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Post by mossie on Mar 16, 2013 8:26:12 GMT
Corn hill would be the start of the town market. If you stand on Londons Cornhill and look west, across the junction is Poultry which leads on to Cheapside,which signifies the cheaper end of the market. On the right are Ironmongers Lane, Milk St, Wood St. Off there are the Saddlers, Goldsmiths and Haberdashers Halls. The other side of Cheapside are Bow Lane and Bread St. This area was the original city market area, divided by trades. Our history is written in our street names
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Post by tod2 on Mar 16, 2013 10:58:42 GMT
Mossie, I got out my big Collins map of London and had a look at all the streets you mention. I was right there this past May when I called in at the Bank of England to exchange some old 20 pound notes for new ones.
I love the old crooked houses like the one Cardinal Wolsey lived in. Those Dutch gables are very good examples of the style. So many buildings here have a sort of pseudo Dutch gable.
Your photos are excellent!
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 20, 2013 2:30:03 GMT
Hope you keep adding to this over time, Mossie. I love your town & your presentation of it. Also love the Willis bldg. Was there any kind of an outcry when it was built?
And how wonderful to have a real, thriving produce market in town.
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Post by htmb on Apr 20, 2013 13:46:39 GMT
I've just re-read your interesting report again, Mossie. I hope you will add to it from time to time. It's very interesting to see the different styles of buildings and to learn the fascinating history of the area.
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Post by navrad on Sept 19, 2015 14:38:24 GMT
Your wish is my command htmb, even if I am a couple of years or so adrift. I had a walk down to the waterfront this morning and passing these shops reminded me of recent comments about immigrants. We are seeing more and more shops for immigrants and will soon look like Kerouacs area of Paris. It is common to walk down the main street now and not hear English spoken, a complaint often heard is "It is not our country any more". We can live with people happy to accept our customs and language, but what upsets us are those who refuse to integrate. Enough moaning, but here are a couple of snaps to show what I mean But these are just down the road An old merchants house But soon the less attractive rear view of some of the waterfront houses appear A typical 1930's style swimming baths, trying to look seasidey with portholes for windows At last the quayside Better with the sun behind I was just in time to see one of the old sailing barges casting off for a pleasure cruise Lots of happy faces And away they go The backs of some of the old warehouses are waiting their transformation into yuppy flats Escaping to the main through road I see that Wolsey's College gate is still waiting to fall into the road. This is all that remains of Cardinal Wolsey's grand idea to transform Ipswich into a rival to Cambridge Staying with antiquity I had time to duck intoSt Peter's church to admire the woodwork in the nave, and then it was off in search of coffee
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Post by mossie on Sept 19, 2015 14:44:04 GMT
Sorry, I forgot to log in, didn't want to loose all that I had laboriously compiled so posted as a guest, but I expect you guessed which idiot had done it.
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Post by htmb on Sept 19, 2015 16:07:18 GMT
I'm glad you finally got back to this thread. Thanks, Mossie.
Is it correct to think the buildings and gate you show are no longer used for the school?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 17:25:21 GMT
Those new photos are excellent. Have you ever taken one of those cruises? If not, it looks like it would benefit Anyport if you did!
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Post by mossie on Sept 20, 2015 15:51:51 GMT
Wolsey never got to get his school up and running before he fell out with the king and lost all his possessions and status.
I hadn't thought of enduring a river cruise, I only have to see those things on TV and I get seasick!. Perhaps one day I'll be brave enough.
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Post by mossie on Nov 17, 2015 20:51:19 GMT
Sorry to deface the 'birds' thread in Images, but that was really a bird scarer from one of the fancy waterfront buildings. Here is a general view, with prominently the unfinished block of flats which was abandoned when the dodgy Irish bank ran out of credit. And some of the modern tat. I never cease to wonder that these architects are not ashamed to draw their colossal commissions I retreat into the town and find this little alley, a real relic of the past, now becoming valuable real estate. Now past a place I have shown before, which has been tidied up after a lorry damage the front with this explanatory notice Further along is this old bit of carved woodwork on a gable Here is a detail and here a typical finial
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2015 21:25:05 GMT
Oh, I've seen far worse looking modern buildings. As lovely as all of those half-timbered buildings are, I'm afraid that the style will not be returning any time soon. Those carving details are excellent.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 18, 2015 3:59:06 GMT
Much of modern architecture will no doubt be looked back on as an eyesore, it already is but the "new" still allows for a brief suspension of disbelief. Luckily much of it is so poorly built to extract maximum profit that it probably will not be around terribly long before it is demolished. And it does provide a startling contrast with the beauty of the old stuff. That carving is just a joy to behold, has more soul than an entire neighborhood of concrete and steel high rise development.
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Post by mossie on Mar 14, 2016 19:47:30 GMT
As it was a nice day, albeit with a cold North East wind, I decided on another little stroll round our old docks. The new buildings are becoming more established and there is a little bit of life in cafes etc., but it is still scarred by the abandoned shell of a block of flats. The old Customs House still stands proud against the modern stuff I couldn't get far enough back to get a good shot of the old crest in the pediment There is of course the remainder of the modern junk stretching away in the other direction, with the so called university, in its shades of battleship grey, disfiguring the scene. One of the posh boat owners forgot when positioning the fenders that he was partly obscuring the fancy name, thus rendering it a more apposite comment on the surroundings. As I left I couldn't help but notice that the tide of modernity is threatening to swamp the medieval church. I hope you don't think I have been too critical of modern architecture but I find most of it too bland and industrial
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2016 20:01:06 GMT
Wow, looks like there have been a lot of changes. In your first picture, I would agree that the high rise on the right is indeed boringly bland, but the one of the left is almost acceptable due to the touches of colour. No way to tell how the ones in the middle will turn out.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 14, 2016 22:54:50 GMT
Oh -- I've missed several updates to this very interesting thread! It is galling when greed obscures the very bones and heart of a place -- always obvious in places by the water. At least "the tide of modernity", as you call it, is somewhat tempered by the excellent plaques telling the history of older places. Ha-ha on ka-ka Apologies if this has been asked & answered, but how did you wind up living in Ipswitch?
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Post by bjd on Mar 15, 2016 6:56:08 GMT
I'm surprised that building permits are given to do anything so close to an old church.
I don't object to all modern architecture -- some of it is fine. What I do object to are large buildings stuck right on the waterfront, cutting off views for anyone living behind them. Is nothing going to be done with that concrete skeleton of a building?
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Post by tod2 on Mar 15, 2016 7:29:37 GMT
Super photos Mossie - I am wracking my brains to think of the name for those double stairs in front of the old Customs House?? Did you ever see the real name of the catamaran "Kaka"?
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Post by mossie on Mar 15, 2016 16:05:43 GMT
The boat was named "kalika", I know what ka ka means, but have no idea about kalika.
And Bixa, I hope I haven't been through this before but I always blame the RAF for washing me up in Ipswich. I was posted to an airfield a few miles from the town and was going and foolish enough to marry a local girl. When a few months later my contract with the RAF was finished we were living in Wiltshire, a very nice part of England, and I tried to find work there without success. I eventually landed a useless job near my home in Kent, so my wife and I moved in with my parents. My wife got a job with Marks and Spencer locally, as she had worked for them for several years prior to our marriage. My job did not work out so I got into contact with people I knew in Ipswich and got a job up there. So we ended up in the very strange situation with my wife living with my parents in Kent and me some 120 miles away, living with her mother in Suffolk. I eventually got a reasonable job in Ipswich and moved my wife into a flat in the town.
In the course of time I worked for other companies in the general London area and we lived in Buckinghamshire for about 9 years before I at last returned to work for the Ipswich based company from which I retired. So here I am stuck and quite happy with my situation, it was 1954 when I first landed up in Suffolk and I am almost totally accepted as a native now.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 15, 2016 16:41:23 GMT
Golly, that's it in a nutshell Mossie except to say you did a fair bit of heroics before retiring in Ipswich. You certainly saw life in many ways and I agree wholeheartedly with you that today people have no idea what the word 'austere" means. Not only that, but sacfrifice is not in many peoples vocabulary these days. You certainly saw how life can change for the better and the worse. Thanks for the proper name of the catamaran!
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 15, 2016 18:57:14 GMT
*sing* "She's a young thing and cannot leave your mother!" Thanks for that, Mossie! I am always curious about why people settle in a particular place, & your story is particularly interesting.
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Post by htmb on Mar 15, 2016 20:21:47 GMT
I'm glad you asked the question, Bixa. I also find it interesting to find out how people end up where they do.
Very nice pictures, too, Mossie!
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Post by mossie on May 14, 2016 15:25:11 GMT
On a recent visit to my optician I realised that I had omitted to take snaps in Northgate St., so named because it ran to the North Gate through the wall of the mediaeval town. It contains this old gatehouse which led into the courtyard of a large mansion. This plaque explains it Here is another fine old building just down the road And the lane off beside named Oak Lane, no doubt from the timer used in the house It carries this coat of arms Further down the road is The Cock and Pye pub almost buried in more modern tat At the top of the street almost where the gate was is this old pub and across the road at the top stands the old Baptist Chapel, still in use Maintaining the religious theme is the principal church in Ipswich, St Mary le Tower, giving its name to Tower Street It has a very tall spire and has been extensively Victorianised A quick look inside and a detail of a gargoyle added to a gargoyle Returning to the main shopping street I'll finish with Croydons which was a long established jeweller, although now closed
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Post by breeze on May 15, 2016 1:49:52 GMT
Ipswich's half-timbered buildings have some remarkably fine carvings.
Is your last photo a former inn? And is that woodwork or plasterwork on the second and third floors? Very impressive and still in beautiful condition.
St Mary le Tower seems to be a checkerboard church. Or do my eyes deceive me?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 15, 2016 2:57:51 GMT
Gosh, Mossie -- it's almost as though you saved the most charming for last! It's delightful to see so much of the history of the place still standing.
What does this sentence mean, please? And the lane off beside named Oak Lane, no doubt from the timer used in the house
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2016 4:00:22 GMT
I particularly enjoyed the gargoyle with its own pet gargoyle.
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Post by mossie on May 15, 2016 7:17:56 GMT
Sorry Bixa, my finger trouble missed the vital b in timber.
Breeze, i don't know the history of Croydons shop, the decoration on the upper floors is plasterwork (pargetting) and the church is a fine example of flintwork. How much it owes to the Victorian "improvers" is questionable.
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Post by mossie on Jun 29, 2016 16:07:15 GMT
A side street towards the old docks. I would rename it desolation street
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Post by mossie on Jun 29, 2016 16:12:39 GMT
On a better note, Ipswich had a Blackfriars monastery once upon a time. These foundations and a few walls remain
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Post by lagatta on Jun 29, 2016 16:32:44 GMT
I don't understand why anyone would build flats atop columns in a chilly climate...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2016 16:47:51 GMT
The druids already knew that global warming was on the way.
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