, that its original features remained in place. It can now be rented out by holidaymakers with a yearning for a sea view and comes complete with its own Second War pillbox on site.
History can’t help but be compelling when you can live it.