There and Back

St Edmundsbury Cathedral is a stunning mix of ancient and modern. A former parish church, it became Suffolk’s Cathedral in 1914 following the creation of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. A modern expansion began when Stephen Dykes Bower was appointed architect in 1943. With whitewashed walls and a stunning lantern tower, St Edmundsbury Cathedral presents a colourful and bright interior that visitors are often surprised by. The Cathedral’s tower was finished in 2005 and its crowning glory is the vaulted ceiling that rewards those who gaze upwards. (See my image below) The Norman Tower, also known as St James' Gate, is the detached bell tower of St Edmundsbury Cathedral. Originally constructed in the early 12th century, as the gatehouse of the vast Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, it is one of only two surviving structures of the Abbey, the other being Abbey Gate, located 150 metres to the north. As a virtually unaltered structure of the Romanesque age, the tower is both a Grade ...

One of the many things I look forward to in Spring, are the amazing colours all around us. After a period of months throughout winter when all can be dull and bare, the arrival of a world of colour is great to look forward to. Here are some colourful images taken as spring arrives. A mass of Bluebells in Layham Grove Buttercups galore!  Pink Dogwood I think. Just behind our house. On the riverside by Layham Mill The shades of greens  you see in the field and hedgerows are amazing. As well as a whole mass of colour, there are individual splashes of colour, many of which only appear this time of year. So in the hedges and side of the road --- Dandelion - a weed we call them, but lets face it, they are pretty! Alway a good sign when the first of the Orange Tips appear. And then the beautiful display of May Blossom in the hedgerows. How can you not notice spring with all its beauty.  Index of posts  

Although I have been through Diss several times, I had never been into the town centre and was unaware of the Mere. So a visit today to rectify this! Diss acquired its name from the Saxon word 'Dic' or 'Disce' meaning a 'ditch of standing water' which I assume refers to what in now the mere. One of it`s famous residents was Sir John Betjeman, who loved Diss above all East Anglian towns, and often said he was more proud of being president of the Diss Society than he was of being Poet Laureate - some complement. So here follows some of the thing seen as I meandered around. The Diss sign is topped with a shield bearing the town’s coat of arms, two sets of blue and white wavy lines. The sign (below) is two sided, with both sides depicting stories related to royalty – though the stories are separated by nearly 300 years. “John Skelton Rector of Diss (1505-1529) Poet Laureate and tutor to the young Prince Henry (Later Henry VIII) give instruction to the prince and his...

Having read the following article in the news, I was intrigued to see for myself what this `object` was. Here it is described on the Ipswich Borough Council site: Ipswich Borough Council is delighted to announce the successful switch-on of the first-ever Portal in the United Kingdom, the fifth Portal worldwide, now live in Ipswich’s historic Cornhill. Designed as a window between distant countries and cultures, the Ipswich Portal now offers residents and visitors a way to meet people from around the world. Unveiled at 1pm on Wednesday 22 October, the Ipswich Portal connects to a growing network of identical Portals, currently located in Vilnius (Lithuania), Lublin (Poland), Dublin (Ireland) and Philadelphia (United States). Together, they serve as a bridge to a united planet, inviting communities around the world to meet and share cultures, beyond the borders of our countries. Ipswich is ranked among the top 10 UK locations for start-ups and has the fifth-fastest growing economy in the...