Sizewell nuclear power station has raised hackles among the local populace for years, and so too has Maggi Hambling’s fine sculptural tribute to composer Benjamin Britten, a 4-metre high steel structure of two interlocking scallop shells on Aldeburgh’s shingle beach in Suffolk. Seen together in the shimmering heat rising from the shingle on a visit some time ago one might wonder which is the more controversial.
Far more controversial than the arguments inspired by either Scallop or Sizewell is which of Aldeburgh’s two chippies serves the finest fish & chips. I have my opinion, but scientifically there can be no debate as they are both, as far as I know owned by the same people, using the same suppliers, and the same approach to the deep-fat frying of chipped potatoes and the filleted and battered flesh of white fish.
Nevertheless, we usually opt for the chippy at the Slaughden end of town, which also tends to get the longest queue and is just the right position along the shoreline to be beyond the summer no-dog-zone.