There and Back

`What on earth is that`? I hear you say - and me too when I heard the name for the first time. A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structure.  The church at Thornham Parva, which had a rare quality retable, was not too distant, so I decided to visit when in the locality. Its retable is a 15 feet (4.6 m) long and is thought to have been created in the 1330s for a Dominican Priory. It is the largest surviving altarpiece from the English Middle Ages.  This retable survived the iconoclastic reformers of the 16th Century, who destroyed much of England's medieval culture, by being removed from its church. It was discovered in 1927 in a wood pile in a loft at Thornham Hall, belonging to a Suffolk landowner, Lord Henniker. He donated it to St Mary's Church, Thornham Parva, where hi

On wander in north Suffolk, we had intended to visit the thatched church at Bramfield. However, on arriving, the first thing which grabbed our attention wasn`t the church. It was a  crinkle crankle wall, also known as a crinkum crankum, serpentine, ribbon or wavy wall, is an unusual type of garden wall. The crinkle crankle wall economizes on bricks, despite its sinuous configuration, because it can be made just one brick thin, also known as a crinkum crankum, serpentine, ribbon or wavy wall. It is an unusual type of garden wall. The crinkle crankle wall economizes on bricks, despite its sinuous configuration, because it can be made just one brick thin. The crinkle crankle wall Opposite is the glorious thatched church of St.Andrew with its attractive lytchgate. St.Andrew's, together with St.Peter's at nearby Thorington, are both round tower churches of which there are less than fifty throughout Suffolk. The round tower at Bramfield is over thirteen metres hig

"Surprise arrival of rare ‘cartoon birds’ on random Suffolk street causes a stir" so read the headline in a local newspaper this January!  "But these rare waxwings are causing something of a stir after flying all the way from Scandinavia and randomly picking an Ipswich street to nest for winter. The 20 or so of the brightly coloured birds are currently camped out on telegraph poles, television aerials and in trees in Defoe Road - picking Suffolk, perhaps surprisingly, for its warmer winter climate. They have brought with them a flock of their own - in the form of nature lovers with binoculars and cameras, who have travelled from far and wide to capture a glimpse of the rare birds famous for their plump shape and prominent crest. In scenes watchers have described as something out of a cartoon, the creatures fly down from their perches to eat berries from trees, comically tossing the fruit up in the air before taking a bite." Waxwings are starlin

On a cold clear morning, fog appeared as if by magic, and just as we were having breakfast. I returned later from a morning walk, and the trees certainly seemed to be turning white, but not to to any  great degree - until we looked closer as the sun started to poke through the mist. Suddenly, it seemed, the world had turned white! So, armed with cameras we headed out to have a closer look at this beautiful world that had descended. The view of the trees in front of our bungalow with a brilliant blue sky as a backdrop to this magical Hoar Frost Hoar frost forms when the water vapour in the air comes into contact with solid surfaces that are already below freezing point. Ice crystals form immediately, and the ice continues to grow as more water vapour is frozen. On a still night, it can grow well on tree branches, where the surface temperature is unlikely to rise above zero for many hours. The size of the frost that forms is dependent on how much water vapour i

Flatford Mill is a beautiful site at most times of the year, but the appearance of a good frost said `off to Flatford and a walk by the river`. What we were not expecting was the whole area covered in a Hoar frost. Beautiful! This image is of Bridge Cottage from the start of the Deham riverside walk.  So onto the different types of frost (nothing is simple is it?) Ground frost - A ground frost refers to the formation of ice on the ground, objects or trees, whose surface have a temperature below the freezing point of water. During situations when the ground cools quicker than the air, a ground frost can occur without an air frost. A grass frost, an un-official type of ground frost, can occur when other surfaces - such as concrete or road surfaces - don't experience a frost, due to their better ability at holding onto any warmth. It is possible for a grass frost to occur in late spring or even early summer when the risk of more wide-spread frosts has disappeared a

Rodin's The Kiss is on display at Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich, alongside work by John Constable and Suffolk sculptor Ellen Mary Rope. Museum curator Emma Roodhouse said it was "a dream come true" to have such an iconic sculpture on show. The 1882 sculpture, on loan from the Tate, depicts the adulterous lovers Paolo and Francesca, who were mentioned in Dante's Inferno. What an opportunity to see this great work of art - and all for free! The Kiss (c.1884)  Christchurch Mansion where The Kiss is currently displayed.  François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 1840 – 17 November 1917), known as Auguste Rodin, was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past. He was schooled traditionally, took a craftsman-like approach to his work, and desired academic recognition, although he was never accepted into Paris's foremost school of art.  Rodin possessed

Norwich is the administrative center of Norfolk and a lovely city to visit. It is steeped in history and has many fine buildings, including two Cathedrals and a Castle keep. To quote Wikipedia: Norwich is a cathedral city in Norfolk, England. Situated on the River Wensum in East Anglia, it lies approximately 100 miles (161 km) north-east of London. It is the county town of Norfolk and is considered the capital of East Anglia, with a population of 141,300. From the Middle Ages until the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important.  The city is the most complete medieval city in the UK, including cobbled streets such as Elm Hill, Timber Hill and Tombland, ancient buildings such as St Andrew's Hall, half-timbered houses such as Dragon Hall, The Guildhall and Strangers' Hall, the Art Nouveau of the 1899 Royal Arcade, many medieval lanes and the winding River Wensum that flows through the city centre towards Norwi