Snippets 2

'Healthy High Street' programme

Ipswich has been chosen as a town to benefit from a package of support in the form of access to skills and expertise. Working with Ipswich Central, this should help to enhance the appeal and variety of our town centre.

Maritime Festival

The festival in August once again attracted crowds to the Waterfront. News that it won't take place next year has been greeted with dismay in some quarters. But we await with interest to discover what alternative(s) may be created.

Downsizing

Demolition of the 1960s police station in Elm Street leaves the town centre police presence to the small office in Museum Street but opens up the former Civic Centre site giving the opportunity for a major development.

'Tiger' in town

Not a cause for alarm but celebration for those who have enjoyed the benefits of this shop elsewhere. The owners have confidently chosen a prime location in Tavern Street. For those of you who haven't been into town recently Tiger has been described as an up-market pound shop.

Isaac's

As members will know, the 'Isaac Lord' buildings are unique and very important as a rare example of a complete historical site from the merchant's house on Fore Street, to sale room and warehouses right down to the quayside. To fit in a new 3-storey building in such a precious location was a difficult challenge. Now it's completed and will have a viewing gallery on the first floor. [See the photograph on page 8.]

Top Trumps

Bragging rights to the title of the biggest ship in the world isn't straight forward. Do we measure length, displacement or the number of containers carried? Three very similar ships have called at Felixstowe this year all claiming the title and by their own measure they're right: CSCL Globe at 400 metres is the longest, MSC Oscar at 19,224 teu* carries the most containers, Magleby Maersk at 194,849 gross tonnes is the heaviest. Every day in 2015 a ship carrying in excess of 13,000 teu (*twenty foot equivalent units) called at Felixstowe. There are currently over 100 ships of similar size to those above on order and being built for delivery before the decade is out.

Cruise Ships

Whilst we're on about ships and shipping have you noticed the steady increase in the number of cruise liners calling at Harwich lately, and not only calling? Fred Olsen's Braemar has started cruises from the Essex Port. Ipswich's attempts to become a cruise port a couple of years ago didn't come to anything but we were limited by the size of vessel that could transit the Orwell.