July 2016 Issue 204
Contents
Editorial
Gallery of Society Awards 2015
Chairman’s remarks
Holywells Civic Voice Award
Peter Odell obituary
Snippets 2
Local Plan
Work on Christchurch Mansion
Planning matters
Society outing to Chartwell
Snippets 1
Ipswich Urban Archaeology project
The Cornhill in history
Self-driving cars
Bangladesh memorial unveiled
James Reid Moir oak tree plaque
Awards Evening call for entries
Society Committee & Officers
Ipswich Cycling Club 1909
Diary dates
Letters to the Editor
Newsletter deadlines & dates
Knots & Ropework Museum at 20
Holywells Award photograph
Holywells Members’ Garden Party
Subscription rates
Big images come to Albion Wharf as part of the PhotoEast festival of photography, June 2016.
Panos Pictures present a billboard show on the disused buildings on Ipswich Waterfront.
Editorial
I can do no better than quote from Mr Paul Geater in the Ipswich Star, 12 April 2016:
“The influential Ipswich Society has come out firmly against plans to redevelop the Cornhill in a
£3.2 million scheme… Its executive committee took the decision after speaking to many of its
supporters – and it now has contacted its 1,350 members to tell them of its opposition to
the proposals.
“Ipswich Society chairman John Norman said: ‘We are not against change, and support the notion of an upgrade to the current surfaces, but we are very concerned about the proposed proliferation of steps, the reduction of open space for assemblies and the spending of £3.2m (which we feel is potentially excessive for what is required). The Ipswich Society will campaign for a much more reasonable and user-friendly refurbishment. We will also be pleased to review alternative suggestions which could include, for example, the ‘roofing over’ of the lower part of Lloyds Avenue, an enhanced series of steps and ramps for access to the Town Hall and former Post Office.’
“He said that any changes to the Cornhill should ensure that it remains a “usable” space for major events in the town centre and should be accessible to everyone. The project to redevelop the town centre is being undertaken by the Ipswich Vision partnership, with the Borough Council taking the leading role.
“Council leader David Ellesmere said he was heartened by the fact that the Ipswich Society recognised that the Cornhill needed to be updated and hoped to work with them to ensure they could welcome the changes. He said: ‘The changes are still very much a matter for discussion and we hope to work with the Ipswich Society on them.’ ”
Robin Gaylard
New Members
Chairman’s remarks
I was on the Waterfront the other day, making arrangements with a restaurant owner for a
summer barbecue, when it occurred to me that one reason why this part of town is so successful
is because of local ownership. Independent businesses that work for the local economy, employ
local people and contribute to the community.
On Waterfronts elsewhere, Newcastle, Bristol, and Cardiff Bay the multinationals dominate. You
will be familiar with the names, the retail outlets of the major international breweries and
familiar with the products they sell, fizzy yellow beer and microwave meals. In Ipswich there is
variety, establishments that really do cater for the local market. And even most of the developers
today are local: John Howard with the Wine Rack, Max Hembury with St Peter’s Port and Aiden
Coughlan with Isaacs. The first marina was instigated by a local entrepreneur, Alan Swann, who
went on to build Neptune Apartments.
There are other independent and local businesses; the estate agents and café owners are local, as
is the first retail outlet, Tony Coe’s John Russell Art Gallery in Wherry Lane and the first (and
best) hotel in town, Robert Gough’s Salthouse Harbour. I fear it may not last: success brings
other opportunists. J.D. Wetherspoon are looking for premises and Marston’s Piano and Pitcher
had first option on a unit in Regatta Quay.
No space this issue for a full report on the Maritime Conference held in the UCS Waterfront
Building on 21st May but it was a full and comprehensive day, well-organised and appreciated.
A special mention of Stephanie Valentine, Marketing Manager of Topsail Charters; she had the
audience gripped with her explanations of how she has developed a commercial business out of
what otherwise would be some old Thames barges, how she sells the business to
‘millennials’ (18-34 year olds) and how she is able to let the barges out in the cooler months as
well as on the warm summer days.
John Norman
Emeritus Professor Dr Peter Odell MA, Ph.D.
Peter Odell died on the 12th April 2016 aged 85 after a short decline. Born in humble circumstances in the Leicestershire coalfield at Coalville on July 1st 1930, his grandparents had been miners, his father a railway porter. After the local grammar school, he gained a first in Economic Geography at Birmingham, and then proceeded to a Ph.D.
He had a distinguished career in academia, in Boston, Mass and the London School of Economics, interrupted by three years with Shell. He was appointed to the Foundation Chair and Director of the Centre of International Energy Studies at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam in 1968. For domestic convenience he based his life in Ipswich from 1975. In 1979, he became Tony Benn's, then Labour's Secretary of State for Fuel and Power, special adviser and produced a report “British Oil Policy : a Radical Alternative”, which was not acted upon nor published for many years.
Peter was Chairman of the Society for eight years from 1992; he brought his commanding strategic views of economics and geography with him. He believed that the future of Ipswich lay in the redevelopment of the Waterfront, higher education and tourism. He fought for the retention of the Museum service with great passion, ultimately threatening the Council with a Judicial Review to prevent the down-grading of the Museums. For the Millennium celebrations, he organised a well attended whole day symposium in The Corn Exchange, “Ipswich from the First to the Third Millennium” with a cast of international speakers. He brought to the workings of the theSociety the heavy professionalism of the academia to which he was accustomed. He was of enormous intellectual capacity but with a great turn of humour and in many respects, quite unsophisticated and much loved.
Mike Cook
The Local Plan
Every Planning Authority must have a Local Plan which is legally valid. The plan sets out the
authority's Core Strategies, Development Policies and Site Allocations (every site has a use if it
comes up for development). Further, it incorporates the IP-One Area action plan and Special
Planning Documents (SPD) such as the Ipswich Garden Suburb (Northern Fringe). Within it, it
also decides the likely economic future and hence the number of jobs which leads to the number
of dwellings it proposes should be built.
The life span of a plan is 15 years; because of continual change, particularly in the economic
health of an authority, and because of the complexity of the calculations, the regulations, the
number of statutory consultations that have to be made and the amount of public consultations, it
is almost a continuous cyclical process even in a relatively small planning authority such as Ipswich.
All of this goes out to public consultation and is commented on and revised. The draft is
published, commented upon and is then presented to the Secretary of State. The Department of
Local Government gives consent for a Hearing in Public in front of a Planning Inspector who
holds a series of Public Hearings as to whether the Policies are legal and proper consultation has
taken place with all parties statutory, the public and others. Currently, we are at stage 2 of the
Hearings in Public. By the time you read this, several days’ discussion of the soundness of the
policies on employment allocation, housing, the Ipswich Garden Suburb, and so on will have
taken place.
The Inspector has reported on the first stage hearings that, subject to modifications, there is
sufficient prospect of the Plan being found legally compliant and sound.
I would like to emphasise the vital importance of a current legal Local Plan; without it, there is
no way in which development can be controlled legally. Further, if an Authority does not have
one they will be fined by Central Government. It is an expensive procedure requiring at least
three full-time senior planners, use of professional consultants in several areas of expertise such
as transport, employment prospects, major planning policy areas and the presence of a planning
QC at the hearings. But without it, and Ipswich has always been with it, we are lost. I should add
that John Norman or I will be present at all the hearings.
Mike Cook
Planning matters (will return in full form next issue)
St Clement Church. Granted a change of use to an arts centre, it will be used for music, arts and
performance within the Education Quarter. Only minimal changes are needed: a protective,
cheap, hard-wearing floor to level out the parquet and stone, minimal new wiring and modular
furnishings. Three toilets will be provided under the plane tree in the churchyard, next to the
Fore Street car park. These are for a period up to five years. It is clear that Community Interest
Company set up to restore and run the Arts Centre is going to be struggling for funds.
The developers, Cardinal Lofts (Mill) Ltd, have permission to develop Mill House, College
Street, opposite to St Mary-At-The-Quay, into an 8 floor block of 43 one-bedroomed
apartments. There will be little exterior alteration. Note that this a variation to a Planning
Permission granted as long ago as 25th May 2005. As part of the conditions a through pedestrian
way from Albion Wharf and College Street must be allowed between 8am and 10pm.
Mike Cook
Snippets 1
Losing our brown bins?
A propos of the article Who does what in Ipswich? in the Newsletter April 2016, what is
happening in the world of waste management? Suffolk County Council removed its support for
brown bin-emptying on 1 April 2016 which seriously affects the disposal and recyling/
composting of kitchen and garden waste in the county. This is a curious decision in view of
SCC’s stated aim to be ‘The Greenest County’. Local councils were faced with the choice of
imposing a charge of £35 to £50 per household to fund the service (with no discount for
pensioners or those with smaller bins), or to absorb the cost. Ipswich Borough Council is one
of only two local councils in Suffolk to fund the service. In these straightened times, it seems
likely that many families would have elected to save the £50 and just put organic recycling in
their black bins to be put into landfill – or, worse still, fly-tipping it – surely a retrograde step.
R. & W. Paul silo and our Image Archive
It is good to see our Image Archive coming into its own after a request by Hattie Mulhearn,
Assistant Heritage Consultant at Purcell architects, designers, heritage leaders and consultants
who have offices around Britain. She asked to include images taken from the Ipswich
Society’s online Flickr Image Archive in a heritage report she was writing on the R. & W. Paul
silo on St Peter’s Wharf. This publication would not be sold for commercial profit and they
would be sure to acknowledge the Society in the document. N.B.: Purcell are rated number
eighty-three in the world architecture top one hundred.
Mayor today…
The outgoing Mayor of London has distinguished himself during his two terms of office in
one respect at least: his 100% call-in record for deciding in favour of planning applications for
massive new developments in the city. This in the face of all seventeen cases where
democratically-elected local planning authorities have turned down the applications. We must
acknowledge that in Ipswich we have rather good planners who have the interests of the town
at the centre of their deliberations and bring two hard-working Ipswich Society Executive
Committee representatives into the process of consideration of planning applications (not
something that applies to many other Civic Societies).
Michael Portillo was seen recently in Ipswich on the Waterfront with his camera crew and
assistants. When asked about his latest TV show Great railway journeys he told the Society
that he'd had discussions with members of the Maritime Trust about the Wet Dock and the
importance of the railway connections to it. Having been in Ipswich three years ago when he
visited Ransomes and drove one or two of their mowing machines he was keen to come to the
town again. He told us to expect an episode which comes out early next year.
Chelmsford gets a John Lewis store.
The new 300,000 square feet Bond Street shopping centre in Chelmsford is to be anchored by a
John Lewis department store, their first store in Essex. The new store will occupy 120,000
square feet (half as big again as their Ipswich store) over three floors. Developer Aquila have
handed the store over to the JLP for fitting out with opening planned for September.
Chelmsford has proved attractive to John Lewis as it can boast spending on comparison goods
15% above the national average. Typical spending on comparison goods in Ipswich is below
the national average.
The Cornhill in history
John Speed’s map of Ipswich, 1610, is the earliest known plan of the town with any degree of
accuracy. It shows, to the north-west of the geographical town centre, an open rectangular area
with the thoroughfare we know today as Westgate and Tavern Streets. This east-west highway is
known to be of Roman origin. The rectangular area features the Market Cross (originally
probably a preaching cross) which was paid for by Wolsey’s uncle, Edmund Daundy
(1468-1515). The Cross was a feature of the Cornhill for 300 years. Also depicted: a building
where today’s ‘Post Office’ stands which must be the original Shambles, and finally a church –
presumably St Mildred – which is thought to have existed in Anglo-Saxon times. The map’s key
labels this number 8: ‘Corne hill’.
At the time of the map’s publication Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors, had been dead for seven
years and James I (of England), the first of the Stuarts, was on the throne.
This area is much older than the map, of course. This is the place where corn brought in from the
countryside was laid out for sale; thus the Cornhill is intrinsically tied to a market in Ipswich.
Markets (as well as fairs) were historically of great cultural, legal and economic significance
throughout the land. To some extent, they continue to be so. Medieval towns often grew up
around crossroads and river crossings – particularly if a church was nearby – where people
brought their wares to sell on a specific day of the week. Taverns, craft workshops and eventually
housing were often found at or near the same spot.
Bob Malster tells us: ‘It is possible that in the early Anglo-Saxon times the Wuffinga kings of
East Anglia had a royal residence on the Cornhill alongside St Mildred’s Church, which later
became the town hall.’ After centuries of corn trading on the hill a Corn Exchange was built,
initially in 1812 on the site of today’s ‘Post Office’ and replaced in 1882 by the building we
know today, for decades a busy place of trade. Over time it has become an entertainment centre:
the Grand Hall, cinemas, bar and – until recently – art gallery which sits south of our Town Hall,
fronting King Street.
The long-standing, timber-built Shambles once stood on the south-east corner of the Cornhill.
Arched and open to the air at street level, it was home to the butchers’ market. The area in front
of the Shambles (around the location of the two trees which grow in front of the ‘Post Office’
today) was the focus of two activities: bull-baiting and martyr-burning. The former was based on
the belief that terrorising cattle with dogs prior to slaughter tenderised the resultant meat. The
latter occurred around 1515-1558 during a period of religious and political tumult when London
vied with Rome in the publication of new heresies, crimes which could be punishable by burning
at the stake.
Two thousand or more people were recorded as attending these grisly executions. They usually
occurred from 7 to 10 o’clock in the morning with the heretic tied to a sixpenny stake surrounded
by brushwood and faggots. Officials sat in the gallery of the Shambles and a clergyman would
deliver an appropriate sermon. The condemned man or woman would then have the chance to
speak, sometimes at length enough to annoy the gentlemen onlookers. Sir Robert Curson,
occupant of Curson House in St Peters Street, was once so overwrought by a burning that he
came down from the gallery, cut a branch with his sword from a nearby tree and added it to the
flames.
The Cornhill of 1800 must at times have been impossibly congested. Corn trading still took place
around the Market Cross, as well as all sorts of livestock (horses, cattle, pigs and sheep) being
bought and sold, not to mention local traffic and the hourly stage coach. The timber-framed
Shambles of yore had been replaced by the short-lived, odiferous Rotunda, but this and the
Market Cross (repaired and changed over time), were swept away in 1812 to be replaced by a
Regency Corn Exchange. By about 1880 this in turn gave way to the grand Post Office building.
The sculpted figure of Justice from the top of the Market Cross, exchanged her sword and scales
for a sickle and sheaf of wheat/horn of plenty to sit atop the interim Corn Exchange. She
currently lives, a little weather-beaten, at the foot of the main staircase in the Town Hall.
When major alterations to the Cornhill were discussed in October 2013, the late Dr John Blatchly
was a strong advocate for retaining the gentle slope and reinstating the Market Cross. Its removal
in 1812 seems to have been unpopular and the noted historian G.R. Clarke (1830) tells us that it
was only pulled down ‘with considerable difficulty, as the timber, and every part of it, were in
excellent preservation… As a relic of antiquity, we cannot but regret its loss.’ The town lost the
focal point of the space, octangonal in plan with an area suitable for seating covered by an
attractive ogee-shaped, lead-covered roof, topped by the aforementioned figure of Justice. It was
27 feet in diameter and about fifty feet from the ground to the top of the figure. Apparently parts
of the Market Cross are stored at the Ipswich Museum.
The grand Venetian-style Town Hall we see today arrived in 1868; it was designed by Lincoln
architect Pearson Bellamy, replacing a Palladian Town Hall which was built on the site of the
Church of St Mildred around 1812. This saw the final removal of any remnants of the church
which had stood on the Cornhill for a thousand years. Meanwhile, for a hundred years the new
Town Hall was the seat of local government in the town, until the Borough moved its offices to
the Civic Centre in the 1960s. Sitting on a raised platform and accessed by impressive stone steps
(as does the ‘Post Office’ building), in 2016 the Town Hall is crying out for a new role in our
town. Having apparently wandered away from the original idea of a fine suite of galleries for
exhibitions and workshops, the ‘Town Galleries’ seem now to be mainly a café and gift shop.
Only the Suffolk Craft Society room maintains the original intention, it seems. The large Council
Chamber room upstairs still provides a good venue for music, poetry and other events.
R.G.
The Cornhill before 1790 showing the Shambles building to the right centre and Tavern
Street at the left. The prominent Market Cross is topped by ‘Justice’. The building on the
extreme right is the Three Tuns Inn which later became the Corn Exchange Tavern. The
tower of St Lawrence Church is in the background.
Bangladeshi memorial in Alexandra Park
The Suffolk Bangladeshi Society and Mayor Glenn Chisholm unveiled a Shaheed Minar (Martyr) memorial in Alexandra Park on International Mother Language Day, 21 February 2016, marking the day in 1952 when Pakistani troops opened fire on scholars in Dhaka who had been challenging the right to use their local Bengali language.
Individuals of the Bangladeshi group were joined by civic leaders in Alexandra Park, Ipswich to celebrate the brand new memorial to their fight for independence and their cultural identity. The memorial, a reproduction of that erected in Dhaka, was designed by Ipswich-based architect Nick Jacob and was made in Manningtree.
Annual Awards Evening
One of the most important events of the Society's year is on the horizon. Any member can contribute, in fact we need you to help.
Nominations for our annual awards for new buildings or improvement schemes should be made in the next two months. Remember, your observation of changes in Ipswich is particularly valuable because you may have noticed things in your own part of town which committee members don't know about.
We photograph and visit all nominations, before the judges’ final decisions are revealed in November's special meeting.
We are looking for the new buildings and/or projects of restoration or refurbishment which have made a notable contribution to the townscape.
Please nominate by emailing our secretary Caroline Markham. The closing date for nominations is 30 September 2016.
Tony Marsden
Ipswich Cycling Club in Edwardian times
The Safe Harbour Inn (formerly The Old Borough Arms?) opened c.1840, closed 1938.
“The photograph shows, I believe, a meeting of the Ipswich Cycling Club outside the Safe Harbour Inn c.1909 which was in Borough Road (now Grimwade Street). My grandmother is the small girl at the front standing with her step-father and she was born 1904. She was Lily Cant (née Watling); like so many, her mother died in childbirth and her father put her up for adoption. I think that the step-parents lived off Rope Walk in some houses that were pulled down certainly before I was born (1962). Was it Woodhouse Street? I do remember my grandmother saying to me when we walked past Woodhouse Square that it was near there.”
Sally Goddard
The Safe Harbour was on the corner of Dorkin Street and Borough Road. Dorkin Street was directly opposite Waterworks Street: the bit that runs along the north side of the Church of St Clement. Originally Borough Road, later Grimwade Street, only ran as far north as Rope Walk – the prison yard was beyond (the 1902 map shows it extended). Dorkin Street was parallel with New Street, the next street south, today the exit from the University Car Park; thus, the Safe Harbour was built on the acute angle, great for photographs like this one. J.N.
Letters to the Editor
Suffolk Local Access Forum from Margaret Hancock
I was particularly interested to read John Norman’s comments on cycling in the last Newsletter.
I’m a keen commuting and touring cyclist myself and would echo most of his comments. As a
member of Suffolk Local Access Forum (SLAF) I was very encouraged to learn about SCC’s
plans to encourage more children to cycle to school. I’m sure John is aware of the Safe Routes
to School (SRTS) programme, a national initiative to improve the health and well-being of
children by examining conditions around schools and conducting projects and activities that
work to improve safety and accessibility, and reduce traffic and air pollution in the vicinity of
schools. As a result, this programme aims to make bicycling and walking to school safer with
more appealing transportation choices thus encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age.
It is good to know that in Suffolk, Claire Parker, Green Access Manager is working alongside
SCC Passenger Transport to identify ways in which Public Rights of Way might contribute to
these efforts and a number of footpaths and bridleways have been identified as being potential
options for a safer route to school. For SRTS to be delivered successfully will require
collaboration between authorities’ schools, passenger transport, highways, PRoW teams and
local politicians. A lot of this is budget driven now and as much work will need to be put into
promoting healthy and sustainable travel to school amongst parents and children as ensuring
off road routes are properly maintained and safe to use. The programme is complex and in
some circumstances contentious and political but it’s good to know that many of the issues
raised by John in his article are at least on the agenda.
More details about SLAF, can be found at http://publicrightsofway.onesuffolk.net/suffolk-
local-access-forum/ and the full report (LAF16/04) entitled “Green Access Development
Update” is available by clicking on SLAF meeting 28-01-16. The report summarises
development projects that the Green Access Manager is either leading, scoping or involved
with, and I think would make interesting reading for anyone keen to see an improvement in
facilities for walkers and cyclists across the County.
Fore Street memories from Stuart Cooper
I particularly enjoy Letters to the Editor for the memories they evoke. The April Newsletter
(Issue 203) contained just such a contribution from William Thompson, now living in Norwich.
He mentioned his employment at Smyth Bros which reminded me of a story that links to the
Society’s celebration last year of the Fore Street Facelift of 1961.
I remember my father, who was friendly with Cyril Lee – a director of Smyth Bros – telling me
of a very animated Mr Lee (those that knew him will understand) who had received the
building colour scheme proposal just weeks after redecorating the Fore Street premises.
Nevertheless, just as other owners wholeheartedly embraced the scheme, Smyths was re-
painted, this time in the proposed colour.
Mr Thompson also refers to the Old Neptune Inn which was owned by George Scott. I had a
great liking and respect for George and as a very young man I served for many years on the
Fore Street Association Committee. The Committee was made up of some distinguished
members of the business community: Neville Sneezum, Ray Atkinson of Martin & Newby,
Mr Jackson of EA Wire Company and yet when any subject was discussed George would
particularly invite my views.
George Bodley Scott was a very able man being Chairman of W.S. Cowell Ltd, often quoted as
the finest colour printers in the world, and he was also exceptionally gifted in manual tasks,
particularly carpentry. When he took over the Old Neptune in 1950s it had been used as a
builder’s store and was in poor condition. The sitting room contained rotting oak linenfold
panelling dating from 16th century and George carved complete replacement matching panels
in his workshop. Some of the original panels are displayed in the Tudor Room in
Christchurch Mansion.
Mr Thompson correctly records summer evening parties held at the Old Neptune. Each year a function was held for the management team at W.S. Cowell and another for members of the Fore Street Association which I attended on several occasions. I also remember, one year a party was held for the benefit of the Red Cross. My wife, Gina, has particularly fond memories of one special party with a Caribbean steel band playing in the courtyard.
[Many thanks to Margaret and Stuart for their contributions; we, too, enjoy the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column so, readers, do please keep sending in correspondence.]
The Museum of Knots & Sailor’s Ropework celebrates its 20 years on the 5th, 6th and 7th August 2016, 11am to 7pm at 501 Wherstead Rd
Ipswich. Friends and family welcome. Normally open only by appointment, Des and Liz Pawson have achieved a unique collection of tools, materials and artefacts and a superb collection of pierhead paintings.
Email: des@despawson.com
The Ipswich Society Members’ Garden Party
Friday July 15 from 6pm
at The Orangery, Holywells Park, Ipswich
Wine, soft drinks and canapés will be served
A chance for Ipswich Society members to socialise in this excellent venue, and to celebrate the success of the
Holywells Park restoration project at the
Civic Voice Design Awards for 2016
(see the article on page 14)
No booking required
Please note the change in the time of this event from that previously published in the Newsletter.
Gallery of Ipswich Society Awards 2015: winners and some nominees
Left: The Ipswich Freight Chord.
Nominated for award in 2015.
A major civic project by Network Rail to enable train traffic to enter the main routes to the north and west without the necessity to enter the town station.
Right: The Avenue Theatre. Award of Commendation to this theatre extension to Gyppeswick Hall. The Red Rose Chain Theatre Company now have their Headquarters here.
Left: Anton House.
Nominated.
A project which saw the redevelopment of an office block and the construction of a new block on Grimwade Street for a housing association.
Holywells Park renovation.
Award of Distinction.
Park Gate Housing Development.
Park Road.
High Commendation.
Right: Isaacs Upper Extension. Award of High Commendation to the redevelopment of this part of Isaacs on the Waterfront. Nick Jacob Architects were designers with Dean Jennings as project manager.
Below left: 1 Warrington Road (from Ivry Street).
Nominated.
Below right: Genesis mixed housing complex, Stoke Quay.
Nominated.
Merchant Navy memorial.
Nominated.
Bungalow, Dale Hall Lane. Nominated.
Left: Civic Drive / Princes Street
crossing. Award of Commendation
to this new road layout.
Stop press: Holywells Park win 24th May, Portcullis House, Westminster, the Attlee Suite, saw the presentation of the Civic Voice Design Awards for 2016.
Civic Voice is the national charity for the civic movement in England with a mission to develop
a society where everyone can say, “I care about where I live”. Civic Voice promotes civic pride
through a network of over 75,000 individual members and societies, of which we are one.
The President, Griff Rhys Jones, was unable to be present as promised, but Freddie Gick the
Chair of Civic Voice, welcomed over a hundred delegates to the celebration. Representatives
from all around the country were present: from the Isle of Wight to Winchester and from
Liverpool to Ipswich. In the beautifully oak-panelled suite on the first floor of this arresting
addition to the Parliamentary Estate, just across the road from the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben),
we gathered.
Nick Wilcox (IBC Holywells Park Manager), Richard Sharp, Tony Marsden (Vice Chair,
Ipswich Society) and Councillor Phil Smart (IBC Portfolio Holder for Environment and
Transport) accepted the Public Realm Winner Award for the Holywells Park restoration project.
Also present were John Norman (Chair, Ipswich Society) and our planning guru, Mike Cook,
with his wife Sally. We were pleased also to see another Society member, Ben Gummer MP,
pop in from his hectic schedule at the Department of Health.
The project earned the Ipswich Society’s own Award of Distinction last year and it was felt that it deserved greater acclaim so was nominated by The Society. A popular winner then: it was praised, this time by the judges, as being:
“Central to local community life – extending a vibrant, friendly and warm welcome and providing a varied programme of activities throughout the seasons, including a Scarecrow Party and Apple Day in October.”
A lengthy and fulsome account of the project was given by the judge Russ Hamilton, a design partner at Farrells the
international architecture and urban design firm. Later Max Farrell, Chair of the panel and partner in the same firm, concluded by referring to ‘civic champions’ responding to the demands of the the local communities in the pursuit of quality in the public realm. The Civic Award is a tremendous accolade for Holywells Park, for the Society and for the town of Ipswich.
We came away musing on the potential nominations for our own awards this year!
Tony Marsden
[Members are able to celebrate this excellent result at our Members’ Garden Party at The Orangery, Holywells Park on Friday July 15. Details on page 11. -Ed.]
Snippets 2
Records to move
Suffolk County Council’s decision to create a new Record Office in the County Town was
welcomed at the time (rather than a possible move to the geographical centre of the county).
The offices in Bury and Lowestoft will remain open but the main focus will be on moving from
Gatacre Road to a new Record Office and Heritage Centre on the Waterfront close to UCS –
which has given one million pounds and the site for the project. The Heritage Lottery Fund
has granted £538,000 to SCC to draw up the plans. This seems a lot to pay for ‘plans’ but it
surely means that HLF is all the more likely to follow up with a further ten million pounds to
complete the scheme, which will also include exhibition space and a 200 seat auditorium. It
will be called ‘The Hold’, a neat name which should be easy to remember, as long as it’s not
confused with part of a ship.
Big new name
The other really good news from the Waterfront is that UCS has won the right to become the
University of Suffolk It will be able to award its own degrees, no longer depending on UEA
or Essex. It will receive direct Government funding and should be able to expand its teaching,
its numbers of students and its international appeal.
Growth and pay
Ipswich has been ranked 10th out of 62 cities and large towns with good private sector job
growth. But only seven other areas had lower average wages – an awkward factor when
considering how to improve the range and quality of shops in town.
Threats to street scene
BhS is the kind of semi-department store likely to struggle in today’s cut-throat retailing, even
without the scandalous behaviour of the two previous owners. Clearly, sympathy should go to
the staff who face an uncertain future. From the Society’s point of view, that part of Butter
Market could do without empty premises since it’s a very long frontage, where three or four
shops have been knocked into one. And that will be part of the problem for any owners or
tenants because we are so often told that modern retailers are looking for simple ‘big boxes’,
not difficult floor levels and awkward angles.
The future of Princes Street
The Drum and Monkey (formerly The Sporting Farmer) has closed. This opens up more
possibility for new development. The Borough Council owns the land. The site adjoining is
already planned for development as offices, and across the road Birketts Solicitors will be
moving into a purpose-built office block. Nearer the railway station, the former Fisons block is
being re-modelled for office use again and The Malthouse could also become office-type
accommodation. People might complain that the town doesn’t need new offices when older
ones stand empty, but businesses choose to move to where they think it will be advantageous.
And it’s hard to dispute that a major street running from the town centre to the station is a
natural hub for office-based businesses.
Carrier bag armageddon
If the East of England Co-op hadn’t ceased giving away free carrier bags in 2008 they would
by now have surpassed 100 million.
Work on Christchurch Mansion
Repairs and improvements to the Mansion, one of Ipswich’s iconic Grade One Listed
buildings, commenced in April and Society members were invited to attend an inspection of
the building to review the ongoing and proposed works which are scheduled for completion in
December 2016.
We were greeted by Hillary Brightman, who introduced herself and advised that, in her
profession as a Conservation Architect, she had been originally appointed in 2002 by Ipswich
Borough Council to prepare a Conditions Survey of the Mansion. The survey of this
complicated building had taken twelve weeks to complete and resulted in the production of a
document which formed the basis of a strategy for the future Maintenance and Repairs,
classifying the works, prioritising Urgent Improvement /Remedial Works, General Repairs and
long term Maintenance.
The current scheme follows on from the recently completed improvements works to The
Wolsey Gallery Wing, the reroofing of the West and East Wings in 2008 and roof parapet
works undertaken in 2006 and concludes the identified major Improvement works. The current
works are being undertaken both externally and internally with Hillary guiding us around the
building explaining the extent of the proposals.
Externally the works include general brickwork repairs with reclaimed bricks, installed with a hot lime and sand mortar mix sympathetic to the existing brickwork and the major scheme of reroofing to the central core of the
Mansion. Surprisingly, we were advised that significant ongoing damage to the roof areas was being caused by ‘roof runners’ who take pleasure from climbing difficult structures and filming themselves for distribution on social media sites whilst inadvertently damaging the roof tiling and leadwork. The reroofing works entail the construction of a temporary roof canopy over the building which will be enclosed with vertical sheeting to prevent water ingress during the roofing works. To deter future ‘roof runners’, external CCTV is to be introduced with cameras
carefully located not to detract from the Grade I building.
Internally, the main focus of the works is to the two-storey Tudor Wing, a timber framed structure relocated previously from Majors Corner which, as well as being used as a museum exhibition room, is utilised for marriage ceremonies. As one would expect, the building suffers badly from heat loss and can be cold for occupants. The proposed scheme is to install an innovative warm air heating system in a strengthened roof void with ducting via the existing chimney flue discharging from the fire places on each floor. To mitigate heat loss, auto-opening
glass doors are to be introduced across the internal corridors and the roof ceiling void is to be overboarded with timber encapsulating the loft insulation. We were advised that some of the new vapour permeable roofing underfelts and insulation products are not bat friendly and thus the requirement to encapsulate the insulation.
Other works to be undertaken internally include the provision of ‘heat mats’ (similar to electric
blankets) which are to be laid under carpets within the Children’s Education rooms on the
ground floor. This will enable children to sit on the floors which are currently timber boarded
but cold. Minor adaptation to window seats which currently enclose the radiators are also proposed.
As a partial consequence of works undertaken over the years, the existing underground
electrical mains supply serving the Mansion requires upgrading and the current scheme
includes the excavation of a service trench extending from the front of the Mansion to Soane
Street. With the sensitive nature of the route, all excavation work will be undertaken under the
supervision of an archaeologist to identify and record all finds.
Whilst the major works are undertaken, some disruption will inevitably incur internally, but the
Mansion will remain open for business as usual.Many thanks to John Norman for kindly organising the visit and the architect Hillary Brightman, who, for the past 14 years has endeavoured to help conserve and protect our
historic building for the enjoyment of future generations.
Chris Terry
Chartwell: an Ipswich Society outing, 17 April 2016
The first of the Society’s outings for 2016 took us to Chartwell, the country home of the Churchills from 1922-1965, the year of Sir Winston’s death.
Churchill bought the property in 1922 for £5,000. It stands 650 feet above sea level and has marvellous, far-reaching views of the Weald of Kent, which was its principal attraction for him. The Listed Grade I house, an Elizabethan manor house standing on the site of a 15th century house, had been enlarged in the 19th century. Churchill engaged the architect, Philip Tilden, to sweep away the gloomy Victorian facade, build a three-storey east wing, also modify and simplify the interior. The family was able to move in permanently two years later and the National Trust, on Lady Churchill’s instructions, has arranged the contents of the rooms to reflect their family life in the twenties and thirties.
There is much of the Arts and Crafts style in the house. On the ground floor are Lady C’s sitting room, the drawing room with windows on three sides and a London scene by Monet on the wall and the Library with book-cases going up almost to the ceiling on three walls. Upstairs Lady C’s bedroom has beautiful views over garden, lake and the Weald; she also used this room as her study.
The ante-room, once a bath and dressing-room, contains the robes that Lady C. wore to the House of Lords after she had been created Baroness Spencer-Churchill in 1965 in recognition of her work for charity. The museum and uniform rooms were converted in 1966 from three guest bedrooms. The museum displays, amongst other things, many of the numerous awards Churchill received and some of the lavish gifts bestowed on him by foreign heads of state. The study, part of the original house with 16th century beams, is where he spent much of hisworking life: on his speeches and on his 43 books – for much of his working life he had to write to earn a living.
The Listed Grade II* garden is a great feature including a kitchen garden and studio where many of his paintings are displayed, as they are in the house. He found painting, which he took up in 1915 after the
Dardanelles disaster, a great relaxation and a help with his ‘Black Dog’ depressions. He completed over 500 in his lifetime. Many thanks to June Peck for organising a memorable visit.
Richard Worman
Ipswich Urban Archaeology Database
Ipswich has a rich archaeological heritage and is of international importance because of its status as one of only four Middle Saxon ‘emporia’ or ‘wic’ sites in England. The others are London, Southampton and
The excavations at Cranfield’s Mill in 2006. York. These sites displayed urban characteristics in the AD 700s and were trading with continental Europe.
A new project funded by Historic England, Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (in collaboration with Ipswich Borough Council) is creating a map-linked, publicly accessible Urban Archaeological Database (UAD) for Ipswich. The project is mapping all investigative events (excavations, surveys, etc.) in the town looking for archaeology. It will cover the whole of the Ipswich Borough area and include the prehistoric, The lifting of the Anglo-Saxon pottery kiln from the Roman and earlier Anglo-Saxon Buttermarket site in 1987.remains, relating to the contexts in which Ipswich developed, as well as the medieval suburban area and archaeology of the later expansion of the town. (https://heritage.suffolk.gov.uk/ipswich-uad)
Working with Dr Abby Antrobus and the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, Dr Hannah Cutler will be working on the project for the next ten months. Our thanks to her for the photographs (© Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service).
A very different future…
Cars, and the effect they have on Ipswich, have featured heavily in recent issues of the Newsletter. April alone covered ring-roads and the Wet Dock Crossing, parking & housing, congestion & short journeys, the future of town centre retail, car park capacity and a plaintive cry for a ‘modal shift’ from the use of private cars.
However, there is a massive change on the horizon which will make a big difference to towns,
shops, commuting and planning. If we can predict even some of the effect it will have on the
townscape, then perhaps Ipswich can be in front of the wave for once. And this change is …
driverless cars.
This is no abstract research topic. Major car manufacturers and now wealthy entrepreneurs have
been pouring in huge sums over many years. Self-driving cars work now. Over the past few
years very ordinary cars have had more and more of these features. The VW Golf that can hold
you a safe distance from the car in front on dual carriageways up to whatever speed you set, even
if the car in front suddenly brakes and then accelerates away; which alerts you if you wander out
of the lane and will actually steer you round the corner if you fail to; where the handbrake is
totally automatic; and which can park itself in tight spaces. It has automatic emergency braking
to avoid collisions in towns too.
The Google self-driving car project has no human controls, just a means to enter your
destination, and has driven over one and a half million miles on public roads, with only one
collision down to its control systems (they’ve been hit from behind at traffic lights a few times by
human drivers). So don’t imagine the completely self-driving car is still far off – it is much
closer than you might think.
Why use them?
Why will these cars become popular?
(1) Because safety will be down to the car and not the
driver.
(2) No longer will the elderly or disabled fear losing their freedom to move around. (3) A
long drive in the dark will no longer be daunting.
(3) There are no huge insurance premiums for
young drivers.
(4) Children, pedestrians and cyclists will feel that our roads are genuinely safe to
use once again.
(5) Road traffic deaths have reduced by two-thirds in the last 50 years, owing to
better road and car design; the remaining death toll is primarily caused by human error. Self-
driving cars will help eliminate those deaths and injuries. Already Volvo says that no-one should
be killed or seriously injured in one of its cars by 2020.
So how will driverless cars change everyday life in our town? How can they have a major impact
on town design or traffic and parking congestion? In fact the rapid growth in the use of mobile
phone apps is the other part of the jigsaw that will drive the big societal change.
The UberCars app has rapidly become very popular with users worldwide (though less so with
traditional taxi drivers). When you want a taxi, you set your destination on a phone app. The
app knows where you are, and despatches a car. You are sent the driver’s photo and car license
(for your safety). At your destination you don’t pay or tip the driver, as the system does this from
the credit card on file. Finally the app asks you to give anonymous feedback about the driver and
trip. Imagine how this new approach would be revolutionary when combined with
self-driving cars!
Currently, many cars sit on the driveway most of their lives, depreciating heavily even when not
being used. But if you could easily call for a car whenever you wanted, and pay for it only as
you use it, it would work out very much cheaper for many car owners. Paying trip-by-trip would
spread the costs more equitably and allow people to adopt a greener approach to transport.
So, the real change for our towns and cities comes from combining self-driving cars and mobile
phone apps to book them. Anyone can have the ability to summon a self-driving car to collect
them and ferry them to their destination – effectively having the use of a private car but on a ‘pay
as you go’ basis. This might be the real ‘modal shift from the private car’ as we currently use
them, and might even make a switch to cycling and walking safer, and so more attractive. This
is much like the idea behind the ‘car pool’, but outside a few small schemes in large cities, these
have not really made much of an impact on car ownership. The ‘instant car pool’ these combined
technologies will bring will revolutionise things and will drive down the number of cars sitting
idle on driveways and side roads every day.
Impacts
There will be huge consequences. Fewer road traffic accidents and injuries (saving the country
money on NHS and Fire & Rescue services); fewer privately-owned cars; car pools could really
take off on a massive scale; fewer parking spaces needed in towns, offices, shopping centres,
stations etc. as more and more customers arrive by self-driving car (the car would drop you off
and go to its next customer). Less on-street car-parking would be needed, fewer front gardens
turned into parking spaces.
It’s also likely that many of these cars will be small-engined efficient town cars, or even electric,
replacing many local journeys by older, larger and less energy efficient vehicles. It’s not all
positive, though: it could mean more short journeys in busy periods, as cars return empty after
delivering someone to work. But then the more people using the systems, the more these return
journeys will instead become paying journeys for the next passenger. Perhaps the biggest
challenge for society will be what happens to the estimated 1.7 million people who currently earn
a living from driving – taking their disposable income out of the economy might pose a bigger
threat to town centre shops than internet shopping.
This future may be much closer than you would think possible. The UK government has
authorised trials on the public roads from 2017. It seems likely self-driving cars will become
commercially available before 2020: less than 4 years’ time. One study suggests there will be 10
million sold worldwide by 2020, and result in 2,500 fewer deaths in the UK by 2030. The main
delay seems the remaining legal and insurance issues, rather than the technology. It might be a
further few years before they become common, but that’s well within the town and street
planning ‘window’. So we ought to be thinking now about how they might impact our current
towns and streets in the future, and begin to plan accordingly.
Town planning
Self-driving cars will be here soon. What is less certain is quite how they will displace existing cars and other forms of transport – and how quickly. What can we do to be ready for the changes they will bring? Can we be better prepared for once, rather than just trying to cope with the consequences?
Ipswich might even consider that with the traffic problems we already have, we might be an excellent choice as the location for a pilot for how this new technology should be introduced into a small city. For once, we might be ahead of the curve…
Martin & Cathy French
James Reid Moir FRS 1879-1944
James Reid Moir did valuable early work on prehistory, particularly in relation to the geological deposits of East Anglia. Born in Hitchin, he was educated in Ipswich and was associated with our town for the whole of his life. His archaeological work began in earnest with an investigation into the bed of stones at the base of the Red Crag sand exposed in the Dales Road Brickfield of Messrs. Bolton & Laughlin. He surmised that some of the flints here were humanly worked and summarised many years of work in a lecture to the Royal Society in 1939, estimating that it was about 2 million years since these implements were made. Reid Moir’s scientific work was well-executed and many of the flints remain in the Ipswich Museum collection, the current archaeological interpretation however, is that the flints are not humanly-worked. Throughout his life Reid Moir continued to investigate the prehistory of East Anglia, conducting many excavations, including one for the British Association at Hoxne (where John Frere had first discovered and understood the great antiquity of flint axes in 1798). Reid Moir established that these were of interglacial age and linked them in age to deposits in the brickfield near Derby Road station in Ipswich. He supported the formation, and was President of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia (later to become the Prehistoric Society of Great Britain) and he was President of Ipswich Museum, 1929-44.
After his death, a memorial seat bearing Reid Moir’s name was placed beneath the large oak tree at the junction of Valley Road and Westwood Avenue. The parcel of land had been purchased by and presented to Ipswich Corporation by Alderman T. R. Parkington (Chairman of the Museum Committee) as a result of an appeal in the press by Reid Moir for its exclusion from the development of the Brooks Hall Estate which would have entailed the tree’s removal. The seat is long gone and recently the Broomhill Pool Trust and Friends of Broomhill Library
led by Mark Ling decided to place an information panel beside “Moir’s Oak”. It was officially opened by Cllr Inga Lockington on May 7th 2016 and has information on Reid Moir and on Sir Anthony Wingfield (1488-1552), original owner of the Brooks Hall Estate which today is covered by the Broomhill area and Valley Road. The venerable oak tree could well be old enough to date back to the 15th century and in helping to perpetuate its conservation the
residents of Broomhill have created a fitting memorial to one of Ipswich’s most noted residents. Much of the information on James Reid Moir was taken from his obituary by Guy Maynard in the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology Proceedings 1946.
Caroline
Markham
The Ipswich Society
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
Other members
Dates for your diary
Friday July 15, from 6pm: Ipswich Society Members’ Garden Party at The Orangery,
Holywells Park, Ipswich. Wine, soft drinks and canapés will be served. Full details on page 11.
Society Outings are organised through the summer months, publicised via Newsletter inserts:-
Tuesday July 19: Creeks, Cockles & Cockneys, Essex tour.
Saturday August 13: John Norman’s City of London Tour, including the Whitechapel
Bell Foundry.
Thursday August 25: Guided tour of the New King’s Cross and Regent’s Canal cruise.
Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September: Heritage Open Days organised by The Society.
Friday September 16: Tour of Bedford, including Kathy Brown’s Garden at Stevington.
Wednesday October 19, 7pm: Ipswich Building Preservation Trust brief AGM; guest speaker
Jay Merrick, Ipswich-based architectural critic, journalist and novelist. Venue:
Isaac’s Crossway Room on the Waterfront. Further details in our October issue.
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.
Joining The Ipswich Society
It costs only £10 for an individual and a bargain £15 for couple or family. Non-profit
groups: £25 and Commercial/corporate membership is
£50. The Society organises the annual Heritage Open Days in Ipswich, Winter Illustrated Talks,
Members’ outings, Awards Evenings and more. See page 23 for our The Holywells Park Project wins Civic Voice Award (see page 14 for details) Membership Secretary’s contact details.
Photograph courtesy Ian Harvey of Civic Voice
Back row extreme left: Freddie Gick, Chair of Civic Voice; centre, holding blue plaque: Nick Wilcox (IBC Holywells Park Manager). Front row 2nd and third from left: John Norman (Chair, Ipswich Society) and Cllr Phil Smart (Ipswich Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport). 2nd from right : Richard Sharp, Holywells Park Ranger.