Ipswich Market

From 30 January the market has operated in Princes Street and down into Queen Street because of the re-vamping of the Cornhill.  Although IBC has provided new awnings for stalls and advertised the details of the move quite well, there are some drawbacks.  The further the stalls stretch down from the Cornhill the more it’s a case of ‘out of sight out of mind’.  It is greatly to be hoped that the major traders will be able to return to the completed Cornhill, as shown in some of the artist’s impressions of how it will look.  The other stalls could then be re-located to positions as close as possible to the Cornhill.

Ipswich Buses

Our bus company (still owned in effect by IBC) continues to provide good services.  The new timetables and routes beginning in February inevitably have their pros and cons depending on one’s needs.  It is unfortunate that a previous half hour service is reduced to an hourly one but that’s the result if fewer people used it.  The No 5 and No 6 routes are easier to understand and remember for the irregular user, going to the hospital for example.  The company also deserves plaudits for investing in 14 double-decker buses with ‘green’ diesel engines that will reduce pollutants.  Incidentally, it would be interesting to know how many Society members use our buses, regularly or occasionally.

Ipswich houses

The Borough council in early February set out its plans to build 200 homes this year, 60 of which will be on the Tooks Bakery site (Norwich Road) and the others on smaller sites.  Some will be council homes and some affordable homes to buy.  Regardless of ideological differences, this is surely valuable assistance to our younger generations.

Crown Street car park

The pale grey frame of the new multi-storey car park looks functional and impressive.  It should last longer than its ‘concrete cancer’ predecessor.  A nice touch is that the surrounding hoardings carry posters advertising some of the treasures of the nearby museum.

Building maintenance

Scaffolding in Thoroughfare creates a minor obstacle for pedestrians but it is good to see such maintenance carried on, especially during a quieter time of year for shopping.  In the nature of our present-day investment-led ownership of town centre properties, rents are already arguably too high.  Let’s hope that the necessary caring for our town’s buildings doesn’t mean even higher rents for tenants.

NPS

This map created by our Membership Secretary, Celia Waters, shows central Ipswich (the lower part) which fits into ‘Greater Ipswich’ (the upper) in the grey area. These are ‘IP’ postal areas and the numbers in brackets are explained in the article overleaf.