April 2024 Issue 237

Contents

Editorial

Has architecture become boring?

New members

Operation Dynamo

Ipswich Museum under wraps

Sutton Hoo book republished

interim Chair’s remarks

Ipswich Society Awards 2023

Snippets

John Norman Award of Distinction

Planning matters

Ipswich as others see us

The 11 Presidents of Ipswich Museum

Ipswich Tourist Guides

Broomhill Lido positive news

Newsletter formats and Gift Aid

Bus tour of our industrial heritage sites

John Barbrook on Sutton Hoo

John Norman honoured

Letters to the Editor

Otters in Ipswich

Society officers and contacts

East Anglian 3 Wind Farm

Diary dates / Newsletter deadlines

The ‘Brook’ Flows Again: A walk in Christchurch Park on January 6th, after 24 hours+ of rain from Storm

Henk, showed the ‘brook’ had abandoned its culvert and was flowing across the surface again past the Boer

War Memorial towards the trees at the bottom of Fonnereau Road - and thus on down to Brook Street as per

John Speed’s 17th century map of Ipswich (copy in Pykenham’s Gatehouse). Caroline Markham

Please read the plea from the Membership Secretary about subscription renewals on page 5.

Editorial

2024: a year of anniversaries in Ipswich. The Ipswich Institute is 200 years old. The Ipswich Art

Society is 150. The County Library in Northgate Street is 100 years old. It’s approximately 550

years since the birth of Cardinal Wolsey – the celebration of which (the ‘Wolsey 550’ project)

continues until September this year. In addition, our sister Civic Society in Norwich is 100 years

old this year (see Letters, page 26).

This issue of the Society’s Newsletter was being completed when the sad but expected news of

the death of our Chairman, John Norman, was received. John will undoubtedly feature in the July

issue; members are welcome to send memories of him. Our thoughts and best wishes are with

Christine and the family.

Typically of John, he not only provided articles for this Newsletter, but for the next one as well.

As ever, my thanks to all the people who contribute to the Newsletter.

Robin Gaylard

New members

Ipswich Museum under wraps – photographs from summer 2023

Rosie the Rhino has seen some changes at Ipswich And Rosie’s neighbour in the Victorian

Museum – she had her original horn stolen in 2011 and natural history display, the famous giraffe,

now, the ultimate indignity, she has been placed on a will be staying put in his cabinet, but very

gurney and covered in dust-sheets while the museum carefully wrapped up and protected during

undergoes remodelling and refurbishment. the works. It was transported to Ipswich

Photographs taken on a Heritage Forum visit. Museum from London by train (!) in 1909.

Interim Chair’s remarks

Tony Marsden, who for twelve years has acted as Vice-Chair to John Norman, has stepped up to

fill – temporarily – the Chairman’s role in The Ipswich Society.

2023-24 has turned out to be a successful, but also difficult year for your Society. It goes without

saying that John’s recent death has affected us all, but it has made the Executive Committee look

at what we do and the way in which we do it. John, such an enthusiastic, innovative and

knowledgeable Chairman, would certainly have been in favour of this. This is an ongoing

process, but we would welcome members who might like to come along to one of our monthly

meetings as observers.

All Civic Societies will be facing similar challenges to ours as they move into the next generation

of both members and committees. New ideas, new approaches to reaching members and the

wider public will be part of the process, but we do need somebody in the Chair and people to

help us to organise our programme of events.

Please do read Tony’s excellent annual report which is in the Annual General Meeting booklet

included with this Newsletter. It eloquently covers the Society’s past year, its present situation

and possibilities for the future.

Editor

Snippets

Otter

One anecdote prompted by Richard Stewart’s article Otters in Ipswich on page 12: after an

evening meeting in Freehold Road last spring, I and friends saw an urban fox nearby. As we were

looking at it, another friend indicated, through a threadbare hedge, an otter enjoying the rear

garden pond.

Celebrating 325 Years of Dissent: The Unitarian Meeting House in Ipswich

A Conference by the University of Suffolk and Ipswich Unitarian Meeting House; 17 May, with

guided tours of the Meeting House in the morning and UoS talks in the Hold in the afternoon,

plus a display of Meeting House archive material. More information to follow.

The Ipswich Society will be sponsoring the event and will support with volunteers. The

University will be supplying refreshments at the Hold and helping with publicity.

Ipswich's flood barrier viewpoint opens five years after completion

The £67m tidal defence barrier in Ipswich was completed in February 2019, alongside a public

view point at New Cut East. The area, owned by the Environment Agency, had since remained

closed; Andrew Osborne, Project executive at the Agency, says: ‘The space was created as part of

the tidal project, which protects more than 1,600 homes and 400 businesses from flooding, and

benefits from seating and river views.’. John Norman has been documenting this saga

(Newsletters passim); however, it does appear that temporary fencing is still in place to ensure

public safety. Paul Ager, divisional port manager at Associated British Ports said that ABP was

‘actively engaging’ with partners to implement a permanent fencing solution. N.B.: Tony

Marsden has created a new Album of images of this site on The Society’s online Image Archive.

The Cricketers

The pub giant Wetherspoon is investing money in The Cricketers as much-needed work is carried

out. While the Crown Street pub is closed, designers will be delivering a brand new back bar

layout. There will also be new fittings and equipment, new bar flooring and interior decoration.

Planning matters

Land on Sandyhill Lane, off Landseer Road. This brownfield site has been previously granted

permission for 85 dwellings. Because of the site constraints of position, noise, odour and the

need for decontamination, it was agreed, at that time, that it would not be viable to allow any

affordable housing. The land owners now seek permission to erect a further 11 houses; this time,

‘the dwellings will be transferred to a Registered Provider so 100% will be affordable tenure’.

Bus stop outside Axa offices, Civic Drive. JC Decaux would like to place one of its 7 foot high

advertising screens on the pavement. It does have a defibrillator as well as wifi, emergency

telephone communication and local information. It uses about four units of electricity a day,

obstructs the pavement and distracts the drivers on a fast urban dual carriageway. Decaux are one

of the world’s largest providers of advertising sites. This has been denied planning permission.

Similar screen at entrance to NCP car park from Tacket Street. Though in the central

Conservation Area, it is slightly out of line of sight; otherwise, see above.

69 Nelson Road. This large house on the corner of Nelson and Woodbridge Roads, has been a

fourteen room HMO for some years. The owners propose a large extension and other alterations

to increase that number to 21, ie a 50% increase. After a lengthy preapp (published) in which the

officer stated that it would be regarded as over development and loss of amenity the applicant has

made some changes so that the new extension might appear to be smaller but, remarkably, the

rooms are now up to the required size.

17 Orwell Place. This C17 grade listed building has been painted a hideous pink and covered

with vinyls. Retrospective planning permission is sought to repaint it a pale green colour and to

remove the vinyls –permanently.

Land to rear of 79a Henley Road. This is a repeat of a successful 2018 application for a

modern bungalow in the rear garden with access from Dale Hall Lane. We have previously

commended the design.

The Cambria Building, Regatta Quay. The cladding of the apartment block north of the Old

Custom House on this 14 storey building is deemed to be of high risk in three out of four parts.

Terracotta tiles, render on EPS* and Rockpanel are rated high. The brick is medium risk and thus

OK. The recladding will be with Rockpanels with extensive remediation within. The chosen

colours are carbon, white and verdigris. Doubtless the colours will be discussed at length.

Land north of railway and east of Henley Road (Crest Nicholson). This application details the

design of 100 houses, a local centre, landscaping and other infrastructure. The dwellings consist

of 65 houses for the market containing 179 bedrooms, also 24 apartments and 11 houses

containing 50 beds. I note the lack of larger affordable houses and of market flats. There will be

a 600 sq metres amenity space within the ‘U’ of the apartment block. There is a 6000 sq m

commercial space divided into four unequal units. This development lies on Henley Road just on

the town side of the second entrance and beyond the railway. In this application there is no

suggestion of connecting across the new railway bridge and thence to Valley Road for cyclists

and pedestrians. The actual design of the houses is better than we have seen in the past. I am

intrigued by the statement that they will abide by Part M of the building regulations for 25% of

the dwellings! However, their energy consultants advise that the way forward is Photo-Voltaic

panels and gas fired central heating. They consider that the extra cost (of installation at 5 to 7

thousand pounds plus the cost of running an air-source heat pump) to be not viable for owners/

tenants. They put great weight on their intention to build in high fabric specifications; there is no

mention of air gap width or of triple glazing. A chance missed.

Island site, Greyfriars Road. This proposal to build a tunnel car wash on a spare piece of land

opposite the Novotel is inappropriate and should be refused on grounds of increased traffic,

difficult vehicle access and ugliness.

[*EPS: Expanded polystyrene]

9 Upper Brook Street. It is proposed to convert the first and second floors into two one-

bedroomed studio flats on the first floor and one on the second. The ground floor will still be

available for retail use. It’s probably one bedroom too many for the site.

2 Christchurch Street/64 Woodbridge Road. This house on the corner of these two busy streets

is already an eight bedroomed HMO; it is proposed to turn the kitchen into a ninth bedroom and

the existing living room into the kitchen. Therefore, there will be no communal sitting area; the

first floor corner bedroom has the dimensions of 8 ft 6 inches by 9 foot 4 inches.

Elm House (formerly Gotelees) 25 Elm Street. It is of note that, despite permission for 25

apartments granted in 2021, developers now wish to convert it to three larger apartments. The

listed building has both external and internal features worth conserving; these new plans are a

distinct improvement and hopefully will increase the Council Tax banding.

30 The Havens, Ransomes Europark. The East of England NHS Ambulance Trust proposes to

build a new restocking and maintenance ambulance station. It includes a double-deck car park.

The layout could easily be improved and thus the TPO’d* Oak tree easily preserved. Hopefully

this advice will be taken on board. Whether this will lead to the closure of the facility at the rear

of The Ipswich Hospital site is unknown. [*TPO: Tree Preservation Order]

The Mill Building, Regatta Quay. This 26 storey block of flats lost a lot of cladding in a gale in

October, 2013. Replacement will require much scaffolding. Its ownership is reported as being

bankrupt and the East Anglian Daily Times recently reported that remediation would cost £30m;

a flat-owner said that they had been told their apartment was now valueless. Ipswich Borough

Council and the Government are said to be seeking ways that can assist.

Ipswich Garden Suburb. Two new bridges have been installed across the railway; the one

nearest Henley Road is for vehicles, cycles and pedestrians. It will connect the south and north

developments to schools, retail and community uses. It will be closed to cars during rush hour to

prevent it becoming a rat-run. It won’t be needed in the immediate future which is lucky because

Network Rail cannot complete it because the railway is too busy to be closed. This also applies to

the pedestrian and cycle bridge near Westerfield railway station which needs to be opened

because it already connects to 2 right-of-way footpaths to Valley Road.

The Ipswich Conservation and Urban Design Panel has met under its new constitution. The

Chair is to be a Councillor who has no connection with Planning & Development, appointed by

the Borough Council. The first Chair is Cllr David Ellesmere. The Councillor representatives are

no longer members of the Planning & Development Committee. The co-opted members who

earlier resigned have now returned. John Field, who has chaired the panel for thirty years, is now

the Heritage Forum representative. Now more legal but more Council-controlled.

Mike Cook

A reminder to pay the new Annual Membership Fees

At last year’s AGM it was agreed to increase individual fees by £5 to £15, and family fees

by £5 to £20. Membership fees are due from 1 January – 29 February, and many

members have paid the new fees. Thank you. However, at the end of February, 209

members had not increased their fees – this equates to a £1,045 shortfall in fees paid.

This is a significant sum for the Society to lose at a time when costs are rising. If you pay

by Standing Order, please check that you have paid either £15 for an individual, or £20 for

family membership. Any shortfall to be paid to Ipswich Society bank account, Sort Code

204451, Acc. No. 80489018. Or a cheque to ‘Ipswich Society’ posted to the Membership

Secretary, 791 Woodbridge Road, Ipswich IP4 4NN, please. If you haven’t yet paid any of

your annual fee, it’s not too late. Please send in, to arrive no later than 30 April, to the

Membership Secretary, or pay by direct bank transfer. Any queries, please contact the

Membership Secretary. Contact details on the page 27 of the Newsletter.

The Eleven Presidents of Ipswich Museum

(Notes from a talk for the Ipswich Society, December 2023 – Part 1; Part 2 next issue.)

William Kirby (President 1846-1850)

Kirby was Minister of Barham and an entomologist. His contributions to the Literary Institute

Museum in Ipswich Town Hall (not the present building) in the 1830s were recognised when he

was made the first President for the proposed new Ipswich Museum in Museum Street. The

Museum opened on December 15 1847, when Edward Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, addressing

Kirby (who was 88 years old) said, ‘You are sinking in the Vale of Years……..may you sink to

your grave, happy in having done your duty’. The President was recorded in portrait – done by

Frederich Bischoft at the Museum in September 1848. It portrays Kirby in front of a window

showing Barham Church, with the setting sun ‘indicating the decline of life’. Beside him is a

table holding a beetle and one of his books on entomology. That year Kirby presented a piece of

oak beam from his church to the Museum, complete with its Anobium tessalutum (death watch beetle). Bishop Stanley died in 1849 – William Kirby outlived him! The Ipswich Journal, June 15 1850, advertised the ‘Advowson and Presentation of Barham’ – the right to nominate a person to the vacancy at Barham. Kirby was still alive but died soon after on July 4.

2009 Mozambique stamps featuring William Kirby

John Stevens Henslow (President 1850-1861)

Henslow was Professor of Botany at Cambridge University and Rector of Hitcham, Suffolk. His experience of museum work at Cambridge made him the ideal person to organise and arrange the Museum displays in Ipswich, and he continued as President when Ipswich Corporation took over the Museum (for financial reasons) in 1853. In 1851, one of his Ipswich Museum lectures at the Corn Exchange was on ‘Tertiary age strata’, to which he had made a major contribution when he discovered ‘coprolites’ (actually phosphatic nodules) in Crag strata at Felixstowe in 1843. Henslow read the address to Prince Albert at the Museum on July 4 1851 as part of the British

Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Ipswich. He was a tutor to the royal children – did he use his Indian elephant skull and lower jaw, now in Ipswich Museum? He may also have used it with his student Charles Darwin at Cambridge University. In 1848, one of Henslow’s Museum lectures was illustrated with ‘coral material

received from Mr Darwin’. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published in 1859 – traditional faith was confronted by evolution. Henslow presided over the ensuing clash between Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, and the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley at Oxford in

1860.

Charles Austin (President A contemporary illustration of Prince Albert at the (Museum

1861-1874) Street) Museum, with Henslow reading the address.

Austin was a lawyer, specialising in

private parliamentary bills relating to

railways. His income from this was large and he retired in 1848 to Brandeston Hall near

Wickham Market. He was High Steward of Ipswich and, in relation to the Museum, it was said

that he was ‘not even on

nodding terms with

science’.

Richard Wallace (President 1875-1890)

Richard Seymour-Conway, the 4th Marquess of Hertford, was rich and the greatest collector in Europe, especially of 18th century French art (he lived in Paris). His agent at saleroom auctions was Richard Wallace – when

he entered the saleroom the others left! James de Rothschild took him on at the auction of the painting known A French chocolate card celebrating Wallace's good works in Paris.as The Laughing Cavalier, but Wallace outbid him. The 4th Marquess died in 1870 - he never married so the title (5th Marquess) went to a second cousin. However, his art collection went to Richard Wallace (who was said to be his son) who thus became a very rich man. Because of the Siege of Paris (1870-71) the art collection was taken to Hertford House in London, the family home. Wallace’s philanthropic work in Paris during the siege was recognised by Queen Victoria with a Baronetcy.

For his country seat, Sir Richard Wallace bought Sudbourne Hall, near Orford, from the 5th Marquess – Lady

Wallace spoke only French which caused some problems with visitors. Meanwhile in Ipswich, £2,500 public subscription was required towards the cost of the new Museum in High Street. Alderman Sterling Westhorp and Curator John Ellor Taylor visited Sudbourne Hall and persuaded Wallace to donate £550 towards the new building. Of the three major collections of fossils made when the local coprolite pits were open, two had The stag and hounds sculpture in the snow outside the (High Street) gone to York Museum, but Wallace Museum which was donated by Lady Wallace after Sir Richard's death. bought the third (that of Rev. Henry The entrance to the Victoria Free Library is in the background.Canham of Waldringfield) in 1876 and presented it to Ipswich Museum. He also had casts made of some York specimens for further study.

In 1879 Wallace financed the east window of Sudbourne Church in honour of his Grandmother –

Maria Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marchioness of Hertford. She lived in Paris and brought Wallace up

from the age of six. Two extremely rich men believed they were the father of the 4th Marquess

and bequeathed their fortunes to Maria, hence the Wallace riches. Sir Richard Wallace died in

Paris and Lady Wallace, following her husband’s wishes, presented his art collection to the nation

(the Wallace Collection, now housed in Hertford House, Manchester Square in London’s west

end). To Ipswich Museum she gave, in memory of her husband, a bronze stag and hounds

probably by the French sculptor Jean Debay. This statue was disposed of in 1961, but the fossils

remain as a ‘Wallace Collection’ in Ipswich Museum.

Sterling Westhorp (President 1893-1895)

Sterling Westhorp was a solicitor in Museum Street and had been Mayor in 1885. A young bear

he presented stood in the entrance lobby of Ipswich Museum for many years.

Bob Markham (Part 2 next issue)

Broomhill Lido: positive news

Fusion-Lifestyle, the charitable sports and leisure management organisation, has announced that

it has secured grant funding from The National Heritage Lottery Fund and Ipswich Borough

Council to complete the long-planned restoration of the historic, Grade II listed Broomhill Lido.

The three funders have have all increased their financing and the Pool will be restored, hopefully

by 2026. Members of The Society played a seminal role in the early days of the campaign to save

the Pool and Mike Cook has maintained close interest in the project over twenty years along with

other campaigners and user groups in support of the proposals.

Fusion-Lifestyle, the leading operator of heritage leisure buildings, will lead the £10m restoration

of Broomhill Lido. The project will see the pool provide swimming, fitness and community

facilities. The new facility will undergo some modernisation works but will maintain its

characteristic Art Deco feel and will be enhanced with a new gym/studio, restored clocktower, a

café as well as the reinstatement of the lido and nursery pool.

A bus tour of Ipswich industrial heritage locations

During 2023 the Eastern Angles Centre in Gatacre Road obtained funding from Historic England

for what was called the Work Furnace Project. The project had the aim of recording memories of

Ipswich’s extensive industrial heritage which has, over many years, been effectively airbrushed

out of the history of the town. The memories were to be used in a street parade and exhibition

which was held on 17 June 2023. An important contributor to the project was a bus tour around

the former industrial sites of Ipswich.

Although I was never an industrial worker in Ipswich, my late father was an engineer at

Ransomes & Rapier. A one-company man, he had a very great pride in what the company

manufactured and what they achieved on the national and international stage. His working life at

Rapiers encompassed the horrors of the Second World War, the post-war boom and the eventual

prospect of closure by Newton Chambers (the parent company) in 1972. My mother and I walked

with him on the protest march from the factory to Christchurch Park, where we were addressed

by the MP Sir Keith Stainton, who had taken on the fight to save Rapiers. The campaign was

eventually successful, but my father did not live to see its sad demise, dying at the age of 58 in

1973. Because of this, three years ago I decided to attend the annual employee re-union

meetings arranged in Kesgrave by Derek Clarke, which have gone from strength to strength.

When the Work Furnace Project arrived I felt that, in memory of my father, I should be involved.

I contributed to some discussion groups held at the theatre and then, in conversations with Co-

ordinator Hannah Houghton, the prospect of a bus tour at some stage was mooted. After

considering this for a while, I outlined a possible route for a tour which went from Nacton in the

east to Claydon in the west and included Bramford. The tour would have taken around one-and-

a-half to two hours. I was then offered the chance to do the tour commentary on an open-topped

bus and I was happy to accept the challenge and prepared some notes.

In the event, the tour became time-constrained to enable the open-top bus to be prepared for a

parade which would end on the Cornhill where there was an exhibition of the stories gathered.

On the day, I met bus driver and owner, Andy, whose vehicle was a superb Leyland ‘Atlantean’

in the former green and cream livery of Ipswich Corporation Transport. I remembered catching

the bus in 1987 from my in-laws’ house in what is now Old Norwich Road. At the time we had

returned from ‘exile’ in Banbury and were staying with them until our new house was completed.

I had a job at Havering Borough Council in Romford and caught the train from Ipswich. At this

time, early in the New Year, there was heavy snow. The Atlanteans coped extremely well with the

conditions, I always got to the station on time and, ultimately, to work before some of the

London-based staff.

Departure time arrived, and the passengers on the bus had been fuelled by glasses of prosecco

served by the theatre staff. All went well with the commentary until we were approaching Stoke

Bridge. This was the day of the Trooping of the Colour in London; Ipswich is on the route of the

ceremonial flypasts to the capital. Just as I was about to explain what we could see, several

planes flew over low and at speed. I then lost the whole of the top deck to the cumulative

excitement of the aerial spectacle.

I am very proud of the town of my birth and hope that it will go from strength to strength in the

future, with part of its back-story paying homage to the industries which forged its prosperity.

The tour

Portman Road. At the football club the Churchmans stand commemorates the Churchman

tobacco factory, later John Player Ltd. Some of the first cigarette cards (of football players) were

produced by Churchmans in 1939. The factory changed from producing cigarettes to cigars after

the Henri Winterman brand was acquired. At its height, the factory produced one million

cigarettes a day. The apartment building at the back of the stand was part of the works; the

triangular building on the junction of Portman Road and Princes Street was once a tobacco

warehouse.

Commercial Road/Princes Street. The business centre here was once the Ipswich headquarters

of the Fisons fertiliser company. In the 1960s, the group headquarters was at Harvest

House, Felixstowe.

As we cross Stoke Bridge, we can note the site of a large yeast factory. British Fermentation

Products (N.G. & S.F. Yeast) produced yeast for the trade. It subsequently moved to

Felixstowe Docks.

Over Stoke Bridge and into Dock Street are premises once owned by Edward Fison. There are

plans to convert this into a house. However, the distinctive name of Fison on the building is to be

retained. Ipswich and Stoke were once two separate communities. Old artistic works of Stoke

show windmills on the hill.

Felaw Maltings, Felaw Street. Running round into New Cut West; now converted into offices,

the maltings were once owned by ABM Ltd (Associated British Maltsters).

Ransomes and Rapier. Waterside Works, Bath Street. In an era of railway mania, this company

was established as an offshoot of Ransomes Sims and Jefferies, to produce railway equipment.

They were builders of the first railway in China, from Shanghai to Wusung. Rapiers

manufactured trackside railway equipment, turn-outs, and turntables, and then later, excavators,

mobile cranes, and truck-mounted concrete mixers. They became specialists in water control

equipment, including sluices for the Aswan Dam in Egypt. Their most iconic product was

probably ‘walking draglines’ used the world over for open-cast mining operations. All walking

draglines were named after winners of The Grand National. In 1957, the dragline called Sundew

‘walked’ the 19 miles from Exton in Rutland to Corby in 9 weeks – a world record which

probably still stands. An unusual additional product was a pedal-powered crane for a railway

in India.

Cocksedge and Co-structural steelwork. Initially established in Grey Friars Road, one of the

founder’s sons had worked in India and saw the potential in the fast-developing manufacturing

environment in Ipswich for structural steelwork. The company built three stands for racegoers at

Newmarket. In 1933 they supplied road signs, direction posts and other street furniture. The

company produced steelwork for the satellite dishes at the Goonhilly Downs tracking station in

Cornwall, where the first signals from the Telstar satellite were received the UK.

The area known as Halifax: a port for whalers in past times, and in earlier centuries the centre

of a shipbuilding industry where many merchants’ ships were built. To the west, before Bourne

Bridge is Bourne Park. Within the park is a memorial to employees of Ransomes & Rapier who

lost their lives in the two world wars. The memorial was once located at the chapel on Wherstead

Road at the bottom of Station Street where apartments now stand.

Between the old Bourne Hill and The Strand was Wherstead Brickyard. The brickworks in the

Ipswich area manufactured Suffolk reds used in local housing developments, for example the

terraced housing in Stoke.

Crossing the river on the majestic Orwell Bridge (opened 1982) reminds us that many local

companies were involved in its construction, including Ransomes & Rapier who provided cranes

and concrete mixers. It was built by the Dutch company, Stevin (today VolkerStevin who built

the Flood Barrier in the New Cut).

Nacton Road. To the west is the site of Ipswich Airport: the first municipally-owned airport in

the UK. Opened in 1938, it was used by the RAF in the Second World War. In the 1960s Channel

Airways ran flights to Southend to connect with continental air services. It is now the

Ravenswood housing estate.

Ransomes Jacobsen. Originally part of the Ransomes Sims & Jefferies works, manufacturers of

lawnmowers. Rotary, flail, and drum mowers are still made for parks and sports grounds.

Crane Boulevard. Opposite the former airport is the site where Crane Ltd manufactured central

heating pipe fittings, valves etc., also cast-iron radiators for industrial and commercial heating

systems. German documents captured after the Second World War show that the factory, which

was then producing munitions, was a prime target for the Luftwaffe, although this was not known

at the time.

Foxhall Road, the location of Bull Motors. From early beginnings in Stowmarket, the firm

developed a quiet-running electric motor. Then, in later years, it shared the site with Rola

Celestion Ltd, manufacturers of quality hi-fi speakers.

North of Cliff Lane opposite the shops, and next to the Margaret Catchpole pub is the entrance

to Holywells Park. Water from the springs here was used in the Cobbold Brewery.

Landseer Road. The tower brewery building of the Cobbold family, later Tollemache &

Cobbold (the original Tollemache Brewery was behind Upper Brook Street in the town centre – a

‘temporary’ car park). The Tolly Cobbold brewery was bought out by the management team in

1990. At the time there was a television programme called Troublshooter hosted by the former

Chairman of ICI Sir John Harvey Jones, where he advised businesses on strategy and approach.

He advised the management at Tolly, and in 1993 they named an ale after him, calling it

Tollyshooter. As a token of their gratitude, they sent him annually a case of their ‘beer of the

year.’ Nearby, on Cliff Quay was the fertiliser works of Fisons.

Coprolite Street. So-called because it was a site where coprolites (aka ‘fossilised dinosaur

droppings’) were used by Edward Packard in his first works to make phosphates used in

agricultural fertilisers. The coprolite was first brought to Packard’s attention by John Stevens

Henslow, Professor of Botany at Cambridge and mentor of Charles Darwin; he discovered the

coprolites in Suffolk. He afterwards became vicar of Hitcham in Suffolk; Henslow Road in

Ipswich is named after him. The coprolite was collected by families on the Orwell and Deben

estuaries who became known as ‘treacle miners.’

The Wet Dock. The site of Ransomes Sims & Jefferies Orwell Works, Orwell Quay. The

factory produced much of the agricultural equipment in common use at the time. In the First

World War, fighter planes were produced. The factory also made the telescopes at the Royal

Observatory at Greenwich.

The University Waterfront Building is on the site of the former Eastern Farmers’ co-operative

animal feeds mill.

College Street. On St Peter’s Wharf is the site of Cranfield’s Flour Mills. Cranfield’s were

millers and bakers and had a fleet of barges as well as lorries. Flour would be loaded into sacks

for distribution by lorry; in later years bulk tankers were introduced.

Numbers 1-4 College Street is the former office building for Burton Son and Sanders,

manufacturers of confectionery items for the bakery trade: sugars, fondant icings, marzipan, and

macaroon pastes. One brand was Diamond Caster sold under the slogan ‘where quality is

appreciated.’

Cardinal Lofts apartments have had fire-safety cladding problems. This was once Burtons main

factory in Ipswich with its own rail siding into the plant from the dock tramway.

Greyfriars Road. Jewsons was once William Brown & Sons, timber importers.

Butter Market. By the corner of where the HBOS bank is a closed-off lane. Down that lane

were the printing works of W.S. Cowell Stationers and Printers who also had a department

store where the Buttermarket shopping centre is now.

Carr Street. The original East Anglian Daily Times printing presses were in a turreted building

where Sports Direct is here; later EADT moved to Lower Brook Street – the site is now a

retirement home complex.

Graham Day

John Norman honoured

Mark Pendlington, the High Sheriff of Suffolk (left in the photograph), delivered the citation summarising John’s work, interests and contributions to the community. Then Clare, Countess of Euston, The Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk

(centre in the photograph), presented our Chairman with The Suffolk Medal – which was designed by previous recipient, Maggie Hambling. The Suffolk Medal is the highest award that can be made by the county to an individual from Suffolk. Terry Hunt then gave a heart-felt tribute to John, describing his remarkable work on behalf of Ipswich, his extensive knowledge of the town and its history. As editor of The East Anglian Daily Times, Terry recalled asking John ‘on a whim’ to contribute a weekly column to be called ‘Ipswich Icons’, thinking that John would run out of material after two years (about 100 ‘icons’). He told us that John finally laid down his metaphorical pen after 450 columns had been published. Along the way, the former editor realised that John himself was undoubtedly ‘an Ipswich Icon’. John is the 14th person to be honoured with this medal. This moving investiture took place in The Hold with John’s family and friends around him on Saturday 2 February, 2024.

Otters in Ipswich

Otters have occasionally been seen along the rivers Gipping and Orwell but a park sighting is a

rarity. Alerted by an article in the Ipswich Star my wife Anne-Marie and I visited Holywells Park

on 26 January, 2024. We entered by the Cliff Lane path and spent some time, without success,

exploring all the waterways including the largest pond. The presence of several photographers

with telephoto or zoom lenses suggested one was present but our frustration increased when we

were twice told that it had been seen ten minutes earlier. A strong wind didn't make waiting

particularly pleasant so we adjourned to the nearby café. Suitably fortified we headed back and

eventually saw one photographer had left his seat close to the pond and had his camera pointed to

one particular spot. We moved closer and saw the otter swimming past at a distance of about five

metres, head and body clearly visible. It moved to the edge of the pond, under overhanging

vegetation and I just saw its tail as it left the water, crossed a path of about two metres in width

and went under a large bramble bush. By looking carefully you could see its entrance tunnel.

From there it followed the stream until it reached the waterways close to Landseer Road, thus

avoiding running across open grassland.

From subsequent conversations we were told it was probably a young otter evicted by its parents

and having to find its own territory. The newspaper article suggested its presence was possibly

due to recent flooding and the river Orwell and Ipswich Docks are close by. One photographer

showed us the otter surfacing with a fish, possibly a roach. One attraction of this park is the

abundance of prey items, both in and out of the water. Also the water purity is much better than

in the nearby Orwell. Holywells Park also has many areas usually free from dog disturbance that

could be used if a breeding pair were to become present. Richard Stewart

[N.B. - we hear that, sadly, the otter was killed on the road in February 2024. – Ed.]

Photograph: Mandy Gaylard

EA3 (East Anglia 3 Wind Farm)

EA1 was built and generating electricity by 2019 whereas the initial construction phase of EA3

only began in 2023. EA3 is an array of 95 turbines, each 260 metres high (to the top of the 230

metre diameter rotating blade). With some amazing foresight, the design of the EA1 onshore

cable route between Bawdsey and Bramford was installed with sufficient duct space to

accommodate the cables from EA3. Pulling these new cables will begin in April 2024, so there

will be contractors in the fields north and east of Ipswich for the next two years. The new cables

are scheduled to go live in 2026.

The EA3 Windfarm area amounts to some 305 square kilometres with two 150 kilometres (km)

sub-sea cables between EA3 and landfall at Bawdsey. The windfarm will be situated 69 km off

Yarmouth – approximately one-third of the distance to Ijmuiden (Holland).

Each turbine is rated at 14.7 Megawatts (MW), so this windfarm will generate up to 1,300 MW,

sufficient to provide the electricity for one million homes. The combined output of EA1, EA2

and EA3 will collectively provide the power for 2.7 million homes and small businesses.

Once fully operational, EA3 will be the second largest windfarm in the world. It is expected to

cost in excess of £2 billion but will generate electricity for 25 years.

The converter station at Bramford receives incoming power generated offshore as DC (Direct

Current) and converts it to AC (Alternating Current) for onward distribution via the National

Grid. Before the cable route was dug, Scottish Power Renewables commissioned archaeologists

to excavate and explore; the finds uncovered have now been analysed and artefacts from the

Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Medieval periods recorded. By far the most important

discoveries, however, have been items which confirmed that, near Woodbridge, the cable route

crosses a Neolithic site. Discoveries included a 30 metre length of Neolithic trackway and a

wooden platform. It is possible the trackway enabled a dry-shod crossing of boggy ground close

to natural freshwater springs (which are still flowing today). The waterlogged ground meant that

organic material, such as bone and wood was preserved. It is likely that the endless supply of

freshwater was the reason the site was chosen, over 4,000 years ago, as a special place.

Archaeologists – there were 70 of them working on this important site – also discovered the skull of an Auroch: an extinct species of wild cattle. It is likely that the skull was close to the platform because of its significance to the Neolithic people. It has since been carbon dated to around 4,300 BC, an amazing 2,000 years before the trackway was built. ScottishPower Renewables engaged over 400 archaeologists to excavate, explore and research the 37 km cable trench site and it has already provided a valued insight into the early history of Suffolk.

The development of the adjacent windfarms, EA2 and EA1 North are both Unearthed Auroch skullsubject to the approval of the Secretary of State under the National Infrastructure Planning Act (large projects of nationalsignificance).

John Norman

‘Little boxes’: has architecture become boring?

Do our streets in the 21st century lack interest, decoration or finesse?

What happened to the Victorian Art of terra-cotta mouldings, carved stone, or decorated porches?

Which, in your opinion is the most attractive modern building in Ipswich, which one is different,

sufficiently unusual to be recognised for what it is, where it is and who occupies the space

inside? – and if your answer is WILLIS then you refer to a 50-year-old building without any

external decoration.

To appreciate what I mean stand in the centre of the Cornhill and look around, The Town Hall,

1868 with its Italianate porch, a mix of red Mansfield Sandstone columns and Bath Stone lintels.

The porch columns are a repeat of the inset columns built into the front elevation (pilasters).

Atop the two storey portico statues, representing commerce, agriculture, law, and learning,

simply as decoration.

The former Post Office, 1881, now the Botanist, also boasts a porch supporting statues, and as is

the case with the Town Hall, the whole building raised a half storey above the street, with a

stepped entrance creating a building of major importance. Notwithstanding that such steps create

a major access problem for the disabled.

Opposite is Lloyds Arch, cut through the T.W. Cotman-designed Bank, described by Pevsner as

the Cornhill’s best building. Red brick with stone and stucco dressings. The general effect is

Flemish but again the variety of decoration, oriel windows and ogee arches collectively lead to a

memorable, distinctive frontage.

Head east, along Tavern Street and the next two banks are slightly more recent: NatWest, 1928,

and the stone-fronted HSBC of 1900, each occupying a stylish building. My point being that this

small portion of the town centre is enhanced by decorated buildings. The Victorians, in particular,

knew how to create a building with style.

Thomas Heatherwick has just written a book, Humanise, which tries to persuade readers to get

enraged about the global ‘blandemic’ of boring buildings. His point – and I agree with it – is that

the built environment is getting bland, from Argentina to Moscow there is nothing outstanding.

He illustrates his point with photographs: bleak, unforgettable urban scenes occasionally

counterpoised by the buildings he loves; for example, Gaudi’s Casa Mila in Barcelona.

Heatherwick argues that what we’ve done is to dehumanise buildings, strip them of their human

related details, ignoring the human scale of the street. What we get is cheaper, but the architects

tell us is that it’s more sophisticated, efficient, and green. What we get is identikit multi-floored

blocks with multiple small windows. There are always exceptions; the Gerkin, Gateshead’s

Millennium Bridge, Norwich Cathedral Refectory, for example. But for every exception there are

scores of repetitive boxes. The epitome of this is house building. Estates built by the national

house-builders which are, for the most, almost identical – bland and, quite honestly, uninspiring.

Images by Crest Nicholson

There is nothing about them that reflects the 21st century, vernacular, or even regional variations.

For example, enter the Crest Nicholson site (Ipswich Garden Suburb) and once past the show-

houses just off the Henley Road you’ll immediately realise that this could be anywhere: any

estate on the outskirts of any town, anywhere in England. To be fair, Crest are building a mix of

their standard house designs (e.g. The Cromer and The Redgrave, spot the difference).

Over at Wolsey Grange, off the Hadleigh Road and behind the Holiday Inn you could be

anywhere – and identical houses probably are being built elsewhere. The major difference at

Wolsey Grange, compared with Ipswich Garden Suburb, is lack of amenities. Within the Wolsey

Grange development there are no community facilities (other than a pocket park), no village

centre, no shops or medical facilities and residents are almost entirely reliant on the private car

for transport. Land has been set aside for employment, 4 hectares off London Road, the new

junction between the A1071 and the Tesco roundabout will eventually provide access.

Ipswich Borough Council (IBC), as the adjoining local authority, recommended refusal based on

the ‘very standardised housing design which has little or no relationship to a recognised Suffolk

vernacular, urban or rural.’ IBC also noted in its response to the planning application: ‘the

design of the main frontages to the A1071 are a disappointing response to the site’s “gateway”

location. The A1071 frontage will be dominated by car parking, accessed from a road that runs

parallel to the A1071’. IBC recommended: ‘if traditional architectural style is to be used, it

should use the detail and variation in scale, position and form which is characteristic of a Suffolk

town and villagescape, avoid repetitiveness, blank gables, and ensure that buildings set on

corners actually turn the corner. Planting and building layouts should work together rather than

one being used to hide the other.’ Given that phase one of Wolsey Grange is now almost

complete you can form your own opinion; is this estate of suitable design quality to be at the

Gateway into Ipswich?

Things are never that bad that they can’t get worse!

I’d just finished writing about Taylor Wimpey at Wolsey Grange when Mike Cook referred me to

the Bellway development, Richard’s Orchard (on the brow of the hill along Old Norwich Road).

This had originally been an application for 315 dwellings which was refused, an alternative

application for 190 dwellings was also refused but allowed on appeal. It is the 190 dwellings that

are currently being built (in stages).

A quick site visit and review confirms Mike’s opinion. This development offers nothing other

than minimal standard Bellway boxes. No community facilities, no shops (20 minutes walk to

Asda), no educational provision (The Beeches Primary School is on the Whitton estate) and the

minimum of open space.

It should be noted that the planning officer included the following note in the Committee report:

The NPPF [National Planning Policy Framework] identifies that good design is a key aspect of

sustainable development. A collaborative approach to the creation of good places is also

encouraged. Developments which are poorly designed and fail to realise opportunities to

improve the character of the area in which they would be located should be refused. At the local

level, several core strategy and local plan policies identify the Council’s aim to secure high

quality developments within the district. Members will also be aware that the recent White Paper

Planning For The Future issued by central government reinforces the need for quality design to

be achieved in development proposals.

John Norman

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

Presumably if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then so is Good Design.

‘Humanise’2 by Thomas Heatherwick (Viking, £15.99).

Just as I finished writing this article, I read of another new book, The Iconic British House: Modern

Architectural Masterworks since 1900 by Dominic Bradbury (Thames & Hudson, £50). I mention it

only because of the punchline: ‘That 50 lovely houses deserve a book is a sign that the other 23.7

million may not be worthy of that kind of interest.’ –Alain de Botton.

The Ipswich sailing barge Tollesbury takes aboard its live cargo from the crowded Dunkirk beaches

(artist’s impression)

Operation Dynamo

Although there has been a recent celebration of the life of Cardinal Wolsey, in more recent times

Ipswich was well represented in quite a different way. The town had a humble band of brothers

who gave of themselves in World War II and which, fortunately, was recorded in a well-known

local publication of the time. In the now defunct East Anglian Magazine of July 1950, a piece by

J.O. Whitmore, a name not unknown to those of an Ipswich maritime disposition, caught

my attention.

Entitled The Little Ships of Ipswich it concerns Dunkirk and the local vessels sailed by Ipswich men, captains all, that made a gallant contribution to that remarkable deliverance.

Five of the craft, Thames sailing barges, were owned by R.& W. Paul namely Aidie (Harry Potter), Barbara Jean (Young Charlie Webb), Doris (Fred aka Dick Finbow), Ena (Alfred ‘Titch’ Page) and Tollesbury (Lemon Webb – aged 63 but still volunteered to go with the rest).

Of the five Ipswich barges, only two returned, Ena and Tollesbury but, providentially, all the sailormen from the port survived. It should be mentioned of course that Captain Lemon Webb with the Tollesbury, heroically rescued no less than 273 soldiers from the beaches in France.

Whilst the details and the exploits of the Paul's skippers are quite well documented, another Ipswich man, Captain Ellis, who was skipper of the Capt. Lemon Webb

Lady Rosebery during Operation Dynamo, has proved more elusive. It transpires that the Lady Rosebery was owned by London company, Samuel West and under the command of Walter Frank Ellis (1901–1966), not to be confused with his father William C. Ellis, also known as Walter (1867-1932). William, also a bargemaster, was mate of George & Annie and Renown, as well as master of the Ipswich Matilda Upton.

Following the loss of Lady Rosebery at Dunkirk, Walter Frank, with almost indecent haste, was given the Glenway by Wests as a replacement. He was another brave Ipswich man who was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. His maritime career continued with service on Sully's Una, Raybel and Edith May during the 1950s. Like his father, he was a Master Mariner.

There is an early record of William C. Ellis living in York Road but thereafter the family home was in

Myrtle Road Ipswich. Son Walter moved away from the town at a later date to Ospringe, Faversham, it is thought by reason of marriage to Bertha Annie. However, his unmarried sister, Daisy (1892-1940), continued to live at Myrtle Road until her passing.

Regarding Walter Frank, again, too short a life. An ordinary man who was not ordinary at all.

Barry Girling

Republished: Sutton Hoo: through the rear view mirror 1937-1942

The second edition of Bob Markham’s book was published by The Sutton Hoo Society at the end

of 2023. It is the story of the famous ‘dig’ based mainly on the contemporary correspondence and

diaries of Guy Maynard, Curator of Ipswich Museum, and Basil Brown, archaeological

excavator. It chronicles the chain of events which led to the discovery of one the greatest

archaeological finds of our times. Bob discovered Guy Maynard’s diaries and his and Basil

Brown’s correspondence in the Museum archive whilst researching his history of the High Street

Museum, A Rhino in High Street, published by Ipswich Borough Council in 1990 (now out of

print). He set the papers aside for this book, originally published in

2002, which is, in effect, the story of Ipswich Museum and Sutton Hoo – its cooperation and tribulations with Edith Pretty the landowner, Cambridge University and the British Museum. The story begins at the Woodbridge Flower Show with Edith Pretty and local historian Vincent Redstone agreeing to contact and meet with Guy Maynard regarding the burial mounds on her land at Sutton. It ends, overshadowed by the onset of World War II, with the gold and silver treasure being hastily removed to safety somewhere in the London Underground while Basil Brown covered the Saxon longship with bracken and re-buried it for protection.

Available from www.suttonhoo.org £12 plus p&p.

Ipswich Society Awards 2023

The Annual Ipswich Society Awards ceremony was held at the Hold on 22nd November.

Our Vice-Chairman Tony Marsden conducted the evening’s events displaying impressive images

and with an intention to elaborate on the deliberations of the judging panel well to the fore.

The sixteen nominations made by members of the Society could be for complete new builds,

private houses, business or educational premises, public spaces, or renovations and restorations -

and we had a very good and wide variety of projects to consider.

There was a hotel and a pub; dwellings and a housing scheme; a couple of very interesting

refurbishments; two new educational establishments; three play-park schemes, which were of

immense interest, particularly to the grandchildren; one statue; some traffic control measures on

Colchester Road; a large and impressive retirement development and a clubhouse – a very

diverse bunch indeed!

An album of images of all nominations can be viewed on our image archive at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ipsoc/albums/72177720310792430/

We were reminded of the six criteria which had to be met before judging and the three categories

of awards that could be made if the projects were good enough namely: Commendation, High

Commendation and Distinction. It was emphasised that the more of the criteria met - the more

likely it would be that an award would be given.

Each project was displayed to see whether they met any of the criteria mentioned, but also kept

in mind was legacy - the long-lasting impact and sustainability -the prevention of the depletion of

natural or physical resources.

Two projects were considered to be worthy of awards this year. They both were presented with

certificates of Commendation. The first was for the conversion of the church of Saint Stephen

into a music venue and the second was for the construction of the new clubhouse at the Ipswich

Model Engineering Society.

Certificates were presented to the two winning projects by the Mayor, Councillor Lynne

Mortimer and by our Chairman John Norman.

This event proved to be a very prestigious affair where projects, importantly, nominated by

members of the society are displayed, described and indicated as being worthy of an award.

The evening culminated in an appraisal of the work of our retiring Chairman and the

inauguration of a new award of distinction to be named The John Norman Award of Distinction.

Tony Marsden

A Commendation winning group at the 2023 Awards.

The team from the Ipswich Mechanical Engineering Society (IMES) project receive the award from John Norman our retiring Chairman and the Mayor, Cllr Lynne Mortimer - November 2023. They are Andrew Grace, Tom Rose,

Terry Woodward, Alan Burrows and James Turley..

A Commendation winning group at the 2023 Awards.

The team from the St Stephen's conversion project receive the award from John Norman our retiring Chairman and the Mayor, Cllr Lynne Mortimer - November 2023. They are Darren Webb, Hugh Bunbury, Alex Darlington and Stuart Oxborrow.

The John Norman Award of Distinction

While researching the manner in which Civic Trust makes its awards, the realisation dawned that

many of the awards were named after important or significant members of the Trust or

associations with which the trust was involved or with whom it dealt.

This prompted the thought that we in the Ipswich Society might also follow a similar pattern.

In consultation with our vice presidents, the trustees and members of the executive, it was

decided that we could pay a fitting tribute to our retiring Chairman. This would be for all that

he’s given to the town of Ipswich, not just over recent years, but during all the time that he’s

been living here - moreover, significantly recognising his central successful role in the Society.

It was decided therefore, that we should inaugurate a new award which, in future we might possibly present on an annual basis to a noteworthy project which we felt embraced and incorporated the qualities which we perceived in John Norman and his varied contributions. Looking back at the awards during the course of this century, we saw that fifteen projects had reached such a peak of brilliance that they were awarded a Distinction.

Just to reassure ourselves of the pre-eminent qualities of this century’s projects we complied a dedicated album called “Distinction - an Ipswich Society Album” which can be viewed in our Image Archive.

The peak of excellence we see achieved in those projects - the demonstration of careful thought, of meticulous planning, of pursuing an end with vigour and a certain amount of relentlessness to reach a coruscating resolution can be

John with our Mayor, Cllr Lynne Mortimer identified in all of the projects. We felt that John Norman had demonstrated the sorts of qualities that we expected in the above projects of extreme quality if not going beyond!

Therefore he deserved a similar recognition to those projects which we’d rewarded in the past.

We planned that when awarding a Distinction in future it would have a specific new name. The

Honorary Freeman of Ipswich was one thing, the Suffolk Medal was another, but to have an

AWARD named after you was certainly another matter, we felt.

We decided, therefore, as the final act of 2023’s award ceremony that we would inaugurate the

‘John Norman Award of Distinction’ for the first time. Moreover, in future years, when a project

of sufficient quality deserved it, we should present a similar certificate on that occasion to that

project.

Tony Marsden

Ipswich as others see us

We were on a tour of Glemham Hall last year and at the end, when we joined a table for our

coffee and cake, a couple were telling the others how they had visited a wonderful place that

morning, it was full of room settings with stunning pictures on display, then his voice full of

amazement added ‘and it was all free!’ It was, of course, Christchurch Mansion he was talking

about. Then another couple at the table said that they had always driven around Ipswich, but

friends of theirs had just come back from a stay at the Salthouse Harbour Hotel that they had

really enjoyed, so Ipswich was now definitely on their list of places to visit.

This got me thinking of all the positive comments I had heard about Ipswich.

Friends from Sussex saw Christchurch Park on the Antiques Road Show and immediately

booked a break in the Salthouse Harbour Hotel. Another friend said that her brother had gone

halves in a boat and kept it in Ipswich marina, he loved it especially as there were fireworks the

first weekend he was here.

At a fair at Copdock village hall, a stand-holder told me that when they were away for work, they

liked to explore the area and last time they had gone to Ipswich and went down to the waterfront

and said it was just like being on the continent, enjoying a meal looking out over the marina and

all the boats.

A young friend from Hadleigh said that she had visited Christchurch Mansion and excitedly

showed me the photos she had taken of the old dolls houses on display there.

A friend from Clacton likes to come to Ipswich for the jewellers; we do have a lot of them.

A person from Felixstowe said that Ipswich has always punched above its weight when it comes

to museums.

I overheard someone in the Ancient House on one of their open days, say that this must be

unique in all of the country.

I was sitting on a bus in the Old Cattle Market bus station once when two people rushed on at the

last minute saying they thought they had missed the bus as they had spent too long at the

waterfront, someone replied ‘yes, it is lovely down there’.

As we were coming out of lockdown, we were walking towards Cherry Lane park, when we are

asked if we would mind waiting a few minutes as they were filming in the park, he was not able

to tell us much about the film, but he said say that they were an independent film company from

London and they were in Ipswich as there were so many good places to film here.

We went to a Town Lecture where author Beverly Birch was talking about her books (her next

one is set in Ipswich). At the end she was asked if she lived in Ipswich and she said she had

moved here from London and loved it; she only had to walk across the road to the park and it

was also only five minutes into the town centre.

A lot of people say they only come into Ipswich because of Marks and Spencers, particularly

those from Felixstowe who have lost theirs, with one slight variation of going into town for

Primark.

Before lockdown, when we still had a Tourist Information Office, I got talking to a lady from

Lincoln and she said, if she’d realised that Ipswich was like this, she would have stayed for more

than one night; the previous evening they had a walk round the park and she was hoping that the

house was open that day.

We took a friend from north Norfolk to see Rodin’s sculpture The Kiss when it was in

Christchurch Mansion (he too was surprised that it was free, unlike Norwich); then on to the art

gallery for an exhibition and finally down to the Tourist Information for a printmakers’

exhibition. When we left he asked ‘Why doesn’t Ipswich do more to sell itself?’

Charlotte Willmott

Ipswich Tourist Guides

The Afternoon Tea Walks continue until the end of April. Starting at 1.30pm from the Ipswich

Institute in Tavern Street, each walk costs just £10 per person (including refreshments). Advance

booking is essential for tea walks with the following themes:-

Tuesday 2 April – The Victorian Dock; Tuesday 16 April – They Came, They Saw, They Stayed;

Friday 26 April – A Tudor Walk from Town to Countryside.

From the beginning of May to the end of September 2024 regular guided walks will take place

every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon starting at 2 pm. No advance booking is needed and the

cost is £5 per person. This year’s programme includes several walks designed to support

anniversary celebrations of the Ipswich Art Society (150 years) and Ipswich Institute (200 years).

See our website http://ipswichtourguides.onesuffolk.net for further details.

Bookings can be made at the Institute, either in person or using the Guides special section at the

bottom of the Institute’s opening ‘Welcome’ webpage https://ipswichinstitute.org.uk .

All are welcome – you do not have to be a member of Ipswich Institute.

Newsletter formats and Gift Aid

If you currently receive a paper Newsletter but would be happy to receive it by email, please

contact the Membership Secretary to switch to e-Newsletters. We have always respected the

choices of members in this regard, and we will continue to produce a paper version for those who

prefer one, or who are unable to receive the e-version.

Gift Aid provides some valuable additional funding for the Society, at no cost to you. If you are

eligible for Gift Aid and aren’t currently registered, please print a copy of our Gift Aid form from

the Ipswich Society website at:

www.ipswichsociety.org.uk/assets/Uploads/PDFs/Online-Membership-Application-and-

GA-2023-New-Fees.pdf (just page 2) and send to the Membership Secretary (details on page 27).

As most members will know, the Society is a 100% voluntary organisation which is entirely self-

funded from membership subscriptions (and the occasional gift/bequest). Our Committee

members volunteer their time, to ensure that all membership subscription income is spent on

Society events and publications. With the rise in membership rates voted on by members at the

2023 AGM we are solvent, so we do not accept, nor do we seek sponsorship from commercial

organisations or individuals. We see this as a central part of our independence as a Civic Society.

Exhibition

The Suffolk Folio - 100 works on Paper for Collectors: exhibition of drawings by George Thomas Rope of Blaxhall, George Frost of Ipswich, Henry Bright of Saxmundham and other Suffolk Artists.

March 8 - 23, 2024 at the East Anglian Traditional Art Centre, 48 High Street, Wickham Market, Suffolk IP13 0QS. [email: dayefa@aol.com]

A glimpse of the Sutton Hoo burial ship excavation

The Anglo-Saxon site at Sutton Hoo, across the River Deben from Woodbridge has gradually grown in the public imagination – not least from the release of the film The Dig in 2021 based on John Preston’s book.

From a dry, sandy site with a few grassy mounds to a busy heritage centre, its historical significance is reinforced by

recent archaeological discoveries at Rendlesham, not far up the river (see our January 2024 issue). It is

always interesting to hear personal connections to famous events and an Ipswich Society member recently told the Editor of his own family connection.

Following Frank Pretty's death in 1934, the owner, Mrs Edith Pretty, had developed an interest in excavating the burial mounds that lay to the north-east of Tranmer House at Sutton Hoo. Through the Ipswich Museum, she engaged a local archaeologist, Basil Brown, to undertake the dig. In June 1938, Pretty took him to the site, offered him accommodation and a wage of 30 shillings a week, and suggested that he start digging at Mound 1. Because it had been disturbed by earlier grave diggers, Brown – in consultation with the Ipswich Museum – decided

instead to open three smaller mounds (2, 3 and 4). These only revealed fragmented artefacts, as the

mounds had been robbed of valuable items.

In May 1939, Brown began work on Mound 1, helped by Mrs Pretty's gardener Jack Jacobs, her

gamekeeper William Spooner and another estate worker, Bert Fuller. They drove a trench from the

east end and on the third day discovered an iron rivet, corroded but recognisable, which Brown

identified as a ship's rivet. Within hours others were found still in position. The colossal size of the

archaeological find became apparent. After several weeks of patiently removing earth from the

ship's hull, they reached the burial chamber.

John Barbook writes: ‘My mother’s cousin was Ethel Jacobs (née Welham – an old Stoke family).

She was Mrs Pretty’s maid/cook/housekeeper at Tranmer House, whilst her husband John (Jack)

Jacobs was the estate gardener/groundsman.

They lived in the servant’s quarters, together with their three children: Ivan, Raymond and Dallas.

Sadly, Ivan died last year aged 95; Dallas (lovely girl) died about 18 months ago at 85, but

Raymond, at 92, is still about. We last met Raymond at Ivan’s funeral. When he was working, Ivan

was head horticulturist for many years at Notcutts.

‘Immediately after World War II, my father got a car and we spent many hours with them out there at Sutton Hoo.

My sister and I played with the Jacobs children on the estate. We ‘rode the mounds’ frequently on the pillion of Ivan’s motor cycle.’

John continues: ‘It was Jack Jacobs who found that first iron rivet which was given to Basil Brown in May 1939 which began the whole fantastic years of discovery. Indeed, the story still goes on. Jack appears on several of those 1930s photographs of the excavation and is frequently mentioned in books and articles. He lived until he was 97 years old. There is, of course, a great deal online about the whole discovery and Jack gets mentioned several times.’

A final regret from your Editor is the disappearance of a small shed adjacent to the stables at Tranmer House. Prior to the major refurbishment of the Sutton Hoo site by the National Trust in recent years this shed was the place where Basil Brown kept his archaeological tools and, perhaps, a spare cap and coat. The major changes to the house and surroundings seem to have removed the echoes of those who went before. John Barbrook’s contribution establishes a link, not to the wealthy owner, but to the workers who grafted on The Dig.

Issue 237 April 2024