Day 66- Saturday 23rd July- Woodbridge on the River Deben

Reeds should have a special category for the Deben. There is so much to see and take in at Woodbridge that it should be given 5 stars-not 3. I know this is going to be my longest blog to date. One of the many positive things about this trip is the way history has come to life when I have tried to get under the surface of the places I have visited. When I motored up the river yesterday evening I had a sense of it being a place where Romans, Saxons, Vikings, Normans and all sorts must have navigated these waters. Little did I know how true this was.

I started by walking a little way down river to look back at the area around the Tide Mill. It's a thriving little area with 2 boat clubs, a rowing club, tennis club,boat yard and water sports centre.

It even has a specially constructed model yacht pond. 6 old guys were racing their yachts around a circuit, where the "cans" seemed to be made out of plastic bottles with weights on the end. They even had a battery operated pre-recorded start warning, giving 20 seconds for the off. They clearly took the whole thing very seriously as they moaned at each other for bumping as they went around the turn points. A couple of them were obviously real sailors, but were saying they were losing their strength ,so as to be less able to pull in the sheets and halyards. So old sailors don't stop they just go down the park to the model pond.

In the mud, the live-aboard boats are not all big ones, and I expect a few of the people who know me expected me to end up somewhere like this.

I went to get some cash out and discovered that my redundancy money has been paid into my bank. I now have an unrealistic and dangerous sense of being wealthy. After getting some stuff from the Tourist Information office I planned my day over a coffee in the pleasant area outside the cinema.

Three people emerged as recurring figures associated with the town. The first was Bernard Barton, who was a Quaker Lyric Poet (1784-1849). He lived in a very narrow fronted but pretty house.He was known by Lord Byron, who in this extract I came across in the museum was telling him not to give up his day job!

When he died he was buried in the Quaker cemetery.It's a small walled area, which is intended to be" a place of rest and contemplation". It contains only 19 headstones but 350 burials and was used from 1698-1937. There are trees and wild flowers and other plants and the intention is to attract the wildlife.It wasn't until 1850 that the Quakers accepted the use of headstones. Up until that time they had seen them as a" vain custom". I learned that originally this group had called themselves the "children of Light" or "Friends of Truth", and it was only a taunt by a judge in 1650 when they picked up the name of Quakers.

In contrast to the plain simplicity of the Quakers, St. Mary's church probably represents much of what they stood against. It was begun in the 1400s. Its a very ornate building in the "perpendicular" style ( as opposed to the less successful horizontal style achieved by poor builders). For me the quality of carved stonework and flint infill is exquisite.

In the porch there is a bread cupboard, which used to be used until the 1970s for bread for the poor of the parish.

On the south side of the chancel there is a very fine marble monument to Jeffrey Pittman, who was high Sheriff of Suffolk and left a lot of money to the church.

Also in the church is the tomb of the second notable person of the town- Thomas Seckford.He was a lawyer and advisor to Queen Elizabeth 1st.This extract from the museum describes wonderfully how he dealt with the complaints of poor men as cheaply as possible.

Seckford was obviously a court favourite and was given lots of land and property.He was also MP for Ipswich. As a civic minded man,he seems to have put his money to good use locally, building a hospital, almshouses and a dispensary. This provided health care for the poor and for a yearly sum to everyone else as well.This was all before the days of the national health service

Seckford is another of these men who managed to turn his hand to anything.He is responsible for the first atlas of England and wales.

The third local man was Edward Fitzgerald who was a friend of Bernard Barton . He is more famous for having translated the "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam".

Fitzgerald was also a local sailor. His skiff boat was called "Scandal", because it went faster than anything else in Woodbridge. The local guide book says he is reported to have fallen overboard whilst reading a book, and then clambered back in and continued reading as if nothing had happened. When I saw a picture of the boat, I thought that was a every unlikely tale. You wouldn't clamber back on board a boat of this size very easily.It also said he was happy for others to do the sailing for him, which is how he found time to sit around reading I expect.

In the museum, where the entry ticket cost £1 and lasts for life, I learned about the Sutton Hoo burial site. In the days when the Romans were pulling out of Britain to concentrate its resources in defending its lands in Europe the Saxons stepped in to fill the void.This was the time of the Wuffas. For a short time the Wuffing King, Redwald claimed the title of Bretwalda ( Chief of Chiefs). At that time the true Brits had been driven into the far west as shown on this diagram.

Redwald died in 625,and a mighty vessel was dragged to the cemetery on the cliffs facing Woodbridge and he was buried in it along with things he might find useful in the afterlife. The mask is the defining artifact from that excavation.

 

The last diagram, I found interesting was the one saying it took 12-14 days to sail from Scandinavia. What have I been doing with myself?

Woodbridge is very classy town. I have seen a lot of tattoo shops on this trip, but I have not seen any as tasteful as this one.

There are too many great buildings and bits of architectural detailing to describe, so I shall let the photos speak for them selves.

In  the main shopping street I went into a gallery, which had the most comfortable hand made wooden chairs I have sat in. They have burr elm seats and shaved ash spindles. they were a delight to touch .

On the way back to Hylje I cam across this Aladdin's cave of a chandlery. The owner had made an unlikely engine out of some parts from an old seagull. I should think it makes a few boaters laugh with its unlikely large propeller.

Back on the pontoon, I admired this French Etap. I know nothing about the boat, but working on the basis what looks right, probably is right then it looks a good one to me. behind it is a Parker 275. Parker's took on the rights to build Seals. This looks a goodun too. Now with my payoff.....

Have I gone on too much today? Am I boring the pants off people?Someone let me know! I shall proabaly go and see the last Harry Potter film at the cinema tonight. I've had too much serious culture for one day!