top of page

July 2015 Issue 200


Contents


Editorial             


New members                

Chairman’s remarks 

Pub names – The Case is Altered       

Planning matters         

Thursford Magic     

Snippets 1          

Viridor Credits for St Lawrence Church      

Civic Voice benefits           

Two very different houses           

Editing the Newsletter over 23 years        

The Society’s internet presence     

Colour section!  

Letters to the Editor  

Ardizzone blue plaque

Snippets 2       

New Suffolk Pevsner volumes published  

Margaret Tempest: Ipswich artist

Eltham Palace outing      

John Norman’s ‘Ipswich Icons’     

Our back pages         

Society officers        

Diary dates               

Fore Street Facelift 1961 exhibition     


Editorial 

Breasting the tape almost effortlessly at the 200 issue mark, I deliver this special edition of the 

Society’s Newsletter. Now with added full colour (but only for this special issue). The Society 

seems to be as busy now as it ever has been – although the head of steam in 1961, with the 

Society a mere yearling – must have been something to behold.  


See our back page for news of The Fore Street Facelift 1961 exhibition in October. A pair of 

tickets for the Members’ Launch Evening is enclosed with this issue. The remarkable 

photograph below gives a flavour of the exhibition: the offices of Meux brewing company. The 

wall of the associated maltings still stands to the left; it remained in place (hiding the Wet Dock 

from those travelling down Grimwade Street) until the building of the Bellway Flats (Neptune 

Square) in 2000. Note the panorama of an almost empty Wet Dock behind which the three 

chimneys of Cliff Quay power station are just visible. The photograph must have been taken 

from a high window of the rebuilt Salvation Army hostel (built 1987-9). 


Huge thanks, as ever, to all contributors; letters, images and articles are always most welcome. 

Robin Gaylard 


New members 


Chairman’s remarks 

Following the turmoil and reordering of positions amongst the Conservatives on Suffolk County 

Council (Mark Bee stepped down as leader to be replaced by Colin Noble), one cabinet member, 

Christopher Hudson, member for Kesgrave and Rushmere St Andrew who lives in Framlingham, 

was given responsibility for ‘Ipswich’. 


Christopher Hudson’s first public statement in his new post (which includes being deputy leader 

of the Conservatives on Suffolk County Council) was that SCC would make a contribution 

towards the repaving and new layout for the Cornhill.  This scheme is therefore back on the local 

political agenda. It is, in simple terms, a scheme that is likely to cost over £3 million but will see 

the Cornhill transformed with level access to the Town Hall.   


Ipswich Borough Council have already committed £800k and this recent announcement from 

SCC of a further £800k means that Government funding can now be sought for a similar amount, 

leaving local businesses to make up the difference.  The majority of this private funding is 

expected to come from national players with a local presence, businesses that will benefit from 

the increased footfall the improvements are expected to bring.  This idea is reliant very much on 

an ‘I’ll contribute if you will’ brotherly pact which Ipswich Central will instigate. 


Suffolk County Council’s commitment to a financial contribution now makes the changes to the 

Cornhill much more likely to happen and a number of Ipswich Society members (and key 

committee members from other organisations) have phoned me to ask “what’s next?”.  Will there 

be a public consultation?    Will these major changes need planning permission or are they 

regarded as Highways work?  Will the reduced surface area of the new Cornhill curtail the 

activities we have enjoyed since pedestrianisation? 


These are questions I cannot answer with any authority.  The drivers of change are a mixed 

bunch, Ipswich Central (the BID partnership), Ipswich Borough Council, SCC and the LEP 

(Local Enterprise Partnership) which is hardly local given that the majority of members are 

Norfolk based.  The LEP is the source of the Government funding mentioned above.  I will keep 

you posted as things develop. 


The AGM in April was by all accounts a successful occasion, with the exception of the roving 

microphones that would not work on the evening, despite us having been in to the University 

earlier in the day to check everything was in place.  We seem to be fated with audio equipment 

whenever we get together.  The summer brings coach outings and they are as popular as ever, 

most are full within days of the Newsletter appearing through the letter 

box and members need to respond quickly if they intend to join us. 


The planning and organisation of our major exhibition on the Fore Street improvements in 1961 prior to the Queen’s visit (see back page) are moving forward apace with one major omission.  We would very much like to hear from anybody who was there, in Fore Street or thereabouts on July 7th 1961 to witness the Queen passing along the redecorated street.  If we have their contact details we can invite them to the opening of the exhibition on Friday 2nd October. 


Have a good summer and I hope to see you all at the Exhibition. 

John Norman,  Chairman  


Pub names – The Case is Altered 


No sooner had the April issue of this Newsletter come through the letterboxes with its piece on the Duke of York pub  than a member of the Society, Louis Musgrove, pointed out that an article by him in the Newsletter four years ago (April 2011) had brought to light a visit to Ipswich by the same Duke of York in person in November 1797. This was accompanying the British troops returning in a prisoner exchange after an unsuccessful venture to the Netherlands. The Duke was in Ipswich again several  times for large reviews of troops on Rushmere Heath. But the critical one, that almost certainly confirms that he was the subject of both the naming of the Duke of York pub in 

Woodbridge Road and the writing of the nursery rhyme, was in 1811 when he reviewed 10,000 troops on the Heath to celebrate his re-appointment as Commander in Chief.  It was reported in The Reformists’ Register No.5, 26 October 1811, as part of an attack on the Duke by the satirist William Hone in which Ipswich features: “The Ministerial Papers are at their old work again and are endeavouring to procure County Meetings to congratulate the Regent on his reappointment  of the Duke of York to the office of Commander-in-Chief. Only one place in England, we believe – the Borough of Ipswich – has yet disgraced itself by such a proceeding, and there, we are informed, the people at large were hostile to the measure, which was carried into effect by a set of interested Courtiers.” 


Just up the hill from the Duke of York on the same stretch of the Woodbridge Road in Ipswich is 

another pub with an interesting name, perhaps with military connections also – The Case is Altered. 

There are half a dozen or more explanations for that name. The most likely one, given the nearness 

of Harmony Square Barracks, is that it is a corruption of the Spanish La Casa Altera (the other 

house) or alternatively, as suggested in English Inn Signs, La Casa de Saltar (the dancing house) 

where the soldiers enjoyed themselves.   


The more likely but duller version is that the name reflected a significant change in the building, its 

landlord or sometimes his financial circumstances. There are a number of instances of its use 

scattered round the country. They reflect a famous saying by a distinguished Elizabethan lawyer, 

Edmund Plowden.  He was a Roman Catholic and a leading jurist under Queen Mary, but on her 

death refused to accept the post of Lord Chancellor under her Protestant successor Elizabeth. 

Instead of executing him, she continued to use him for legal advice. He particularly defended fellow 

Roman Catholics.  In one case, a man was accused of attending a Mass held in a private house. 

Plowden discovered that the Mass had been conducted by a layman, acting as an agent provocateur 

to entrap Roman Catholics.  He immediately argued  “the case is altered: no Priest, no Mass” and 

the man was acquitted.  


A variation of this tells of a West Country pub sign showing a farmer and a lawyer sitting at a table 

with a bull in the background. The farmer says his bull has gored and killed the lawyer’s cow. 

“Well,” said the lawyer, “the case is clear, you must pay me her value.” “Oh,” said the farmer,” I 

have made a mistake. It is your bull that has killed my cow.” “Ah! the case is altered, quoth 

Plowden”. It became a popular saying of the time and was used as the title of a play published in 

1609 by Ben Jonson. 


Another book, British Inn Signs, maintains there was a The Case is Altered in Woodbridge itself 

with a totally different origin; it was built, after the Reformation, on the site of a former nunnery 

where a Father Casey used to take confessions and was given as a name a garbled version of 

‘Casey’s Altar’.  There was no obvious trace of it in the tithe records of 1836.  Fifty years ago, a 

colleague in Charrington’s Brewery in London insisted that ‘case’ refers to the wooden cases that 

held the metal type used then by printers.  The printers off Fleet Street where there was a pub of that 

name were certainly good customers but otherwise it is difficult to see a connection.  Perhaps it just 

shows that pub tales must be treated with a degree of caution. But it takes on more meaning for the 

future with The Case is Altered in Bentley, just south of Ipswich, which successfully re-opened last 

year as a community pub.                      

Tim Voelcker                        


[Ken Wilson also wrote to the Editor pointing out Louis’s 2011 article.] 


Planning matters 

Momentous political events may have taken place in Britain since our last edition but it is not 

yet apparent what changes will take place in the planing system. Eric Pickles has been knighted 

and replaced as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by the more 

pragmatic Greg Clark. Whether there will be more national changes remain to be seen… 


The Northern Fringe is on hold whilst the developers produce a transport strategy that 

extends beyond Valley Road and they improve the general design quality to the the level that's 

been laid down. 


I have recently toured a 6,850 home new town outside Haarlem in the Netherlands; the 

differences that struck me were the provision of bus and cycle ways (you can't drive a car 

directly out of the complex during rush hour), the higher ratio of public to private space, 

mostly by having smaller gardens and the variety of, largely, excellent designed apartments and 

flats. Mind you I don't expect to see a canal at the bottom of every street! Many of their ideas 

could be incorporated in the Northern Fringe to everybody's advantage. 


The St Margaret's Green proposal for a care home has been refused; but the air quality 

problem remains. The solution is extremely difficult. 


The Council has bought the old Sugar Beet factory site, with a loan, to ensure that a mixed 

housing and employment development takes place. Babergh refused permission  for such a 

development a few years ago as  it’s their last remaining employment zone; it will be 

interesting to see their response to a new similar proposal. 


Meanwhile the Council is pushing ahead with a new office building on the site of the car 

showrooms and garage in Princes Street and, opposite, Birketts will build new corporate 

offices on the site of Riley's billiard hall. These will be strong economic drivers to the town 

centre and its dependent businesses. 


The fight for retaining and improving the retail offer in the town centre continues. All the 

time applications arrive to change the use of buildings on the edge to what we understand as 

town centre use; an expanded Lidl in London Road, the bowling alley on Boss Hall to be a 

furniture store, a small site on Europa Way to be an Aldi and an Iceland on the Co-op site at 

Derby Road /Felixstowe Road. B & M have been trading on Ransomes Euro Park for three 

years without planning permission, selling up to 45% non-bulky goods. They have now been 

granted permission to sell up to 20% non-bulky which will be closely monitored. Further, they 

have agreed to open a store in the town centre in the next two years. 


The new owners of the Buttermarket have been granted planning permission to insert 16 

screens with 2500 seats, a restaurant and a gym. TK Maxx will move to the ground floor and 

the car park will be open till late. Cineworld say that Ipswich will have an unsustainable 

number of screens but it’s better than a failing shopping centre. 


The proposal for a bridge “across the Wet Dock” is at present nebulous and until we can see 

what it crosses and how and what it connects to it is impossible to make any meaningful 

comment. We look forward to the promised £2m survey and reading its results. 

Mike Cook  


Thursford Magic 

Those that know me know that I am a bit of a ‘humbug’ when it comes to all the build up and 

hype before  Christmas,  but also a bit of a softy when it comes to Christmas Spectaculars at 

Thursford , so when the chance to go came along,  I jumped at it.


Each year June Peck valiantly endeavours to fill a coach for the day out. A cold but bright 

Saturday in December found us boarding a coach and setting off to Thursford in Norfolk via 

Norwich. The plan was to have lunch and spend a couple of hours in Norwich before setting 

off again for the evening performance of the spectacular.


The village of Thursford is 24.5 miles northwest of Norwich and 16.3 miles southwest of 

Cromer and is home to a museum which houses the world’s largest collection of steam engines 

and mechanical organs, together with old-fashioned fairground rides such as the 1896 

Gallopers, sets of ride-on horses which speed round to the sound of the organ music and the 

Venetian Gondola which is a switchback ride. It was founded by George T.H. Cushing who 

was born in 1904 and at the age of eight visited the local travelling fair that came to his village, 

he got the taste and smell of the fair rides and his obsession took root.


During November and December each year the venue is transformed into a winter wonderland 

where the musical show takes place. Arriving after dark is magical, the whole place is set alight 

with masses of fairy lights and Christmas figures, festive music plays and the little shops are 

packed with goodies and people. Coaches pull into the car park at an alarming rate from all 

over the United Kingdom; it’s quite something to spot the destinations that they have come 

from. There is an afternoon and evening performance accommodating about 50 coaches 

per performance.


The cast is composed of 130 professional singers, dancers and musicians and a comedian. In 

the 3 hour show they perform all kinds of music and dancing, including the brief running of the 

Venetian Gondola ride. Each year the entertainment is slightly different but still truly magical.


After the show it was time to head home. Fortunately our coach was easy to find and we were 

quickly loaded and away, not arriving back in Ipswich until well after midnight but fortunately 

we did not encounter any traffic or adverse weather and we did not turn into pumpkins!


Many thanks to June for the organisation and booking of the tickets which have to be booked a 

year in advance, so next year if you would like to go there will be another chance. Just

contact June!

Smartie


THURSFORD 2015 

June Peck has tickets for the Thursford Christmas Spectacular again for December 12, 2015; members can ring her if they are interested – 01473 421296. 


Snippets 1 

Walton’s and Civic Centre coat of arms 

Walton’s shop [see back cover of Issue 199] was in St. Matthew’s Street, numbers 42-44 and is 

listed for the first time in the 1932 Ipswich street directory, and was still listed in the 1975 one 

(which was the last one published).  It must have disappeared soon after that, for the changes at 

the west of Berners Street.     

  

Something else that has disappeared is the mosaic coat of arms that was on the west-facing 

side(?) of the Civic Centre. It might have been on the side over the upper entrance.  Does 

anyone remember it?  It certainly was taken down much earlier than the mural in the lower 

entrance. I queried what had happened to it while I was a member of the Conservation Panel, 

but really can’t pin-point the year. It was supposedly going to be repaired but was never 

replaced on the building. (From Ruth Serjeant) 


UK Supermarkets will add four million square feet of new retail space during 2015. 29% will 

be traditional (i.e. large) stores, 54% smaller stores (Aldi, Lidl etc. between 3,000 and 15,000 

square feet) and 17% convenience stores (Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local – less than 

3,000 square feet – and these avoid restricted opening hours on a Sunday). 


However, the demise of larger stores means that Pension Funds will take a hit (86% of large 

supermarkets are rented from property companies).  It is reported that the value of a typical 

out-of-town superstore dropped by 25% last year. 


In terms of growth, Aldi are adding one million square feet to their portfolio (about 60 new 

stores), M&S Simply Food: 600,000 square feet,  ASDA: 550,000 square feet and Lidl are 

adding 350,000 square feet.  Tesco are scrapping plans to open 49 new stores.  The market 

place is changing. 


The Future of Ipswich 

Ipswich Central’s ambitious vision for enhancing the town centre was the subject of Terry 

Baxter’s excellent contribution to our AGM.  Since then, SCC’s agreement to match IBC’s 

funding for a re-constructed Cornhill is a welcome sign of collaboration.  While the creation of 

new levels on the Cornhill is controversial, there are many other striking ideas, e.g. opening up 

the east side of Upper Brook Street enabling big new premises to be built to attract important 

new shops; development of a ‘Link Quarter’ between the Old Cattle Market and Star Lane; 

2000 new homes in or near the centre of town. 


Shopping Centres 

The Tower Ramparts re-vamp has begun – a welcome investment by the owners, even if the 

new name, Sailmakers, is not welcomed by everybody!  We hope the lift will be prominent 

because it is vital for a shopping centre with (unusually) two equally important levels.  The 

Buttermarket Centre – 16 cinemas, 6 restaurants, etc. – has planning permission. Several 

shop units, some prominent ones at the front, are currently empty but are awaiting the 

arrival of shops from elsewhere within the centre. New Look, Laura Ashley. Boots and 

Holland & Barrett  are to remain in their current locations and TK Maxx will occupy the 

ground floor of the department store. 


Viridor Credits grant for St Lawrence Church 

A grant of just over £65,000 from Viridor Credits, under the Community Landfill Funding 

scheme, has been granted to the Ipswich Historic Churches Trust towards a total estimated cost 

of £100,300. Works receiving support under this scheme must be within 10 miles of a landfill 

site – Masons, Great Blakenham near Ipswich. The Trust is very grateful to Viridor Credits for 

this major grant towards essential repair works on the external south wall of this important 

Ipswich historic building. 


Ipswich is fortunate in having twelve medieval churches – one of the largest collections of such 

buildings in one town in the country. St Lawrence makes a significant contribution to the 

historic townscape of Ipswich; it dates from the 15th century and its tall, highly-decorative 

west tower is a well-loved and important feature in our town centre. 


All of these buildings have a long history and contain important features. St Lawrence is a 

Grade 2 star Listed Building and, being declared redundant in the 1970s, was acquired by the 

Borough Council and put under the care of the Ipswich Historic Churches Trust, established to 

look after them. 


The church has strong connections with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey – his uncle, Edmund 

Daundy, undertook a number of significant works on the church and its tower houses the oldest 

ring of five bells in the Christian world.  Their sound would have been familiar to Wolsey 

when he was a boy. 


In addition to ensuring their upkeep the Trust is also charged, under its chairman, Dr John 

Blatchly, with finding appropriate new uses for these wonderful historic buildings. The use of 

St Lawrence by the company Realise Futures as a community restaurant was welcomed by the 

Trust as this ensures that a large number of people, both visitors and locals, visit and use the 

building on a regular basis. This grant from Viridor Credits will allow the Trust to undertake 

essential repair works on this important Ipswich building. 

John Field, Board Member, Ipswich Historic Churches Trust and Project Co-ordinator 


Civic Voice benefits 

The Ipswich Society has recently renewed its annual membership of Civic Voice. This is the 

national charity for the civic movement in England which aims to make places more attractive, 

enjoyable and distinctive and to promote Civic Pride – all values the Ipswich Society supports 

and identifies with. 


Membership of the Civic Voice has a number of benefits, one of which is aimed at the entire 

membership and that is day passes giving free access to a National Trust property (subject to a 

small number of restrictions). National Trust passes can be obtained by writing to Gill 

Roxburgh, Civic Voice,  60 Duke Street, Liverpool, L1 5AA. You will need to enclose a 

stamped addressed envelope with contact details and state that you are a member of The 

Ipswich Society. The pass is transferable so you can even give it to family or friends if you are 

already a member of the National Trust. 


Go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk for a list and map giving details and locations of properties  

to visit. 


Our Chairman visits two very different houses   

Luckily the first visit was to a new house at Wrabness in Essex.  I say luckily because I’m not 

sure such a property would have added to the ambience of Suffolk.  I refer to Grayson Perry’s 

dream home, a Disney-like structure the locals refer to as the Gingerbread House.  2003 Turner 

Prize winning artist Grayson Perry has created, in a new building, a work of art; in its own way it 

is a tribute to Essex and to Julie, a mythical Essex girl. 


On the south bank of the Stour with distant views of the Royal Hospital School and the cranes at 

Felixstowe Port sits the most unusual house ever.   Under a copper roof, still shining gold, with 

walls clad in weird ceramic tiles it is as disjointed and ill-fitting as it is possible to be.  An 

ostentatious celebration of two troubled lives – the mythical Julie and the cross-dressing artist 

Grayson – they are both society misfits, even for Essex. 


The sensible facts in this story are that the building was commissioned by ‘Living Architecture’, 

an organisation which builds and then runs self-catering holidays in quirky new buildings.  The 

Balancing Barn at Thorington, and Dune House on the beach between Aldeburgh and Thorpeness 

are local examples.  Charles Holland of FAT Architects designed the building and it was built by 

Rose Builders of Lawford (probably the most unusual contract they have ever undertaken). 


Julie’s House is at the mouth of the Stour, the water is saline and the birds wade in and out with 

the tide.  Some distance further upstream close to the source of the river is the pretty village of 

Clare, just on the Suffolk side of the county boundary.  In Clare the Priory is from a different age; 

it offers a retreat from modern living, from the noise of the traffic and from life’s ever present 

canned music. 


A substantial part of the Priory complex has been demolished, including the Church, which was 

168 feet long, a substantial building which would have held a large congregation.  Also missing 

are the Cloisters, although some walls survive; still standing are the Lodgings (the house) from 

the late 14th century, retained after the Dissolution as a private house and the refectory.  The house 

was returned to the Augustine Friars in 1953 for use as a retreat. 


So what brought me here, and what comparisons can be made with my earlier visit?  The friars’ 

dormitory was a separate building which has undergone many changes of use over the years 

including the loss of its first floor when it became the church.  The Priory re-established itself 

here after the house came back into community use in 1954 and this ‘new’ church has been too 

small for successful worship ever since.  Until, that is, Inkpen Downie architects from Colchester 

were commissioned in 2001 to design an extension.   The fact that this extension has been so long 

in gestation can be explained by the array of stakeholders with a vested interest, from English 

Heritage to individual users via heritage and amenity groups to local conservation bodies. 


The result is stunning. Having been involved with the Suffolk Association of Architects annual 

Awards for over 20 years, this is probably one of the most outstanding extensions I have ever 

seen.  The architect has created a usable space that is so calm and peaceful, so full of light but 

almost without noise.  The loudest noise to be heard on the Sunday afternoon of our visit was the 

birdsong outside.   


So if you are inspired to visit architectural gems in the region, avoid the crowds of tourists in 

Black Boy Lane, Wrabness and wander peacefully by the River Stour in Clare.    

John Norman 


"We are overjoyed with what you have given us" Father Bernard Rolls.  

Clare Priory is a special site because of its intrinsic loveliness, its venerability and its religious 

and cultural associations.  


Editing the Newsletter – or, 23 Years of Pleasure! 

I am delighted to accept Robin’s invitation to write a piece commemorating the 200th Issue of 

the Newsletter.  Having started as Editor with the 100th Issue in 1990, I should have liked to 

get this far myself but I fell two years short.  No regrets about that however, because the dear 

old Newsletter was due for a fresh boost, which Robin has 

provided admirably. 


Contributors 

In my first issue I said that I was the volunteer for the hot seat, as my predecessor Fiona Powell put it, but “I shan’t regret my decision if members are willing to write.” That proved to be the case.  Thanks to scores 

of members over the years, I was never short of material and hardly anyone failed to meet my deadlines.  It helps an editor that our Society has so many interests – we can write about anything which might benefit our town.  But we do also have many wonderfully helpful members, not just writers. I’d like to single out Beryl Jary.  Having given up as Secretary, Beryl continued to organise distribution of the Newsletters, nearly half of which were hand-delivered by members, before the recent and understandable decision to simplify the process and use our secretarial agency and Royal Mail. 


Cover design/illustration by Mark Beesley


Production methods and design 

Long before my time as Editor, the earliest issues of the Newsletter were typed on ‘skins’ and 

duplicated on a Roneo machine.  That was usual fifty years ago.  (I remember from my 

National Service in the RAF the fear of making typing mistakes because of the time consuming 

business of painting on the correcting fluid – known in the RAF as ‘boob juice’.)  Those first 

issues used foolscap paper (remember the word?) stapled in the top left hand corner, but it’s proved only too easy to lose the top page or two, especially if the staples rusted.  If that all sounds rather amateurish, well it was.  But we should remember the limitations of technology then.  Moreover, this work for the Society was done by working people – ‘hardworking people’ in political terminology – people like Peter Underwood, Adam Gordon, John Brown and Tony Hill. When I first joined the Society’s Committee it included only one retired person: now all of us are more or less retired.  Discuss! 


But in 1990, Newsletter production was already in the computer era, so to continue what had been achieved I bought my Mac Classic largely for that purpose.  Even so, I have remained a dinosaur by today’s standards, using my Mac and later my laptop as merely a wonderfully versatile typewriter, with every single letter, dot and comma (and my favourite, semi-colon) put in by my two trusty fingers.  I even resisted accepting anything on floppy disk, CD or memory stick because of a neurotic fear of ‘viruses’ (whatever they are).  It was all laborious but it did have the advantage of my being able to edit and correct as I went along.  Today, of course, Robin receives and uses electronic information as it comes in; but he is fully aware of the further need for checking and proof reading! 


The rôle of the Newsletter 

With well over a thousand members for some years now, for many members the only real 

contact with the Society is through the Newsletter.  It is very gratifying that our outings attract 

so many members and that our Winter Talks, Awards Evenings and AGMs are usually well 

attended.  But that probably involves no more than half of the membership, so the Newsletter is 

the main source of information across a wide range of Ipswich-centred issues.  


I’ve always insisted on the capital ‘T’ for The Ipswich Society because I see the Society’s  

multi-faceted interests as being at the heart of the town’s concerns, a position from which we 

often liaise with our sister-societies with their more specialised interests.  So, I envisage our 

Newsletter as being far-removed from a parish magazine.  After all, we are writing about a big 

town – not a city admittedly, but a big town with urban pleasures and urban problems.  

Consequently it has often seemed to me necessary to look outwards as well, to other big towns 

and their ideas. A tiny example – some twenty years ago I recall being struck by the local 

authority’s recycling instructions in our son’s kitchen in Germany, and I quoted them in the 

Newsletter before recycling became important here.  (A member politely pointed out that I’d 

made a mistake in copying the German exhortations.)  Looking outwards was also the main 

reason for those fact-finding visits to what our original organiser, Don Chipperfield, called ‘the 

Mainland’ – our 21 successive annual visits, 1975-1998, to Holland, Belgium, France, 

Germany and Luxembourg, often with local planners or civic society members as guides.  The 

Newsletter reported them in full and, I hope, widened members’ understanding. 


The Newsletter has reflected the changing issues in the town and the Society’s changing 

emphases, but some features have remained the same.  It is surely a valuable service to 

members if topical snippets are included – subjects large or small picked up from the local 

press or from personal observation or from the ‘grapevine’.  For my part, I hope I’ve been 

“a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles”.  But the most important continuity comes from our 

response to planning matters.  The Newsletter has made generous space available for the 

Society’s comments on specific and strategic planning matters.  Dozens of planning monitors 

have made vital contributions to our coverage, ably handled now by Mike Cook.  


I’m pleased to say that the Newsletter has always been more positive than 

negative in its tenor.  Groucho Marx’s satirical song, “Whatever it is, I’m against 

it” could easily be the slogan of a civic society. (Terry Baxter in his recent talk at 

our AGM guessed that 90% of the letters to the Ipswich Star would be against 

anything new in Ipswich. I know what he means!)  Towns like ours do have 

problems and societies like ours do need to keep a watchful eye on 


developments; this is the point of Bernard Reynolds’ logo on our masthead.  But persistent 

negativity and sourness in the long run damages the town we all love.                        [continues 


Regrets 

I wish I’d been more conscientious in commissioning contributions.  For example, I started 

including brief annual reports from sister-organisations because they deserve to be known 

about beyond their own ranks; and our members are likely to be interested in the Ipswich 

Building Preservation Trust, the Historic Churches Trust, the Museums, the Archaeological 

Trust and the Maritime Trust.  I only did justice to the latter, thanks to the late Di Lewis. 


I wish I’d made more use of photographs.  In 1990 reproduction was poor, but when I changed 

our printer to John Kemmett’s Simplith Printing he scanned our photos with much better 

results.  (And I should add that after he retired he continued to be a great help.)  Robin, of 

course, uses many of the modern possibilities of photography and I salute him for that. 


I wish we’d had rather more controversy.  Our Awards for the best Regional Community Publication (1992 and 1993) were mainly for its lively debate.  That didn’t always continue partly because it often proved difficult to get members to send in Letters to the Editor – perhaps understandable as that Editor didn’t receive emails!  


Finally, I wish I could mention all the names of the people who have helped to make our Newsletter a useful and interesting publication.  At Neil in the 1990sleast, I hope you have found it so. (from the Society’s 


Flickr collection)

Neil  Salmon 


2015 has seen a dramatic change in the way in which the Society presents itself to the public of 

Ipswich and a wider audience across Britain and, very possibly, across the world. 

The Ipswich Society has had a very useful and handsome website for some years now. Most 

members, I'm sure, are familiar with it and the services it provides. It has proved to be extremely 

useful for general enquiries about the Society and as a resource for researching the content of some of 

the Newsletters published by the Society over previous years. The website contains a full and detailed 

account of such things as events which take place during the course of the year and matters 

concerning planning which is at the core of our aims.  In the links section there is a very useful 

starting point for exploration of probably one of the most popular aspects of the Society’s activities 

and that is our Flickr website. 

This collection of digitised images has been in existence since 2012 and is maintained on a regular 

basis with additions made as they come to the Society; for example, the donated slide collections of a 

number of members such as Brian Jepson, Peter Underwood and Norman Collinson are available to 

be viewed and commented on. 


The popularity and the utility of this image archive has led to the most promising electronic feature of 

the Society which was launched in January this year: our Facebook page. Maintained by committee 

member Tim Leggett, this webpage has proved to be a lively and informative organ for sharing both 

Society matters and features of interest about the town that appear in local newspapers and in the 

other media. 

The ability of readers to engage with Society matters and with the well-being of the town makes it an 

extremely illuminating and stimulating read. You should look now. 

There's never been a better time to use the internet to scrutinise the work of the Society and to 

celebrate the outcomes that we successfully manage. It is also fascinating to note that, even as we gain 

greater command over the internet, the applications we are using are themselves developing and 

changing. Since my winter lecture on the subject of the slide archive in January the Flickr website has 

changed immensely; it is now vastly more comprehensible and quite subtle in the way it can sort and 

find images. We must all keep up! 

Just a final reminder: if you want to get onto Facebook or Flickr you only need to go to the Society 

website and use the link to take you onwards (all free, no log-in required).            Tony Marsden 


Colour Section 


Ipswich Society Flickr Collection

Thames sailing barges gather at Common Quay for the annual Pin Mill Barge Match, 1970s


Luzmira Zerpa, lead singer of the band Family Atlantica playing at Global Rhythms in Christchurch Park 11 July 2014 (Reg Driver Centre in the left background)

RG


UCS Ipswich & Coastal Grand Prix cycle event at the Waterfront, 2013 by Tim Leggett


The Holywells Park refurbishment project has sympathetically reinstated the Orangery as a venue and restored the clock tower above the stables café with all four faces now bearing a clock. Photographed in April 2015, new paving, planting and masonrywork will complete an excellent picture. Congratulations to all involved in making it his one of the finest 

RG parks in Ipswich.


Rainbow over the Buttermarket Centre with St Nicholas Church in the foreground on 24 March 2015, photographed by Caroline Markham from her balcony during a hailstorm.


June 2015: Ruby Red  Willis at 40 photographed by John Norman


Letters to the Editor 

A tale of three cities  

from John Ireland, Acting Chairman, River Action Group 

May I add to Mark Ling's comparison of Ipswich, Cambridge and Norwich?  Each town has a 

river running through the middle, but ours does not compare with the other two as favourably 

as we may hope it will do in the future. 


Cambridge has the Cam with The Backs.  Beautiful, but not a public thoroughfare, although 

accessible to the public by courtesy of the Colleges.  There is an attractive riverside path below 

Magdalene Bridge with a pub and restaurant.  Public boating is available. 


In Norwich the Wensum has an attractive public riverside path right through the city centre, 

where there are plenty of places for refreshment.  Boating, including boat hire, is available. 


Ipswich has the Gipping across the road from the historic waterfront.  The public footpath and 

cycleway beside the river links urban Ipswich with the countryside beyond.  The path is 

attractive for much of the way, but there are pinch points.  There is a pub, but (as yet)  no 

public boating.  Some areas suffer from littering, graffiti and other abuse. 


If Ipswich's river is the poor relation it should be said that the Gipping started from a low base.  

The river and its corridor have been neglected since the closure of the navigation rights in 

the1930's, and it has taken the considerable efforts of IBC, Greenways and Sustrans, acting 

through the River Action Group over the past ten or fifteen years, to restore such amenities as 

we now have. The path is becoming a favoured commuting route to avoid busy streets, but of 

course there is much to do before our river scene can match those of Cambridge or Norwich as 

a tourist attraction.  Be assured that the River Action Group is working on it. 


from Trevor Hart, Saltaire, West Yorkshire 

Mark Ling’s piece accompanying the last issue of the Newsletter arrived at an opportune time 

for me – I was about to pay my first visit to Ipswich town centre for about 15 years, and with 

sufficient time to explore it properly, so it provided something of a prompt for me to take a 

critical look, with the state of the town centre being something of a ‘litmus test’ for the wider 

range of matters Mark was considering. Of course, rather than being based on the same sort of 

objective information used by Mark, my verdict had a more impressionistic foundation, but this 

is what the ‘interested visitor’ would rely on: if the verdict was good, they may well return. 


In my case, had I not got other reasons for returning – it’s my home town and I still follow the 

football team (though more frequently at away grounds) – I don’t think I would be putting it on 

my list of places to come back to in a hurry. Apart from the rather sad state of Carr Street and 

the adjoining end of Fore Street, the main centre looks nice enough but it is dominated by mid-

range multiples: that doesn’t quite make it one of the ‘clone towns’ disparaged by the New 

Economics Foundation, but what is on offer doesn’t give a compelling reason to come to 

Ipswich rather than go elsewhere. Most of the ‘individual’ shops, which can add something 

distinctive to a town – research I’ve carried out in England’s 200 or so smaller towns suggests 

that their ‘differentiating’ effect is a significant attractant – are clustered towards the dock area, 

along with many of the restaurants and wine bars, and rather detached from the retail core. 

Looking at the traders represented there, this was probably how they liked it, in the sense that 

the style of the core would do little for their prospects: however, the view of one was that very 

little, if any, of their trade came from Ipswich residents. This rather put me in mind of 

Liverpool, where the regeneration of the Albert Dock provided some additional character but 

which was not an integrated part of the city, spatially or culturally. The building of a new retail 

centre at Paradise Street (Liverpool One) provided a ‘bridge’ between this area and the main 

retail core, but this new space seems to have partly succeeded by sucking key retailers and life 

out of other parts of the city. 


I believe that current plans for Ipswich see a need for more floorspace which, given that it has 

about twice the national average level of vacant floorspace at the present time, is a little 

worrying. The example of Liverpool is by no means the only such case of the success of 

additional development being accompanied by the emergence of a new ‘declining’ area in a 

town, and past experience with the 80+ untenanted units in Greyfriars should cause great 

caution when considering development proposals: after all, it is doubtful that the increased 

spending of the forecast growing population could support the quantity of floorspace that is 

currently vacant, never mind a significant addition. Clearly, some change is necessary if 

Ipswich is to raise its status, as the Strategic Perspectives study suggested was required, but my 

feeling was that this change should be qualitative rather than quantitative. 


On a more positive note, I was greatly impressed by the condition of the bottom part of Fore 

Street – somewhere my mother considered ‘dingy’ even in the heyday of the town – and other 

buildings towards the dock area, where restoration and infill had made it an attractive area. 

And, to end on a statistical note, it is worth remembering that success can come with a sting in 

the tail, in the form of increasing property prices. Average prices in Norwich are 10% higher 

than Ipswich and those in Cambridge 130% higher – and ‘forecast to rise even further’ 

according to the Financial Times at the weekend I was visiting. House prices in Ipswich, 

viewed from the perspective of a resident of a northern town many times worse off than 

Ipswich in the deprivation stakes, currently seem reasonable. 


April 22nd.2015 trip to Eltham Palace from Jean Smart 

Just a word of appreciation to the organisers of Ipswich Society day excursions:- 

I recently visited Eltham Palace with June Peck and 55 other members and we had the most 

marvellous day. Eltham Palace is an English Heritage property and one of the best kept secrets 

celebrating ancient history together with the Courtaulds’ investment in style, panache and Art 

Deco; the property just oozes  the  ambience of the 1930s. If this trip runs again book your seat 

F-A-S-T, it’s just a wonderful day out. 


Our latest Blue Plaque 

Edward Ardizzone, a pupil at Ipswich School, loved the working activities of our dock. This interest in ships often 

surfaced in the many children’s books he wrote and illustrated. The plaque was unveiled in the sunshine on 14 March by Deputy Mayor Hamil Clarke, in the presence of Edward Ardizzone’s grandson, Daniel, and members of the Ipswich Maritime Trust and our Society.


Snippets 2 

Croydon’s 

Tesco has backed out – as part of their national retrenchment. The imposing interior staircase 

is still intact despite the clearance which was started.  However, the building can’t be Listed 

because the existing structure is entirely of the 20th century.  No news yet about what was to be 

Tesco’s big site on the riverside in Commercial  Road (Grafton Way), near the railway station. 


Window on the Waterfront 

Ipswich Maritime Trust’s latest display in the window at the (Cranfield’s) Mill includes the 

drawings of the port by Edward Caley in 1837.  He was soon to be in charge of the creation of 

the Wet Dock under the eye of Henry Palmer, engineer and designer.  Caley was then aged 20 

when the work began.  ‘Aspiration’ might be new political jargon, but it certainly existed in 

early Victorian days!  The Trust is enjoying good co-operation with the Port authorities. 


Hanseatic League 

Ipswich was a ‘warehouse port’ for the great trading ports of the Baltic in the later Middle 

Ages. Ipswich could join the Hanseatic heritage group (currently based in Lübeck) as is the 

case already in Kings Lynn.  Such a move would help to re-enforce the growing popularity of 

Ipswich for visiting boats.  Visitors used to come from Holland and Belgium but increasing 

numbers come now from Germany, Scandinavia and France. 


Other welcome visitors 

It’s instructive how a major cultural attraction can work wonders.  The year-long loan of 

Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831, together with a new Constable 

purchase and other loans has already attracted 20-30% more visitors, more of whom come here 

now after visiting Flatford. 


Gateway to the Waterfront 

This could be a suitable name for an area which is currently our greatest eyesore (yes, even 

worse than the ‘Wine rack’- and that should be progressed later this year).  Starting from the 

Stoke Bridge end, the three sites of St Peter’s warehouse (burnt out), Paul’s concrete silo and 

Burtons have all been derelict for years.  We welcome IBC’s purchase of the latter at a knock-

down price and hope it will stimulate concerted action to develop this big site.  It is crucial to 

the attraction and reputation of the whole Waterfront.  


Bernard Reynolds 

It was heartening to see the Reynolds exhibition at UCS arranged by his family in March.  His 

originality and craftsmanship were remarkable and no less striking 18 years after his death.  He 

must have been a founder member of our Society and it is his clever logo on the masthead of 

our Newsletter. 


Population growth 

If you think that Ipswich is a sleepy static town you might be surprised that in the last decade it 

has been the 8th fastest growing town in the UK, ‘beaten’ only by Milton Keynes, 

Peterborough, Swindon, Luton, Cambridge, London and Northampton.  Even more surprising 

perhaps is that Ipswich is ranked 10th for employment, proportionately. 


Pevsner updated, two new volumes of Suffolk buildings 

When Nikolaus Pevsner wrote the first Suffolk edition of Buildings of England he had spent 

just six weeks in the county, driven around in his Wolsey Hornet by his long suffering wife, 

Lola.  Despite this brief visit, Pevsner’s guide has become the definitive work when searching 

for historical or architecturally important property in Suffolk.  Originally published in 1961 it 

was revised by Enid Radcliffe in 1974 and has just been updated, extended and rewritten by 

Essex-based James Bettley.  This time it has taken six years of detailed research, interviews 

and inspections to produce the latest edition.  The result is two volumes, Suffolk East and 

Suffolk West, not split along the old county boundary but divided by the A140. 


The new edition has been extended to some five hundred properties in a detailed gazetteer with 

a compelling introduction and telling, quality photographs.  Furthermore the research has been 

Dr Bettley’s own work.  Pevsner had assistants to prepare schedules for his visits and to write 

preliminary notes.  Pevsner also used local historians, notable amongst them H. Munro Cautley 

with his knowledge of Suffolk churches to provide expert descriptions. 


James Bettley lives near Maldon and completed the Essex guide in 2007.  Like all busy people 

he has numerous responsibilities and commitments: librarian at Chevening House in Kent, a 

member of the Church Buildings Council (CBC), and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquarians.  

The finished volumes are the result of extensive research and visits to the buildings listed (in 

almost every case he attended by invitation and was able to talk to the owner and look around 

the inside).  Bettley took 40,000 photographs for his own use, a reference and reminder for 

when he turned his notes into manuscript, but these are not the published images. 


When pressed for a favourite place James, not surprisingly, opts for Lavenham, Long Melford 

and Glemsford – not because they are full of the listed buildings that make them tourist ‘hot 

spots’ but because they were industrial towns, both in the Middle Ages and in Victorian times.  

Glemsford had mills producing horse hair matting; Long Melford – a foundry and extensive 

maltings; Lavenham, like Long Melford, produced horse hair chair seats and coconut matting. 

All three were involved in the wool and cloth trade, evidenced in their fine churches.  It is 

because of discoveries like this that James Bettley suggests that the practical research was great 

fun: going to new places, unsure who you would meet or what you would find. 

 

These two volumes are fascinating, in places more readable than the original and certainly much more comprehensive (and I suspect more accurate).  They include some of the recently built properties I have been to inspect for the Suffolk Association of Architects: the Wilderness at Darsham, the Sliding House at Huntingfield and the Balancing Barn at Thorington are all included – a truly comprehensive encyclopaedia of Suffolk buildings. 

John Norman 


[We hope that Dr Bettley will give a Winter Illustrated Talk to the Society in the autumn. -Ed] 


Margaret Tempest: the Ipswich girl who could draw like an angel 


Margaret Mary Tempest was born at 28 Fonnereau Road on the 15 May 1892 to Charles and 

Frances Tempest. This was an address within one hundred yards of the Ipswich Art School in 

the High Street. Charles was a stock and share broker and was something of a wit – if his 1911 

census return is anything to go by. This was the first census where the returns were completed 

by heads of households. In the section headed; ‘*Infirmity’ most people left a blank space - the 

official examples given, sensitively, included ‘Imbecile’, ‘Feeble minded’ and ‘Lunatic’. 

Charles wrote of himself, with his tongue firmly in his cheek: ‘Short sighted, slightly bald’. 


Charles was a man of some means and was also held in considerable regard in the town; he 

was elected mayor in 1926. The Tempests lived at number 28 until sometime between 1901 

and 1911 when they moved to 34 Park Road (Parkside). During that period Margaret also 

attended Ipswich Art School and she may have been a contemporary there of another star in the 

Ipswich artistic firmament – Leonard Squirrell. Margaret later moved to London to study at the 

Westminster School of Art from which she graduated in the summer of 1914 on the eve of the 

Great War. She went on to the Royal Drawing School but was already planning the formation 

of a society of women illustrators with twenty other talented girls from the School of Art. They 

planned to teach, sell art and work and to that end a studio was rented; an old barn at 59a Park 

Walk, Chelsea, SW10. The war came and temporarily curtailed their plan but the landlord 

promised to keep the barn for them until the hostilities ceased. 


In 1919 they moved in and commenced decorating and refurbishing the rooms. A floor was laid 

of ‘chicken coop roofing felt’ according to Caroline Richmond in an article in Kensington and 


Chelsea Today. Margaret was not only a founder of the group but also its Honorary Secretary and Book-keeper. The group designed a very distinctive letterhead and installed a telephone. 


Margaret told the East Anglian Daily Times in 1971: ‘People say that women can’t work together but we did for twenty happy years’. 


Letterhead of the Chelsea Illustrators Between 1919 and 1939 they put on annual exhibitions and ran a successful business, selling their work and producing commercial material including Christmas cards. It was during the twenties while taking the Group’s work round to publishers that Heinemann offered her the first Little Grey Rabbit story by Alison Uttley: The Hare, the Squirrel and the Little Grey Rabbit. Her attention to the detail in the little animals’ lives, their personalities and particularly her concern with the design of the books, made them extremely attractive. It was Margaret’s idea to surround all the pictures with the coloured borders which make them so distinctive. Her style reflected some of the artists whom she admired from an early age particularly Kate Greenaway. 


She began illustrating Little Grey Rabbit books in 1929 and continued to do so into the 1960s, by which time 34 titles had appeared. Illustrator and author did not hit it off personally and in her recently published diaries Alison Uttley described Tempest as ‘a humourless bore, seldom does a smile come, her eyes cold and hard...she is absolutely awful’. However Uttley didn’t have much good to say about any illustrators or authors. 


Alex Paton, Margaret Tempest’s step-grandson, said that she had a particular affinity with children and ‘at their frequent visits she would sit each on her lap, ask which animal they liked best, and proceed to draw it for them’. 


One of Margaret’s later famous collaborators in the Chelsea Illustrators group was the renowned writer, M.M. Kaye, author of The Far Pavilions and The Jewel in the Crown. She was known as Molly Kaye under which soubriquet she wrote and illustrated children’s books. Tempest also illustrated two of Kaye’s books: The Willow Witches Book and Gold Gorse Common after World War II. 


Tempest wrote and illustrated children’s books of her own, with characters called Curley Cobbler and Pinkie Mouse. She illustrated books by Elizabeth Laird, Rosalind Vallance and Myfanwy Evans, who married the artist John Piper, and at least fifty other authors including Cynthia Asquith and Rose and Gail Duff. She published pictures in early editions of Susan Coolidge’s What Katy Did and What Katy Did at School. She also found time to design picture postcards for the  Medici Galleries. 


Between the wars she lived in London during the week, and apart from her illustration work she taught drawing to the children of most of the aristocratic houses in London. Margaret also taught for one day a week in a boys’ prep school where a young Peter Scott was a pupil. 


She came back to Suffolk on many weekends to indulge her great passion for sailing. This she often did with her brother, Frank, around the Suffolk coast. She was eventually elected Commodore of the Pin Mill Sailing Club. Frank Tempest joined the firm of Kerseys as a solicitor and partner with Mr Kersey in 1924. The company still have an office in  Lloyds Avenue. 


In 1939 Margaret returned to the Ipswich area permanently and she married her cousin, the 

widowed Sir Grimwood Mears, a former Chief of Justice in Allahabad, in 1951. They moved 

into number 3 St Edmunds Road soon after the death of her brother Frank in January 1951 who 

had been the previous occupant of that house. 


Sir Grimwood died in 1963 at the age of 93 and Lady Mears continued living in St Edmunds 

Road. She was a long-time member of the Ipswich Art Club only retiring from the committee 

in 1974. She was still exhibiting artwork at that time at the age of 82. 


Margaret Tempest (Lady Mears) died in 1982 aged 90 and by then she had become afflicted 

with Parkinson’s Disease and could no longer draw. She was a prolific illustrator and a truly 

distinguished daughter of Ipswich, one who deserves the recognition of an Ipswich Society 

blue plaque. 

Merv Russen 


Eltham Palace: an Ipswich Society outing, 22 April 2015 

For the first of this year’s series of outings we went to Eltham Palace in the Borough of 

Greenwich. The palace started life as a manor house, built in the 1290s by Antony Bek, Bishop 

of Durham and a courtier and trusted minister of Edward I. In 1305 he presented it to the future 

Edward II. The building was greatly enlarged in the 14th century and became the favoured 

royal residence on account of its 1,000 acre park, ideal for hunting.  


Henry VIII and his sister spent their childhoods there. In the 1470s Edward VI built the 

impressive Great Hall, one of the largest surviving medieval halls in Europe (as is Westminster 

Hall); this hall was used for entertainment and for Court administration, indeed Cardinal 

Wolsey had to go there once on church business. By now the palace complex had grown to its 

apogee with numerous buildings including a chapel; it was one of the six main royal residences 

in England. However, in the 17th century it started to decline after the Civil Wars and was used 

as a farm for 200 years with the Hall, the last remaining building, becoming a barn. 


Much later, in the 1930s, Stephen and Virginia Courtauld took a 99 year lease on Eltham from 

the Crown. He enjoyed his share of the wealth of the family firm, but without working for any 

of it. Instead he pursued his intellectual and artistic interests and also grew prize-winning 

orchids in the greenhouses. Virginia was of Italo/Hungarian parentage, loved entertaining and 

could afford to indulge her passion. The house was designed for entertainment and to display 

Stephen’s art and furniture collections.  


Architects Seely & Page designed two wings in a V shape with an entrance hall joining the two 

arms of the V. This hall is the masterpiece of the house and makes a striking first impression: 

triangular in shape, lit by a circular glazed dome above. The walls are lined with Australian 

black bean veneer with some marvellous Swedish marquetry, as smooth as silk. This room still 

contains 30s-style furniture and carpet and in a concealed corner there is a phone which guests 

could use to make outside calls. In the south wing (ground floor) are a drawing-room, 

Virginia’s boudoir and Stephen’s library, all with beautiful woodwork. In the north wing is the 

dining-room: thoroughly Art Deco, as is all of the house. In addition to upstairs bedrooms is 

the heated quarters for Viginia’s pet lemur; I hope it was house trained – the guests hated it. 


The south wing adjoins the Great Hall and from the Minstrels’ Gallery, a Courtauld addition, 

one can view it in its majestic simplicity. From the Screen Passage one can walk into the Hall 

and admire its twenty windows at clerestory height and its hammer beam roof. 


The house had all the latest 30s mod cons and the garden had all the ‘must-haves’. The Courtaulds redesigned the 

gardens, refilling the moat to make a feature of it with a large rock garden to the east. It’s a gardener’s paradise and beautifully maintained by English Heritage, as has been the house since 1995. Surprisingly, the Courtaulds only lived in the house for eleven years. A coachful of members thank June Peck for  a marvellous visit and Paul, our Soames driver. 

Richard Worman 


The 200th edition of The Ipswich Society Newsletter would not be complete without a mention 

of John Norman's Ipswich Icons which has been a favourite feature every Saturday in the East 

Anglian Daily Times for nearly three years, as well as appearing in the Ipswich Star and as a 

web publication most weeks – and is still going strong. 


For the few who have not seen these fascinating weekly snippets of Ipswich past, the Society’s Chairman, John Norman, has been contributing a full page with accompanying photographs, delving into corners of Ipswich history which can only intrigue as well as educate his readers. As with Giles in the Sunday Express, it has become one of those essential little components which make the week-end, which would not be complete without it. 


Such is John's passion for Ipswich and in turn The Ipswich Society, he has always generously had his work published under the Society's banner, using it as a tool to promote his beloved Ipswich Society. 


John told me that he had originally agreed to do a series of 100 but at the time of writing he is up to 140 with no sign of him giving up quite yet. He admits that inspiration has sometimes been hard to find, but writer’s block has not caught up with him so far as he continuously trawls Ipswich Library, the Suffolk Record Office and his own library at home for more stories. 


John would not claim to be an historian but just someone who loves to explore the past history of his home town. He has been corrected at times, as historians tend to be, and when accused of using Wikipedia as one of his sources he remarked with a twinkle in his eye, "I was the one who wrote the Wikipedia entry in the first place." Whether he was being serious or not I am not sure, but I know he is happy to be corrected when wrong. "That is how you learn." he said, and with so many of his stories still in living memory, he has to be thorough in his research. 


History is like Chinese Whispers and can change along the generations. It has been said that 

history is not always what you remember but what you want to remember. Local stories have 

sometimes been embellished along the way, and like the Loch Ness Monster and the Ipswich 

Underground Railway, you want believe it and so are easily taken in. This then gets recorded as 

fact and eventually becomes fact in many people’s eyes. John tries to avoid this, but even the 

most notable historians are sometimes caught out. 


John and his Ipswich Icons have now become icons of Ipswich in their own right and perhaps 

one day we might talk him into publishing the whole series ‘en bloc’. These may then, in turn, 

be part of the Suffolk Record Office and Ipswich Library collections to which future historians 

will refer. 


We thank John for the enjoyment, nostalgic memories and for the insights of Ipswich history 

he has shared with us and long may he continue his revelations of this unique town. Few are 

more passionate about Ipswich than John Norman. 

Tim Leggett 


Our back pages

The front cover of Newsletter number 4, dated October 1963, boasts an outline graphic of the Society’s logo and the word ‘Crossroads’ in acrostic form (not easy on a Roneo stencil). ‘The Ipswich Society Exhibition at the 

Civic College, Ipswich, From November 25th to December 6th, 1963’ is the title.  


“As a town, Ipswich is very much at a cross-roads. The central areas are in a process of re-development, and the population continues to grow rapidly. This is an important stage of urban evolution for an ancient borough 

whose citizens should certainly be more concerned with the changes taking place. There is the possibility of unprecedented changes if planned expansion is undertaken, in terms of Mr. Vincent’s Report to the Minister of Housing and Local Government.” 


Mr. Paul Kirby of the Civic Trust will speak at a special Society meeting on 25 November in the Assembly Hall, Civic College on the development of city centres with special reference to the problems of pedestrian segregation. 


This issue includes The Ipswich Society window sticker. “If you could display it at home, at business premises or on your car (near-side rear window please!) and be ready to answer questions which it may provoke, you would be helping the Society to prosper.” 


A summary of the lecture of 27 June by Mr. L.G. Vincent on ‘The planned expansion of 

existing towns’ follows. The problems of an ever-growing London and of population growth in 

the South-East highlight that the policy of building new towns and adding overspill to existing 

towns is only “playing with the problem”.  


Population increase is caused by a combination of re-housing after slum-clearances, growth in 

family-units and increasing minimum standards of in-door space requirements. “During the 

next twenty years the one-third of Britain’s population living in the south-east of England will 

need two-and-a-half to three million more dwellings.” An expansion into larger towns 

including Ipswich is a possibility. “There are two theoretical degrees of expansion, 50% and 

100% respectively , and in the case of Ipswich, this would mean a town of 200 or 300 thousand 

people, including natural increases.” 


“The town centre is the key to expansion and present a big problem. Much capital would be 

needed, and a long-term outlook would be necessary to get the appropriate complete 

reorganisation. In Ipswich the natural fall of the land towards the river suggests a multi-level 

solution to the problem of segregating pedestrians and vehicles. 


“It must be emphasised that planning is for people. The ‘main endeavour is to create an 

environment in which they can live a full and useful life, with increasing provision for a rise in 

the standard of living and an increase in leisure’.” 


Elsewhere, the establishment of The Ipswich Society Reference Library is announced and 

indeed it continues to grow in 2015.        

R.G. 


The Ipswich Society 

www.ipswichsociety.org.uk 


email: secretary@ipswichsociety.org.uk 

Registered Charity no. 263322 


This Newsletter is the magazine of Ipswich’s civic amenity society established in 1960 

(views expressed in the Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Society). 


Executive Committee 



Dates for your diary 

Tuesday July 14: Ipswich town centre walk arranged by John Norman, starting at the TIC at 7.30pm. 

This event is free and open to all but please reserve a place with David Stainer on 01473 258070. 

Wednesday 15 July: Prickwillow Drainage Museum outing with guided tour of Ely – a few places 

left, please ring Jessica Webster on 01473 218809. 

Tuesday August 18: Evening tour of Holywells Park, with Park Manager, Nick Wilcox (see insert). 

Thursday 3 September: Elton Hall, Peterborough outing (see outings insert). 

Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September: Heritage Open Weekend organised in Ipswich by the Society. 

Many interesting and historic places in the town will be open to the public. Look out for the special 

booklet (also downloadable from our website) nearer the time. 

Wednesday September 16 7.30pm: Winter Illustrated Talk at Museum Street Methodist Church 

(entrance in Black Horse Lane) – John Norman, ‘About The Ipswich Society’. 

Friday 2 October, 7.00pm: Fore Street Facelift Exhibition, Members’ Launch Evening at the UCS 

Waterfront building. Exhibition, speakers, short film, refreshments. (Exhibition runs from October 3 to 

16 2015). See the back page and tickets included in members’ copies of this Newsletter. 

Wednesday October 21 7.30pm: Winter Illustrated Talk at Museum Street Methodist Church – James 

Bettley, ‘An update on Pevsner’ (James’ new Suffolk volumes are reviewed on page 20). 

Wednesday November 18:  The Society’s Annual Awards Presentations. 


Newsletter deadlines & publication dates (the latter may vary by a few days) 

Deadline for material: 1 December;     Publication date: 22 January; 

            1 March;                 2 April;  

            1 June;                   17 July; 

            1 September;                9 October.


A N   E X H I B I T I O N   BY   T H E   I P S W I C H   S O C I E T Y 


The Fore Street Facelift 


1961 

IN PREPARATION FOR THE VISIT OF HER MAJESTY 

QUEEN ELIZABETH II TO IPSWICH, 21ST JULY 1961

Architect drawings, contemporary photographs, a short film of the project and 

memorabilia relating to the work carried out on the buildings and paving in one of 

the town’s most historic streets


Runs from Friday 2 to Friday 16 October 2015 at 

The Waterfront building,  

University Campus Suffolk (entrance on Fore Street) 

Society members’ launch event: Friday 2 October 2015, 7pm 

Speakers, short film, drinks, canapés. 

Bring the tickets inside this issue…


Issue 200 July 2015

© 2024 The Ipswich Society, Registered Charity Number: 263322

Privacy Notice

Proudly designed and built by 2408

  • Instagram icon
  • Facebook icon
  • LinkedIn Icon
  • Flickr icon
  • YouTube icon
bottom of page