Late September 2015 – Ipswich and Summer Summary

26th September – Saturday

We had every intention of going to Christchurch Mansion today, but once again we were diverted by a tempting sign.  Outside St Mary Le Tower it said ‘Tower Tours’.  Naively we thought this might be a good chance to go upwards and get a good view of the town and surroundings.  It was in fact a tour of the Belfry and the bells themselves.  So we climbed the 30+ narrow steps at the allotted time to get to the Belfry.  St Mary Le Tower is rare as they have 12 bells, when 1 to 6 are the norm.  We had a demonstration and then followed our guide up another 30+ steps to get to the bells themselves.  The largest was 3.5 tonnes, and 3 had been replaced at a cost of £45,000.  The belfry had also just had a good clean and the bell ringers were expressing how different and loud they sounded.  It was thoroughly fascinating and we went back on Monday night to witness and try our hand at a practice with all 12 bells working.  The bell-ringers were a jolly bunch and very dedicated to keeping this ancient craft alive.

We were invited to dinner on Tudora and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening with our hosts Jeremy and Tricia and their Baltic cruising friends Mike and Kate.  I took the starter, Mackeral Pate, Jeremy and Tricia provided the main, Pork Fillet in Red Wine and Kate brought pudding, hand-picked fruit crumble and custard.

28th September – Monday

Spent most of the day planning and taking a pattern for a Bimini (sun-shade).  More of which at a later date.

29th September – Tuesday

Christchurch Mansion is located in Christchurch park where we saw ‘Mabel’ the owl previously.

It is a Tudor mansion with over 500 years of history.  Ipswich is in Constable Country and within the building is held the Wolsey Art Gallery.  The gallery has a comprehensive collection of Constable paintings.  Currently they are showing an exhibition of his influences which include Gainsborough and there are numerous examples of his work.  Constable also influenced Freud and there are also examples of his work.  The mansion houses many various collections pottery, toys, costumes, rescued Tudor interiors and is well worth a visit and admission is free.

1st October – Thursday

Spurred on by our excellent day out on Tuesday we ventured to Ipswich museum, which is conveniently located on Museum Street.

If you do not like taxidermy give this a miss.  However the chronology on the first floor had us enthralled.  It is a timeline of events throughout the towns long history.  Ipswich is one of the few places which has been continually inhibited from approximately 400AD.  Mostly due to it being a religious centre for various denominations and a port town, with trading links to Europe and beyond.  Again admission was free.

Due to a picture we saw in the museum we popped into St Mary at the Elms on the way home to see the oldest door in Ipswich, apparently a thousand years old, 11th century.

3rd October – Saturday

We walked to Fox’s boat yard to look at the large chandlers and mooch about the yard, looking at things we cant afford and other peoples work in progress.

4th October – Sunday

We went for a lovely walk with Tricia and Jeremy to Holywells Park on the east side of the town.  Ipswich is spoilt for open areas and parkland.  There is a cafe in the old stable block which was a pleasant spot for a breather.

It has been a cracking week weather-wise and we have taken full advantage of it.

5th October – Monday

We had our last walk to town in the rain to collect supplies for our trip home tomorrow.  Said our goodbyes over tea and cakes with Jeremy and Tricia, and had kitchen sink pasta for tea to use up all the veggies etc we could not take home.

6th October – Travelling Home

We had been packing things into ‘Agnes’ the trolley for several days and Mick had gathered all the portable computers and important documents.  It is really sad to be leaving ‘Fleur’ she has done us proud this summer and is a real home from home.

Mick applied lots of brain cells into getting us train tickets for £27 which we were originally quoted at £132 which is a big saving.  Ipswich to London Liverpool Street, Euston to Picadilly, Salford Crescent to Home.  The London train was late and we ended up going via Bolton.  7 and a half hours later to were home.  It is lovely to see some hills and drink tea without scum on top.

Summary

We have enjoyed Holland very much.  The locks, bridges and canals make this country possible and are an engineering miracle.  The boats and Dutch barges are large and plentiful.  The people are warm and welcoming and speak such good English it was difficult to practice any Dutch, but we tried.  The facilities are good everywhere.  The marinas are well run and relatively inexpensive.  The street food is too tempting (think I mentioned Kebbelin once or twice).  We found shopping an easy experience, especially the supermarkets.  Our negotiation of the locks and bridges became easier as time went on, but they must be respected with full vigilance at all times.  The sailing in the lakes was a pleasure and the bridges and canals were well maintained, administered and managed.

We did not encounter that many British boats and have no idea why.  We would highly recommend this journey to anyone, not just sailors.