It’s January and our first trip of the New Year, where better than a trip to Suffolk to take in the Blyth Valley and some welcome fresh sea breezes. We arrived Friday night at our accommodation in the Old Station at Darsham. There were too many of us to attempt a pub meal, so a hand crafted pork stew and baked potato dinner with tiramisu pudding was just the job. After a good night’s sleep and one of Dave P’s masterful breakfasts we were set up for the day’s adventure. Just one stop on the railway, but a whole day walking back through historic towns and villages along the Blyth Valley.
We got off the train at Halesworth, which is a quiet town but historically had several thriving industries. Quite a few stations have level crossings, where a gate shuts the road to allow trains to pass, but here at Halesworth the gates had platforms attached to them to allow longer trains to deliver passengers to the station. These no longer operate, but the unique structure can still be seen in situ.
Cress took us on a tour of the main historic sites. Originally an agricultural community, Halesworth’s location on the River Blyth made it a key port – exporting dairy, grain and hemp. Granaries and maltings popped up in the town and a new cut was engineered to improve barge access. Coprolite mining became a thing (fossilised poo to you) and was a major source of fertiliser before guano mining started in South America. These days both the river and the cut are quite literally backwaters, replaced by the railway, frantically busy in its heyday but now also quiet. It would have been nice to spend longer mooching around, but we had a walk to do.
Leaving the Blyth valley bagged a brief pub stop and warm up at Bramfield before heading off towards the Yox Valley. Yoxford itself was a bit of a disappointment, in that the pub seemed to be long shut, but it did have a thriving corner shop in what looked like a grand gatehouse. The gatehouse for what? Another half mile or so had the answer when we came across views of the magnificent Cockfield Hall. Largely dating from the early 17th century, the hall is a huge red brick building with a cupola and twiddly chimneys. It is set in a large parkland, part of which had been recently re-landscaped. As we approached the road we could see the golden setting sun glinting off the colossal Yoxman. Erected in 2021, the Yoxman is a 26 foot bronze sculpture of a naked man moulded to resemble twisting branches and vines. It’s very striking and hard to miss if you happen to be driving down that part of the A12.
Ali
Tales of Clerkenwell
Despite the best efforts of both surface and underground rail services, we eventually managed to meet up on a chilly February morning for John’s tour of Clerkenwell. This was a fascinating tour through historic corners of a little visited part of London.
We saw the Golden Boy of Cock and Pye Corner, which commemorates the Great Fire of London. A splendidly podgy boy apparently blaming the fire on gluttony but including no explanation.
Next was St Bartholomew the Great: at 900 years old this is London’s oldest parish church. It includes a rather disturbing sculpture by Damien Hirst of a golden St Bartholomew carrying his own skin over his arm (you’ll never guess how he was martyred).
We also spent quite a time at The Charterhouse before heading over to St John’s Gate and the museum of the Order of St John. The building was formerly the Old Jerusalem Tavern and hosted the likes of Samuel Johnson and David Garrick before entering the more sedate ownership of The Order, which had around 900 years of history to present to us from the crusades to the present day.
Ali