Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Suffolk

  • Beccles – Border Bus

    Beccles – Border Bus

    Needing to get back from Beccles I had a choice of getting the train via Lowestoft, using First Bus or Border Bus, a relatively new bus company operating primarily around the Norfolk and Suffolk borders. A single by train, via Lowestoft, costs a ridiculous £9.80, it’s a secret on First Bus and it’s £2.80 by Border Bus.

    I know it’s £2.80 as Border Bus have gone for a clear and coherent timetable which, perhaps radically, includes the times and prices on it. First Bus have, in my view, arrogantly decided that they don’t need to bother to tell customers how much single fares are (either on timetables or their web-site), so it’s not possible to get the right change ready in advance. And, single tickets can’t be purchased via their m-ticketing system, so that’s not an option either. Although, First East Anglia are doing better than First Cymru Buses, who received a large fine in court today for “failure to meet the needs of the travelling public”.

    And safely into Norwich, on time and without any issue. The bus was clean, well presented and the driving seemed safe enough to me.

  • Woodbridge – 2019 Whole Hog

    For the third year running, I thought it’d be a good idea to take part in the Hike Norfolk team who ran (I say ran, it was more of an occasional fast walk) the eight-mile Whole Hog challenge. I’ve given up being concerned about the whole arrangement now, which is testament to just how brave I’ve become. Or something like that. Above is the photo of us somewhere around half-way round, at around the four-mile mark.

    I think everyone was very brave, although I think I was particularly brave, and we got round together with no injuries. Unlike someone else we met on the route who was surprised into taking part by his wife and then promptly cut his hand open during the course. I seem to be pretty much immune to the cold, but it was apparently colder than during the last couple of years, and certainly muddier. Although since that’s the point of the event, this is a positive.

    There are numerous photos of me from around the course that I insisted the course photographer took, including the above. A few people from the group couldn’t make this year’s event who hoped to be there, but I do hope that everything can make it next year. Especially Gordon, who would very much enjoy it.

    And a photo of Liam and if this isn’t an inspiration to his two children, I don’t know what is. It remains to be seen if the little ones (the children that is) take part in the younger version of the event in future years. My only complaint this year is that there wasn’t a free drink at the end as in previous years, although apparently this is because Adnam’s aren’t sponsoring the event this year because of Brexit. I won’t give my opinion of that situation here.

    As for a review of the course, it was all well laid out and there are some changes every year so it doesn’t become to staid. It’s just about the suitable challenge for me in terms of difficulty, because, I have to face the fact that I’m never going to do a Tough Mudder. Even my bravery doesn’t stretch quite that far.

    And, I’ll enter again for 2020, hopefully this time with a joint Hike Norfolk and an LDWA team, in a bid to get my fourth medal.

  • Beccles – Shopping Trolley

    This is an interesting use for a shopping trolley in Beccles…..

  • Santon Downham – St. Mary the Virgin Church (Benjamin Matthews)

    Following my visit to St. Mary the Virgin Church in Santon Downham, I took a brief look at some of the gravestones in the churchyard. I’m interested in random gravestones which are becoming hard to read (I really must get out more….) and trying to ascertain a little more about the individuals. Random really is the word for this.

    This is the gravestone of Benjamin Matthews who died on 17 July 1894 at the age of 66. He was an Anglican who was born in 1828, marrying Elizabeth in 1867. In 1891 Matthews lived at High Lodge, now within the Forestry Commission site, and worked as a farm steward. He lived with his wife and also his niece, Alice Matthews who died in 1922. Also buried at the plot is his wife Elizabeth, who died at the age of 82 on 19 July 1910.

    Unfortunately that was about all that I could find out….

  • Santon Downham – St. Mary the Virgin Church

    On my Brandon walk we visited St. Mary the Virgin church at Santon Downham, one of the most historically complex churches that I’ve visited recently. Its location by the edge of Thetford Forest have given the building the rather suitable name of ‘The Church in the Forest’.

    The nave and chancel of the current church date to the twelfth century, but it was built on the site of a Saxon wooden church. The tower is later and was constructed between 1460 and 1500.

    The doors on both the north and south walls of the church are contemporary to the nave, so are twelfth century, although they look modified.

    The exterior of the building has numerous former windows and entrances, some of which have been blocked up. This is the former entrance to a chapel, which at some point has been demolished. I had assumed that this took place following the Reformation, but it seems that it might be a later removal.

    The stone base of what was once a free standing preaching cross, or the site of an external pulpit.

    The font dates to the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

    The church’s interior and the rood screen.

    A partially exposed window which was filled in long ago, with the window on the right created to replace it. I assume that this was to create more light inside the church.

    The altar.

    The dreaded, since in retrospect they often are, Victorian restoration mainly took place here in 1894. The phrase “new interior of walls” often means that history was faffed about with to make it even more confusing for me to work out. Another newspaper called the restoration “extensive and substantial”, so I imagine the interior was modified to a considerable degree. Certainly the impressive high pews, which a newspaper said were “cupboards into which you enter, shut the door and sit on the shelf” were replaced with “decent oak seats”. Personally, I imagine the high pews looked rather gorgeous.

    Stained glass.

    I’ll have to go back to this church as I’d like to understand a little more about what is going on with its history. There are also some interesting tablets inside the church which I didn’t have time to look at properly. It was pleasing to see that the church was open on a Wednesday in early January, and the flowers inside the church showed what wonderful local volunteers they must have.

  • Brandon – LDWA Walk

    Today was a little 17-mile walk that I led for the LDWA, although due to circumstances beyond my control, it turned out at 16 miles. The circumstances beyond my control were that unusually I didn’t make any mistakes, I had assumed my incompetence would add one mile on at least….. Although I did manage to miss the mausoleum, which was slightly unfortunate.

    Anyway, 17 people turned up and all went well (or at least as well as can be expected for my unreccied walks) and there are some random landscape photos below.

    The walk started in Brandon and went through to Brandon County Park, which was the first toilet stop. I felt sorry for the electrician who had at that moment started to fix a light inside the male toilet entrance, and then faced a queue of ten people wanting to go in. The walk then went to High Lodge, the Forestry Commission site, and then onto the abandoned village of Santon.

    We visited a couple of churches as well, I shall blog about those separately, these were All Saints Church in Santon and St. Mary the Virgin in Santon Downham. I’ll put photos of people, and a photo of an adder warning sign, on the Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA blog in due course   🙂