R&R casting spotted from Bernard Stafford

I am wondering if your readers might like another Ransomes and Rapier “guess what/where” question. South of York near Naburn village is a fine set of tidal locks on the River Ouse, where this – no longer in use but very well-preserved – hand-cranked winding mechanism stands. ‘Ransomes and Rapier Ltd Ipswich England 1935’ is cast in relief around the top.

 

[Editor’s note

This email arrived just as the Editor had finished reading Andrew Martin’s period railway detective novel The Somme stations. This features a plot twist located at Naburn Lock on the River Ouse: the scene of a suspicious death in 1914. Curiouser and curiouser…

For other R&R photographs, see page 24.]

 

 

 

 

Praise and memories from Graham Day

What an excellent issue the April Newsletter was as it  was packed with useful information and stories.

I have yet to see ‘Yoxman’ as the pandemic has meant that normal excursions up to the Southwold area have not happened. More useful knowledge on Cardinal Wolsey and an excellent and thorough analysis by John Norman on the problems with the viewing area by the flood barrier on New Cut West. Needless to say,  it's a pity all the parties involved in this debacle all have different agendas, so in reality a solution (if ever) to the problems may never be found, at least not in our lifetimes.

The contribution which really caught my eye was that by Chrissy Norman who, like me, also worked in St Clare House, Ipswich, for the Inland Revenue in the 1960s. Like me, she obviously decided that a career in the Revenue ultimately too ‘taxing’ and there were other, perhaps better things to do. I remember the racks of dusty files and concards, spending hours addressing and enveloping tax returns, and for me also the different feel of the Schedule D section for the self -employed, with papers being prepared for Tax Commissioner meetings and a steady stream of accountants hurriedly bringing in their clients ‘accounts’ at the eleventh and a half hour.

I well remember Rose, the tea lady, coming into the Schedule D section with her trolley. Always helpful and happy, until some of the staff deliberately moaned that she was late in coming, which of course was a wind-up. At one stage, the Land Commission occupied the 6th-8th floors, but we really had no knowledge of what they did all day.

I was sad in the 1980s when the wonderful Art Deco Cavendish Hotel in Felixstowe was demolished. I, too, have fond memories of the annual Dinner Dances; a coach from the office, an excellent dinner and dancing to I believe a dance band from Clacton-on Sea whose leader was the brother of one of the Tax Officers Higher Grade on my Schedule D Section A. A wonderful time, with some superb company, and  as a result memories which will always be with me.

 

Mellamphy’s Wolsey from Jean Hill.

Having read the article on Robert Mellamphy with interest (Issue 229), I have a reminiscence that may be of use.

Many years ago, a small and select group of we volunteers sat in St Peter’s by the Waterfront on a Thursday afternoon. The aim was to keep this lovely medieval church open to visitors in order to show that it was of importance.

At the time, Robert Mellamphy visited the church regularly in order to check on his maquette of Cardinal Wolsey. This was stored in the back room of the church and I believe was to be the forerunner of a full size statue of the Cardinal, to be placed outside the front of the church. I never knew what happened either to it or the proposed statue.

[Editor’ note: this legendary sculpture was later moved to the vestry of St Clement Church – probably when St Peter was being cleared out for refurbishment in around 2006. John Blatchly told us that, unfortunately, the damp conditions there caused a deterioration in the chicken wire and plaster maquette. It was eventually returned to the artist’s studio, probably by the Ipswich Historic Churches Trust. A gentleman at the Woodbridge Longshed told us that it was a full-size figure and included two cats. We believe that, if the maquette was saveable, the cost of producing such a large bronze would have been prohibitive. Where’s a Russian oligarch when you need one, eh? If any reader can add to this hearsay evidence, do get in touch. We always wondered whether the maquette had been photographed whilst it resided in Ipswich…]

 

The Defiance from Ken Brock

Having spent all my working life with Tolly Cobbold, I find that I occasionally have to make corrections to items in various publications relating to local pubs.

In the April Society magazine it states that the pub in Stoke Street was The Defiant. It was in fact The Defiance. Incidentally, there was a row of 3 or 4 cottages behind the pub, one of which was occupied by my grandparents and my father was born there. I was also involved with the demolition of the adjacent house in order to create the Defiance car park. 

I will readily help in giving info. on other pubs in the area.

 

Co-operative Wholesale Society mosaic from Tony Cross

Thank you for your enlightening article on the 'Harvest' mosaic in the latest Newsletter. The mosaic is an impressive and interesting work of art in its own right. It is very much an integral part of CWS and Ipswich history. It would indeed be a tragedy if it could not be saved for posterity.  

It is sad that it has, for many years, looked out on a bleak and unloved part of the town centre. It surely needs to be brought back into the public eye. I would think that The Hold would be a perfect setting for it to be fully appreciated.

Next article