UK2013: Sudbury Churches

I spent a week in the Suffolk town of Sudbury, where I spent my days in the office and my evenings seeing friends and family from the surrounding area. It was very good to catch up with everyone. My company put me in a B&B near the centre of town which was very convenient for walks. I spent the early mornings going around the town and water meadows (of which more later) and checking out the local churches. Although I'm not religious, I do enjoy church architecture, and Sudbury has three very nice churches within easy walking distance of the town centre. You can find out as much as you like about Suffolk Churches from this fine website: SuffolkChurches.co.uk.

St Peter's

This church is hard to miss, since it lies at the top of the market square right in the centre of town. It is not used as a regular place of worship any more but is opened up for art festivals, craft fairs and the like.

View as you come into town

Tower clock with battlements

This sundial is just above the side vestibule entrance. It reads 'The Lord's name is praised from the rising of the sun'. There's a Green Man underneath which is interesting, too.

The side entrance.

Close up of the three figures over the side entrance. No idea who they are, but I do like the attention to detail; the one on the right has a metal staff, too.

All Saints

This church is down at the bottom end of Sudbury. It is in regular use but was closed up when I came by.

This side door is interesting, I wonder if it has been altered over the years, or if the thin red stones over the lintel are purely decorative. Maybe they were an original archway?

This is the main door at the front of the tower. I love the ornate carving they put into the woodwork on these doors.

Looking up at the tower.

Round the corner we can see more of the church. This tower has a staircase in the corner by the look of it; that rounded piece running all the way to the top.

St Gregory's

This church is back towards town, along the line of the water meadows. There is a lot of greenery here which apparently used to be houses; now it's open space from which the church stands out. I got lucky here, arriving at the same time as the Vicar, who opened the church for morning services. He kindly let me in to have a quiet look around.

The war memorial stands guard as you approach.

Carefully-shaped yew trees are a common feature of British churchyards. You can see this tower also has a staircase.

The main vestibule

Another nicely carved door, although this one is worn from use.

Coming in from the door, you enter the nave and can admire the elegant arches, and ornate font.

Standing near the font, looking the other way.

Standing in the middle of the nave, looking towards the altar. Notice how the chancel does not line up with the nave.

A close up of the painted ceiling, restored in 1966.

Lastly, another little side door... I never notice where these come out inside the church. Maybe they keep gardening supplies in here!

UK2013: Bury St Edmunds

I stayed with friends Paul and Sarah over the weekend. They live just around the corner from our old house in Bury St Edmunds. It was very nice to see them and catch up. The weather was cold and dreary - welcome back to the UK! - but I took a couple of walks around the town.

Here's the Corn Exchange. It used to be a market house as the name suggests. Last time I was in there, it looked a bit well-worn from years of use. Now the Wetherspoon company has taken it over and renovated it, turning it into one of their pubs. Wetherspoons are a bit like the Starbucks of beer in that they seem to be everywhere, but they do a few things right, and looking after buildings is one of them.

The front of the building.

Inside, the roof is all cleaned up and repainted. The great hall is the seating area, and they have built a pretty impressive free-standing bar at the far end. I suspect the space behind here is full of kegs and supplies.

Detail shot of some of the stonework by the arches visible on the right of the previous shot.

The Cafe Rouge building sits opposite the Corn Exchange. It stands out in town due to its red brickwork and ornate carvings. I always liked this building.

This is the base of the tower guarding the edge of the cathedral/abbey area.

Here is the statue of St Edmund. He stands in front of a row of 14th-century houses. As you can tell, they have been repaired over time, with different eras of architecture showing up along the frontage.

This is Moyse's Hall Museum in the centre of town. It's a nice historical museum; worth a visit.

Close up of the door and windows. I love these big heavy wooden doors with Proper Ironworks on them.

Now we wander up to the New Development. This used to be a parking lot. There was a wooden hut that was used as a coffee/tea shop, which always had the older townsfolk stopping by there for a chat. In the name of 'progress' it was all torn down and modern new buildings put in their place. I don't actually dislike these buildings but I do question their compatibility with a 14th century town. Bury now has two town centres; all the modern and trendy shops have moved into the new bit and left holes in the old centre. These are filling up with pound shops and charity shops, which really does the town no good at all. A bit sad, really.

One of many pillars blocking cars from entering

The street leading up to the new square. I think there are flats/apartments above the shops.

The curvy Debenhams building looks cool, I'll admit. To the left of this shot is a new theatre, which Paul and Sarah tell me is pretty good.

Time to scurry back to the old part of town...

Looking up towards the top of St John's Street. The pink-painted windows are those of Josef's Cafe, a very good vegetarian/vegan spot.

Looking down from almost the same spot

At the bottom of the street, looking back up. I like the windy nature of this road.

Same spot, looking down the road. There's a pub on the left and St Andrew's church in front. Just after the pub is a left turn; if you take this, you end up at our old house. Instead I turned right, towards Paul and Sarah's.

These houses are on the same street as Paul and Sarah's house. Typical old-style Bury house architecture. Very sturdy and pleasing to look at.

Some flowers trying to grow through the snow, outside Sarah's door.

Leo the cat making footprints in the snow :-)

UK2013: AUS-JFK-LHR

I took a trip to the UK to see family and friends, and spend some time in my work's office. The next few posts will be photographic (hey, aren't they all!) and mainly feature lndscapes and architecture, since that is what I shot whilst over there. Buckle up...

Austin airport terminal

This Redbud tree had about a dozen birds nests in it

On the way to New York

A sculpture in the JFK terminal building

Welcome to New York!

At this point, I was annoyed to learn I would have to leave the terminal, go round to the next terminal on a train and have to go through security again... good job I wasn't in a hurry.

My aerial chariot to the UK, a British Airways 747.

I'd picked this journey partly because I'd never flown on a 747 before. I have to say that BA gave us an excellent flight. My seat was at the very back and it's not a bad place to be; you can slip out of the seat and stand at the back to stretch your legs without getting in anyone's way.

I arrived in London at some time after 6am and treated myself to the Heathrow Express train into Paddington. Just couldn't be bothered spending another hour riding the endless Picadilly line tube. The Express gets you there in 20 minutes. Nice!

Greeted by some Proper Architecture at Paddington Station.

Look at the iron work on that window.

I found a little steam train celebrating 150 years of Welsh railways.

I purchased a ticket to Bury St Edmunds and went to the tube system, to find the Circle Line was shut! Oh well.

At the other end of the station there are more tube links, and this great view of the platforms and trains.

Another look, including that moster roof. It's a fabulous bit of Victorian building although it does nothing except let the light in and keep the rain out. It certainly doesn't keep the heat in, the place was freezing. A sensation I was to enjoy for the next two weeks.

Off I went on the Hammersmith & City line to Kings Cross...where I walked in to find they'd been busy with some ticket office renovations. Look at this fabulous new roof!

It rises up from in front of you as you enter the building.

Looking straight up from behind where the policeman was standing.

Tip the camera backwards and look down at the other side. Just below the edge of this shot are the ceilings of the shops below.

From here, I got a train to Cambridge, and changed for Bury St Edmunds. Onwards!

Keyhole Garden

As if having two major projects on the go wasn't enough, we are starting the next one already! This is going to be a Keyhole Garden. This is a concept of a raised garden bed for growing vegetables (or whatever) but will use the minimum amount of water, which is great in a hot climate such as ours. You build it in a 6-foot diameter circle, with an indentation (the keyhole) to allow you to reach the centre. In the centre, there is a mesh tube, into which you put kitchen scraps and garden green matter. There's a little more to the construction but this is the basic idea. It is supposed to be pretty much self-sustaining once you get it going.

We are inspired to try this from an article in the Texas Co-Op Power magazine, about keyhole gardening that appeared last February. If you Google the term, there are plenty of resources around; the technique seems be getting popular.

In the picture below, we have mown some grass and dumped a pile of bricks. We will use the bricks to level the ground a bit before construction starts. As always, watch this space...

Pizza!

It's official; the Brick Oven is up and running! We hosted our first pizza party on Sunday, after Alan's race. Tamzin, Allan and their crew came, and so did Mark and Jessica. We put out many bowls of toppings, had a pan of pizza sauce ready to go, and a stack of proto-pizza dough discs.

Alan (and later, Tamzin) got the dough discs stretched and placed onto wooden peels coated in semolina flour. These were then given to each person in turn, to coat as they wanted. Here's Tamzin getting her pizza together:

L-R: Mark, Allan and Alan hoisting a few beers at the oven, while Alan cooks.

A pizza lies ready to be cooked, while Alan turns one inside that is in progress.

The finished result!

I think the evening went pretty well; folks seemed to enjoy their pizzas and certainly mine was tasty. The oven was cooking them in 3-4 minutes I think; a bit longer if you had more toppings. It was a lot of fun.

Austin Half Marathon

I am very proud of Alan for completing the Austin Half Marathon at the weekend! 13.1 miles of running, which he felt he was not properly prepared for, but he did it in a very respectable 2 hours 15 minutes and 17 seconds.

I chased Alan around the course on Sunday morning; I spotted him and cheered him on at the bottom of South Congress and later on by the Long Center, although I didn't take pictures there. Here he is (above and below) having just come up the very steep hill up to 15th and West.

Then I made a dash for the finish line, which wasn't all that far away. The runners took a slightly more roundabout route than the shortcut I was able to make, which put me in sight of the finish line...

Just in time to see Alan coming through!

Last corner :-)

There was a very long chute after the finish line through which the runners had to go, first to pick up their medals and then there were many refreshment stations. Alan found me at the fence by the banana stand.

We waited there for Tamzin, who also ran the same distance, and she completed it in 2 hours 37 minutes and 29 seconds. Here's the two of them looking pretty happy about it :-)

And finally, here's the medals they earned. Pretty cool, eh?

The Shelf

We made a test pizza last Friday night. Partly to try cooking one at all, and partly to test a gluten-free pizza dough since we were going to need one presently. So here we are; the first pizza cooked in the oven! It came out pretty nice.

Here's the shelf Alan made for his oven. It is an extension of the brick surface which allows him a pausing point for pizzas, without them (or him) getting burnt.
Alan is not entirely happy with this shelf though so it will probably get redone at some point, with nicer hardwood that doesn't warp, for instance. But it will do for now.