Cliff Brewery, Ipswich

Cliff Brewery, Ipswich © David Gill

Today’s Heritage Walk visited the outside of the Cliff Brewery in Ipswich. The brewery, founded by Thomas Cobbold, was established in Ipswich in 1746. The doorway on the north side includes some reused architectural features.

The brewery is currently a building ‘at risk‘, and is in the Victorian Society’s Top Ten Most Endangered Buildings list.

There are hopes that the building, currently owned by Pigeon Investment, will be used for new accommodation, a museum, and retail areas (“Ipswich Tolly Cobbold brewery: New homes plans go on show“, BBC News January 21 2016).

Heritage Winter Walks

Custom House, Ipswich © David Gill

A group of us went on a heritage “winter walk” as part of a well-being initiative at work. We had a walk round the Wet Dock that now forms part of the marina at Ipswich. The dock was planned by H.R. Palmer in 1837 and opened to shipping in 1842. A new entrance  at the south end was created in 1881. This was crossed by a swing bridge to carry the railway (1903).

On the north side of the dock is the Old Custom House, designed by J.M. Clark and completed in 1845.

To the right of the Custom House is Waterfront House, originally a grain store. This was converted in 1986/7 as part of the initial regeneration of the Ipswich waterfront.

Heritage Walks: Athens

2004

Exploring a city’s heritage is one way to keep fit and to be green. One of my favourite cities is Athens and in 2004 (as part of the celebration of the Olympics) the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and the Culture Heritage along with the Municipality of Athens Cultural Organization produced Heritage Walks in Athens: the walks were written by Artemis Skoumbourdi.

The book was introduced by Dora Bakoyannis, the then mayor of Athens.

Our monuments stand as continuous guardians of memory. It is not only the past of Greece but the roots of the Western World and the influence of the East that can be found within our museums.

Costa Carras, President of the Hellenic Society (Elliniki Etaira) wanted people to come to the headquarters of the society ‘where they can learn more about issues concerning the environment and the cultural heritage in Greece’.

© David Gill

The short book contains 8 walks:

1. The Athenian Acropolis
2. Mills and Municipalities of Ancient Athens
3. Agora and Areopagus, the Heart of Ancient Athens
4. The Centre of the City from Antiquity until the Ottoman Period
5. Athens, Medieval and Modern
6. The Heart of the Modern Greek State
7. Museums, Collections and the National Park
8. The High Point of Athenian Neoclassicism

Some of the walks are quite steep and demanding but the climbs are rewarded with wonderful views over the city.

Walking Prehistoric Landscapes

One of the joys of visiting Stonehenge and Avebury has been exploring the immediate vicinity of the stones. Now that the Stonehenge visitor centre has started to encourage visitors to see the structure in a wider setting, it is helpful to think about some of the ways of identifying walks and paths.

Wessex Archaeology produced Beyond Stonehenge subtitled A guide to Stonehenge and its prehistoric landscape (2nd ed. 1991). The sections are:

• Before Stonehenge
• The first Stonehenge
• Stonehenge abandoned
• The stones arrive
• Fields and farms
• The search for the past
• Visitor information and guide map

The National Trust produced a folder, Walking around Avebury (1997). The booklet part has sections on:

• The south-western sector
• The barber surgeon
• The southern inner circle and other stones
• The entrance stones and the ring stone
• The view from the bank
• The cover and the northern circle
• The Swindon stone
• John Aubrey (1626-1697)
• William Stukeley (1687-1765)
• Alexander Keiller (1889-1955)

Tucked into the pack are three separate leaflets:

• The Ridgeway
• Windmill Hill
• Falkner’s Circle & West Kennet Avenue