Location and Accommodation
Location
Bentwater Parks is located next to the village of Rendlesham which occupies the site one taken up with airfiled living quarters. To avoid problems with traffic at the main entrance in Rendlesham, we have been given exclusive access through the Butley gate on the South side of the site.
The main entrance should NOT be used by people coming to WC2008.
The Grid Reference of the Butley Gate entrance is TM 353 524
If you would like to visit the World Championships under your own power, there are great routes in from most directions. The Sustrans North Sea Cycle route passes close by the site from North and South and our access to the site is on bike frendly minor roads.
Non Human powered travel to the site includes close rail links, the nearest stations are 7 miles away in Wickham Market and Melton, and Woodbridge at 8.5 miles.
By Car the A12 Travels from the south, the A14 from the West and The North (off the A1). The nearest Ferry Port is Harwich, the nearest airport is Stansted (40 miles), the London airports are within 80 miles of the site and there are direct flights to Standsted from New York and most European cities.
Riders arriving at Harwich on the cross-Channel ferry and wishing to cycle to the WC2008 site have a ride of 40miles/62km to the WC2008 site, going via the towns of Manningtree and Ipswich to cross the Stour and Orwell estuaries.
A special sailing of the Harwich cross-harbour ferry has been booked, weather permitting, for the evening of Friday August 15th, to meet the 20:00 arrival of the ferry from the Hook of Holland. This little ferry takes you across the harbour to Felixstowe, and from there the ride to Bentwaters is much shorter (22miles/36km), and mostly on quiet roads. There will be no charge to visitors wanting to use the service. One rider shall be there to meet the "big" ferry and guide the party to the cross-harbour ferry and then on to Bentwaters. However... there will only be 11 places on the cross-harbour ferry - it is very small! And it is most unlikely to be able to take big machines like velomobiles.
There will only be one sailing, so anybody who cannot get a place on the cross-harbour ferry will have a fairly long journey by road, via the town of Ipswich, to get to Bentwaters. If you would like to use this service please let me know via the
contact form . If the weather is really bad, there is a small chance that the special sailing of the cross-harbour ferry will not be possible. In that case, the rider will guide the party via Ipswich. Lights will be needed.
For those who wish to use GPS, .gpx route files for the route to WC2008 via Ipswich is available for download
here .
Please note that while using the A14 road to cross the river Orwell may *look* like a better route than going through the centre of Ipswich, it is *not* - the A14 being a very busy road, with lots of fast, heavy traffic. I certainly would not want to cycle along it, even for a little way.
Accommodation
The BHPC have a campsite immediately next to Bentwaters Parks, available for Friday through Wednesday nights (15th through 20th August).
The campsite is located just outside the gate we will be using to access the site making it ideal for getting to the races and a place we can easily gather together and socialise. The site has water, toilets, and hot showers. The cost for a tent pitch for two people is £10/night. Additional people (maximum 5 on a pitch) are £4 per person per night. Children to age 5, free. Dogs and owls are free, too (but no free-running dogs or low-level flying owls!).
If you have a camper vehicle or caravan, we suggest Staverton Camping Park (tel 01394 460783; web review here) as it is very near the BHPC campsite. Staverton has nice facilities but is for adults only. Another campsite less than 2 miles from Bentwaters Parks and which looks good is Tangham Forest, near Rendlesham, tel 01394 450707.
For those who prefer to have a more solid roof over their heads, there are plenty of cottages, hotels and B&Bs all over the area, Woodbridge Tourist Information Office (Tel 01394 382240) is a good starting point.
Here's a list of local bed & breakfast, hotels and
JustSuffolk.com is another useful website.
"Lots of room...."