Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonLogical enough, but no. David founded the place long ago but just checks in from time to time when he takes. BP real from the golf links. My guy was Jacob - I went back and looked it up. Reply to this comment 2 months ago
We weren’t really sure how today would go until we woke up and checked the weather report. We are two days away from catching the night ferry to Holland from Harwich, and tonight we’re booked at the Premier Inn in Ipswich - the same place we stayed two summers ago. The issue is with the weather - today looked like there’s the chance of rain, but the even bigger worry is the wind, with gusts to 40 mph predicted; and the day after looks like it will rain all day.
We’re on a train line, and there are trains from Bury to Ipswich and from there to Harwich; so if conditions are too bad we could train the whole thing. Fortunately things for today at least look better though - it’s dry, sunny, and the winds not only look less frightening but are even in our favor. So we decide to ride, but wait around until nearly eleven because they’re supposed to abate as the day goes on.
We’re really glad we decided to ride, because in an undramatic way the first third of the ride goes us some of our nicest miles in England. Bury is very easy to escape from the east. Once we cross busy Crown Street and cross through the gate into the cathedral and abbey grounds we ride a mix of bike paths and single track roads all the way to Woolpit, a pretty village I wish we’d taken a little more time to explore.
Beyond Woolpit the ride loses its appeal and we’re glad to see the end of it when we bike into Ipswich and lean our bikes against the window of Ocean Fish Platter, a Turkish restaurant where Rachael enjoys her seafood salad and I my Turkish baked cod.
Crossing the tracks, about four miles east of Bury. We really appreciated this overpass with its modest grade and lane enough that you can negotiate the hairpins.
We would like to suggest to Caltrans that the they arrange one of these to cross the A40 east of Needham Market, the scariest highway we scrambled across in Britain.
A smock mill, near Drinkstone: per Wikipedia, a smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded, thatched, or shingled tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This type of windmill got its name from its resemblance to smocks worn by farmers in an earlier period
Also on the same property near Drinkstone is a post mill: The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These are struts that steady the central post.The body of the windmill can be turned around the central post to bring the sails into the wind. All post mills have an arm projecting from them on the side opposite the sails and reaching down to near ground level.
I liked the look of this young couple walking a path through the field, he pushing his bike. Later Rachael mentions this pair - she was further ahead and saw them just entering the field, chatting up their decision to walk that way together.
Rounding a bend in the road, we get a much better view of the Deinkstone post mill. Grade I listed and built in 1689, it is believed to be the oldest mill still standing in Suffolk. The smock mill, Grade II listed, is much newer - not even 3 centuries yet, built in 1780 on top of an older horse mill. So that’s my big learning for the day: horse mill, post mill, smock mill are all new terms to me.
Scott AndersonTo Graham FinchOh, of course. I knew that name sounded familiar. The buildings on the left are in the background of one of your selfies. Reply to this comment 2 months ago
We stayed only one night in Ipswich last time through, and arriving at the end of a fairly long ride we didn’t really look around the town at all. It’s the same this time, but I at least drag myself down to the harbor front for a look - easy enough, since it’s only two blocks from our hotel.
Video sound track: Everyday, by Classic Dream Orchestra
As long as I’m out I decide to record my final pint before leaving the U.K. tomorrow - a pale ale from Burnt Mill, the local brewery.
While I’m sipping it down I enjoy what’s on the platter at the moment. How long has it been since I’ve seen an LP player in action? In a story not worth going into here it makes me think of Stuffy, the hamster that Shawn and I lived with when we were batching it over forty years ago.
A look west though made me think I should wait around for the sunset instead; so I stopped in a cafe and picked up a bottle of pop to take back to an empty bench and wait.
Scott AndersonTo Gregory GarceauIt would have been a good joke, if it were a joke. It was meant in earnest, but he wasn’t earnest either. Reply to this comment 2 months ago
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