The Suffolk coast, I can attest, is bitter when cold winds blow. A persistent breeze is stirring the golden sand for which Southwold – that most genteel of seaside towns – is famed, shooing it along the shore past jauntily painted beach huts that are doing their best to brighten an otherwise overcast, dreary day. The sea itself is an uninviting shade of builders-tea brown, but the vast North Sea sky brings a touch of texture and sheer, raw beauty to this Monday in February, lending the water a silvery sheen as its ripples and waves catch the light. 

Winter is meant to be Southwold’s slow season, so I’m rather surprised at the number of walkers parading the water’s edge, almost uniformly wrapped in welly boots and woolly hats. An incoming squall spurs everyone to pull up their hoods and dash for the high street, seeking shelter and sustenance in its coffee shops and pubs. I follow the crowd and find a table at Café 51, drawn by its interesting menu of Cromer crab, Suffolk lamb hotpot or roasted cauliflower with goat’s cheese. “We’ve sold out of today’s specials already,” the waitress warns as she takes my order. “We’re usually quieter during the week, but today has been heaving.”

I find a similar story after lunch in the high street’s shops and galleries, which are mostly independents selling giftware, clothes and home accessories. “Southwold is always packed in summer,” I’m told by Lucy, the assistant at Lift (lift-store.co.uk), which sells chic and functional stationery and homewares for design-conscious shoppers. “But business this winter has stayed consistent. Sure, there are fewer visitors, but bad weather drives people indoors, so we benefit from days like today.”