Editorial

One of the many attractions over the 2017 Heritage Open Days weekend: Mutual House, on Princes Street and King Street, currently undergoing extensive restoration & renovation by Ipswich Building Society as its new town branch.

Introducing a two-plaque issue of the Newsletter. The Basque children of Wherstead Park (the subject of one of our Winter Illustrated Talks) and Quay Place are featured in this issue. We also include an article on page 14 published at a time when central government - continuing its cuts to public services and reassuring us that the voluntary sector would ‘take up the slack' - is now cutting funding to those very voluntary organisations.

The controversial Garden Bridge once planned for the Thames, surreptitiously slipped onto the cover of our July issue, is no more. Provoking strong arguments for and against, our own Upper Orwell Crossings are the subject of a talk after our AGM in April 2018 (see Diary dates on page 23). In addition, not one but three write-ups of Society Outings are included to reflect the diversity of destinations and the popularity of these trips amongst members. But please note the announcement on page 8.

We also look at the importance of Portland Stone to Ipswich and Suffolk and delve into the poverty-stricken history of ‘The Nichol' in Shoreditch. Who remembers the Ipswich firm of Kenyon & Trott (page 6)? And if you were wondering why it's been so problematic getting a train to London at weekends over the last fifteen years, our article on page 20 might shed a light. My grateful thanks to all the contributors to this issue.

Robin Gaylard

The gardens from Sissinghurst Tower (see page 22)