There and Back

Just before the `lock down` due to the Coronavirus, I managed an hour in this magnificent church, just off Christchurch Mansion and park. Although the interior has been much modified by our predecessors, along with most in England I am afraid, there are still many feature worth recording and admiring. Firstly, the magnificent exterior. The church sits on St Margaret's Plain, tucked into a corner of Christchurch Park. The park was the site of the Augustinian Priory, dedicated to Holy Trinity but frequently referred to in old documents as Christchurch.  One of the buildings opposite the church, now an estate agent, is part of the former monastery range, and its beams are full of delightful carvings. View from the nave toward the chancel and sanctuary. St Margaret has the best nave roof in Ipswich, possible one of the best in all Suffolk. It is a fine double-hammer beam affair, resplendent with (albeit restored) original colouring. The angels were...

Suffolk Professional Photographer, Gill Moon, holds monthly walks around areas of her `home turf` in Suffolk. These are free! and are really worth participating in. This one was entitled ` Felixstowe Ferry Scavenger Hunt` and there were about 14 of us taking part. Gill gives us ideas and concepts to photograph while sauntering around a particular area, with lots of helpful advice `to boot`. Gill has a web site well worth looking at, and where you will find details of all her courses, paid and unpaid, as well as examples of her work.. Having never visited this area of Felixstowe before, we were fascinated by some of the boats being lived in on the estuary. Such as below. Eccentric might be the word! This was called POTAMUS - look! two hippo. Between 1805 and 1812 eight Martello Towers were built on the Felixstowe Peninsula as a defence against a possible invasion by Napoleon's forces. These squat, ovoid-shaped brick-built towers were immensely st...

One of the gems of northern Essex is to be found along a small country lane in Little Maplestead, a few miles northwest of Halstead. Locally known as The Round Church, it sits nestled in a beautiful spot among several ancient yew trees on the crest of a small hill. Approaching by foot across the fields or by road from Halstead it can be seen from quite far off and merits a visit, as it is a very pretty little church and one of the most historically important buildings in the area. This is the church nearest to my childhood home, although my parents were of the Congregational and Strict Baptist inclination, I attended for weddings and funerals. Both my parents are buried here and family members have been married here. It holds a warm spot in my heart, I must confess! Officially known as The Church of St. John the Baptist, the Round Church is one of only four round churches still in use in England. Its history dates back to the Middle Ages although the early records are unreliable. It i...

Question marks are being asked (according to the local press) about the future of the two largest buildings at that end of Ipswich Waterfront historic Wet Dock - The Mill tower and the former Paul's Silo. It was announced this week that the former Burton's building on the Waterfront is to be converted into a new arts hub, bringing a huge boost for that part of the town. However, the Mill tower is still incomplete. There are no flats completed in the tallest building in Ipswich and it is still in the hands of administrators as legal talks about who is responsible for the cladding that became dislodged in the St Jude's Storm in 2013 . Talk about Red Tape and Bureaucracy!! The former Paul's Silo (on the left) is now owned by the borough and I don`t know the plans for it at the moment. One hopes that this remaining area of the Waterfront can soon be transformed in keeping with the rest of this lovely area. At the University end of the Waterfront, this i...