New blue street signs on the Wet Dock

Early in 2021, blue street nameplates appeared around the Wet Dock. This was an initiative by the Ipswich Maritime Trust, Stuart Grimwade working with Ipswich Borough Council to mark the correct names of quays and streets around the Wet Dock. There are no blue nameplates on the Stoke side (New Cut).

Working from Stoke Bridge down towards the lock, the first blue nameplate changes not only the colour, but the name shown on the earlier plate it replaces (‘St. Peters Wharf’, rather than ‘St. Peters Dock’). 

Older quays such as Common Quay cannot be formally recognised by Ipswich Borough Council with nameplates because they pre-date the modern postal code system (even though they’ve been called that for over a thousand years). Puzzling and frustrating.

This is an excellent initiative to convey a part of the long history of the dock and celebrate ancient names.

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