The A143 is a road that runs from the Gorleston-on-Sea area of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, in Norfolk to Haverhill in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. For much of the route (between Gorleston-on-Sea and

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

) the road is classified as a primary route. Over the years the road has been much improved with new by-passes opening at regular intervals. The last of these being the Broome – Ellingham bypass in March 2002.

Norfolk

Gorleston-on-Sea to A146

The A143 begins on Beccles Road as an off slip from the

A47 road The A47 is a major road in England linking Birmingham to Lowestoft, Suffolk. Most of the section between Birmingham and Nuneaton is now classified as the B4114. From Peterborough eastwards, it is a trunk road (sections west of the A1 road ...

, in the Gorleston-on-Sea area of

, this is close to the Stone Cross Roundabout. The road continues in a south-westerly direction. On leaving Gorleston-on-Sea there is a very short section of dual carriageway and from there the road is a strictly rural affair and there are not many straight sections. This part of the route runs through some lovely countryside and passes many local attractions along the way. These include Fritton Lake, Caldecotte Hall and Redwings horse sanctuary. The route passes through the villages of

St Olaves St Olaves is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated on the River Waveney, south-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and the same distance north-west of the Suffolk town of Lowestoft. It is within The Broads nation ...

and

Haddiscoe Haddiscoe is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk Non-metropolitan district, district of Norfolk, England, about southeast of Norwich. The parish is on the county boundary with Suffolk, about west-northwest of Lowestoft. The parish ...

before joining up, for about 1 mile, with the A146 at a

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

a few miles from Beccles. During the summer months this is an area very popular with holiday makers so the road can be quite busy at times.

A143 to Diss

The road in this area has undergone major changes in the last few decades. The original route took you through the centre of many towns and villages and has now been renumbered the B1062. From the Suffolk town of

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at the neck of a meand ...

until

Harleston Harleston may refer to: Places * Harleston, Devon *Harleston, Norfolk *Harleston, Suffolk People with the surname *Bernard W. Harleston (born 1930), American college administrator * Edward Harleston (1794–1826), American planter and politician ...

the road follows the route of the now defunct Waveney Valley Line railway and progress along this section of the road is generally quite good as there are no reduced speed limits, save for Billingford. The road eventually intersects with the

A140 The A140 is an A roads in Great Britain, 'A-class' road in Norfolk and Suffolk, East Anglia, England partly following the route of the Roman Pye Road. It runs from the A14 road (Great Britain), A14 near Needham Market to the A149 road, A149 so ...

Norwich to Ipswich road, just outside the Norfolk town of

Diss Diss or DISS may refer to: *Diss, Alberta, a place in Canada *Diss, Norfolk, a market town in England, United Kingdom **Diss railway station **Diss Rugby Club ** Diss Town F.C. *Diss grass, a Mediterranean grass *Diss (music), a song whose primary ...

Suffolk

Diss to Bury St Edmunds

Once the road leaves Diss it returns to an older route. This takes it through a number of villages on the way to Bury including

Great Barton Great Barton is a large village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about East of Bury St Edmunds on the A143.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – S ...

, where there has long been a campaign for a bypass. Along this section the road crosses the A1088 Thetford to

Woolpit Woolpit ( ) is a village in the English county of Suffolk, midway between the towns of Bury St. Edmunds and Stowmarket. In 2011 Woolpit parish had a population of 1,995. It is notable for the 12th-century legend of the green children of Woolpit ...

road at Ixworth. The A1088 joins the A14 at Woolpit.

Bury St Edmunds to Haverhill

On arrival in Bury the road travels underneath the A14 and at this point the route is no longer considered primary and now becomes an ordinary

A road A roads may be *motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian). * main roads or highways, in a system where roads are graded A, B and sometimes lower c ...

. It then continues to wind through some nice Suffolk countryside until it links up with the A1307 at Haverhill. From here it is only a short distance to the M11 which gives easy access southwards to London and north to Cambridge. There is a section that won't allow overtaking on the left until Wickhambrook but then it won't last long. There is another section that follows a similar pattern but due to multiple painted islands.

Safety

The road has been criticised for its road safety record, especially in Suffolk, where the road has been described as consistently one of the most dangerous roads in the county.

Transport links

Along the route of the A143 you pass next to or very near to a number of railway stations.

References

External links

SABRE Roads by Ten – A143
{{DEFAULTSORT:1-0143 Roads in England Roads in Norfolk Roads in Suffolk