Pembrokeshire with Hayley and Izobelle

One of my favourite parts of the UK is the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire. As Hayley and Izobelle had never visited this part of the world, we were all looking forward with great anticipation, especially with a trip to Skomer booked as well. As Robert Burns penned - `The best laid plans of mice....` To put it shortly, it didn`t work out as planed!

We had booked a holiday cottage near MiIlford Haven - which was lovely. It was also reasonably close to Broad Haven and Little Haven and not too far from St Davids. However, the highlight was to be a trip across to Skoma to see the puffins. Unfortunately, although the weather was reasonable ie not raining, the wind had settled in the north and was fresh. This led to a cancellation of our sailing at 7am on the morning we were going. Dissapointing for all.

This was on top of the most horrendous traffic queus while trying to reach our destination in the first place. Several hours on top of a long journey, in fact!

The glorious coastline of this part of the world.

Some really simple things keep people amused and this swing in the garden was one of them.

A visit and wander along Broad Haven to Little Haven gave us these spectacular views of the near empty beach.

Another view nearer to Little Haven

As we wandered along the beach there were many rock pools to search and various creature encounterd.

Then to just sit in the sun on the beautiful beach and make sand castles.

Or just soak up the sun.

Or even stand in this cave like entrance and pose for Grandad.

Burton (Hanging Stone) burial chamber

This monument comprises the remains of a chambered tomb, dating to the Neolithic period (c. 4,400 BC - 2,900 BC). Chambered tombs were built and used by local farming communities over long periods of time. There appear to be many regional traditions and variations in shape and construction.

The Burton (Hanging Stone) burial chamber is incorporated into a hedge bank which runs northwest to southeast and is formed by a large triangular capstone supported on three tall uprights; internally it is 2m in length, 1.6m wide and 1.6m in height. This we spotted on the map as within walking distance of where we were staying so Hayley and I set off one afternoon to have a look.

The hedge contains many large stones especially the western side and have been suggested as a second capstone and three further uprights and may well incorporate part of the chamber or cairn.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual. The monument is an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both intact burial or ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence, including a buried prehistoric land surface. Chambered tombs may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.

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Jubilee Celebrations

The year 2022 marked the 70th year of our Queen`s reign - becoming the first British Monarch to reach that milestone. Celebrations were held across the country so each community marked the celebration in its own style. Hadleigh took part in the torch relay and Layham village held a fete on 6th June.

The torch relay leg started in St Mary`s Church in Hadleigh and a couple of images taken, (Gloria in chair) before they set off. Each community seems to be doing a leg as it makes its way around Suffolk. It would arrive back in Ipswich at the Show Ground and be lit in Christchurch Mansion grounds the following night.

 And she is off! - down the High Street.

Rosey sets up her photographs and the PlaySchool tent is ready for action

Records (yes - records!) are ready and DJ puts on his patriotic waiscoat.

 Our own `Queen` poses with Rosey.

Despite the threat of rain in the days leading to our event, on the day it held off all day, and only started to fall as we were clearing up. All in all a very successful event enjoyed by all.

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Interesting buildings in Ipswich

A brief wander around Ipswich and a few of the interesting buildings I photographed. No doubt there will be many more in the future.

 

Bethesda Baptist Church, 9 St Margarets Plain, Ipswich, IP4 2BB

Bethesda is a Baptist Church, members who express a wish to follow Jesus’ command are baptised by total immersion, there is a pool under the dais at the front of the building. Before the current church was built members were baptised in the River Orwell. I don`t think people would want to do this today!

There has been a group of ‘independents’ meeting on the corner of St Margarets Plain since 1782 (when Fonnereau Road was known as Dairy Lane and a stream ran down the middle of the road). By 1834 they had outgrown their building and moved to St Nicholas Street. They did however retain an interest in the site.

In the early years of the twentieth century, it was decided to build a new church on the site of the original meeting place; in 1906 the foundation stone for the new Sunday School was laid, which opened six months later. The total cost had been less than £1,000.

In July 1911, Mrs Susannah Page died aged 81, she had been a member of Bethesda for 67 years and had been Baptised in the river. Her son Arthur offered to pay for the new church building as a memorial to his mother. Numbers 1 to 9 St Margarets Plain were purchased to provide the space needed, the final service in the old Fonnereau Road building was held on 31 December 1911, which was then demolished, the resulting rubble being sold for £88.

The new Bethesda Church held its first service at 7am on Wednesday 2 July 1913, followed by further services later in the morning, in the afternoon and the evening. What London architect Fred Faunch had created was probably Ipswich’s finest façade of the twentieth century. A flight of steps leading to four Cornish granite columns visible the length of Northgate Street.

Number 86 Fore Street

A C15-C16 timber-framed and plastered building, originally the Old Neptune Inn, considerably restored but retaining many original features. A C15 hall block extends east and west and a C16 Solar wing extends south at the rear.
It is dated 1639, probably recording the time alterations were made to the house. The front has a projecting eaves with a carved eaves board supported by carved brackets. The first storey has 2 oriel bay windows with lattice leaded lights and fine carved frames, supported on carved brackets. Small
mullioned casements flank the oriels below the eaves. The ground storey has one 6-light mullioned and transomed window (with 2 carved mullions). A painted panel between the oriels has a similar representation.
At the rear a solar wing extends south, timber framed and plastered, with a jettied upper storey with large casements and a large mullioned and transomed window on the ground storey. The interior has a fine C17 fireplace and moulded beams and ceiling joists. Roofs tiled, with 2 gabled dormers on the front.

There is a 4-centred doorway with carved spandrels representing Neptune and a coa serpent.

The Lord Nelson

The Lord Nelson can trace its history back to 1672 during the reign of Charles II when the local Headboroughs ordered inn keeper William Stephens to repair his pavement. In those early years the hostelry was known as the Noah's Ark, the name was changed in recognition of Nelson becoming High Steward of Ipswich (1800 - 1805). The fact that the Noah's Ark was an Inn rather than just a tavern or alehouse is confirmed by an entry in the borough records of 1696 when a payment was made to the Landlord for billeting soldiers. The building, originally two fifteenth century timber framed cottages has been listed Grade II by the Department of the Environment. 

You might wonder why the Lord Nelson in Fore Street has a glazed brick elevation to the ground floor when it is clearly a timber framed building of some considerable age. The brick front was added in the twentieth century as a flood defensive measure, an acceptance that the Orwell would overflow again sometime in the future and Fore Street would be underwater. The glazed bricks are not for flood prevention, that would be much too big a task for a little pub like the ‘Nelson, but simply materials that are robust enough to withstand a short spell of immersion and are reasonably easy to clean immediately thereafter.

In early 2019, Ipswich Borough Council announced its plan to restore the town’s landmark former post office. The Grade II listed building was first opened in 1881, survived two world wars and, during the 1940s, contributed to the UK’s war effort through its finials, which contained strategic metals. Since then, the Old Post Office has housed banks and various other institutions. It now houses the The Botanist Ipswich Bar & Restaurant.

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