July 2025 Issue 242

Contents

Editorial

Memories of Westerfield Station

New members

Ipswich Charter 825 FestivalChairman's remarks

St John the Baptist Church, Caldwell

Westerfield Quarry

Humber Doucy Lane - derivation

Planning matters

Photography competition 2025

Ipswich Garden Suburb update

Huge mural on Paul's silo

The Local List

Wuzzbirds

Ipswich Society Awards 2025

Cornhill photograph in 1842

Immigrant professionals at UoS

Professer Chris Green (1942-2025)

Poems found in a wall

Members' outing: RAF Martlesham

Journey of words: Digital Ipswich trail

Ipswich Tourist Guides news

Cranfields Mill, 1932

A scholar and a gentleman

Education in California

Letters to the Editor

Ipswich: 'Tree city of the world'

Be ye men of valour

The Willis Building at 50

Society officers

Putting Ipswich on the map

Diary dates / Newsletter deadlines

Suffolk Family History Society at 50

Franklins colourburst

Autumn colour in Christchurch Park, Ipswich. Photograph by Graham Day.

Editorial

Members will notice the insert with this Newsletter which offers pre- publication copies of the Ipswich Society's republished book The Ancient House by Hilary Feldman. It was originally published in 1986 by Ipswich Borough Council (to whom our thanks). The A4 format opens up the text and illustrations of the excellent original; it also has a new introduction. Price: £5, full colour throughout. Launched on the Heritage Open Days weekend (10.30am on Saturday September 13) in The Ancient House, copies will be available there (for that weekend only), also from Dial Lane Books. We also plan to have copies available for sale via our recently-modernised website: www.ipswichsociety.org.uk. In preparing the book for the printer, your editor made contact with Maggi Hayward, who was the designer of the original title. Maggi gave us an email address for the late Hilary Feldman's husband, Nick Shire-Feldman, now living in Oxford. Both were kind enough to give the re-publication project their support in our efforts to fill a long-standing gap in the available story of The Ancient House, a place visited by many from the town, outside Ipswich and beyond.

On page 21 we feature something for all those who, when they hear somebody intone: 'Be the best you can be', or 'living your best life', find their toes curling. A boon for readers slipping behind on current jargonese.

If you would like to contribute to The Ipswich Society Newsletter (letter, article, image), the Editor would welcome them.

Robin Gaylard

New members

Below: the state of the 1842 photographic print shown on page 22: the card mount is battered but the photo survives intact. The Ipswich Society has donated this item to Suffolk Archives in our late Chairman's name.

Chairman's remarks: Heritage Open Days 2025

For many years, usually with family and friends, I have attended Heritage Open Days without really appreciating the full extent and importance of what is, in fact, a nationwide event run by the National Trust.

At the beginning of the year, as the Society's 'new boy', I was tasked with co-ordinating this year's HOD festival. Presented with a copy of my predecessor's 'timeline of actions' and with encouragement from Mel Willis of Ipswich Central (who kindly stepped in to run the event in 2024) I became a fully qualified co-ordinator! Immediately after registering with the HOD website, I was invited to join a national webinar, then signed up to a workshop at Toynbee Hall in London's Whitechapel. It soon became apparent that my job as a co-ordinator was the easy bit; the real 'stars of the show' are the organisers and volunteers who host the (free) events or open their buildings for tours and viewings.

In keeping with all organised events and activities, all we are required to do as visitors is turn up and enjoy the benefits of other people's generosity and time. The real effort and commitment are with others who ensure that their activity is properly prepared, well-stewarded, safe and interesting. This includes those members of the Ipswich Society who volunteer to manage visitors to Pykenhams Gatehouse and other properties which may require our assistance over the weekend.

Needless to say, the usual heroic participants in Ipswich HOD have responded magnificently so far and those who have not been able to participate for whatever reason have expressed real sadness at missing out. This year's festivities will launch with a really varied programme of activities over the weekend of 13 and 14 September, 2025. Further events are proposed during the following week which include the Ipswich Society's very own photographic competition which culminates with an exhibition at St Clements Art Centre on 20 and 21 September. Details of the competition are now on our website and included on page 19 of this Newsletter.

To date it has been a real pleasure to assist with the arrangements for the various events and chat with participants when I can. The next task for the Society is to prepare promotional material and make sure we publicise details of HOD 2025 at every opportunity.

Finally, when visiting an event or building during HOD this year, please consider the huge amount of work and effort put in by the various event organisers - and never forget that all we are required to do is 'turn-up' and support (or alternatively volunteer to help)!

Graham Lambert

Westerfield Quarry

Truplant7 (prop. Mr Guy Nicholl of Trucks R Us) has applied to Suffolk County Council, the planning authority for minerals, to open a quarry in north Westerfield village for the extraction of 125,000 tonnes of sand and gravel and its replacement infill of 85,000 tonnes per year; this equates to 126 HGV and 30 staff movements a day. This will cause enormous traffic problems along narrow roads, queues at the Westerfield level crossing and along Colchester Road to Kesgrave. The road-rail battle at Westerfield is already on a knife-edge. It will get worse as more trains are scheduled to use it for Sizewell C construction. My feeling is that the village will be overwhelmed and the roads are just not good enough.

Mike Cook

Planning matters

Cliff Quay Brewery. Whilst full planning permission has not yet been granted for its proposed restoration, work has started on site: clearance and making the boundaries and the buildings secure.

Old County Hall, St Helens Street. Under the previous planning permission the developer was able to carry out some demolition of modern additions and do some of the easier conversions to apartments. He then found the remainder was not financially viable so put the entire complex up for auction, twice, where it failed to reach its reserve. However it was sold immediately afterwards for an undisclosed price to an unknown purchaser.

The Great White Horse Hotel: This has been bought by local developer, John Howard, (The Wine Rack, The Mill). He announced that he is seeking retail tenants for the ground floor but not commented otherwise on its future use.

St Michaels Church, Upper Orwell Street. There is no news either way.

1-5 College Street (former Burton, Son & Sanders offices) and Burial Ground. The laying of tarmac, white lining and polyester screens on the burial ground was greeted with great dismay.

Planning permission was not sought and is apparently not required as it is temporary and will only be for the use of those involved in the recladding of The Mill. We are told that the one thousand or more burials and other artefacts on the extremely important site will not be materially affected by this latest intrusion*. The fenestrations of the building have been freshly reboarded. (*Keith Wade may differ.-Ed.)

Lloyds Avenue Undercroft. The street is to be resurfaced, maintaining the service and drainage status quo. Lloyds Arch will be repainted, decluttered and a multifunctional art installation will be introduced (two light boxes, with one integrated display screen will provide information on upcoming events). This digital display will occupy the entirety of the eastern wall. Apart from current events in town, the application will not reveal what advertising is to be on this enormous screen. The proposal sets out to create a planted plaza with rationalised street furniture in the lower part of The Avenue. Further up, the plan shows the increase of the width of the public footway to the eastern side of Lloyds Avenue and therefore, the narrowing of the roadway. This is not a part of this application. However, there will remain a 3.2 metre wide road way for emergency, refuse and market vehicles.

Waterfront House (Contship Offices, Ashton Graham Offices). This, once The Home Warehouse for R&W Paul, has come under the control of a retired architect who proposes to install a Museum of Clay. Not only would there be exhibits of clay objects but the history of clay, particularly locally, would be explored. To do this, he would dismantle the 20+ year-old glass frontage over the waterfront replacing it with a red painted steel canopy with giant circular designs, one glazed. Inside, they would create an atrium and open out each of the first two floors as open exhibition spaces. As far as one can tell, he has funded this and other similar proposals himself. Whilst welcoming the removal of the glass, we have doubts about the circular designs and the details of the doors and windows being inserted on the west (Custom House) facade. The principle of a new museum on the waterfront is very attractive. It has been granted planning permission

ITFC land to south of football ground. This area, the site of the now-demolished Staples and Better Gym, will be used as a 180 space car park, 17 spaces with Travelodge, 55 solely for ITFC staff at all times, and 113 public long-stay spaces including 6 disabled spaces. 20 of the public spaces will be reserved for media on match days. Access will remain the same i.e. Chancery Road. Note that the 45-space area on the corner of Chancery Road and Princes Street is marked

as a future development site. These proposals, designed by Hoopers, will open up the vista of the ground from the railway station and help to relieve the space shortage whilst the Portman Road multi-storey car park and the Aqua Centre are constructed. Granted a seven year planning permission, it was not conditioned for more tree planting on the Princes Street frontage.

161 Valley Road, Ipswich School playing field. The school would enlarge to a full 5.2 metres the access from Valley Road to Notcutt's playing fields by using some of 161's garden and demolishing the garage (the school owns no. 161). This will give access to a 90 car and 3 coach space park. It will avoid the current use of Henley Road and then The Grove to access the fields. This approach is yet another entrance/exit onto Valley road, which will be close to the pedestrian/ cyclist route to Ipswich Garden Suburb. There is, as yet, no public or private response.

Humber Doucy Lane, Hybrid application (i.e. Ipswich and East Suffolk councils) 660 houses. This was refused for 13 reasons. There is no Master plan, transport assessment is inadequate, changes to Humber Doucy Lane are without support, flooding problems, loss of sports pitches and no alternative provision. Nevertheless David Wilson/Barratt Homes have appealed the decision which has been heard by a Planning Inspector, mainly in person in the East Suffolk Council Offices in Melton but also on-line and, once, at Grafton House. On Tuesday 11 February 2025, I attended the hearing of evidence from Brian Salmon, Northern Fringe Protection Group, Cllr Sandy Martin (local Suffolk cpouncillor) and Mike Hancock, Chair Ipswich Rugby Club. In sum of their two hours of evidence and cross-examination by the appellants' KC (Mr Christopher Boyle), there is no master plan, there are no suggestions put forward to ameliorate the already inadequate road system (HDL, Tuddenham Road with two narrow bridges, A1214). Furthermore, SCC Education has recently decided not to build a secondary school on the Ipswich Garden Suburb site so secondary education for those pupils will take place at an expanded Ormiston Academy. Clearly, this worsens the transport problems.There is no 15% modal shift as is required. The loss of the rugby pitches and their availability is severe. Their failure to provide any replacement is reprehensible in view of the problems that the country's health faces. Sometimes there are 300 kids on the site from 6 to 18, in age groups and by boys and girls. We await the Inspector's report with interest.

Mike Cook

Ipswich Garden Suburb update

We thought that after generalised agreement had been reached to build the Ipswich Garden Suburb we would have had this new village by now. So far, Crest Nicolson has built 140 houses and David Wilson 35. So far there are seven affordable homes.

The country park and the visitor centre - bigger than Christchurch Park - is complete; it is funded by Homes England, an executive branch of the government. However, the permanent connecting road and general infrastructure will be paid for by Crest; a tedious set of planning processes make it unlikely to be ready before mid-2027! Agreement has been reached between Crest and Ipswich Borough Council to open the children's playground this autumn by improving the work road. Meanwhile, the two bridges across the railway remain closed because of a continuing disagreement between Suffolk Highways ('full lighting') and Network Rail ('don't blind train drivers at night'). Adoption is unlikely before May, 2027.

The secondary school will not, after all, be built and SCC Education will make provision by enlarging Ormiston Academy, which has the space - and not Northgate which hasn't. (This will relieve the management of students crossing Tuddenham Road to get to Northgate). Suffolk County Council have not decided what to do with the land which they own. Work on the Local Centre - retail and community - is unlikely to start before 2026. The allotments and community orchards are intended for 2028. So we can see progress but, partly because so many undertakings are involved and therefore a lot of agreements, legal and otherwise as well as multiple planning applications, are required. How did we win the war? Mike Cook

The Local List

The Local List was founded and compiled by The Society, led by Tom Gondris, in 1984. The Society published as a foolscap loose comb-bound book with photographs of each building. In 2013, it was revised by the Ipswich Borough Council Planners with The Society to form a Supplementary Planning Document. So it became a part of the official Borough Planning Documentation and as such, it has acquired real importance as a legal document which is a material planning consideration. Items are only added to the Local List if they comply with the strict criteria of Historic England's Local Listing Identifying and Conserving Document. It applies only to buildings outside any Conservation Area and confers on them the protection from demolition and alteration which they would have had if they were within a Conservation Area.

The Working Party to consider the Special Planning Document (SPD) second revision has recently met. Chaired by Councillor Carole Jones and led by Elizabeth Warden, Conservation Officer, with Mike Taylor, Senior Conservation Officer acting as Secretary, there were two members of the Conservation and Design Panel, John Field and Mike Cook and Richard Collins, Senior Planning Officer in attendance. All six attendees had equal input into each suggested site. We considered nearly fifty, the majority from The Society, but also from the C20 Society, a Planning Officer, a member of the general public and the working party itself. At present fifteen structures have been shortlisted. The lengthy and confidential process continues with a further public consultation, a second meeting of the working party to confirm the final list. Approval is then sought from the site owner and compilation of the final list by the Officer, which is fully researched and illustrated. This then goes to the Executive Committee for official confirmation and is then made public, published and available on the Planning Portal of the Borough website, which will be towards the end of 2025. I will report back when the exercise is complete.

Mike Cook

Ipswich Society Awards 2025, call for nominations

It's that time of year when we need to keep a very keen look-out for new developments, structures and projects which are reaching completion around the town. I am sure that all our members will have a fine knowledge of what is going on in their local area. They will have their eye on progress being made in projects which might be of interest to The Society for the awards this year. This year's Awards Evening will be on Wednesday 19 November at The Hold.

Until the closing date in early September, I will be looking forward to hearing from members about potential nominations for awards for this year.

The project might have been completed in the last two years, having been missed last year, or it has just passed us by.

As an implementation of the Society's objectives, annual Awards in the form of framed certificates are given for the projects which have made a notable contribution to the townscape, under the headings:

ï new buildings;

ï restoration or refurbishment of an existing structure.

Schemes must have been completed in the preceding two years and be visible from the public highway, including footpaths, and the criteria for judging are:-

ï architectural quality;

ï work in character with the surroundings or forming a focal point;

ï improvement to the original building or its setting;

ï scale, detailing, colour and materials sympathetic, well considered and appropriate;

ï good quality of workmanship and standard of finish;

ï impact: does it set a good standard for others to follow?

Please send nominations to me; my contact details are in the Newsletter

on page 27.

Mandy Gaylard (Awards organiser)

Immigrant professionals charged to positively impact host communities through tech.

The UK, as a top destination for investment and innovation, has seen an increase in its immigrant population post-Covid. This increase has led to numerous conversations around the impact and contribution of the immigrant population to the economy of their host cities and the country at large.

Consequently, emerging entrepreneurs, business enthusiasts, recruiters, and academics were hosted from different parts of the UK for a Business Networking Event at the University of Suffolk, the first in a series. This initiative by Emmanuel Olujobi, a Data Analytics lecturer and founder of Jasper*, aims at empowering professionals and entrepreneurs on ways in which the acquiring of Data Analytics skills could be deployed to adding value to their host communities, while also growing their individual careers.

Organised as part of a broader effort to foster both business growth and professional development, the event served as a platform for knowledge-sharing, networking, and strategic discussions on the nuances involved in building a career or scaling a business in the UK.

A key focus of the event was demonstrating how acquiring a skill in Data Analytics could help contribute meaningfully to the UK economy and leveraging digital platforms like LinkedIn could help them stand out in any field. The event also featured speakers who addressed critical topics such as business growth, tax compliance, and other germane topics. One of the panels - which featured an industry recruiter and academics - provided practical insights into navigating the UK job market, ensuring that attendees were well-informed on strategies for professional advancement.

Beyond career and business discussions, Emmanuel Olujobi explained that the event was helping to reinforce the positive impact of immigrant professionals and entrepreneurs in Ipswich and the wider UK economy. By creating opportunities for meaningful connections and dialogue, this initiative challenges prevailing misconceptions that immigrants are economic or social risks.

Instead, it highlights their role as catalysts for innovation, enterprise, and community enrichment.

By fostering an environment where diverse talents and expertise are nurtured, this initiative contributes to the ongoing development of Ipswich as a thriving economic hub. Emmanuel Olujobi

[* Jasper SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise) Business School]

'John Bright' tea: poems found in a wall

Sifting nuggets from the papers of our late Chairman, John Norman, it is clear that he was sent or given all sorts of glimpses of Ipswich history. The photocopies were accompanied by a slip, unsigned and undated, carrying this text:

'These letters, notes and poems were found behind a wall by a builder when working at 19 Fore Street, Ipswich, circa 1990.

'George Stollery was my great uncle, my mother's father's brother, and he worked for Mr Joseph Turner a grocer of 19, Fore Street...

'George took over the grocery business, whether he bought it or it was left to him by Joseph Turner, I haven't yet investigated, but he did quite well for himself and finished up with two shops, one in Carr Street and the other in St Nicholas Street.

'The two poems Here I am Poor Jack and Turner's New Song are in praise of John Bright Tea of which Joseph Turner's company were the sole proprietors.'

19 Fore Street is no longer a separate shop; the frontage has been altered and it is now part of Alexander House, 21 Fore Street. Piquantly, a hand-written note was found from George Stollery and others: 'We shall be in the Glory Land when you read this, if not see how we get on at [address].'

George Stollery was clearly very involved as Honorary Secretary of the Ipswich Early Closing Association, anxious to keep the Wednesday half holiday (as it used to be called) as indicated in two further documents found behind the wall of 19 Fore Street. The President was philanthropist Felix Thornley Cobbold and the Hon. Treasurer Mr F. Newby of Fore Street, who took over the ironmongery business from his uncle John Martin in 1885.

New AR* trail: Journey of Words launches with Digital Ipswich

*Augmented reality

This trail celebrates some of Ipswich's renowned wordsmiths who have lived, stayed or visited the town over the past few centuries. From Tina Turner at Regent's Theatre to Enid Blyton in Christchurch Park and many more amazing people in between, the trail takes listeners on a journey around Ipswich. Augmented reality is when real life is blended with digital animation. One of the most popular ways to experience it is through your smart phone, whereby you scan a QR code, and the digital animation comes to life.

With the aptly named, Journey of Words, people can enjoy an audio and visual trail that integrates augmented reality amongst the scenes/areas associated with the individuals. It will start in Christchurch Park, goes through the town centre and finishes in Holywells Park. It will be hosted on one of the UK's most popular walking apps, GoJauntly. It will be accessible to everyone.

The trail has been well-researched and curated to bring past and present together across multiple genres of wordsmithing. Last year, the team at GoJauntly and I worked with Mike Garland of the Ipswich Tourist Guides and Project Director of Wolsey 550, Kath Cockshaw, along with the University of Suffolk's History and English departments (Keith and Hannah) and their students, all of whom have contributed to the development of the trail and its presented wordsmiths.

The trail launches in Christchurch Park on 4 July 2025.

Hannah Wright - Town's Fund Project Manager (Interim)

Here is an aerial view illustration of the huge Cranfield Bros Flour Mills from a 1932 advertisement; the left part is now The Mill tower block. Foundry Lane can be seen in the lower left corner, with a steaming locomotive and trucks on the dock tramway behind the (still standing) collonade, beneath the out-build. Two sailing barges are moored at Albion Wharf for loading/unloading from above via flexible chutes.

Found in John Norman's papers - and thanks to Christine Norman for passing it on - this large gathering of former pupils is assembled at the rear of the California Boys School. This would not be possible today because of a modern extension across the width of the rear elevation which covered the whole playground which is shown in the picture. On the back of the photograph in slightly smudged writing: 'California Old Boys, Ipswich 1939. President Mr ? Green; Vice- President Mr Fisher.'

The California School which served the California estate and surrounding area was on two sites. Girls and infants were in Cauldwell Hall Road, opposite St John's Church - this building was to become St John's Church of England School. It has since been demolished. The boys were in Spring Road, in a school built for 205 pupils, between Milton Street and Howard Street. It opened in 1873. Today it is still in educational use as the Parkside Unit.

An eight-bedroom Freehold Tavern on the corner of Bloomfield Street and Freehold Road had opened in 1860, but there wasn't the necessary passing trade for a hotel on the new estate. In 1869 John Chevallier Cobbold stepped in and purchased the building, offered it to the board of guardians and it became St John's Children's Home. Outside London, the idea of a home and school for children, separated from what were regarded as work-shy adults, was revolutionary. Children could grow and mature, be educated and trained, without the influence of the older residents of the workhouse. The boys' school in Spring Road was a short walk from St John's Children's Home. (The Girls and Infants school was eventually built in Britannia Road, even closer to the home - Britannia Road Primary School is still there.) In 1904 a receiving house to the children's home was built fronting Britannia Road; the building still stands and has been converted into flats.

Ipswich: a 'Tree City of the World'

At the time of writing there are 210 'Tree cities of the world' over the globe. In the UK there are

27. Ipswich has been a Tree City of the World since 2021.

The programme was launched at the first World Forum on Urban Forests held in October 2018 in Mantua, Italy by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Arbor Day Foundation.

The aim is to celebrate and recognise cities and towns of all sizes throughout the world which have shown a commitment to maintaining their urban forests. From the end of 2019, any municipal government which has responsibility for its trees was able to apply to become a designated Tree City of the World. The goal shared by both organisations is 'to foster a robust and diverse network of communities, practitioners, advocates, and scientists that will lead to sustainable urban forests across the globe'.

The Tree City USA programme began in 1976, co-sponsored by the National Association of State Foresters and the United States Forest Service; they established a method by which the forest managers could be assisted in their work and recognised for it. However the importance of urban

forests has been realised as even more vital in a time of global warming, pollution and crowded cities, adding to the well-being of residents and workers of villages, suburbs, towns and cities.

Five core standards are necessary to be met by a Tree City of the World:-

1. Establish responsibility for the trees.

2. Set the rules - policies, best practices, or industry standards for management of the trees.

3. Know what you have: create an inventory of all of the trees in the municipality.

4. Allocate resources from the annual budget.

5. Celebrate the achievements, to acknowledge those who do the work and to help raise awareness among the public of the importance of trees. RG

WTW ('The Willis Building') at 50

A 1977 article* by noted architect Sir Norman Foster is entitled The design philosophy of the Willis Faber & Dumas building in Ipswich. Of course, in a specialist journal some of the language is a little opaque. Long-standing members may recall an excellent Society event on the roof-garden storey of the Willis building in April 2013. The late Sir Michael Hopkins, one of Norman Foster's 'likely lads' (his words) alongside his architectural partner and wife, Lady Patty - gave a talk on the design and building of this iconic glazed structure and his other projects.

'The invitation to write about the philosophy or approach behind the Willis Faber building was of particular interest because it provided the opportunity to set down for the first time the value Sir Michael Hopkins judgements behind the design... However, enough people who know both the project and the office have suggested that the emphasis of publications up to now have so missed the point as to be almost misleading. For example, every magazine begins and ends with curved glass walls and high technology. Whilst in no way underestimating the importance of such means, they are after all means and not ends in themselves. The ends are social, generated by people rather than the hardware of buildings...

'Any study of the work by the practice from 1963 onwards, without which it would have been impossible to contemplate this design, as well as our known associations with Buckminster Fuller, should make our position clear on what we believe to be appropriate technologies to social goals.

[ßRichard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. Fuller developed numerous inventions, mainly architectural designs, and popularised the widely known geodesic dome. This was of particular interest to our own Birkin Haward (1912-2002) who experimented with geodesic domes, particularly in relation to his school commissions in Ipswich. The largest of these was the dome at Nacton Heath Secondary School off Lindbergh Road; the dome is now the home of Inspire. See Timber domes in the Ipswich area by his architect son, Bill Haward, in our Newsletter for April 2014, Issue 195.]

'It is probably worth recapping the Willis Faber concept diagram [see above]. Simplistically, two office floors, for around one thousand three hundred people, are elevated and sandwiched between amenity/support areas above and below them. The ground level comprises concourse, swimming pool, coffee bar, gym, creche (since changed), mechanical and electrical plant and internal truck- loading docks. The roof is virtually a glass restaurant pavilion set in a landscaped garden. All floors are connected and penetrated by a vertical movement space containing banks of escalators, palm trees and daylight from generously glazed roof lights....'

(continues

This is followed by a quite detailed discussion of the philosophy, ergonomics, structures, furnishing and spacial divisions within the building in the context of budgetary limits. It is also notable that there isn't too much on the transition from the 'glazed, squashed bubble' (our words) of the theoretical concept drawing to what Willis Faber ended up with. As with many building projects, architects have a licence to dream, to come up with one or a number of designs. The long process of trimming, reshaping, compromising and making economies to their ideal solution must be painful, but inevitable.

'... The plan form and cross-section [illustrated in the original article] are a response to balancing and reconciling a range of priorities normally in conflict: how to achieve the sympathetic integration of the company and the community. Or, to put it another way, how to relate a large new building within the edge fabric of an historic town and in close proximity to such disparate elements as a gentle eighteenth-century Unitarian Meeting House, and and not so gentle ring road.

'At this point it is worth considering what kind of outdoor spaces are typical of a town like Ipswich. They must surely be the streets? It seemed to us that so many modern buildings have rectilinear geometries; fine in open fields and low density suburbia, but alien to urban areas (excepting of course those that come with 90o grid plans). Aside from usually destroying the street, the residual areas tend to be hostile and unuseable. In this instance, by pushing the building to the limit of the site boundaries the original street pattern was reinforced; totally the opposite of arbitrary shape-making, whether rectilinear or free-form.

'The rest of the townscape intent is as yet unrealised. Early drawings show an urban gravelled space with trees, forming a forecourt to the Unitarian Meeting House. In the tradition of pedestrian ways elsewhere in the town it was hoped to link this forecourt through the existing passageway to St Nicholas Street, with an encouragement maybe to develop small scale additions and overlaps back to front, of the shops and eating places in the area. Sadly this aspect has remained dormant but longer term the basis is still there to follow through the original aims...'

There follows a description of the development of the famous suspended glass exterior, the office floor and ceiling systems and sub-divisions - 'For financial justification it was necessary to demonstrate that the building could function on a sub-lettable basis.' Interesting.

Sadly, at the time of writing, the WTW building, always a big draw for visitors, was withdrawn from the Ipswich Heritage Open Days weekend (13-14 September) this year.

(*ERA: Ipswich - past and present, The Journal of the Eastern Region of RIBA, August, 1977.

ß See our article The ring-road that never was in the Newsletter January, 2025 - Issue 240.)

Putting Ipswich on the map

- an historic publication

Anyone interested in the unique history of our town - and that must surely include most members of The Ipswich Society - will welcome the publication of this landmark publication by The Historic Towns Trust, which was founded in 1967.

To quote the website of this Charitable Incorporated Organisation:-

'Our vision and mission are to support and promote research into the history and topography of British cities and towns, and to disseminate the results. We aim in time to create an authoritative atlas of maps and text for every town and city in Great Britain.

'The Trust works in partnership with locally-based groups to produce maps and atlases. We welcome approaches from societies, institutions, and individuals interested in developing a project to map their own town or city. We have established a business model and key principles for these partnerships.'

When one of the Trustees, James Winterbotham, met myself and Interim Chair, Tony Marsden, in 2024 he mentioned that, at first, he didn't think that Ipswich would have much of historical interest to offer. Not too much research showed that it certainly had. James was tireless in contacting potential sources of funding (The Ipswich Society supported the project) and, most importantly, people who could provide enthusiasm and information for the map of historic Ipswich. Our own expert on the archaeology of Ipswich, Keith Wade, chaired the panel. The Trust works with a Cartographic Editor, Giles Darkes, a specialist in thematic mapping. The Trust already has an impressive roster of these maps including York, Bath, Ripon, Medieval London and Hull.

These are 'old school' folded sheet maps researched, produced and printed to a high quality, but the retail price is kept to an affordable £11.99. How does it work? The full- colour map fills one side of the sheet. The use of colour fills and outlines is crucial in the depiction of important structures (or their footprints), most of which no longer exist. Similarly for gardens, graveyards, factories etc. As with many maps, roads, pathways, railways, defensive walls, earthworks, waterways etc. are clearly delineated. On the York map, for example, the famous, walkable, medieval city walls are show as a thick red line, while lost Roman fortress walls are a thin red line. One glance at the map clearly reveals these structures. Similarly the lines of the long-disappeared earthen wall-and ditch ramparts stand out as a double row of red dotted lines around the ancient Ipswich town boundary.

The reverse of the map contains an illustrated, detailed gazetteer of historic buildings and sites, each entry keyed in to the map grid. There is also a list of religious buildings and a section on street names. This is the nitty-gritty of Ipswich history, packed with nuggets of knowledge. Getting a paper map out on the dining-room table may sound like an archaic practice in these days of digital multiple layering, on-screen absorption, virtual reality and artificial intelligence, but it is a very rewarding experience.

A high-octane gathering took place at The Hold on

Wednesday 30 April for the official launch of the Historical map of Ipswich: port and county town. Published by The Historic Towns Trust, the organisation's Chair, Prof. Vanessa Harding - a noted social historian of medieval and early modern London, introduced the Trust and the evening's presentations to attendees.

Edward Martin, one of the Vice-Presidents of The Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History - a major sponsor of the Ipswich map project - pointed out the historical significance of the town. As archaeologist for Suffolk County Council for many years, he pointed out the nearby Coprolite Street, the important discovery by John Stevens Henslow (Darwin's mentor) of phosphatic nodules beneath the ground with the potential as a fertiliser. Then on to Edward Packard's 'Manure Factory', built on the south side of Coprolite Street for the production of agricultural soil dressing to boost food production and its eventual move out of the town because of noxious fumes and smells. This was a symbol of the industrial initiative in the town in the 19th century.

Next was Keith Wade, well-known to many in Ipswich (and beyond) as the archaeologist who was at the centre of the uncovering of our Anglo-Saxon origins. Keith used a sequence of maps of the town over the centuries to show that there was very little alteration in the street layout until the Civic Drive development in the sixties.

He was followed by John Field, former Senior Planner and later Town Manager for the Borough. John's presentation was absorbing and contained at least one take-away, to use the current parlance. The layout of our historic town, largely unchanged since medieval times, is bracketed by an 87 acre park (Christchurch) to the north and a 33 acre lake (the Wet Dock) to the south.

James Winterbotham, the Trustee who has been driving the project, securing funding and finding people with specialist knowledge about Ipswich and its history, completed the presentations. He thanked the sponsors, and contributors.

To purchase a copy of the map go to:

https://shop.historictownstrust.uk

or call in at Dial Lane Books, Waterstones or the Christchurch Mansion shop in Ipswich.

The Suffolk Family History Society's 50th Anniversary

The Suffolk Family History Society Family History Fair at The Hold on Saturday 26th April coincided with The Society's 50th Anniversary. There were speakers (Ian Waller, Nick Barratt and Judith Berry), twenty stalls and displays. There was also a free Family History Research Help Desk.

At an earlier event in Lowestoft (where the Society was originally formed), one of the founding members, Trevor Gower, who joined as a teenager in 1975, shared his memories of the Society's early days. He spoke of the era of paper records, card indexes, library visits, and postal correspondence. He recalled the stamped addressed envelopes used for replies to letters and the society's original name, The Suffolk Genealogy Society.

We celebrate their 50 years and encourage readers to support the Suffolk Family History Society. For more information: www.suffolkfhs.co.uk

Memories of Westerfield station celebrate 200 years of the railway

Greater Anglia's station adopter volunteers at Westerfield station - Sandy Burn, Laura Hadgraft, Mary Pluquet and Yvonne Maynard - carried out the project as part of Rail 200, a national celebration taking place this year to celebrate 200 years of the modern railway in Britain.

They aim to compile a commemorative booklet of fond memories of Westerfield Station from local people who may have been involved with the station, or knew people who were, or passengers who have fond memories of travelling on the line between Ipswich and Lowestoft and between Ipswich and Felixstowe. The book will be produced with the support of the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership.

Sandy comments, 'Westerfield is a charming station at the heart of its community. As adopters we have spent many, many hours creating the wildlife gardens, involving the community in projects and making the station attractive to passengers. We feel the station is really special and hope other people do too.'

Above: Westerfield Station photographed on 14 May, 1956 by Richard Casserley (image from the Ipswich Historic Lettering website),

The Westerfield station building is situated on the southern side of the East Suffolk Line. There were two through-platforms when the station opened two hundred years ago and these were supplemented by two further bay platforms when the Felixstowe Branch Line opened in 1877. The Felixstowe Railway Company had offices on the southernmost platform which are still extant today as a private residence after the building had stood derelict for many years. The goods yard was situated on the northern side of the line and consisted of a couple of sidings accessed by setting back from the main line. Westerfield junction lies a short distance to the east of the station. On the other side of the level crossing a light rail branch line served the Grove and Dales brickyards.

Ipswich Charter 825 Festival

Our article in the October 2024 Newsletter by David Matthews introduced this series of events. It has coincided with St Mary-le-Tower, the Ipswich Civic Church, achieving Minster status on 19 January, 2025.

What is a Minster? The term minster is first found in royal foundation charters of the Anglo- Saxon period of the 7th century, when it designated any settlement of clergy living a communal life and endowed by charter with the obligation of maintaining the daily office of prayer.

Eventually a minster came to refer more generally to "any large or important church, especially a collegiate or cathedral church". In the 21st century, the Church of England has designated additional minsters by bestowing the status on certain parish churches.

It was in the churchyard of St Mary-le-Tower that the Town Charter of Ipswich, granted by King John, was sealed on May 25 1200, and 'proclaimed' before the great and good of Ipswich in St Mary-le-Tower churchyard on June 29. The very foundations of the administration of the town were established by King John's charter and he is commemorated above the entrance to the town hall as one of three heads carved in stone - the others being Richard I (John's brother) and Thomas Wolsey. King John is also depicted on the Charter Hangings, currently in St Peter's by the Waterfront. In the ensuing years the charter was amended, rescinded and adapted by succeeding monarchs, but the outcome remained true to the original.

The church would have been very different in 1200, also the churchyard. Below is the only image we've found of St Mary-le-Tower before the major Victorian extension and rebuilding of the church from 1860 to 1870 by architect Richard Phipson. RG

St John the Baptist Church, Caldwell

In the History of Ipswich of 1830 G.R. Clarke wrote: 'In a field opposite to Caldwell Hall ... on the south side of the road leading to Kesgrave, stood the Church of St John the Baptist, in Caldwell, of which no vestige now remains, although human bones and fragments of a building are frequently dug up. The church probably stood near the present junction of St Johns Road and Spring Road.'

This text comes from a weekly news sheet for July, 2001 put out by St John's Church in Cauldwell Hall Road. It surfaced in John Norman's papers and must have intrigued him, because he drew a sketch map of the junction of Spring Road and St Johns Road. One wonders if the opening-up and house-building in Cornwallis Terrace and Masons Close on either side of the junction, on the south side, brought up similar evidence of the church or its burials.

What strikes me is that this lost church would have been 'out in the sticks', to say the least. Caldwell ('cold well' - hence the freshwater springs which gave their name to Spring Road) Farm had extensive farmland over many centuries, even back to Anglo-Saxon times. The importance of wealth in terms of land holdings cannot be overemphasised. One can only assume that St John the Baptist Church was built to serve the wealthy inhabitants of 'the big house', their servants and their tenant farmers. Today we think of Cauldwell Hall as a heavily Victorianised mansion high on the hillside over Spring Road, its earliest timbers perhaps lost within its structure. The name is best known as that of a road defining the western boundary of The Ipswich & Suffolk Freehold Land Society's California Estate housing development in much

more recent history. The steep hill up to that road was for centuries merely a footpath through the scrub. The main inhabitants were sheep. The Felixstowe line's viaduct was undreamt of and most of the traffic would have been on foot or by horse.

Simon Knott, who knows his onions in this area of study writes: 'Yes, I'm familiar with this church. Indeed, I remember reading something about twenty years ago in the reference library (I can't for the life of me recall the title) that suggested it was a round- towered church. I must look into it again. I had assumed that it would have been more or less on the site of Henry Ringham's 'Gothic House', and I had the romantic notion that he might have recovered masonry from the site that would now be incorporated into the house. I'm sure that it was just a fantasy, but it would have been appropriate!' RG

Humber Doucy Lane - the name's a bit older than we assumed

'This curious name appears first as Humbyrdowncy lane in c.1450; then Humberdouncy Lane in c.1522 and Humber dounty Lane in c.1674. Conceivably it might be named from someone called Humber Doucy or similar, but all the early spellings have an -n- in the second component, making it certain that the modern form is corrupt, and thus the origin is unknown. Certainly the local folklore deriving the name from ombre douce 'soft shade' would be ruled out if the -n- is correct. The oldest house in the lane, currently called Humber Doucy House, appears as Heath Farm on early OS maps, so the house is almost certainly named from the lane rather than vice versa.' Dr Keith Briggs in The proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History, 2017.

Photography Competition 2025

As we have done previously, we have launched another Ipswich Society Photography Competition. This year, we are also hosting a public exhibition of the works to celebrate the Heritage Open Days festival in Ipswich.

The photography competition has the theme of 'Architecture', as this is also the theme of this year's Heritage Open Days. The competition, judged by an independent panel, has a cash prize of

£500 for the overall winner and non-cash prizes for category winners.

Full terms & conditions for the competition with details for submission are to be found here:

www.ipswichsociety.org.uk/post/photography-competition-and-exhibition-2025

in the News section of The Ipswich Society's website.

The Exhibition of works submitted will be held at St. Clements Art Centre (accessed from, Star Lane, Grimwade Street and Fore Street) on Saturday 20 September, 10am to 4pm and Sunday 21 September, 10am to 3pm. All are welcome and entry is free. Parking is available next door at Fore Street Pools car park.

We chose the theme of Architecture to reflect that chosen for the national Heritage Open Days this year. Our categories for this year's competition are:

o Heritage buildings

o Contemporary buildings

o The streets of Ipswich

o An image that inspires you - less than five minutes from where you live

Our last competition in 2020 produced some fabulous images and we show here one of the more architecturally focused photographs as inspiration for the 2025 competition.

Judges:

John Ferguson -

John Ferguson Photography

Cherry Beesley - Professional commercial photographer

Richard MacRae -

EDRM architects

Gary Bricklebank2

We look forward to seeing what images our members and social media followers can capture this year. The competition closes for entries on 31 July 2025.

Samantha Sherman

Huge mural on the Pauls silo

In mid-April your Editor, who was driving eastwards down Grafton Way and approaching Stoke Bridge, saw two men in boiler-suits and hard hats who had just landed from ropes attached to the Paul's silo roof on St Peters Wharf. But the most eye-catching thing was a huge graphic printed on fabric which had been stretched across a framework on the wall of the silo.

Ipswich-based artist, Sammi Wong, originally created this map-like design in 2023 as part of her graphic illustration degree at UoS. She won a World Illustration Award in the New Talent Site Specific category in 2024. Her novel response to Ipswich celebrates the town's identity, aiming to foster pride, belonging and community spirit.

Originally used by Ipswich Central in their Lost in Ipswich fold-out map, this version of the work cleverly incorporates the Digby blue octopus which was created as a community art work by local artist John D. Edwards over ten years ago. The new mural was funded by a local initiative and businesses working in partnership.

Our dockland is now book-ended by this huge work near Stoke Bridge ('The Gateway to The Wet Dock') and the tallest mural in the county on the southern side wall of the James Hehir Building on Orwell Quay (see our Newsletter, January 2025).The installation was made possible thanks to permission from Ipswich Borough Council for use of their building to display the canvas for all to enjoy. It will be on display this spring and summer - and perhaps longer? RG

Wuzzbirds

A dullary (the opposite of glossary) of vernacular nomenclature and argot in current popular usage.

Artificial reality. When attending a social event (Royal Garden Party/Henley Regatta etc.) with as much atmosphere as a lunar landscape. Also refers to strapping a box to your head to explore 'interactive immersive environments' (see also all those words individually) and feeling disorientated and sick as a direct result; 'Back to life, back to sickening reality' (c)Soul II Soul.

Ass. Equus africanus asinus. Also, an Americanism meaning 'arse' (a foolish person). Not at all buttock-related.

Awesome. Causing awe/terror; inspiring wonder. Not an appropriate descriptor of your menu choice at a restaurant, in our experience - sorry, 'lived experience'. See also The Jimi Hendrix Lived Experience.

Great. Nothing being marketed can be described a 'good' or 'pleasant' ('We're providing really great coffee to a discerning clientele'). (See also 'Atrocious', used to describe road conditions when it's snowed a bit - nothing to do with actual atrocities.)

Buzzword: 'Bee'.

Content. Nothing to do with being inwardly content; in fact, the exact opposite. Words and visuals are no longer 'words and visuals', because that would be far too gauche. They are 'content'.

Usages can include 'I'm going to the library to borrow some content'. Also in the media, the worst offender: 'Adaptive content: The concept of crafting a brand interaction that is tailored to a user's customer experience, behavior, and desires.' - please forgive the the lack of a 'u' in 'behavior'.

Nancy Mitford might have defined it as a 'Non-U word'. (See also: 'Sharing content'.)

Customer experience. What happens when you buy something. 'Enriching the customer experience strategies' should be a gaolable offence (we eschew the Americanised term 'jail').

Space. Used extensively in the arts ('I celebrate and explore the space', 'I do my most rewarding work in that space'), online ('inhabiting the digital space') etc. (See also Headspace)

Ecosystem. Nothing to do with ecology, nor, probably, systems. Used in all sorts of contexts ('marketing technology ecosystems', 'an internal communications ecosystem') just to confuse you.

Have a nice day. Don't tell me what sort of day to have, you patronising...'.

Headspace. The empty void to be found in the crania of 'transactional deal-makers' (i.e. one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing).

Holistic. The study of empty voids or 'holes'. An aching emptiness in the soul.

Hyperreality. A Baudrillardian concept in post-structuralism which refers to the process of the evolution of notions of reality, leading to a cultural state of confusion between signs and symbols invented to stand in for reality, and direct perceptions of consensus reality. Easy for you to say.

Platform. Nothing to do with railway stations, sadly. ('Work-sharing, familiarization with core corporate entity concepts that describe the hard boundaries and connected features, project configurations - a self-contained collection of datasets, members, and configuration options such as webhooks and tokens - and cross-platform solutions.' Hope that's clear.)

Reaching out. 'I'm reaching out to you to share our new, affordable, high-quality widget - a new entrant into the modern widget environment.' Not to be confused with 'Reach out (and I'll be there)' by The Four Tops - a popular vocal combo, m'lud.

Reality. A minefield (metaphorically, thank goodness). Little inspires fury in the gentle soul than when hearing a politician/lobbyist/ tech-bro' saying: 'The reality is...', then giving their hopelessly biased statement of what is real. (See also Artificial reality; Hyperreality).

Sharing content. Or over-sharing content. People sending you stuff you don't have the remotest interest in, then expecting you to 'share' in turn (backed up with a thinly-veiled air of jeopardy) - a modern form of chain letter. Note: 'content' is always 'created' by a 'content provider'.

P.E. Dant

Professor Chris Green OBE (3.11.1942- 17.1.2025)

Chris Green, a big figure in Ipswich cultural life, died in January 2025, aged 82. He was a champion of a better understanding of mental health and an ardent music lover for all of his life. Born in Ipswich, he came from a musical family. During his life, Chris became accomplished on the piano, the trumpet and the violin. He also sang, like his father, and went on to conduct the orchestra he, as a teenager, co-founded in 1959: the Trianon Music Group - which now also includes a choir.

Chris attended first Amberfield School in Nacton and then progressed to Northgate Grammar School for Boys. He founded the Anglia Singers in 1992 at Anglia Ruskin University and chaired the cultural umbrella organisation, the Ipswich Arts Association, for many years. He was involved with many other groups, as well as the music-making of hundreds of individuals Chris encouraged and inspired throughout his lifetime.

Today, the Trianon Music Group has around 220 members who perform regularly and stages three major concerts every year. These are usually performed at the Ipswich Corn Exchange, but Chris and the choir and orchestra have also appeared at Snape Maltings.

For over fifty years, Chris contributed articles to the local press as music critic and arts commentator. He was one of few people in the East of England to be an elected member of the Critics' Circle. He had also joined the fledgling Radio Orwell group in the 1970s, and became the station's arts producer.

In 1994, Chris Green's hard work and dedication were recognised when he was made an OBE for 'services to the community, mental health, and music'. In April, Trianon Music Group (https:// tmg.org.uk) performed at the Royal Hospital School (RHS) in his memory. The concert included Sir John Rutter's Mass of the Children, performed with RHS Choristers, and Saint-SaÎns Symphony No.3 with the organ part played by Edward Allen, the RHS Director of Music.

The Bob Malster Prize 2025

Inaugurated by the Suffolk Local History Council (SLHC), this annual £500 prize is in memory of our late, much loved local historian, Bob Malster. SLHC invites those with an interest in local history in Suffolk to submit to the competition a piece of original work (c.5,000 words) suitable for publication in their publication the Suffolk Review.

Visit the web-page slhc.org.uk/malster-prize for full criteria and entry details. The closing date is 15 August, 2025. The prize will be awarded at the SLHC AGM on 15 November 2025.

Members' outing

Tuesday 29 July, 2025 - Visit to RAF Martlesham Heath

As we remember the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, here is an opportunity to visit RAF Martlesham Heath for an 'Experience tour'. This includes an introductory slide-show presentation in the conference room, visits to the control tower museum and the underground bunker with a short audio recording of an actual air-raid, plus a look inside the Anderson shelter.

Transport: All attendees to make their own way to the venue. Transport to the venue is not provided.

Meet at: Control tower museum car park located at the rear of Parkers Place off Eagle Way, Martlesham Heath, IP5 3UZ at 1.45pm for a 2pm start.

Cost: £5.00 per person to be paid in cash on the day.

Reservations: Early booking is requested as numbers are limited and final numbers need to be notified to the museum 7 days prior to the visit. Please reserve places in advance by contacting Chris or Lois Terry, telephone: 01473-727256 , mobile: 07779 639450 or email: seapea1955@gmail.com.

Restrictions: Unfortunately, due to staircase-only access to the tower, this venue is not suitable for wheelchairs.

Issue 242 July 2025