Why I Want to Stay Here

People keep asking me if I plan to move now I'm alone.
A lady past 60 in a big house with a big garden and a bit of meadow, up the end of a lane, miles from anywhere, surely it's not sensible ........too much work, too much responsibility, too much expense, too many things to go wrong.


But I would like to stay a while longer

Back Tomorrow
Sue

The Church at Cratfield

So many of the Suffolk churches that I have visited so far have been dedicated to St Mary and here is another from the 100 treasures in 100 churches book.

It's the font that is highlighted as the thing that is special and it's so high it needs a set of steps for the vicar to climb when baptising babies

This font is one of only 38 seven-sacrament fonts in the country and dates from the late 1400s. It was defaced in 1644, when so many beautiful items in churches were destroyed but you can see some of the 32 saints and angels and five panels of the seven showing the sacraments survive.
Not being a church goer of any persuasion I had to look up what the seven sacraments are. Found it on good old Wikiwotsit HERE.
Those that remain to see here are........ anointing the sick, baptism, confirmation, ordination and marriage.
Whenever I mention something in a church that refers to the Catholic history or the restoration of Catholic items in what are now Church of England churches someone always picks up on this. I only take photos of what's there so blame it all on Henry VIII  and the later Kings and Queens.... not me!

Looking more closely.........these were visual aids to teach the Christian faith in an age when few people could read

 The panelled roof dates from C15

I loved this quilt showing some of the houses in Cratfield. I do like to find things that show the church is still used and things have been added recently rather than just a church full of old history.

The book also says that the sets of benches or pews in the side aisles are unusual. Probably because they are all the same.......... both North and South...........  all made and installed at the same time in the C17.

 Standing just inside the South porch entrance is a clock mechanism dating from the 1700s

 And in the tower space is a "unique medieval two-storey clock casing"

Lots more about this remote North Suffolk village church and better pictures  on  The Suffolk Churches website HERE

Back Tomorrow
Sue

An Art Exhibition

I had a good couple of hours in Eye on Friday visiting the Art Exhibition in the church.

I did a post on the church just a few weeks ago (HERE)  and had been planning to go back for the exhibition.

There were all sorts of art works in various mediums. Some I liked and some I didn't. I must have good taste as the pictures I liked most all had red dots on them - SOLD! already.
Prices ranged from about £30 up to several hundred.
Just a few photos.............

From the usual country views to a giant cauliflower painting!

I loved these............... textile art by Alison Kirk

Another group I liked - 3 sold already - I expect they've been bought by the same person to make a lovely display grouped together. Lino cuts by Mary Cousin

 Just one potter exhibiting  there this year, interesting but not tempting enough to make me add to my jug collection

Several artists were also selling unframed works or cards and I bought a couple of cards to keep.

There were some stone sculptures, not mentioned in the catalogue, they were  standing on bales in front of something I didn't photograph when I was there last month............. Paintings of saints on the dado rail dating from 1500. See them in more detail  HERE

And the other Saints across the aisle

Perhaps my favourite thing in the whole exhibition was this. I would have loved to have this fella  standing in the garden, £190 is good for something with this much work in it but was a bit more than I was willing to spend!

I'd forgotten just how much I love visiting Art Exhibitions, we used to go regularly to amateur ones in Stowmarket and Needham Market many years ago before the smallholding took us across the county.
Then we sometimes we went to see the various professional exhibitions in the many galleries in Aldeburgh but some of those were positively weird!

Back Soon
Sue

Bank Holiday Weekend Part 2

Bank Holiday Sunday and off to the small local car boot sale. Not many booters there - it was a grey morning and I spent a grand total of 20p!................. on some clothes pegs.

Home again for more work in the back bedroom.
 A handy find left behind in the garage by Mrs F- a tin of radiator paint, but I had to buy wood stain for the window sills. Both jobs done. I managed to roll the old carpet halfway across the room to sand down half the skirting board but that was as much as I could do without help to shift the carpet.

The weather turned nasty wet and windy  in the afternoon so Sunday evening I lit the woodburner.

The room was soon toasty warm and with just a few sticks and half a dozen logs I was warm all evening.


Monday

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers 

If Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers

Where's the Peck of Pickled Peppers Peter Piper Picked?

In the freezer!
Not pickled but frozen

Some of these red sweet peppers that were in the greenhouse on Sunday are now in the freezer. It's been a fantastic year for them. I have enough to make my Red Hot Relish and for many stir-fries all through the winter and spring.

A few more skinned  plum tomatoes have also been added to the bag in the freezer. I need to collect 4lb, but they are ripening slowly so only just over 2lb so far.

Col's brother came round to give me a hand with a couple of jobs that I couldn't do on my own, he took the doors off the upstairs shower room and airing cupboard ready for the new flooring to be laid. It's got to have hardboard and vinyl so will be a bit higher. He'll come back later in the week and cut a wee bit off the bottoms of the doors and put them back on. He also cut the skirting board to fit in the corner where the shower was. I'm going to try sticking it to the wall with gorilla glue.........another bodge that will be hidden behind the wardrobes!

Another job I did over the weekend was to have a move round in the craft room which got rid of the small drawers that I was using to store paper. I made a decision about the amount of stuff I have compared with the card making I actually do and having a clear out is another job to add to the winter job list...........after I've made up cards using the 3D decoupage sheets I already have.

Not quite so chilly on Monday evening as it was on Sunday thank goodness.

Thank you everyone for comments over Bank Holiday weekend............
Elaine - I thought of you when I bought the book - thinking you probably had copies of the original recipes among your old books!
Joy - not sure I will be trying any recipes - they are a bit odd
Sadie - Lovely to see you back blogging. Blogger was playing silly Bs and wouldn't let me see pictures or a space to comment! I shall try again.
Amy - and I thought our odd bits of skirting board with random joins and unfixed was odd!
Suzanne - hope you've had a good summer
Eileen - I'm getting much better at not buying too many second hand books - but I will be going to two big second hand book sales later in the autumn!

and I'm glad I'm not the only adult who isn't keen on Where the Wild Things Are

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Bank Holiday Weekend Part 1

My first excursion on Saturday morning was somewhere I went last year and the year before........ the Crowfield Church Flower Festival and mini fete. Headed straight to the book tent where they sell them cheaply at 50p each or 3 for £1 and spent £2 on 6 books.

Two more children's  Christmas books for the future, when I do advent book parcels for grandchildren. Plus "Where the Wild Things Are", now a classic - frightens me but apparently children like it! The book titled "I thought I heard" is the opposite.......... a lovely reassuring book explaining the noises in the night.
A Mary Wesley, that I've not read  for me (and when I got home I found I had a copy already. -Bother! I'll pass it on to a charity shop) And the rather interesting looking Medieval Cookbook............... a British Library publication in perfect condition. It's got recipes converted for modern use and uses illustrations from books and paintings in the British Museum. I don't think it's ever been opened.

Then I went into the church.........an interesting theme for the flower arrangements................Baskets, All Shapes and Sizes.

 I liked this one - Bicycle Basket titled Last Of The Summer Wine

This one is by the war memorial plaque titled  Remembrance......... with a basket of knitted poppies

Log Basket

Up, up and away in a balloon basket

Then I had a cuppa and a cheese scone............still plenty of boxes of books in the book tent  and lots of jigsaw puzzles outside. (sugar on all the tables - not for me!)

This model of the church is  on display every year

And one of the old crosses from the roof, replaced in 2014

During the rest of the day I  popped over to see Son and DIL and Willow and also got organised for the next bit of work in the bedroom -  skirting board and window sills.

One of the random things about this house we found when we moved in was that several bits of skirting board are not fixed to the walls, heavens know why. This has turned out to be a Good Thing as I was able to just lift out the bit of skirting board where the new bath is going and paint it to be used to fill the gap in the bedroom. Handy!

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Sometimes.............

................just for a few minutes I feel as if I'm counting down the days ............until.............I don't know what. Living in limbo ..............waiting................for what? ......................Something that isn't going to happen.

Then I have to pull myself up quick and get on with the day............and the week and the rest of my life.

I'm thankful the minutes of "waiting" really are just a few.

So what did I do this week.

On Monday
 A bloke came to take out the huge old shower cubical from the corner of the bedroom. I wasn't best pleased when he said he thought he was "just capping off a shower". "No" I said - "you're removing the whole horrible thing" at which point he looked at his watch pointedly as if to say he hadn't got time. Anyway he got the thing to pieces and out but he couldn't finish the job because he hadn't got any of the bits to seal the drainage pipe properly, or to make safe the electric socket. He did say he didn't mind what work he did but actually he'd been employed to work with the Solar energy part of the company - I found myself apologizing for something that  isn't  my problem!. The guys who work for this company are all OK but the organization is dreadful.

I filled all the holes where the cubical had been fixed to the walls and gave the remaining bit of coloured wall a quick coat of paint. I thought the dull biscuit colour I was covering in the rest of the room was bad enough but behind the shower there was evidence that the walls had once been an even darker sort of cinnamon brown  - very 1970's!

New record for frogs in the mini-pond all at once = 13!

On Tuesday
 The friend who was our neighbour in 1980-84, who I visited  a few weeks ago came round for a cuppa.  We caught up more on people we knew from back then, nice to be close enough to meet up after all these years.

After moaning at the company who are doing the plumbing alteration work they sent another young lad round to finish off the work.

In the afternoon I crashed the ride on mower..........and yes, that was as bad as it sounds. Big repair needed. Heavens knows what Colin would have said!  I rang a machinery repair place not far away who advertise in the parish magazine and they came out and collected on Wednesday afternoon. The repair guy will look at it next week and tell me the cost of fixing it.Luckily I had finished all the big areas of grass, so it won't need doing for a week or so.

On Wednesday
 Shopping, putting courgettes and peppers in the freezer, cutting the rest of the grass paths and corners with the small mower,trimming all the brambles where they were sticking out from the hedge and probably other things I can't remember.

On Thursday.
Put another  coat of paint over the corner where the shower came out of.
 Both granddaughters here for a visit in the morning and for lunch.........brought by their Mums of course! I always love to see the reaction of a baby to a toddler, they are fascinated and vice versa.
In the afternoon I got the third coat of paint in the corner and second coat of paint all round the rest of the room.
So BEFORE I got going with the sander and paint roller

and  AFTER a bit of work

Better..................... but the wardrobes will hide it anyway.


On Friday
 I weeded the cut-flower bed and then went out and  did things that will feature in blog posts next week and the week after.

So apart from a few minutes, the week was good.

Thank you for comments yesterday. 

Back Monday
Sue

St Mary's Church Wilby

 The "treasure" at this church as featured in the book would be very difficult to find without the book's directions.

"Set in the north wall, near the north-west buttress of the tower and about seven feet above the ground, is a flint which has been split to reveal its core, exposing the outline of a birds head"

A fossil, thousands and thousands of years old has been set among the stones of the tower. I found it, it's been cleaned up since the photo in the book was taken. Very curious

 The first thing to notice as you step into the church is the remains of this wall painting of Saint Christopher, crossing a river full of fish.

 The font has lots of C15 carvings but no elaborate font cover this time. Although the Suffolk Churches website has a picture of the font with a cover.

 The pulpit is elaborately carved and dates from C17..........even a roof! Maybe to stop bat or bird droppings falling on the preacher?

Stained glass over the alter

 And remnants of much older stained glass at the top of some of the side windows

A carved and inlaid panel made to commemorate the Millenium

Wonder what's in this chest, looks very old but why is it here in the main part of the church.

According to the Suffolk Churches Website  the bench ends are some of the best carvings in the county, I think this is C19  carving rather than medieval which are mainly damaged. I read all about
William Dowsing HERE , he was the man given the job of clearing Suffolk churches of imagery during the 1640's.

A well kept church in the centre of this small village

Back Tomorrow
Sue

 

 

The Shower-in-the-bedroom..................

............has gone.
Good.
Trouble is it's left a right mess behind it - it was obviously once tiled, so the big plastic shower cubical wasn't the first shower-in-the-bedroom.

Do you ever wish you hadn't started something?

Actually I have been asked why I'm getting all this work done. It's because that's what we've always done, bought a property, updated it, tidied everything up and sold for a profit.
I'm not daunted at all. It will be tidied and painted to the best of my ability, a date is fixed for a carpet and then I'll stand two wardrobes here to hide it all!


Back Tomorrow
Sue

Ideas For Autumn and Winter

The days rush by so quickly so it's never to soon to make a list for filling the days of autumn and  especially winter when I'm always at my lowest ebb anyway, so add in alone-ness and I need a plan.

Here's what I've thought of so far..................

• Clear the garden 
• Clear the greenhouse and wash down
• Wash all the used pots 
• Clear the patio pots of summer stuff and then
• Plant up some pots for winter colour
• Keep swimming
• Keep going to monthly craft group
• Sort through Colin's clothes and send to charity shop/clothes bank (I cleared his chest of drawers several weeks ago because I need to move it but the wardrobe is still full)
• Make a memory box for the grandchildren. A lovely idea that a friend (who was a Cruse Bereavement counselor) gave me.
• Go through Col's books and sort.......... to Ziffit/Charity shop/ keep/donate to Mid Suffolk Light Railway Museum ( I've actually made a start on this already)
• Go through Colin's DVDs and CDs and sort as above
• Visit more churches in Suffolk including a
• Day out in Bury St Edmunds and a 
• Day out in Felixstowe
• Make lots of birthday cards - I've stocked up on 3D Decoupage sheets ready to get started
• Start the HUGE job of sorting out all the might-come-in-handy stuff in the workshop. I have no idea what a lot of it is anyway. Sort into crates for selling at Auction and stuff for a skip.
• Help at a charity shop? 
• Read (goes without saying!)
• Visit local NT properties that are open.
• Chop kindling and pick up twigs for fire lighting.

I just need the energy and enthusiasm...........which some days, the days when everything seems pointless,  is difficult to find.

Hello and welcome to a new follower and thank you for comments yesterday and the day before.

Has anyone else had weird page view spikes? My daily page views are usually between 2,000 and 3,000 but have suddenly shot up to nearly 4,000 on the last few days. Strange.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

A Book Prize List Worth Reading

There are lots of Book Awards out there............. The Man Booker, The Pulitzer, The Baileys Womens prize, The Costa, The Wellcome and a lot of others.
When a list of nominations appears anywhere I usually find I've not read any and wouldn't want to read them by choice anyway.

But this list popped up in an email from National Book Tokens .
It was the nominations list for  The Wainwright Prize for "the best writing on The Outdoors, Nature and UK Travel Writing. Named in honour of Alfred Wainwright, the fell walker and author, you can read about it here


 Goodness, people I'd actually heard of and a couple I've read already,


The Last Wilderness by Neil Ansell

Hidden Nature by Alys Fowler
Outskirts by John Grindrod
The Dun Cow Rib by John Lister-Kaye
The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
The Seabird’s Cry by Adam Nicolson
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Neil Ansell also wrote "Deep Country: 5 years in the Welsh Hills"  which was a good account of his time in a remote hovel in the hills.
 I did have the book for ages but it went off to ziffit recently - worth over £2 to them that day. I shall order this new one from the library.

I read the Alys Fowler book last year. This is what I said about "Hidden Nature". 
 She travels round the unknown bits of the Birmingham canal system in an inflatable canoe noting wildlife etc. But it's also a story  of finding she is gay at the age of 37 and coming out to live with garden designer Charlotte Harris.(Published 2017)
  She is more well known for her various gardening books.

I don't know John Grindrod but will order this from the library too

The John Lister-Kaye book I borrowed earlier this year but sent it back unread although I can't remember why so I'll borrow it again and find out.

I borrowed The Lost Words from the library, it's a huge book, (as in Outsize not in length) with lovely illustrations.

Adam Nicolson is famous for being the grandson of Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson and the husband of the garden designer and flower grower Sarah Raven and was the driving force in the re-organisation of the Gardens at Sissinghurst National Trust property. He has written lots of books before this one and I've read Perch Hill, which is about the reclaiming of their house and garden. This new book looks at how seabirds are endangered. Not sure I want to read it.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn was an unknown but there are 30+ people on the library waiting list so I'm obviously the only person who hasn't heard about this book.
This is the library description
In one devastating week, Raynor and her husband Moth lost their home of 20 years, just as a terminal diagnosis took away their future together. With nowhere else to go, they decided to walk the South West Coast Path: a 630-mile sea-swept trail from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall. This ancient, wind-battered landscape strips them of every comfort they had previously known. With very little money for food or shelter, Raynor and Moth carry everything on their backs and wild camp on beaches and clifftops. But slowly, with every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, the walk sets them on a remarkable journey. They don't know how far they will travel, but - to their surprise - they find themselves on a path to freedom

Sounds good - I shall add myself to the waiting list.

I began this post weeks ago before the winner was announce and strangely enough when the winner was announced it was the very book that I said I wouldn't want to read............................The Seabirds Cry.


Back Tomorrow
Sue

Helping at a car boot sale.................

....................when it's the Giant one at Needham Market means getting up too blinkin' early!

Why on earth did I volunteer?

It's small WI's annual fundraiser, and I had volunteered so set the alarm for 5.30am and headed off 45 minutes later. The lady who keeps everything from one year to another and takes it all to Needham had already got most of the stuff out of a box trailer with help from her son when I arrived at 6.45am. She had been there since 6am
 There were hundreds...........well, several dozens of car-boots there on Saturday but not as many people buying as I've seen sometimes. We had quite a lot of junk on the WI stall as it's been in and out of the trailer for many years but several of us had taken some new things and quite a lot was sold.

I got an email later to say £150 was raised, that will help with funds. I forgot to say that when we went to see Mamma Mia a couple of weeks ago the committee decided to pay for it out of funds because we all went (12 of us) so the £150 will cover that with some left over for speakers. WI membership is £41 a year but that is divided between National, Local Federation and only part actually goes to each WI. So with a small WI there isn't enough to pay for speakers for every month without additional fundraising.

There were enough of us helping so that we could go off for a wander and I came back with...........
2 new Pritt sticks, a new pack of crayons, a new  UNO card game, a board game of  We're Going on a Bear Hunt and the lantern, which I thought I'd hang outside until it dawned on me that it has holes in the top so will fill up with water and go rusty. So maybe it will hang in the conservatory instead.
 

Me being me ( Tight or sensible!) took a flask and a snack, so that I didn't need to spend out on drinks etc. My spend for the morning was £4.50 for all the above. Got home just after midday but it felt like mid afternoon!

Thank you for all the lovely comments on Saturday.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Last Week......Gardening, Painting and Various Other Stuff.

My runner bean wigwam has collapsed. It leaned a bit and I tried to push the canes back in the ground but no good, next windy spell and over it went, pulling out several of the plants but as there were virtually no beans it doesn't really matter. Masses of leaves but the flowers didn't set. I think I had 4 meals from them (plus the ones that won me a first prize at the produce show!). Must get the canes further in the ground next year.

Had to do the first lot of grass cutting for months, two compost bins are full now and closed off until next year and I need to empty one small one from last year to spread on the cut flower bed ready for planting out the Alstromeria plants.I have to decide what to put in the two quarters that had annuals in this year. I'm thinking gladioli and hollyhocks.
I've edged round the oval 'rose' bed, it has other things in it too and  the cyclamen are all out, purple and white.......very pretty, never had them anywhere I've lived before.

I got the bedroom ceiling  painted and they take the big ugly shower cubical out next week. Had a  brainwave and change of plans the other week. I decided NOT to put a small bath in the bedroom when the  shower cubical comes out. It wasn't something I really wanted to do but a four bedroom house with just a shower didn't seem feasible when it comes to selling. So new plan...........put a small bath in the downstairs loo/utility where the washing machine is. The small basin with cupboard beneath will be changed for a pedestal and that will make enough width to fit a 700mm bath - which is the narrowest there is. No need to tell people moving in that it's actually too cold to bathe in there despite the radiator! I don't know why I didn't think of it before.
The washing machine will go in the porch-way bit beside the little freezer. I'll have to find somewhere for the cupboard that currently stands there. It's where I store jars of jam/chutney etc but I'm not making anymore jam or chutney (apart from the Red Hot Relish) this year, so if I give lots of last years away I should be able to empty the cupboard.
Must get on with painting the bedroom walls once the shower is out as a new carpet has been ordered and date fixed for laying it.

The village with Big WI has a crafting group. Just one morning a month but I thought I'd go and have a look as I've not done any cross stitch for months (get sidetracked by the lap top when I sit down here) and I thought  a morning out to do crafts would actually get some done. Some of the ladies who go to this are WI members and several others go too, all older than me, but they sit and craft and natter. So I can sit and craft and listen to the gossip...........mostly about people I don't know - luckily! Coffee and biscuits included in the £10 (half year fee) so not extravagant.


I usually glance in the mini-pond  to say hello to the frogs whenever  I walk by and this is the most frogs I've seen ....................I counted 10! It's a teeny pond but obviously useful when all the ditches are dry.

Had an idea for a quick meal for one. ...........soften a thinly sliced courgette and half an onion in a bowl in the microwave and meanwhile cook one portion of spaghetti. Drain the spag and tip into the hot courgette and onion mix. Stir in a spoonful of pesto and mix everything together and then grate a little strong cheese on top. Eat out of the bowl to save washing up! This is probably not a revolutionary idea but Colin didn't like pesto so it's not something I could have used for a meal before.

Christmas cards are in the charity shops................already. I noticed them in two shops in Stowmarket and Christmas crafting stuff in The Works..........it's coming folks! I'm not doing hampers for sister and sister in law this year, not making chutneys or jams ...............not looking forward to Christmas much at all. Not looking forward to winter either...........but then I never do.


I don't often mention anything with a whiff of controversy (can't be arsed with the flak) but I read something recently that had me puzzled............................ The stand-up comedian and actor Jack Whitehall has been cast as a gay man in a film. He isn't gay. There has been an outcry among the gay community who say a gay actor should have been cast instead............................ Made me wonder if only people who have a broken leg can play someone with a broken leg in hospital dramas? And taking this thought further....therefore only a dead person can play a dead person in crime dramas!?

Thanks for comments yesterday.

Have a lovely weekend folks........................I need to get painting.
Back Monday
Sue

Mamma Mia and Prezzos

Small WI didn't have a meeting with speaker in August, instead last week we went to the Regal cinema in Stowmarket to see Mamma Mia - Here we go again. Lots of folk in blogland have been to see this already so I won't write much about it here. I enjoyed it despite not being a huge fan of Abba music. The screenplay is written to fit with the music and goes back and forwards between the 1970s - before the original film, and up to date. A few tears may have been shed - after all, it is about recent loss of a partner. Someone in blogworld had said stay to the end of the credits, so we did and it was a short off screen moment with Alexei Sayle.(edited in to say I've been corrected and it isn't Alexei Sayle but Omad Djalali - oops!)

What was more interesting to me was being in the cinema where I spent so many Saturday nights  when I was 14, 15 and 16. We used to go whatever was showing..........and often a short film as well as the main film, it was 3 shillings (15p) down the front and then in the interval (yes, lady with ice creams on a tray) we would sneakily move up the back to any empty seats......  it was 5 shillings at the back. Last week we went to a 5 o'clock showing which is classed as a matinee so it was £5.95..........from 3 shillings to £6!
 The cinema has been modernized several times since the 1970's and  a few years ago it had a big rebuild at the back of the stage  to make it better for live theatre shows.

 Colin wasn't a film fan so I think we only went to the cinema a couple of times since we married.
My sister in law and her husband have a Loyalty card pass (£90 for a year each) so they go to quite a lot of films without having to pay any extra...........might be an idea for winter afternoons if I need entertaining. (Just done maths.......would need to go to 15+ afternoon films to save any money - doubt there would be 15 I'd want to see in a one screen cinema)
The cinema hasn't really changed much, it's still small, independent and local with car parking adjoining.


After Mamma Mia we walked across the car park to what was once a pub called the Dukes Head now it's a Prezzos. I'd not been to a Prezzos before and might not bother again! The food was OK but 4 un-spicy prawns in what was supposed to be a  "Spicy Prawn and Basil Pesto Penne" was a bit disappointing. Nice for a change from cooking but quite expensive.

A good evening out.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

St. Peter and St Paul's Church In Eye

Eye was once an important town in this area of Suffolk close to the Norfolk border. It had a registry office and was the name of the parliamentary constituency up until the 1980's. It is still a town that serves the surrounding rural are but I found the last bank is closing next month so that won't help the businesses at all. (It's the nearest place to home for a Chinese take-away!)

The church is one of the largest I've visited so far on my tour of Suffolk Churches.
Very difficult to get anywhere to take a photo of the whole church from the churchyard and as usual my photos always make the tower look as if it is leaning! The tower is the reason for this church featuring in the 100 Treasures in Suffolk Churches book. It is a landmark  100 feet tall and was built around 1450.

The South porch on the right of the photo above isn't used as a way into the church but now used as a shop! It's been running for 25 years and is the  first shop-in-a-church I've  seen in Suffolk. It sells Traidcraft and  Fair Trade items and second hand bits, bobs and books. The shop is open from 10am until 1pm on 3 days and looks a good place to call in and look round.


 The church is a very wide church, difficult to get everything into a photo. It was extended and refurbished  in the 1800's when churches set about restoring their Catholic roots.

The shrine of Our Lady, set in a tomb recess, dates from 1973 and was carved by Lough Pendred

The alter has 6 tall candles which according to the Suffolk Churches website is unusual and a mark of Anglo-Catholic tradition.

 

Parts of the roof are painted. Perhaps it was all painted in the distant past.

Among the interesting things to look at are the plaques that mark the Stations of the Cross, a series of images depicting Christ on the day of his crucifixion. These were often used for pilgrims to process around during Lent stopping for prayers at each station.  I just took a photo of one.

Just outside the church is the Half Timbered building which was once the Guildhall

Lots more about the church HERE

I'll be going back for the Art Exhibition over the late summer Bank Holiday Weekend and hope to climb the castle mound for better photos of the church

Thank you for comments yesterday


Back Tomorrow
Sue