Snippets (1)

The third P & R for Ipswich

Work on the Martlesham site is visibly proceeding. During September, drivers leaving Ipswich or Kesgrave may not have been able to glance left at the cleared woodland because they will have been negotiating the avenue of cones on the A 1214 at its junction with the A 12. The terminal building will be made of timber with a sedum grass roof. There will be spaces for 550 cars and an area for cycles. Ipswich Buses will operate the service, as they do at both Copdock and Bury Road.

No home yet

Isabel Clover's spectacular Charter Hangings - probably admired by most of our members - have been displayed in the cathedral at Bury and in St Mary le Tower. It was indeed welcome that they were seen in other places, even though they need proper lighting to be fully appreciated. Display in our "sister" town, Arras, will also be welcome if that can be arranged. It is greatly to be hoped that Ipswich Arts Association will eventually find willing partners to create an ideal home for what will continue to be the best single visual advertisement for the history of Ipswich.

New sightlines

Five empty shops in Upper Orwell Street were demolished during the summer. Although a security hoarding has been put up, it's still possible to see St Pancras Church from this different angle - the church which the architectural critic, Ian Naim, described as one of the town's finest buildings when he lectured in Ipswich in 1960 at the time of the founding of our Society.

Historic Town

The Ipswich Society has become an affiliated member of the English Historic Towns Forum, the aim of which is "prosperity and conservation in historic towns". The Society hopes to gain valuable ideas from their Newsletter and from the conferences and seminars they hold. The EHTC has helped to promote Historic Core Zones Projects in Bury St Edmunds, Halifax, Lincoln and Shrewsbury.

The Society's book

If you haven't bought a copy of Ipswich from the First to the Third Millennium our Secretary, Beryl Jary, has some of the second impression left. New members might like to know that it consists of six papers delivered at the Society's Millennium Symposium. They cover the history of Ipswich from Anglo-Saxon times and look ahead to the possible place of Ipswich in the Greater South East and in Europe. All the speakers were leading experts in their fields. There are 112 pages with 33 illustrations and 11 charts and maps. The price to members is £6. (Is it too early to mention Christmas presents?)

Convenience appreciated

A member who didn't wish to write a letter for publication is nevertheless keen to record in the Newsletter her appreciation of the new public toilets at Major's Comer. She's certainly not alone in recognising that such facilities with full-time attendants are a civilised feature of the town.

The Gatehouse open

Pykenham's Gatehouse is open to the public on the first Saturday of the month. It used to be until October, but this year you can visit on I November and 6 December, 10.30 am till noon. Members of the Richard III Society were interested visitors during the summer. Their Society exists to counteract what they contend is Tudor historians' (and Shakespeare's) bias against Richard 111. His short reign, 1483-85, occurred soon after William Pykenham, Archdeacon of Suffolk, built the Gatehouse in about 1471 as the entrance to his substantial residence. Of course like Wolsey's Gate, it is only a fragment of the whole but it remains a precious survivor. The Ipswich Society's Executive Committee holds its regular meetings there, as does the Ipswich Building Preservation Trust.