July 2019 Issue 216
Contents
Editorial
Description of Ipswich, 1822
New members
Ipswich: a town to be proud of
Chairman’s remarks
Letters to the Editor
Planning matters
Ipswich Window in Hadleigh
The Cardinal Works site, College St
Graffiti
Snippets
The underground cable and bicycles
Our Annual Awards 2019
Broomhill Pool news
Medway Mosaic outing
Notes on our back cover photograph
Arthur Edwards blue plaque
Society officers
John Wiggin: pioneer photographer
Diary dates
Houses in Multiple Occupation
Aerial view of Ipswich
‘A dappled shade across the door of St Clements this morning.’
Photograph by Graham Smith
12.5.2019
Editorial
Following a number of admiring comments about our cover photograph on the April 2019 issue, I should have included a credit for the photographer: our Chairman, John Norman. A technical slip ‘lost’ the caption during final preparations. The lofty view of the Wet Dock northern quays from Isaac’s to Neptune Marina was actually taken by John, not from a hot air balloon above the water, but from the roof of the Winerack when two intrepid members of the Society’s Executive Committee were taken up there during an early phase in the completion of the block. The
perspective fooled a lot of people, including your editor.
It is also worth mentioning that this very same image became an important feature on one of a pair
of new Ipswich Society pull-up banners which were on show for the first time at our AGM in April. The other photograph – as featured on the front cover of our publication Ipswich: a town to be proud of – is a view of The Ancient House and Butter Market taken on a very early summer morning by our Vice-Chairman,
Tony Marsden.
Photograph detail below: Where can this be seen? See Letters to the Editor on page 17.
Robin Gaylard
[N.B.: ‘Street Scene’ returns next issue.]
New members
Chairman’s remarks
Unintended consequences
You will read elsewhere in this Newsletter [page 14] about ‘Developers’ converting the roof
space in terraced houses into bed-sitting rooms (and then the whole house into one of multiple
occupancy). The relaxation of the Planning Regulation was to enable a growing family to extend
their home without the hassle of applying for planning permission or the expense of moving
house.
It is almost impossible in this day and age to define ‘family’ when it comes to allowing
‘permitted development’ under this Planning Regulation. Hence those who can spot the loophole
stretch the regulation beyond its intended purpose.
Another example of unintended consequence is the permitted development or installation of
Telephone Call Boxes in the public highway. Back in 2003 it seemed like a good idea to allow
British Telecom (who were, by and large, the only provider of TCBs) to install them where they
were needed, again without the hassle of planning permission.
Some time later, in an attempt to make it worthwhile to retain these call boxes, advertising was
allowed on the large glass panels (facing out to be read by passing motorists). The set of three
TCBs on Major’s Corner were installed simply to provide an advertising hoarding.
Move forward to the second decade of the 21st century and there are, of course, more companies
with the statutory power to install TCBs on the highway. And, guess what? We have a rash of
applications (not for permission – that is taken as read, but simply to inform the local authority
that it is happening).
These are not telephone boxes, but simply a free-standing wall with a poster on one side and the
telephone and computer screen on the other. Evidence from other towns suggests that the
telephone hardly ever works, but the advertising does! Frequently the poster is a TV screen
displaying rolling advertisements which can be changed to suit the passing pedestrians. Coffee
shops at 8.30 am, retail shopping in the mid-morning and fast food in the late afternoon,
particularly when the fast-food outlet is but yards away.
The local authority can, and will, object when the application is in a Conservation Area or close
to a listed building, as will the Ipswich Society.
You may by now have read of the changes afoot to the gateway site off Bridge Street: the Stoke
Bridge entrance to the Waterfront. St Peter’s Wharf has been repaved and now it is the turn of
the buildings adjacent. All are owned by the Borough Council and they eagerly await a
developer:
i) on the car park – site of the demolished BOCM maltings building with the small cottage-like
Benet Aldred merchant’s house at No. 4 College Street;
ii) to demolish the last remaining silo and build something new, perhaps of similar height; these
first two could be developed as a single project;
iii) the former Burton’s factory – a concrete-framed building the other half of which, Cardinal
Lofts, received an upward extension ten years ago;
iv) the former Allied Mills (Cranfield’s) weigh-bridge single storey building which has the
problem of asbestos and other builder’s rubbish dumped inside. This detritus is to be removed
and the building brought back into use.
We wish the Borough well with this challenging project.
John Norman
Planning matters
2 Park Road. Inevitably, in view of the extant permission granted on appeal twelve years ago,
the slight enlargement and the larger car park was granted. The effect on the Conservation Area
will not be great but time will tell how much traffic is generated.
Mulberry Tree. An application for conversion to a community centre for the Kurds including a
prayer room; the scheme was well-supported by the Kurdish community nationwide. Locally,
it received a record number of almost entirely irrelevant objections, which is dismaying.
28-32 Museum Street. These Listed buildings, Birketts former offices, have all been bought
by one developer. No. 20, once a Regency town house, will be converted to four apartments
and no 28-32 into nine. This will lead to some undesirable but unpreventable internal detail
loss as part of the internal changes. The remainder will be re-let as offices to raise cash-flow
whilst difficulties with conversion are resolved.
Ravenswood, Nacton Road. Erection of Day Centre and 24-bed residential accommodation
for Headway Suffolk: this development is to be welcomed as it will provide a welcome new
facility to Ipswich for the rehabilitation of neurological injuries.
However, the architecture is utilitarian which could well be avoided. There are many instances
countrywide of fine modern architecture in similar establishments, for example Maggie's
Cancer Centre or our own children’s hospice by Roger Gillies.
Old Post Office Cornhill. The Borough, as owners, propose an internal refurbishment before
inviting offers of use. These include removal of modern interior fittings, ceilings and partitions;
removal of roof dormer on east elevation; removal of modern door canopy on east elevation;
reduction of redundant boiler chimney; application of lead weathering to cornices; replacement
and extension of birdproof netting.
Church of St Matthew. Installation of protective plastic coated wire mesh over the north aisle
late 19th century stained glass, facing Civic Drive by The Stained Glass Window company of
Over Stoke, Ipswich.
6-10 Cox Lane & 36-46 Carr Street, the former central Co-operative store. This proposal has
no design, nor access plan online at present, so we can only surmise that Joe Fogle is going to
convert the upper floors to apartments.
Grafton Way. The old lower yard, the former B&Q and Tesco Extra site, continues to evolve.
This plan would build some 173 town houses in terraces with views of the river, retail space,
public space, a pedestrian and cycle way from the skate park to Princes Street bridge with
access. Though broadly acceptable, there are many details which should be improved. We will
be negotiating to improve the outcome.
Dove Street/Rope Walk Corner, motor cycle parking. Suffolk New College wishes to build a
small classroom-block similar to the one recently approved on the opposite corner. Whilst the
style is fine, we feel that they should not be permitted to build out to the line of Dove Street as
this blocks the line of sight from St Helens Street along the south face of the new building;
instead they should be asked to rotate the building eastwards to occupy more of the car park.
Westerfield House. The extension to the existing care home which has, at its core, a 18th
century house to form a large ‘Care Village’ for all stages of later life was granted permission.
This is a relatively new concept for the UK and the design by KLH is modern. The applicants
requested permission for two houses on Humber Doucy Lane for the managers.
9-13 St Matthews Street. Conversion of rear part of shops and first and second floors and
adding third and fourth floors to provide two 1-bed and eleven 2-bedroom flats, designed by
KLH; permission was granted.
133-139 Valley Road. Permission has been granted to build seven dwellings at the rear of
these typical 1920s detached houses. Their design (one 3-bed chalet bungalow, three 4-
bedroom and three 5-bedroom houses, all with accommodation in the roof spaces) is
disappointing. We objected to the over-tall houses and their exceptionally ordinary design with
nothing to distinguish them from their predecessors.
Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs). Under the latest legislation a formal planning
application is no longer required to convert offices into HMOs; however, Listed buildings, and
those in Conservation Areas and others still do. Numerous projects are underway. We are
concerned about Westerfield Road, the conversion of the uneconomic Ormonde House rest
home to student accommodation and 160 Norwich Road, an 1834 house, Listed Grade 2,
formerly an SCC hostel; both projects are by the same developer. We believe that the
Borough’s Planning Department, particularly its Enforcement Officer, are keeping a close eye
on all such developments. See the HMOs article on page 14.
Erection of modern Telephone Call Boxes. We will object to these proposals to erect these
devices outside Superdrug in Carr Street, Sainsbury’s in Upper Brook Street, on the Island site,
in Dogs Head Street and outside the Ipswich Building Society (Parr’s Bank) in Princes Street.
They are close to the pavement edge, will cause pedestrian obstruction in heavy footfall areas,
are unnecessary as everybody has a mobile phone and will become advertising and graffiti
hoardings, untended. This application is by J.C. Decaux, the UK’s largest outdoor advertising
company. The Society successfully persuaded IBC to remove all but one large outside
advertising hoarding around 1980; we mustn’t let go of our heritage.
Mike Cook
The Cardinal Works site, College Street
This large site is located between the Grade I listed medieval churches of St Mary at Quay and St
Peter’s. On its south side is Wolsey’s Gate, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I
listed building, and the Grade II listed 1-5 College Street.
The site has been an eyesore for many years, having been cleared of buildings, prior to possible
development. It fronts on to College Street which runs along the original bank of the River Orwell
for virtually the whole length of what was the waterfront of the Anglo-Saxon town.
This alone makes it one of the most archaeologically important areas in the town but it is also the
site of medieval and later structures of great significance to the town as revealed by documentary
evidence and evaluations of the site by trenching in 2000 and 2004.
The evaluations showed that the site spans a dip in the underlying natural topography, marking the
course of the brook which ran south from Christchurch Park to the Orwell and gave its name to
Brook Street. Alongside this stream course there is a high potential for waterlogged deposits and
the preservation of organic remains.
The historical development of the site can be summarised as follows:
Early Middle Saxon (AD 640-730)
This area was the focus for 7th/early 8th century occupation centred on a river crossing (later Stoke
Bridge), with contemporary cemeteries excavated south of the Butter Market and at Stoke Quay.
Middle Saxon (AD 730-870)
The site spans almost the entire area immediately behind the Anglo-Saxon waterfront which may
have been the location of associated structures such as houses and warehouses. Traces of timber
buildings, a ditch and pits were found in the evaluation.
Danish/Late Saxon (AD 870-1000)
The evaluation revealed occupation at this period including two post-and-slot buildings with clay
floors.
Early Medieval (AD 1000-1200)
Traces of occupation revealed in the evaluation included a cellared building and pits.
Medieval (AD1200-1500)
The western half of the site includes part of the Augustinian Priory of Saints Peter and Paul
(c.1130-1528). The evaluation revealed traces of the Priory’s septaria walls, a mortar floor with tile
impressions and associated burials, including some in stone-lined graves (at least 600 burials may
be anticipated).
Two major, 1 metre deep, robbed-out wall foundation trenches – running east-west and aligning
with the chancel of St Peter’s Church – probably indicate the eastern end of what had been the
priory church reused as part of Wolsey’s College.
Late Medieval Transitional (c.1500-1600)
A College (St Mary’s Cardinal College) was founded in the Priory precinct by Cardinal Wolsey in
1528 but was suppressed and demolished in 1530. Wolsey’s Gate, the water gate to the precinct, is
the only surviving above ground remnant of the College.
Fig.1: The evaluation trenches in 2000 showing probable plan of Wolsey’s College.
The evaluation revealed substantial traces of the College, including north-south walls, 2m wide,
running north from the east end of the priory church (Fig.1). This appears to authenticate the only
possible illustration of the College (Fig.2)
Post Medieval
The eastern part of the site includes the sites of two successive Quaker Meeting Houses, dating to 1734 and
the 19th century and their associated burial grounds which contain many named Ipswich dignitaries. Successive historic maps show the development of buildings on the site, including St Peter’s Iron Works.
The Future
All these remains are extremely vulnerable to any development of the site. Preservation in situ in the context of large-scale development is virtually impossible as there are no known construction techniques for large buildings which do not involve extensive ground disturbance. Even shallow disturbance of the site is problematic as the walls of the Priory and Wolsey’s Collage and many burials lie immediately below the existing concrete
slabs on the site and the foundations of the 19th century meeting house are less than 30 centimetres
below current ground level. The cost of excavating deposits to compensate for the impact of development has been raised as a significant factor affecting the viability of implementing previously consented schemes. The last
planning consent (for the ‘St Peter’s Port’ development) included a bond for £2m to cover the costs
of archaeological work.
While it is quite reasonable that ‘the polluter pays’, the current system of developer-funding being
site specific does render the development of certain sites unviable, i.e. where development costs are
high and potential returns from the investment do not compensate.
What then can be done with such sites? On the assumption that government continues with its
policy of protecting heritage assets, three options are available:
1. finance the archaeological work from other sources leaving a site for development which is
free from constraints;
2. wait for the economic conditions to improve to the point that the costs and returns are in
balance;
3. leave the sites undeveloped (as public open space) preserving the archaeology in situ for
future generations.
Set against the current trend of urban retail decline and unsustainable house prices, it probably
requires central government to intervene with grant aid if such town centre sites are to be
regenerated.
All the Anglo-Saxon remains are of international importance as they have the potential to answer
major questions about urban origins in north-west Europe. The later remains are of significant local
interest. They are valuable in their own right and for their potential to enhance heritage-based
tourism to the town.
Keith Wade [former County Archaeologist]
Snippets
Fish flies no more. Sad news: the flying fish which stood atop of Wm Rush, Fish, Game and
Poultry shop in Norwich Road, (internally, the decorative ceramic tiles are mainly intact) has
been destroyed. In the process of re-roofing the property the contractor accidentally broke the
terra-cotta feature and we understand it is irreparable. The upper carved beam in the gable
bears the date 1891 with a merchant’s mark. The property today is the Maharani Indian and
Bangladeshi restaurant.
A 1912 photograph of ‘W. Rush, West End, Fish, Game and Poultry Mart [market],
Ice Importer’; the flying fish can be seen at the apex of the roof.
The Brave New World comes with a brave price-tag
Given the recent coverage of Extinction Rebellion demonstrations, confronting the way in
which we exploit the planet’s resources is a challenge to us all. If you thought that the internet
and digital technology were the answer to everything… ‘Computer systems draw a huge
amount of energy. Already it’s estimated that computer use around the world is responsible for
more greenhouse gas emission than the entire airline industry. If energy-intensive processes…
keep expanding, that’s only going to get worse.’ New ways of seeing, Radio 4, 8.5.2019.
The Ipswich Society tiptoes further into social media
Neil Thompson has started an Instagram account for The Ipswich Society. Here’s an invitation to members to subscribe to Instagram and follow ‘theipswichsociety’. Downloading the app, either from Apple or the android store is free and very easy.
Brickmakers Wood takes the next step forward
Following launch events in Sudbury and Ipswich Jo and Rob Brooks, who run Brickmakers Wood in Ipswich, among other excellent ventures, sought to put their projects on a sounder financial footing, to be able to support more and engage with the local community, through a Community Share issue. At the end of May, The Eden-Rose Community Ltd reached its minimum target of £40,000 (match-funding from Co-operatives UK and Locality doubles this amount). This is a major boost to the community woodland in Ipswich. See our Newsletter, October 2018 (Issue 213). (https://ercommunity.co.uk)
Ten years of DanceEast: ‘Studios from Silos’ To celebrate ten years since DanceEast moved into the Jerwood Dance House on Albion Quay, occupying the first four floors of The Mill tower block, an exhibition of Valerie Irwin's charcoal drawings of the Waterfront Regeneration (2005-2009) relating to this Cranfield’s site will be staged, 24th July to 8th September 2019 in The Whistler Gallery at Dance East. See Newsletter, January 2019 (Issue 214).
49 drawings have been especially selected to focus on the building of the Dance House. For the first time in an
exhibition of work from The Change in Charcoal Collection the drawings will be for sale, the proceeds going to support the work of the Valerie Irwin Archive Project in preparing them for safeguarding and preservation at the NewSuffolk Record Office, The Hold. 19.12.2007: construction of the large studio on the second floor of The Jerwood Dance House
Pedants’ corner
“This sentence is likely ruffling some feathers and probable end in tears.” So, in the ongoing scenario (is that a thing?) of the above, the reality is – going forward – that the probably direction of travel is likely a minefield to avoid. Just sayin’… (At this point the Editor had to lie down for a while.)
Ipswich Society Annual Awards 2019
It's that time of the year when we begin to look around our fair town for new developments, for
renovations, for improvements to the building stock we become so used to.
Each member knows his or her area very well, each member will be able to make observations
about the building progress in the area around where they live and in the area of the town they
pass through daily. We depend upon the acuity of our membership and the local knowledge for
producing a list of the properties and street scenes which are worthy of consideration for our
Annual Awards.
Very soon we will be contacting our adjudicators who kindly make themselves available during
the autumn to consider the nominations from our membership.
If you become aware of a completed project in your locality, evidence of a change
in street scene or renovation of an existing building or careful redecoration,
refiguring of a site, then please contact our Vice-Chairman Tony Marsden whose
email address is available on our website and on page 23 of this Newsletter.
The full specification for the Annual Awards is available on the website if you
care to scrutinise it prior to contacting us. We await your nominations!
Tony Marsden (Vice-Chairman)
Medway Mosaic: an Ipswich Society outing 12 April 2019
After a slightly delayed start, due to the Orwell Bridge closure earlier, we set off with our excellent coach driver, Jeremy, making good time, to meet our guide, Liz, at Gravesend.
Liz directed us to Higham where we had lunch at The Falstaff Inn which was Rochester Castle
opposite Gad’s Hill, the house where Charles Dickens lived from 1857 to 1870 when he died. His
father had shown him this house when he was a child and told him that if he were to work hard
he might come to live in it one day.
After lunch we began our coach tour of the Hoo Peninsular which separates the estuaries of the
Rivers Medway and Thames. We travelled through the Kent Marshes and fruit growing areas and
had spectacular views of the two rivers.
We stopped at the lovely 13th century St James’ Church in the village of Cooling which is
constructed of ragstone, flint and chalk. The churchyard provided Dickens with the inspiration
for the opening chapter of Great Expectations. Our guide read us a paragraph from this and it
was very atmospheric as we stood in the cold wind imagining Pip at his family’s grave and being
surprised by Magwitch!
We then continued our journey to Rochester which has grown from a small Saxon village to an
interesting and historic city. We had a walking tour in the footsteps of Dickens, through the
lovely Victorian High Street. We saw buildings featured in his books including the grand
Restoration House, (Miss Havisham’s home).We finished the tour at the beautiful Cathedral, the
second oldest in England dating to AD604. Here we had free time to enjoy its splendour and
explore the city.
Several members stopped for tea and cake in a café in the High Street where a few of our party
were locked in the loo! Happily they were quickly released and made it back to the coach in good
time. All in all, a very enjoyable and interesting ‘Mosaic’. Our thanks to June Peck for
organising such a lovely day for us.
Lorna Beckton
New blue plaque
Arthur Frederick Edwards, GC (1895-1984) was awarded the George Cross in 1971 having received the Edward Medal in 1919 (now in the Ipswich Museum). The award was for bravely assisting, with three other soldiers, in the rescue of wounded at Faversham Powder Mills store, Kent, when serving as a Bombardier in the Royal Artillery in April 1916. Arthur was educated at Ipswich Grammar School and Bishop’s Stortford School. He became a director of the department store, J&J Edwards, which was based at 33-35 Tavern Street from 1900-68. The retailer was founded by Arthur Edwards’ father, James F. Edwards, and his uncle. The plaque was proposed by James Goodwin, great nephew to Arthur Edwards, who lives in Ipswich; it was officially unveiled on May 8 2019.
Tony Robson
John Wiggin photographs on our Image Archive
A collection of early photographs have been donated to The Ipswich Society’s online Image
Archive by an old friend of the Society, Nick Wiggin. They were taken by his Great-great-
grandfather, John Wiggin (1818-1879), a keen scientist experimenting with early photography
who was appointed as Gas Analyst for the Ipswich Corporation and Public Analyst for the
Eastern District. He made a whole range of over-the-counter medicines and also produced
veterinary and agricultural products including his 'Seed wheat protector’. A pioneering
photographer and Ipswich chemist, John Wiggin took photographs using wax paper negatives
and glass negatives from the early 1860s. Wiggin & Son chemist’s shop was a fixture on the
eastern corner of Berners Street and St Matthews Street in Ipswich from 1840 and, after major
road-widening and rebuilding in the early 1960s, on the opposite corner and set back. The shop
sold pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, photographic equipment, lantern slide equipment, chemistry
sets and other products. Nick Wiggin was, of course, the last of the family line to run a
pharmacy from those premises. The images were scanned digitally by David Kindred.
A very early photograph of The Ancient House in Butter Market by John Wiggin.The Wagon &
Horses Inn on the left had a history dating back to the 16th century. The lettering reads: 'LATE
COACHMAN TO THE YARMOUTH STAR. PORTER & FINE ALES... GOOD STABLING &c.'
The 1835 East Suffolk & Ipswich Hospital (later Anglesea Road Wing of Ipswich Hospital) at the
top of Berners Street. The addition of a third storey in 1869 altered the proportions of the building.
Rowing four with cox on the Orwell in front of the Cobbold Brewery. [https://www.flickr.com/photos/ipsoc/albums]
Houses in Multiple Occupation 21st century style
During the middle third of the nineteenth century there was a dramatic increase in the number
of people moving into the towns and cities in the UK. Ipswich was a prime example; between
1831 and 1881 the population rose from 18,200 to 50,000, a three fold increase.
Recent examples of HMO extensions to the rear of houses in Grove Lane.
They were leaving seasonal agricultural employment to work in the emerging factories and
manufacturing industries. Unsurprisingly they needed somewhere to live and row after row of
terraced housing was hastily built in St Clement’s Parish (convenient for dock side
employment) and on the hillside where Crown Car Park now stands.
Generally these poorly constructed houses lasted some 50 to 70 years before the slum
clearance programme, between the wars, cleared these extensive sites.
These houses may have been poorly built but they were (relatively) expensive to rent (the
ordinary working man couldn’t afford to buy). The solution was to share, one family in each
room. In addition single men would squat in the back yard (there were no back gardens) in
what became known as ‘hovels’.
As in all shanty towns they were built from scrap materials, procured from the immediate
locality (usually the nearby factory, foundry, or in the case of St Clement’s, the brickyard). The
host properties, a group of terraced houses and their associated hovels shared one toilet (in an
outhouse) and the well (water supply).
The combination of high density and poor sanitation increased the incidents of contagious
diseases and it wasn’t until the mid 1870s when the town began to install a proper sewage
system that we got things under control. >
Roll the clock forward 150 years and history is in danger of repeating itself. Unscrupulous
commercial landlords are buying single terraced houses and by using ‘permitted development
rights’ add a room (or two) in the roof space. If this addition is on the rear elevation it does not
require planning permission!
Why I suggest that these developers are ‘unscrupulous’ is because the changes being made to
what was a two up, three down property are grossly unacceptable in terms of size, occupancy
and dominance. The host property, once the extension has been completed, has the potential to
house nine single bedsits: a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
Such an increase in the middle of a terrace puts incredible pressure on the neighbours. The
noise, the comings and goings of the tenants and the number of cars being parked in the street
are all too much. Long established families move out, another property becomes available for
conversion and the problems multiply.
Despite close monitoring the Borough Council can do nothing to prevent these conversions,
although they are talking to the Local Government Association. The Health & Safety
Executive has stopped work on at least one where building site safety was being compromised
and in a number of other cases private prosecutions are likely because of damage to the
neighbouring property, usually associated with the party wall.
John Norman
The Universal Gazetteer
A concise description
Ipswich
1822
It has declined however, from its former consequence; the manufactures of broad cloth
and canvas are at an end; and its present commerce chiefly depends on the malting and
exportation of corn to London, and timber to the different dockyards.
It has a substantial coasting trade, and a small share of foreign commerce, and has lately
sent ships to Greenland. Vessels of great burthen are obliged to stop at some distance
below the town, and passage-vessels sail on every tide from hence, to Harwich and
back, similarly to the Gravesend boats; and the beautiful scenery along the winding
banks of the Orwell render it a delightful excursion, and much frequented.
The market has been lately built on a very extensive and handsome scale, and a new
town hall. The new county gaol is a very fine building. Here is also a new theatre.
Markets on Tuesday and Thursday for small meat, on Wednesday and Friday for fish,
and on Saturday for provisions of all kinds. And annual races in July.
Ipswich: a town to be proud of
If you are unable to attend one of the Society’s events to pick up your copy of its new publication Ipswich: a town to be proud of, please contact our Hon. Secretary (contact details on page 23) and we will do our best to deliver a copy to you – within the Ipswich area only, please.
So far, it’s been very well received.
There’s nothing new
Chris Wiltshire writes: ‘I attach a leaflet scan of a document which was sent me by a dear
friend who lives in Beaminster in Dorset a lively small market town set in lovely surroundings.
The image was published in their local museum newsletter. It reads like a very current
article on the plight of the town! Note the date…’
Grateful acknowledgement to Beaminster Museum.
Letters to the Editor
Ipswich engineering history from Barry Girling
Although it might not completely fit the ideals of the Society, the celebrated engineering works
of Ipswich should not be forgotten. I am endeavouring in the final edition of my book Ipswich:
memories of a special town, kindly sponsored in part by the Society, to include reference to the
illustrious recent past. As I have been fortunate, in particular, to obtain the recollections of a
few Ransomes & Rapier stalwarts, this will be the company to carry the banner for the town's
engineers. A cross-section of employees, with associated information will be given. If this
snapshot is not completed now it will soon be too late. Sadly, to my knowledge – and I am
open to correction – no marker or plaque exists to define the sites of the great Orwell and
Waterside Works where once thousands were employed. Concerning Rapiers, the only local
tangible connection left seems to be their war memorial in Bourne Park.
[Ipswich: memories of a special town was reviewed in our July 2018 issue.]
Ransomes and Rapier Buffers from
Bernard Stafford
Here are snaps taken last week of the very impressive set of hydraulic buffers in the lovely Estacion de Franca Station in Barcelona, arrayed like a row of cannons. "Hydraulic Buffers Ransomes and Rapier Ltd Ipswich England" is cast in relief on each barrel.
Not everyone wants to fly the county flag from
Mark Ling
The former County Borough of Ipswich has a right to self-government stretching back to acharter from King John in AD1200, but in 1974 it was forced into a tripartite County Council with East Suffolk and West Suffolk authorities, and Ipswich was “Suffolkated”.
For 45 years we have rarely had anyone from Ipswich on the all-powerful County Council
cabinet. Meanwhile, neighbouring districts dump housing and retail centres on the town, yet
take no responsibility for the impact on our ancient centre or its creaking infrastructure.
I see little reason to celebrate “Suffolk Day” on June 21.
Ipswich Windows in Hadleigh! Not sure if the date on the leaded lights is 1616 or 1676.–
Sylvia Patsilides. [The Grade I Listing of 66 High Street in Hadleigh confirms it as ‘1676’.]
Graffiti
In April’s Newsletter (Issue 215), Graham Smith’s article Attention to detail - does it matter? Yes!
drew attention to the potential impact that sub-standard repair and installation work has upon the
town streetscape. He gave examples, with photographs in some cases, of paving repairs, pothole
repairs and the erection of street signs and bollards.
Graham’s article prompts me to raise the issue of graffiti, and I am not talking about street art,
but untidy tagging and mindless, sometimes offensive, scrawls and sprayings. It certainly
detracts from the streetscape. It is vandalism, and is classed as criminal damage. It costs money
to remove, but leaving it in place may encourage more graffiti. It does not make our town
look good.
Ipswich has a Graffiti Team which quickly respond to reports of graffiti on public property – that
is, property owned by Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) also highway signs, lamp-posts and the
like. This service is available to private individuals, although there may be a charge depending
on individual circumstances. Offensive graffiti is removed very promptly. The Graffiti Team has
specialist equipment.
There is a fair amount of street furniture in private ownership. Apart from post-boxes, there is a
large number of, often, green cabinets in place on our pavements owned by fixed and mobile
telecommunications providers and other utilities. Unfortunately, their smooth surfaces can
provide an ideal ‘canvas’ for graffiti. The owners have a responsibility to clean off any graffiti,
but it is often difficult for members of the public to identify the owner and report it. Even if you
do identify the owners and manage to contact them, some are better at arranging a clean-up than
others.
Ipswich Borough Council has enforcement powers, so, if the graffiti is reported to IBC in the
first place, as well as being able to identify the owner and advise that a clean up is required, it
will log any report and make sure that it does actually take place. If IBC does not know about
the graffiti, it can hardly follow it up. The Graffiti Team cannot clean up these street cabinets
and similar street furniture itself, unless there is a formal agreement in place with the owner.
Graffiti can be reported by:
1) telephoning Ipswich Borough Council – Cleaner Ipswich on 01473 433000;
2) via the online Report it! tool on the IBC website. Visit https://my.ipswich.gov.uk/en and then
click on Report It followed by Report Graffiti. You can attach photograph(s).
Don’t assume someone else has already reported it!
David Owens
The East Anglia One underground power cable
Scottish Power Renewables are installing 100 wind turbines in the North Sea, clustered in a
wind farm: East Anglia One. Situated 40 kilometres off the Heritage Coast the power will
come ashore at Bawdsey. For connection to the National Grid and onward distribution to our
homes and businesses they have installed a multiple array of underground cables which stretch
between the coast at Bawdsey and Bramford, encircling north and west Ipswich en route.
The 37 km trench was dug and the cable installed by Murphy, a civic engineering contractor
whose first job on the site was to construct a haul road, a hardcore track alongside the cable
trench on which they could run their site vehicles without clogging up local roads and upsetting
the neighbours.
Since I first learnt of this temporary piece of expensive infrastructure I thought it would make,
once the work is finished, a good ‘off-road’ cycle route. What a waste it would be if they were
to dig out all of that carefully compacted road-stone only to bury it elsewhere as landfill?
The cable route crosses the Bawdsey peninsula and immediately dives under the River Deben
to Falkenham. From there, the haul road is all but continuous to Claydon where the cables
have been pushed under the A14 and under the River Gipping and into Bramford. The
distribution station is on top of the hill where the pylons converge.
My suggestion for a cycle route has caused some interest in both Suffolk County Council and
at Sustrans but no action has been taken. So, when the sun came out in mid-March, I decided
to cycle the route to confirm for myself what a wonderful asset was sitting on our doorsteps.
I cycled out of Ipswich towards Claydon, along the old Norwich Road (buses and cycles only);
to the construction site that marks the end of the visible trench. It was here that Murphy’s sited
their horizontal drilling machine to push the cable underground and unseen through to Paper
Mill Lane. My destination, unlike the cable was not Bramford but east to Akenham,
Witnesham and eventually Felixstowe. Because of all their expensive drilling equipment the
site was secure so I cycled along the bridle path to Rise Hall and the isolated St Mary’s Church
at Akenham.
I was immediately struck with the wonderful situation that this potential route offered; just half
a mile from the urban sprawl of Whitton and I was deep into the Suffolk countryside. I cycled
across Henley Road and on towards Witnesham.
Following the cable trench as it avoids the Fynn Valley Golf Course, it struck me just how
many people were out enjoying the tranquillity of the Suffolk countryside. Being a sunny
Sunday morning, there were golfers, plenty of those BMX cyclists in a coppice at Claydon, a
scattering of horse-riders on the bridle paths, model aeroplane enthusiasts in a farmer’s field
close to Cockfield Hall and scores of walkers enjoying their Sunday morning stroll.
There were twenty or so fishermen dipping their hooks into a small lake close to Akenham and
a guy with his dog and ferret on the edge of a wood. Most surprising of all were the donkeys –
two alongside Waldringfield Road and another two pulling a donkey cart along Wash Lane,
Witnesham. I was simply amazed at the variety of activity taking place on the peripherals of
Ipswich, a town that continues to surprise.
Into the Fynn Valley at Bealings and across the A12 at Seckford, I skirted Martlesham Creek
and up the hill towards Waldringfield. From here the route is undulating, through Hemley and
Kirton Marshes until I reached the river wall at Falkenham where the cable disappears under
the Deben to resurface at Bawdsey.
I simply cycled down to the ferry and then turned right into Felixstowe. This route has the
potential to be a substantial asset for Ipswich and for Suffolk: a cycle route that could rival the
Marriot Way in Norfolk or the Crab and Winkle out of Canterbury. John Norman
Chairman of Ipswich Society in trail bike power cable mercy dash shock.
Broomhill Pool news
Broomhill Pool will re-open in 2021; the not-for-profit charity trust, Fusion-Lifestyle have
raised seven million pounds (£3.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £1.5m from Ipswich
Borough Council and £2m from themselves). They have signed a 50 year operating lease with
the Borough and have carried out numerous surveys and have Listed building consent and
planning permission. This has cost around £250,000. Detailed plans will now be produced by
our local consultants – headed by KLH architects – and contractors appointed. It is hoped that
work will start next year and the time-scale is for the pool to be open for business by
spring 2021.
The aim is to restore the pool to its 1938 state, except that the former male changing rooms on
the east side will be replaced by a two storey new-build fitness suite: open all year round. The
clock tower, the buffet, the underwater area and some overhead lighting will be restored
together with the Listed and unique diving-boards (though only the lower boards will be able to
be used for safety reasons).
The water will have the chill taken off; initially it will open for the traditional summer period
but it is hoped that this will be extended in the future. The facility will provide around twenty-
two full-time equivalent posts. The pool closed in 2001 so it will have taken twenty years to
get it restored.
Mike Cook
Note on the above news
Twenty years ago, three Ipswich Society delegates were sent by then Chairman Jack Chapman
to the three new Scrutiny Committees (for the Corn Exchange, the Regent Theatre and
Broomhill Pool) to help get each facility back on track. Neil Salmon and I took the Regent and
the Corn Exchange; Mike Cook was allocated Broomhill, became Chairman of the new
Broomhill Trust and the rest is history. The Regent and the Corn Exchange were sorted within
months, Broomhill took twenty years. Well done, Mike.
John Norman
A view over the centre of Ipswich 1983-85 (see back page)
Fore Street runs along the bottom of the photograph with Lower Orwell Street branching off to
the south – the line of the town rampart.
The excavation of the Blackfriars Church, the only surviving in situ remnants of the five
monastic establishments in Ipswich, was carried out by Keith Wade and the Suffolk
Archaeological Unit in 1983-85 as part of the School Street (to the left of the church site) area,
based on earlier work by archaeologist Nina Frances Layard.
Across Foundation Street, construction of the multi-storey car park is underway with Rosemary
Lane running between it and Haven House to the left and ‘Peninsular House’ to the right.
At the upper left the building work has started on the Novotel with Jewson’s buildings behind
it. The distinctive shape of the Willis Building with its roof lawn can be seen at the upper right.
The Ipswich Society
Registered Charity no. 263322
www.ipswichsociety.org.uk | https://www.facebook.com/ipswichsociety | email: secretary@ipswichsociety.org.uk
This Newsletter is the quarterly journal of Ipswich’s civic amenity society established in 1960
(views expressed in the Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Society).
Dates for your diary
Society Outings
July 16: Metro Land.
August 28: Euston Hall and Dad’s Army Museum, Thetford.
September 26: Buckingham Palace.
Winter Illustrated Talks at Museum St Methodist Church (entrance in Black Horse Lane); all
talks start at 7.30pm and free tea, coffee and biscuits are provided afterwards. All are welcome.
Wednesday 18 September: ‘The story of St Michael’s Church in Kesgrave’ by Chris Brighten.
14 and 15 September: Heritage Open Days, organised by The Ipswich Society.
21-31 October: Ipswich Transport Museum / Ipswich Society Exhibition at the University of
Suffolk Waterfront Building.
Suffolk Industrial Archaeology Society runs a programme of events; indoor meetings are held at the
Ipswich Transport Museum (https://industrial-archaeology.org/index.php/). New members welcome.
Wednesday 11 September: Thomas Pinner on ‘Motoring heritage structures’;
Wednesday 9 October: Howard King on ‘Martlesham Heath airfield’.
A view over the centre of Ipswich 1983-85
Aerial photography by Brian Mateer, whose extensive album of work is on our online Image Archive
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/ipsoc/albums]. See page 22 for notes on this photograph.