Pakenham sails

Pakenham sails, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Things I like in Suffolk 3

We have quite a few windmills left in Suffolk, some still in full working order, others reduced to a stump of a few courses of brick and the rest somewhere in between the two extremes. This one at Pakenham is joined in the village by a working water mill too.

More pics on Flickr (as always - I even have an "All Mills, no Boon" set there) by clicking through.

Proper entries to resume soon, I hope.

Torchy (not the battery boy)

Adrian Moorhouse moves off, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

And so Felixstowe got to share in the Olympic Dream(tm) last night when the Torch Relay(tm) passed through. Being a keen documenter of such things, I wasn't going to let the photo-opportunity go by, but somewhat to my surprise I found the whole event extremely good fun. Having seen the crowds that turned out elsewhere in the country it was no shock to see people setting their chairs up at the start of the Felixstowe section when I got home, having left work early on purpose. But I will admit to be impressed by the final turnout. From what we saw in the flesh and the photos of others it seems this was probably the best-attended event in town for a number of years. The superb weather was no doubt a contributing factor, stirring people from outside town to make the trip in (especially as the more touristy bits of east Suffolk like Southwold and Aldeburgh had been rain-struck earlier in the day) but there was a genuine buzz of interest from the crowd in the event itself rather than just a rent-a-mob feel from people who will watch anything if it goes past their house.

We had bands playing and church bells ringing along with all the offical hooplah (juggling acrobats and that sort of thing) before the Convoy(tm) arrived. I'd say that BMW(tm) have done very well out of the deal - supplying all the cars and Police bikes - but although the whole thing was heavily sponsored it didn't feel like overkill. Yes we got Samsung(tm), Coke(tm) and Lloyds-TSB(tm) trucks and buses coming through first giving out freebies, but they weren't as blatant about it as I was expecting. Pity only Coke were giving out product samples though - just imagine if Samsung handed out electrical goods or Lloyds-TSB offered pre-filled savings accounts or cheap mortgage deals to people in the crowd rather than just balloons and banners...

Having picked a town-centre spot with no shadows to spoil my pictures, by pure chance we ended up slap bang next to a flame exchange (or "kiss"(tm no doubt) as they are calling it) location. We also ended up with our designated "celebrity" for the day as the reciever at this point - 1988 gold medallist swimmer Adrian Moorhouse. Which was nice, and if you click through to Flickr on the picture above you can see much more of the whole shebang.

OK, after 45 days or so on the road you would expect them to have it all down pat by now, but it was indeed a very slick operation. But what impressd me most was that all the participants seemed to still be enjoying it. After a month and a half you could expect the Police to be a bit fed up of moving people out of the way, or the drivers to have had enough of crawling through town centres but everyone was sporting genuine unforced smiles, waving like loons and generally being caught up in the moment just as much as the crowd who were experiencing this for mostly the first and only time.

Has it stoked me up for the Games(tm) themselves? Not really, I was already planning to watch bits when I get the chance, and I'm not now scouring the interwebs for tickets as the whole getting there, security, etc seems like too much hassle for me. Especially with our weather prospects. But I am looking forward to them just as much as I was before, so at least I've not been disillusioned by the corporate sponsors.

The House In The Clouds

The House In The Clouds, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Things I like in Suffolk 2

Originally built as a Water Tower - the land owner chose this design as he didn't want an ugly edifice on his seaside estate - this is now holiday accommodation and by all accounts comes highly recommended. Thorpeness is a lovely little seaside village anyway, with the Meare to offer calmer waters for boating and one or two delightful little shops, but this place just makes it even more delightful. You can see it from miles around when approaching the village, but it is nicely tucked away in the trees away from the main drag for that added touch of seclusion. Plus there is also a well-restored windmill just across the path which was originally there to pump the water up in the first place.

I'm not sure I'd want to live there all the time, but should several gazillion pounds fall into my lap and enable a Grand Design type dream house, it would definitely have to have a tower or turret of some description. An elevated Library to look out on the world from, enabling flights of fancy or warm seclusion whatever the weather.

Things I Like In Suffolk

Eye Bus Shelter, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Er hello, yes, I'm still alive and just about kicking, only I've not had much to say of late. So, in an attempt to kickstart me again here's the first in what will hopefully be a series of entries on stuff I like in Suffolk. No rhyme or reason for what I've chosen, although it is likely that a few themes will become obvious when several entries are up.

1: Eye Bus Shelter

Eye is one of the pretty little market towns that we have a smattering of here in the east, featuring a massive church, ruined castle (technically a Victorian folly on a Norman mound, but we'll maybe get to that another time), nice pub, Ley Line and more. It also has the bus shelter pictured here.

Unique in design for Suffolk, it looks a lot better since a recent re-paint and suffers only from being in the wrong place. Buses travel along the road to the right of the white dashes at the edge of the picture, so have to swing across the junction to get to the stop. There are other shelters which time and the whims of bus companies have cut off from the nearest route, but nowhere do they come quite so close as this.

Communal Comedy

Got a bit of an insight into two different aspects of life last night - communal living and political activism.  Josie Long's Alternative Reality Tour came to the Old Hall commune in East Bergholt and we went along to be entertained and educated.  The tour is visiting places that don't normally get on the normal touring map, and is being organised largely through word of mouth and twittering.  A bit more organised than Amanda Palmer's "Ninja gigs" but along the same line.

I had completely forgotten there was an active commune in the birthplace of Constable (and Tory safe seat!) but they have been living in Old Hall since the 70s and all seem to be doing well on it.  I think most of the residents were there for the show along with as handful of us outsiders - we were made welcome and didn't feel like we were intruding on their home.  The idea of communal living has never really appealed to me.  Being thrown in with strangers at college was strange enough so I'm not sure I could handle life with more than just the immediate family (i.e. Mrs B) around.  Heck, some days I get annoyed by the next door  neighbour popping in (or indeed, just being on the other side of the fence when we are in the garden).

Still, the concepts of living as susatinably as possible, raising your own food, helping each other out and generally being nice to one another are all ones I fully endorse.  Good luck to one and all - not that they seem to need it.

The show itself was superb.  I've been a fan of Josie for a while through the Utter Shambles podcasts she does with Robin Ince, Twitter and other places - although not actually seen her perform before.  That's something I still haven't quite got used to in this interconnected modern world - being able to know a lot about someone, appreciate their humour/message/whatever without ever having actually experienced what they do most of the time.  In this sort of field it goes far beyond, say, liking a band's music but not owning any of their records or having been to see them live.

Part of the ethos for this tour is "anti-cuts" and trying to get people inspired to find alternatives to the budget slashing going on around us right now and take action against it.  With both of us working in the public sector and being under constant threat of being the victim of the cuts I'm right behind this.  And if you can make people laugh at the same time then so much the better in my book.  The venue was just right for the message (in fact we were in the old chapel (now de-consecrated) rather than just loose in the hall) with a teeny stage and a few standard lamps, leaving us free to concentrate on the matter in hand.  I had thought about taking a camera to capture the moment but decided against it in the end as I know I would have ended up more bothered by angles and framing rather than being part of the audience.

As with the communists (!) I'm not sure I could ever get as directly involved in taking action - always a bit paranoid about unforeseen consequences - but fully support those who do.  I have the convictions but not the courage I guess.  Having followed the student protests, UKuncut occupations etc it was fascinating to hear more from someone who'd been on the inside.

We also had sublime music from Aisha and Grace Petrie and a bit more comedy from Tom.

All told, a great way to spend an evening at a remarkably reasonable cost (i.e. free!).  If you get the chance, catch one of the rest of the tour dates.

On the Telly

Beach from the pier, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

OK, I know I've talked about the thrill of seeing somewhere familiar in the tellybox before, but ITV have taken it to a new level this week with Injustice, a "psychological thriller" stripped across all five days and largely shot in and around, well, here. Written by Suffolk local Anthony Horowitz, we have a lawyer and his family enjoying life by the sea in our delightful County. Except they are not explicit about much of this in the script, and certainly take a few liberties with reality. So I'm having fun spotting what is masquerading as where and trying to work out the bits I don't recognise at all. And of course while I know that this sort of thing goes on all the time (e.g. Cardiff being the entire universe in Doctor Who) it does reinforce the message that you can't use tv drama as a tourist guide when planning a holiday. The only other major show we have had up here of late was the dramatisation of the Ipswich Murders (Five Daughters) which was shot in Bristol to avoid upsetting the residents too much, but did feature some beautiful establishing and wide shots of the town as well as actual news footage from the time. This time we have also been mercifully free from bad attempts at Suffolk accents, unlike when Inspector Linley had a mystery to solve in "Suffolk" once (but with no recognisable geography).

Anyway, for those thinking about coming up to Suffolk on the strength of the locations, here's my reasonably spoiler-free rough guide to what is where (or where it definitely isn't):

Let us start with the house of Dervla Kirwan and James Purefoy. The town they live in is not specified other than it being coastal and with Ipswich being their mainline station/local court for him to work at. However, it is definitely Southwold as the pier and beach feature prominently, along with a few shots of beach huts.

Here in Felixstowe we had bad guys living on one of the static caravan parks down by the docks, and a long sequence showing our sea front in all its faded glory. They managed to make it very confusing by digitally dropping in some tower blocks (which play a key part in the plot). As you can see from the picture above, they really aren't there...

Staying in Felixstowe we have the station building here pretending to be the outside of Ipswich Station (with big Welcome to Ipswich signs just to prove the point). Of course they couldn't use the bit of our station where trains actually stop as we only have one small platform now, cut off from the still-impressive building as seen on TV by the car park. In real life, our station building now houses a few small shops, a community radio station, a pub, a cafe and the entrance to a supermarket. Still, they did use the car park as a car park, so that bit was real! No idea where the platforms they filmed at were though, didn't look like any I am familiar with and the few glimpses of trains seen were not ones that run around here either.

The bus we saw leaving from "Ipswich" station in episode 1 was indeed a genuine Ipswich Buses vehicle, even if they don't actually run to Framlingham (in fact there isn't a direct service from the station either). Mind you, the bus stop in the middle of nowhere certainly wasn't one of mine (I'd have made them one special and everything if they'd asked) and the flag was poorly positioned on the pole, probably breaking traffic signs regulations.



Bits I haven't identified include: The court building (definitely not Ipswich Crown Court, and not another building around town I recognise), the police station (again, not Ipswich or the force HQ at Martlesham) and the young offenders institute (although that is no doubt meant to represent Warren Hill at Hollesley Bay). Fields driven through in the middle of nowhere could well be local, although some of them seemed a bit too hilly to me... And of course while lots of the London locations were very recognisable there was also much that I probably wouldn't recognise if you dropped me there.


Mrs B, however, is just upset that Dervla was in town and she didn't get to see her... And you can see it all on the ITV plyer for next few weeks.

Show Time!

Winner of something, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Aaah, the County Agricultural Show. One of the few places where high fashion, bowler hatted stewards, farming tweeds and replica football kits get to rub shoulders with each other. Usually in the queue for an organic hog roast or artisan-made ice cream. While wearing wellies (although not this year due to the recent lack of rain).

We had the Suffolk Show last week and spent an enjoyable day poking the animals and gawping at the fashionistas. I do so enjoy the sight of a young farmer (or farmer's wife I suppose) dressed up to the nines and going gooey over a duckling or haggling on a hand crafted objet d'art alongside the general populace in their scruffiest "day out where you might get a bit muddy" attire.

Things were improved somewhat further this year by a ban on all dogs within the showground. With the exception of those actively engaged in demonstrations of hunting or rounding up sheep or helping the disadvantaged find their way around, all the other canines were banished to a different field. It made a nice change to be able to sit down with an ice cream or lunch and not to have to (a) check the ground first and (b) worry about a sandwich thieving mutt slobbering past. Hopefully they will ban the smokers next.

I always enjoy a look at the old tractors (sad, I know) and you can't beat the animals for a good day out. Lots of pictures on flickr if you click on the horsey abhove to go through to the set...

Strange delight on seeing local stuff on telly

BBC World service
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

A bit of idle channel hopping last night found us watching an old episode of Coast on BBC2, covering the edges of Norfolk and Suffolk. Although we had seen this one before, it had to be watched purely for the local recognition factor. The trip ended in Felixstowe and included a nice aerial shot over the town (missing our house by a matter of a few hundred metres, blast!) as well as some shots of the docks.

I can't decide which is stranger for people when seeing the place you live on tv. Being somewhere like Felixstowe where we get shown once in a blue moon, and then generally only on a specialist show like this (local news doesn't count) seeing stuff from just down the road gives a bit of a thrill. But I can't imagine what it must be like as a Londoner to see familiar stomping grounds in every other detective show, documentary or just as establishing shots in Masterchef. Does the thrill remain or is it "oh, there's another murder at my bus stop"?

Anyway, what I had completely forgotten from the previous viewing was an article about the Cobra Mist radar early warning system tried up at Orford Ness in the 70s from the building in that photo up there (now a BBC World Service transmission site). As it happens, I am reading a history of the Ness and the various clandestine activities undertaken there so it was great to see some of it in living colour. One thing I have always liked in Coast is the selective use of CGI to overlay historical views on the present scene, and they did a great job with the aerial arrays no longer standing on the beach by this block house.

Having been over on to the Ness some 20 years ago (when we had a trip up the lighthouse) and taken a river trip past a few weeks back it was once more a case of "ooh, I've been there" for me on seeing the place in the living room. Hopefully the sense of delight will remain next time something Suffolk hits the screen.

Rescued?

Beach Hut view
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

So the episode of Duncan Bannatyne's Seaside Rescue filmed last year in Felixstowe finally hit our screens courtesy of Virgin 1 this week. Up against the first episode of Luther and amid the election overload I have no idea how many people managed to watch it, but there was a reasonable reaction on radio Suffolk the next morning. In the end I was pleasantly surprised by the result, not nearly as horrendous as it could have been.

Previous episodes in the series have tried to turn around the fortunes of struggling attractions elsewhere, many of which have really been on their last legs and in need of serious investment. And it was not made clear in any of the shows we have seen where the investment actually came from - Duncan himself, the production company, the owners of the sites or what. There was a bit of a hint in the suggestion that Charlie Manning repaint his main building, and he did refer on the show and post-broadcast to the cost of that being too great as well as being a bit difficult to acheive during the season.

For Felixstowe the show took a different direction, focusing on three different elements of our south sea front and helping with their image rather than the content or experience on offer. Some of the suggestions worked well, others were not taken up or just not practical but on the whole I think all three have seen a boost in trade. Certainly a lot of what was discussed is still in place eight months on.

I was disappointed that no mention was made of the other events that happen throughout the summer (including the two previous days mentioned in my earlier post) and there was not much discussion of the other parts of the town. I now the "story" of the show was the three businesses, but a bit of context would have been nice - especially if the aim as stated in a talk to various council people was to help put Felixstowe back on the holiday map.

And events are still going on. Sunday was the annual historic vehicle run (also mentioned before) which suffered from dreadful weather but still pulled a few people out. Then on Monday we had a fun run and the launch of a new coastal walk themed on our Martello Towers.

MrsB had to work, but I indulged in a walking tour of the south seafront (intended to be 45 minutes, it lasted over 90 and was fascinating) as well as a trip around Tower P from where the view above was snapped. More picks by clicking through to Flickr if you are so inclined.

My conclusion - Felixstowe is still doing OK!

Smile for the Camera

Bradfield Combust Wall
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

I'm not sure what triggered it, but I seem to have become re-obsessed with photography over the last couple of months. It was always something I enjoyed, but from the files just on this hard drive there have been big gaps when I haven't had the camera out at all over the years, never mind back in the pre-digital days.

Parlty this has come about through Flickr - having a few positive comments (especially from people I don't know in the real world), invites to groups and favouritising of shots is a natural boost to the ego. And of course that then spurs me on to try and do better or be more interesting next time. I'm also looking for more and different subjects to train the lens on - partly through browsing the groups or other people's photos randomly in search of inspiration.

But then I have tried to be a bit creative with my camera for as long as I've had one. Which I guess will be 20 years this Christmas for one of reasonable quality (OK, so that was only a cheap Halina point and shoot 35mm jobby, but it did at least take full-size pics in colour!). I also tend to overshoot compared to others.

When we went on a college field-trip to Morocco I used three rolls compared to the one averaged by most of the others. It seemed extravagant at the time (after all, three films and processing was a lot on a grant) but I did then have the luxury of choosing good shots for the essays and stuff when we got home. And the day after we first went to Canada and I took ten rolls in for developing still sticks in the mind too.

Of course now with digital cameras and memory cards cheaper than real film it is easy for me to whip off several hundred shots in a matter of days. Maybe quality is preferable to quantity, but at least I can weed out the good ones from the mundane before sharing them with the world.

But now I face a real choice - where do I go now? If you don't count phones, I am now on my third point & shoot digicam. The first lasted a good six years, the second a mere six weeks or so before dying and now number three is approaching its birthday. And I want something more powerful. So should I go for one of the new superzoom compacts (up to 24x zoom has a certain appeal) or move on up to a digital SLR?

I really fancy the latter, but am not sure I can justify the expense. Especially as I know I will want extra lenses which puts the cost up immensely (after all, I do love my macro shots, and also want to get that telephoto ability too). I just can't decide.

Of course, being able to stuff the current Samsung in my pocket is a big advantage too. Plus living in such a lovely County and having a job that takes me out into it on a regualr basis is also handy - especially as I have to get pictures of bus shelters/stops etc for work. So if there is something just as photogenic next door it isn't really any worse for me to stop and snap that as it is for the desk-bound taking a fag break every half hour.

Oh yes, and being out today has taken me over 16,000 steps in one day for the first time!