Restoring the historic wharf names

Since its inception in 1982, the Ipswich Maritime Trust has sought to promote interest in the unique maritime heritage of the town. While welcoming the redevelopment of the old Wet Dock as one of its principal aims, the Trust has been saddened at some developers' poor choice of titles for their particular projects, turning their backs on the once so familiar names of the old quays; and it seems the various authorities were content to let them.

The Trust published an Occasional Paper to draw attention to this general laissez-faire attitude, seeking local press support and generally 'campaigning' on the issue. It soon became clear that the bureaucratic path to a new postal address was not easy to uncover, and even less easy to influence! What was clear was that once a new name had been given publicity, it tended to become stuck in people's minds, leading ultimately to its official acceptance. This seems to have been the case with 'Regatta Quay' for example, despite it still not being a fully-fledged postal address.

While our campaign received widespread support from those who were aware of it, it has yet to achieve what may be called 'action'! However, the Trust has recently been invited by the Borough Council to suggest new names for the various elements of the large residential development currently under construction on New Cut West, and for the new street that will afford access to it. Accordingly we have offered ideas based on the local characters and ships directly associated with the old St. Peter's shipyard on nearby Stoke Quay in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

And so it seems we can have an influence after all, but I, for one, shall not be happy until we have removed the irrelevant 'Regatta Quay' paraphernalia from Albion Quay, and have a new name for 'the Wine Rack'!

Meantime, you might like to boost your sense of pride in the IMT Window Museum display on Admiral Broke, a name up there with Nelson in the annals of famous naval victories.

Stuart Grimwade