There and Back

As I had not seen this `local` church, this trip was just to explore. However, it turned out to have a sad twist to its story. I parked my car on the south side, near the vicarage, as it turned out. So firstly, some pictures of this south side of the building. "Another Suffolk church that can probably be associated with the group identified by the late Birkin Haward as having been part-built by the same master mason, 'Hawes of Occold', fl. 1410-1440." I have read that this church's style is Perpendicular Gothic. What are the characteristics of Perpendicular Gothic style - I wondered! Apparently, the style was concerned with creating rich visual effects through decoration and was characterized by a predominance of vertical lines in stone window tracery, enlargement of the windows to great proportions. Hence the view of the windows above, which demonstrates the emphasis on vertical lines. The late fourteenth century north porch may have been added at the same time ...

Bawdey Quay is a lovely spot. It is situated at the mouth of the river Deben which separates Bawdsey from nearby Felixstowe. Lots of boats and just a lovely spot to sit and soak up the sea air and sunshine! It has quite a history too. Radar was developed and first tested in Bawdsey between the two World Wars. Today you can visit the place where much of the groundbreaking work in radar technology took place. In February 1936, the research scientists occupied Bawdsey Manor House and the stables and outbuildings were converted into workshops. 240ft wooden receiver towers and 360ft steel transmitter towers were built and Bawdsey became the first Chain Home Radar Station. On September 24, 1937, RAF Bawdsey became the first fully operational radar station in the world After WW2 Bawdsey was used as an RAF base through the Cold War until the 1990’s when the Bloodhound surface-to-air missile was the last ‘tenant’ in this base. On 31st May 1990, the Bloodhound force ceased operations and in June...

Our last day and the start of our drive home, I have included together. We decided to visit Haddon Hill on our last day on Exmoor. As one of the higher points in the southwest of Exmoor National Park, overlooking Wimbleball Reservoir. Haddon Hill provides an accessible way to experience Exmoor's wide-open moorlands. It is a wonderful place to see the herd of free roaming Exmoor Ponies that live here. The heather and gorse provide a habitat for many species of insect and during the summer, including the rare heath fritillary. With the possibility of seeing this particular butterfly, this was our first stop. We set out on the most obvious trail, and yes, there were the ponies - which kindly moved out of the way! Apart from that, the walk was somewhat of a disappointment, for the heather and gorse - not a flower in sight and obviously not a butterfly either. A pleasant walk looking across the moorland down toward the reservoir but otherwise not what we had hoped for. As there was no p...

Today we are off to the Lynton and Lynmouth area, to The Valley of the Rocks to be precise. The Valley of Rocks is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Site of Special Geological Interest and a `must see` as a tourist. But before I show some images of the area, I would mention that our route took us along the A39 and up Porlock Hill. Wikipedia sums it up: Porlock Hill is a road west of Porlock, Somerset. It is part of the A39, connecting Porlock to Lynmouth and Barnstaple in Devon and is the steepest A-road in the United Kingdom, approaching 1 in 4 (25%) in places. A parallel toll road is available which travels the same route at an easier gradient. - If only I had known! Never mind, it was an experience! We stopped at this point, firstly in relief and secondly to admire the fantastic view! It was called Foreland Point and was a wonderful place to admire the view and watch the mist rolling across the hills. Foreland Point We had parked the car a short distance from t...

Cleeve Abbey in Somerset housed a community of Cistercian monks for almost 350 years. At its peak it was home to 28 monks. Between 1186 and 1191 William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln, gave all his lands at Cleeve for the foundation of a Cistercian abbey. The first abbot and his monks arrived in 1198 from Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire, which had itself been founded by William’s grandfather. Cleeve was originally called ‘Vallis Florida’ (valley of flowers) and it soon attracted further gifts, mainly of land, from other local aristocrats. When William founded the abbey, it was partly out of religious belief and partly out of self-interest. Founding an abbey was expensive, but medieval people believed that many prayers were needed to avoid a long stay in purgatory, or worse still descent into hell. It was thought that the best people to pray were the men and women – monks and nuns – who led a perfect Christian life dedicated to God. After the abbey’s suppression in 1536 the church was destro...