Shorts of All Sorts

Rosie the Rhino's horn, or the theft thereof, made international news. It was a sad event for this children's favourite for over a century. Perhaps some good will come of it if many more people visit the High Street Museum to see the truly valuable and wonderful things there.

The Evening Star should have become the Morning Star on 25 July, except that another rather different newspaper had bagged that title! Printing the Star and the EADT as morning papers must have made more production sense. But its old title seems odd and its news items are sadly overshadowed by one's national papers in the morning.

Giles Circus still has five new trees. The July Newsletter feared for their future but they have been watered by hand and in July and August by nature. Not many leaves on some of them (and no.4looks very doubtful) but we hope they'll provide shade if2012 is a scorcher!

'Malthouse Conference and Events Centre and Switch Nightclub' is the new name for the buildings in Princes Street, formerly called Hollywood, then Cartouche and then Zest. 'Malthouse' is at least a meaningful name. Let's hope it will be well run and marshalled.

The Willis building featured in a Channel 4 series, 'The Secret Life of Buildings' in early August. The programme considered the working environment and how staff related to it. The central escalators, open plan offices, restaurant and roof garden are all features known to Society members when we hold a function there.

The Travelodge in Duke Street is expected to open next summer. It will contain 37 rooms and a bar/cafe. It seems a good site close to the Waterfront and between the College and University. Ipswich- based Barnes Construction will be the design and build contractor.

St Thomas's in Bramford Lane is the latest Ipswich church to be Listed (Grade II) by English Heritage. Built in 1937 it is praised by EH for "its accomplished architectural design that uses modem materials and construction technique." It has "a spacious light and uncluttered interior with an elegant sculptural use of contrasting materials." The panels of flint and the bold fenestration are striking features of a church not widely known in town.