https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee
Category: forthcoming
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Benacre and Covehithe background notes
Man in a Beach interviews http://thelostbyway.com/2015/08/from-the-crumbling-coastline-to-the-suffolk-death-road.html
Benacre
Benacre is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. The village is located about 5 3⁄4 miles (9 km) south of Lowestoft and 1 1⁄2 miles (2 km) north-east of Wrentham, between the main A12road and the North Sea coast. Neighbouring villages include Kessingland and Covehithe with the town of Southwold 5 miles (8 km) to the south.
The village is dispersed around Benacre Hall, the estate of the Gooch family. It had a population of around 70 in mid-2008.[1] The population declined dramatically during the 20th century from 216 at the 1901 census.[2] The area of the parish extends from the Hundred River in the north to Benacre Broad in the south.
At the Domesday survey the village’s name is given as Benagra within the Hundred of Blythling.[3] It formed part of the holdings of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, as it had before the conquest, with one freeman recorded as living in the manor.[4]
The village has few basic services. The former parish church of St Michael is now privately owned by the Gooch family.[5] It is medieval in origin and a Grade II* listed building, although extensively rebuilt following a fire in the 18th century.[5] The church of St Andrew in Covehithe now acts as the parish church for Benacre.[6]
Benacre Broad forms part of the Benacre National Nature Reserve, an important reserve for over 100 bird species including the marsh harrier, little ternand bittern.[7] The shingle beach also forms an important habitat and the coastal area of the parish is part of the Pakefield to Easton Barents Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Benacre Broad is an isolated coastal lagoon on the North Sea coast of the English county of Suffolk. It is located in the parish of Benacre around 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) north of the village of Covehithe. It is about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Wrentham, 4 1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) north of Southwold and 6 1⁄4 miles (10 km) south of Lowestoft.
The broad is part of Benacre National Nature Reserve, a reserve managed by Natural England.[1] It forms part of the area of the Pakefield to Easton Bavents Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Benacre and Easton Barents Lagoons Special Area of Conservation.[2]
The main broad area has traditionally been made up of a number of smaller bodies of water and in 1996 a number of small pools were created to combat the impact of coastal erosion and increasing water salinity on habitats.[3] At a 1997 survey, had an area of 5 hectares (12 acres).[3][4] At the end of November 2011 a high tidal surge broke through the narrow beach separating the Broad from the sea, inundating the area and increasing the salinity markedly. A survey in February 2012 found that the area of the broad had increased to 43 hectares (110 acres) and that the salinity of the water had increased to 22 parts per thousand. The water depth had also increased, although some separate pools within the lagoon area had remained as fresh water.[3]
Benacre National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast in the parishes of Benacre, Covehithe, Reydon and South Cove. It lies between the towns of Lowestoft and Southwold and covers 393 hectares (970 acres).[1]
Benacre NNR consists of areas of open water lagoons and reed beds along the Suffolk coast including Benacre Broad, Covehithe Broad and Easton Broad and extending as far south as Reydon. The reserve features extensive reedbeds, woodland and heathland, as well as pits created by gravel extraction. There are over 100 species of breeding birds, including marsh harrier, bearded reedling, water rail, and occasionally bittern. The flora includes seakale, sea holly, and yellow-horned poppy.[1] Reed is farmed commercially for the thatching industry, whilst enabling the bearded reedling to find a habitat.
The coastline has eroded rapidly over time and the reserve is threatened by both erosion and sea level rise.[2] Some of the ongoing work at the reserve is stopping the encroaching sea by digging new lagoons and establishing more sea defences, and replacing the woodland lost to the sea.
Covehithe
Covehithe is a hamlet and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It lies on the North Sea coast around 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Southwold and 7 miles (11 km) south of Lowestoft. Neighbouring settlements include Benacre, South Cove and Frostenden.
The coastline in the Covehithe area suffers from the highest rate of erosion in the UK,[1] and the settlement has suffered significant loss of land and buildings in the past. It is located within the Suffolk Coast & Heaths AONB.
Contents
History[edit]
A possible section of Roman road has been discovered in the parish which, along with pottery finds and a possible Roman enclosure, suggests that the area was inhabited in the Roman period.[2] Anglo-Saxon remains, including a possible cemetery and evidence of sunken feature buildings, have been found in the area around St Andrew’s church and suggest habitation from the post Roman period.[2] A number of mid to late Saxon finds, including an 8th or 9th century dugout canoe found at the coast, support this theory.[2]
At the Domesday survey of 1086 the village is named as Nordhalla or Nordhals[3] and is recorded as being a medium-sized settlement with 13 households of freemen or smallholders.[4] The land was held by William son of Reginald from William of Warenne although other tenants in chief included the King and Roger Bigot.[4]
In the Middle Ages Covehithe prospered as a small town and during the reign of Edward I was granted a fair on the feast day of St Andrew. It takes its modern name from the de Cove family who held land there at that time, and the fact that it had a hithe, or quay, for loading and unloading small vessels.[5] By the 17th century however it had fallen victim, like nearby Dunwich, to coastal erosion. The large church of St Andrew, which had been built on the back of its wealth, was largely pulled down, although its tall tower remains, and a smaller church was erected amongst the ruins in 1672.[6]There is archaeological evidence of the linen industry having been carried out at Covehithe until the 18th century.[2]
The church of St Andrew at Covehithe
In 1910 Peter Ditchfield wrote:[7]
At Covehithe, on the Suffolk coast, there has been the greatest loss of land. In 1887 sixty feet was claimed by the sea, and in ten years (1878–87) the loss was at the rate of over eighteen feet a year. In 1895 another heavy loss occurred between Southwold and Covehithe and a new cove formed.— Peter Ditchfield, Vanishing England
Erosion caused the coastline at Covehithe to retreat more than 500 metres between the 1830s and 2001, according to contemporary Ordnance Survey maps. This can be seen most obviously on the sand cliffs above the beach where the road running from the church simply falls away down onto the beach. The only recorded pub in the village, the Anchor public house, had closed by 1882 although the building remains in use as a house.[8][9]
During World War I Covehithe airfield, a night-landing ground, was operated from 1915 to 1919 by the Royal Naval Air Service as a satellite station for RNS Great Yarmouth. The airfield, covering 33 hectares (82 acres) and equipped with searchlights and paraffin lights for night landing, was used for anti-Zeppelin patrols by the Number 73 Wing.[10] In 1918 the station was transferred to 273 Squadron of No. 4 Group RAF which flew DH9, DH4 and Sopwith Camel aircraft from the site.[10] The Covehithe airfield was closed in 1919, its land returned to agricultural use.[10][11][12]
During World War II the coastline at Covehithe formed part of the defence line against possible German invasion. A series of pill boxes and other defences were in place, although most of these have since been lost to coastal erosion.[2] A Chain Home Extra Low radar station was established at Covehithe in 1942 by the Royal Air Force.[13]
Geography[edit]
Eroded road running from the church
The coastal cliffs at Covehithe are formed of glacial sands and other deposits. Loose and unconsolidated, they erode rapidly, currently at around 4.5 metres a year,[14]although Environment Agency studies found that 75 metres (246 ft) had been lost between 1992 and 2006 at a rate of 5.3 metres (17 ft) a year.[15] The main part of the settlement at Covehithe, around 250 metres from the current shoreline, is expected to be lost to erosion by 2110, possibly even by 2040.[14][16][17] Any future attempts to protect Covehithe are thought to be unsustainable, and would likely increase erosion rates at the larger settlement of Southwold to the south.[14][17]
To the north of Covehithe, Benacre Broad is an area of open water lagoons and reed beds with a shingle beach and alder carr woodland.[18] These form important habitats for bird species such as marsh harriers, bearded reedling and water rail. Bitterns have been recorded in the area.[19] Along with Covehithe Broad and Easton Broad to the south this forms Benacre National Nature Reserve and falls within the Pakefield to Easton Bavents Site of Special Scientific Interest.[19][20]
Present day[edit]
Modern Covehithe has a population of around 20.[21] The parish of Covehithe has been combined for ecclesiastical purpose with that of neighbouring Benacre.[22] The area is largely used for agriculture and has formed part of the Benacre Estate since 1742 and owned by the Gooch family since 1746.[17][23]
A P. D. James mystery, Death in Holy Orders, was set in Covehithe and a television episode was filmed at the church ruins,[24]and in 1999–2000 an adaptation of David Copperfield filmed a boat beach scene on the beach nearby.[21] It has also featured in W. G. Sebald‘s The Rings of Saturn, a record of a journey on foot through coastal East Anglia.[25] The Monty Python sketch “The First Man to Jump the Channel” was partly filmed at Covehithe beach.[21]
Covehithe beach sits on a somewhat forgotten stretch of the Suffolk coast. The beach is set at the end of a lane which runs across fields before abruptly stopping at the cliff edge. The pace at which the coast is eroding here is rapid – something confirmed by a quick look at Google maps, where the lane continues into the sea.
The beach at Covehithe is a peaceful stretch of sand backed by the crumbling golden cliffs. To the south is Benacre Broad, a brackish lagoon and conservation area.
Along the beach are the smooth, blanched sculpture-like tree trunks of trees that once lined the cliff top. A reminder of the constant march of the North Sea.
If you travel a little way back up the lane towards Covehithe you will come across the dramatic ruins of the medieval St Andrews Church. This once impressive church became too expensive for the parish to maintain and was eventually cannibalised to build a much smaller church within the shell.
https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/south-east-england/suffolk/covehithe.htmIt’s five years since I last walked here and that’s long enough to notice the latest dramatic leap the shoreline has taken backwards. It is as if someone has popped a balloon or crisp packet next to the shoreline when it has not been expecting it. What I thought impossible has happened: Covehithe looks even more post-apocalyptic than it did half a decade ago. The remains of a clifftop copse I walked through, on the way to Benacre Broad, in 2012, are now scattered on the beach, the salt-blasted roots of its trees being shaped by the tide more each day into something an elaborately branded enterprise might give a sculptor down the coast in Southwold or Aldeburgh a handsome cheque to produce. The stretch of beach beside the broad itself – which was already becoming a salty lagoon on my last visit – is now unnegotiable unless the tide is right out, freshwater and saltwater having finally become an irreversible cocktail. “Can we get across that?” I ask Isabelle, an old East Anglian walking companion I’ve been reunited with today, assessing the churning sandbanked natural well where sea meets broad. “Yeah!” But we can’t. We don’t even try. We’d be up to our waists in no time. Bad things can happen here, despite the soft lull of the land. This was the place where Charles Halfacree, an Essex factory worker, made a failed attempt to float the body of his sister’s ex-husband out to sea on a lilo, in one of the weirder East Anglian murder cases of the last two decades. The church – actually a church within a church, most, but not all, of the original structure having been knocked down by Cromwellians in the 17th Century – has its own personal interior breeze, which still whistles inexplicably around the pews on the calmest of days.
http://tom-cox.com/nature-writing/the-beach-at-the-end-of-the-world-walking-at-covehithe/ -
Psychogeography and the ‘Edgelands’
!! more to be done on this to incorporate notes and large infographic I started to develop in a sketchbook for this module. Currently based on work for OCA Landscape Photography
Psychogeography is essentially the broad terrain where geography – in terms of the design and layout of a place – influences the experience, i.e. the psyche and behaviour, of the user. It has walking as a central component (Alexander 2013 p74)
Guy Debord (1931–94) leader of The Situationist International defined psychogeography as follows:
“Psychogeography could set for itself the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, whether consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals. The charmingly vague adjective psychogeographical can be applied to the findings arrived at by this type of investigation, to their influence on human feelings, and more generally to any situation or conduct that seems to reflect the same spirit of discovery.”
(http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/presitu/geography.html quoted Alexander 2013 p74)Psychogeography in literature has a long history. London, as imagined by writers including William Blake (1757–1827), Daniel Defoe (1659–1731), Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859) and Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94), Stevenson in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), have all been identified as a place where early traces of psychogeography can be found.
It has also veered between being:- a mode of artistic expression
- associated with Marxist ideology and political and social change.
Two inter-linked terms that are key to understanding psychogeography:
- The dérive is a key method of psychogeographical enquiry. The literal translation from the French is ‘drift’ and a dérive is a spontaneous, unplanned walk through a city, guided by the individual’s responses to the geography, architecture and ambience of its quarters.The dérive can be seen as one strategy to help bridge the gap between the actual, physical observations of the stroller and their subconscious. Similar techniques have been used in geography, sociology and anthropology as a means of research that opens up possibilities and new questions based on direct observation.
- The flâneur (a term that originates from Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin) is essentially the protagonist of the dérive, but more generally the ‘gentleman stroller’ (as Baudelaire put it) who enjoys the aesthetic pleasures of the sights and sounds he experiences. The emphasis here is more on the aesthetic interpretation of the observer and emotional responses to the views and events that unfold. The flâneur has been identified in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Man of the Crowd (1840) and in the shady figure lurking in the corner of Edouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. Listen to Philip Pullman discussing Manet’s painting in depth.
- Brassai (1899-1984) flaneur
- Robert Adams
- Mark Power
- Moriyama
However, alternative arbitrary methodologies have also been employed, championed initially by the Situationist movement as a necessary means – as they would see it – to subvert capitalist ideas about correctly engaging and functioning within the city. Other strategies included:
- the production of alternative maps, such as Debord’s The Naked City (1957), which attempted to facilitate users to experience the city according to their emotional state and responses.
- Robert MacFarlane’s simple alternative strategy of tracing a circle around the rim of a glass on a map and walking it, you can leave yourself open to new subject matter and unthought-of creative possibilities (see MacFarlane in Coverley, 2010, p.9).
The genre of street photography is often taken (and often mistaken) as evidence of psychogeography today. But although psychogeographical enquiry has traditionally been associated with the city, in more recent years it has expanded beyond its traditional boundaries, and is nowadays less associated with left-wing politics, having returned to a literary position.
- Iain Sinclair: fictional and non-fictional literary responses. In the book (and accompanying film) London Orbital (2002), Sinclair chronicles his epic walk along the M25 which encircles the capital, taking him to golf courses, retail and business parks, and other generic spaces.
- Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts’ book Edgelands: Journeys into England’s True Wilderness (2011), celebrates subjects as diverse as shipping containers, landfill sites and wooden pallets.
- Some have identified the urban sport of parkour (or ‘freerunning’) and even the Occupy movement with psychogeography.
‘Edgelands’
Initial reactions to ‘Wire’ and ‘Power’ – I found the descriptions evocative and also reminiscent of forbidden forays of my own early teenage life with my best friend or my dog into old bombed sites and semi-urban lanes on the outskirts of Manchester – with their potential threats of meeting with men in wait for teenage girls, gang knife fights between rival football teams and the odd murder.
Many of the descriptions also resonate with areas along my daily walk in Cambridge that I have chosen for ‘Transitions’. And the book is definitely one source of inspiration to which I shall return many times as I progress with that project.
But I agree with Marion Shoard:
This book could perhaps have had more investigative rigour. The edgelands now need something beyond a merely subjective celebration of their identity. Far more than our towns and countryside, they are being subjected to ceaseless change. Wild space is being prettified at the expense of its character and creatures. Industrial ruins are being cleared away.
We could be in the process of losing this landscape just as we are discovering its charms. Should we be trying to conserve it, as we conserve the best of rural environments? Or would any attempt to regulate this space destroy the wildness that makes it special?
It is time for us to consider what relationship we want to see in the long term between our activity in the edgelands, their epic infrastructure, their unique wildlife and industrial archaeology and their peculiar place in our imagination.
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Travel Writing
Marco Polo
robert byron road to oxiania
nicolas bouvier
Kapuściński
Patrick Leigh Fermor
Bruce Chatwin
Paul Theroux
Colin Thubron
Italo Calvinho Invisible Citiesvenice
http://www.yourlifeisatrip.com/home/i-do-not-love-venice.html -
Suffolk Coast Notes
The Suffolk Coast and Heaths on the edge of the North Sea are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The county flower is the oxlip.
Despite its beauty, the area and local people face a number of key issues:
- Coastal erosion see geology and environment
- Unemployment, unequal land ownership and low incomes in fishing industry and agiculture
- Tourism, right to roam and housing
- Education
Conservative Party and Brexit
Geology and environment
george monbiot article
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/15/tresspass-trap-law-land-travelling-people-rights?CMP=Share_iOSApp_OtherSee also Geology of Suffolk
Suffolk has borders with Norfolk with the wetlands of the Broads to the north, Cambridgeshire and some hills to the west and Essex to the south.
Much of Suffolk is low-lying, founded on Pleistocene sand and clays. These rocks are relatively unresistant and the coast is eroding rapidly. Coastal defences have been used to protect several towns, but several cliff-top houses have been lost to coastal erosion and others are under threat. The continuing protection of the coastline and the estuaries, including the Blyth, Alde and Deben, has been, and remains, a matter of considerable discussion.
The coastal strip to the East contains an area of heathland known as “The Sandlings” which runs almost the full length of the coastline. Suffolk is also home to nature reserves, such as the RSPB site at Minsmere, and Trimley Marshes, a wetland under the protection of Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
History
Growing Up Wild. Memories of growing up in Suffolk from the 1930s. See Wikipedia: History of Suffolk
West Suffolk, like nearby East Cambridgeshire, is renowned for archaeological finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.
By the fifth century, the Angles (after whom East Anglia and England are named) had established control of the region. Sutton Hoo, the site of one of England’s most significant Anglo-Saxon archaeological finds, a ship burial containing a collection of treasures including a Sword of State, gold and silver bowls, and jewellery and a lyre.
The Angles later became the “north folk” and the “south folk”, from which developed the names “Norfolk” and “Suffolk”.Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia, which later merged with Mercia and then Wessex.
From 1860 Suffolk was divided into the eastern division administered from Ipswich and the western from Bury St Edmunds. Under the Local Government Act 1972, East Suffolk, West Suffolk, and Ipswich were merged to form the unified county of Suffolk divided into several local government districts including two coastal districts of Suffolk Coastal, and Waveney. After a decade of discussion, in 2018 it was decided that Waveney and Suffolk Coastal would form a new East Suffolk district and these changes took effect on 1 April 2019.
Economy
Historically, the population of Suffolk as a whole has mostly been employed as agricultural workers. An 1835 survey recorded the total population of the county at 296,304. It showed Suffolk to have 4,526 occupiers of land employing labourers, 1,121 occupiers not employing labourers, 33,040 labourers employed in agriculture, 676 employed in manufacture, 18,167 employed in retail trade or handicraft, 2,228 ‘capitalists, bankers etc.’, 5,336 labourers (non-agricultural), 4,940 other males aged over 20, 2,032 male servants and 11,483 female servants.
!!Fishing???
The economy of Suffolk is dominated by service industries that have grown significantly in recent years.
Year Regional gross value added[fn 1] Agriculture[fn 2] Industry[fn 3] Services[fn 4] 1995 7,113 391 2,449 4,273 2000 8,096 259 2,589 5,248 2003 9,456 270 2,602 6,583 Source Office for National Statistics figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. See also: Companies based in Suffolk
The county town is Ipswich ( population 133,384 in 2011). Important coastal towns include:
- Lowestoft (population 71,000 in 2011) centre of East Anglia fishing industry with fish market and has a container port run by Associated British Ports. Birds Eye has its largest UK factory in Lowestoft, where all its meat products and frozen vegetables are processed.
- Felixstowe (population 23,689 in 2011) with Port of Felixstowe which is the largest container in the UK and one of the largest in Europe.
- Sizewell hosts Sizewell B nuclear power station on the coast near Leiston.
- Southwold is the home of Adnams Brewery.
Just inland from the coast:
- Bernard Matthews Farms have some processing units in the county, specifically. Issues of avian flu.
- BT has its main research and development facility at Martlesham Heath.
- Army bases and defence industry
See also: List of settlements in Suffolk by population
The majority of agriculture in Suffolk is either arable or mixed. Farm sizes vary from anything around 80 acres (32 hectares) to over 8,000. Soil types vary from heavy clays to light sands. Crops grown include winter wheat, winter barley, sugar beet, oilseed rape, winter and spring beans and linseed, although smaller areas of rye and oats can be found growing in areas with lighter soils along with a variety of vegetables. The continuing importance of agriculture in the county is reflected in the Suffolk Show, which is held annually in May at Ipswich. Although latterly somewhat changed in nature, this remains primarily an agricultural show.
East anglia fishing
- https://www.eadt.co.uk/ea-life/why-the-boom-times-ended-1-783688
- https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/2019/a-new-future-for-the-east-anglian-fishing-industry/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-50080487
- https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/bid-to-boost-lowestoft-fishing-industry-after-brexit-1-5564022
- https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2017-07-02/exit-from-fishing-deal-could-reel-in-opportunities-for-the-east/
- https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2018-10-10/fishing-industry-lobbys-ministers-over-brexit-expectations/
People
For a full list of settlements see the list of places in Suffolk
According to estimates by the Office for National Statistics, the population of Suffolk in 2014 was 738,512, split almost evenly between males and females. Roughly 22% of the population was aged 65 or older, and 90.84% were “White British”.
The traditional nickname for people from Suffolk is ‘Suffolk Fair-Maids’, or ‘Silly Suffolk’, referring respectively to the supposed beauty of its female inhabitants in the Middle Ages, and to the long history of Christianity in the county and its many fine churches (from Anglo-Saxon selige, originally meaning holy).
Witch-finder General Matthew Hopkins;
The Suffolk dialect is very distinctive. Epenthesis and yod-dropping is common, along with non-conjugation of verbs.
Education
Suffolk has a comprehensive education system with fourteen independent schools. In 2013, a letter said that “…nearly a fifth of the schools inspected were judged inadequate. This is unacceptable and now means that Suffolk has a higher proportion of pupils educated in inadequate schools than both the regional and national averages.”
See also: List of schools in Suffolk
The Royal Hospital School at Holbrook is the largest independent boarding school in Suffolk. Other boarding schools within Suffolk include Culford School, Framlingham College, Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School, Saint Felix School and Finborough School.
Sixth form colleges in the county include Lowestoft Sixth Form College and One in Ipswich. Suffolk is home to four further education colleges: Lowestoft College, Easton & Otley College, Suffolk New College (Ipswich) and West Suffolk College (Bury St Edmunds).
University of Suffolk accepted its first students in 2007. Until then Suffolk was one of only four counties in England which did not have a University campus. It became independent in 2016. The University operates at five sites with its central hub in Ipswich. Others include Lowestoft, Bury St. Edmunds, and Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. The University operates two academic faculties and in 2016/17 had 5,080 students. Some 30% of the student body are classed as mature students and 68% of University students are female.
Football
The county’s sole professional football club is Ipswich Town. Formed in 1878, the club were Football League champions in 1961–62, FA Cup winners in 1977–78 and UEFA Cup winners in 1980–81.[53] Ipswich Town currently play in League One, the third tier of English football. The next highest ranked teams in Suffolk are Leiston, Lowestoft Town and Needham Market, who all participate in the Southern League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football.
Famous people:
- Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey
- suffragette Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett
- Britain’s first female physician and mayor, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
- Charity leader Sue Ryder settled in Suffolk and based her charity in Cavendish
- educationist Hugh Catchpole
See also: People from Suffolk
Culture
Painting and sculpture
Gainsborough’s Mr and Mrs Andrews (1748–49), housed at the National Gallery in London, depicts the Suffolk landscape of his time. Music
- Benjamin Britten.
- actress and singer Kerry Ellis,
- musician and record producer Brian Eno,
- singer Dani Filth, of the Suffolk-based extreme metal group, Cradle of Filth,
- singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. The song “Castle on the Hill” by singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was referred to by him as “a love letter to Suffolk”, with lyrical reference to his hometown of Framlingham and Framlingham Castle.
- coloratura soprano Christina Johnston.
Graphic art
Carl Giles (a bronze statue of his character “Grandma” to commemorate this is located in Ipswich town centre)
Poetry and literature
- George Crabbe
- Robert Bloomfield
- Norah Lofts, author of best-selling historical novels, lived for decades in Bury St. Edmunds where she died and was buried in 1983.
- author, poet and Benedictine monk John Lydgate
- Edward FitzGerald, the first translator of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, was born in Bredfield.
Novels set in Suffolk include:
- parts of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
- The Fourth Protocol, by Frederick Forsyth
- Unnatural Causes by P.D. James
- Dodie Smith‘s The Hundred and One Dalmatians
- Arthur Ransome‘s We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, Coot Club and Secret Water take place in part in the county.
- Roald Dahl’s short story “The Mildenhall Treasure” is set in Mildenhall.
Festivals
- Aldeburgh Festival founded in 1948 by Benjamin Britten, is one of the UK’s major classical music festivals. Originating in Aldeburgh, it has been held at the nearby Snape Maltings since 1967.
- Since 2006, Henham Park, has been home to the annual Latitude Festival. This mainly open-air festival, which has grown considerably in size and scope, includes popular music, comedy, poetry and literary events.
- The FolkEast festival is held at Glemham Hall in August and attracts international acoustic, folk and roots musicians whilst also championing local businesses, heritage and crafts. In 2015 it was also home to the first instrumental festival of musical instruments and makers.
- LeeStock Music Festival has been held in Sudbury.
- A celebration of the county, “Suffolk Day”, was instigated in 2017.
The Rendlesham Forest Incident is one of the most famous UFO events in England and is sometimes referred to as “Britain’s Roswell“.
TV and film
- the films Iris and Drowning by Numbers.
- Detectorists,
- Lovejoy a TV series about a British antiques dealer, was filmed in various locations in Suffolk.
- The reality TV series Space Cadets was filmed in Rendlesham Forest, although the producers fooled participants into believing that they were in Russia.
- an episode of Kavanagh QC
See also
- List of places of interest in Suffolk
- List of Lords Lieutenant of Suffolk
- List of High Sheriffs of Suffolk
- Custos Rotulorum of Suffolk – Keepers of the Rolls
- Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency) – Historical list of MPs for Suffolk constituency
- Suffolk Youth Orchestra
- Healthcare in Suffolk
- Suffolk Constabulary
- Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner
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Sketchbooks forthcoming
This series of experimental sketchbooks about ‘Everyday Edges’ aims to complement my location derive projects through providing a ‘safe creative fun space’ for:
- a safe space for freeing up, having fun and brainstorming ideas the ‘help me think’
- as a place to bring together sketches, photographs and notes for specific thematic or location project work
- as a place to experiment with materials and processes, rapid and frantic sketching that can then be rubbed out or gone over as a record over time, sploshing ink and paint and seeing how they interact, collage that I can then draw and paint over.
- ranting, raving and following interesting ideas, even if they lead nowhere
- experimenting with visual effects of different drawing, painting and collage media and styles
- helping me think through all the multiple moods, thoughts and influences bombarding me everyday to motivate or prevent me from changing everyday habits
- helping me to get a better sense of how I think ‘new normal’ should look like and start to make the necessary personal changes
- clarify my subjective ‘voice’ that influences and informs my documentary work on location.
I work with many different formats from very small folded pieces to A1 size sheets bound with a Bulldog clip between cardboard. With different types of paper, and also altered books.
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Etymologies
Etymologies of Edges in Time
The etymological roots of both ‘edges’ and ‘time’ come from cutting.
Etymological origins
Old English ecg ‘sharpened side of a blade’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch egge and German Ecke, also to Old Norse eggja (see egg2), from an Indo-European root shared by Latin acies ‘edge’ and Greek akis ‘point’.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/edge
edge (n.)
Old English ecg “corner, edge, point,” also “sword” (also found in ecgplega, literally “edge play,” ecghete, literally “edge hate,” both used poetically for “battle”), from Proto-Germanic *agjo (source also of Old Frisian egg “edge;” Old Saxon eggia “point, edge;” Middle Dutch egghe, Dutch eg; Old Norse egg, see egg (v.); Old High German ecka, German Eck “corner”), from PIE root *ak- “be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce.”
Spelling development of Old English -cg to Middle English -gg to Modern English -dge represents a widespread shift in pronunciation. To get the edge on (someone) is U.S. colloquial, first recorded 1911. Edge city is from Joel Garreau’s 1992 book of that name. Razor’s edge as a perilous narrow path translates Greek epi xyrou akmes. To be on edge “excited or irritable” is from 1872; to have (one’s) teeth on edge is from late 14c., though “It is not quite clear what is the precise notion originally expressed in this phrase” [OED].
edge (v.)
late 13c., “to give an edge to” (implied in past participle egged), from edge (n.). Intransitive meaning “to move edgeways (with the edge toward the spectator), advance slowly” is from 1620s, originally nautical. Meaning “to defeat by a narrow margin” is from 1953. The meaning “urge on, incite” (16c.) often must be a mistake for egg (v.). Related: Edger.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/edge
- *ak-
- double-edged
- edged
- edgeways
- edging
- edgy
- egbert
- egg
- selvage
- straight-edge
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/edge
From Middle English egge, from Old English eċġ, from Proto-West Germanic *aggju, from Proto-Germanic *agjō (compare Dutch egge, German Ecke, Swedish egg, Norwegian egg), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”)
(compare Welsh hogi (“to sharpen, hone”), Latin aciēs (“sharp”), acus (“needle”), Latvian ašs, ass (“sharp”), Ancient Greek ἀκίς (akís, “needle”), ἀκμή (akmḗ, “point”), and Persian آس (ās, “grinding stone”)).
Contemporary usages
(Entry 1 of 2)1a: the cutting side of a bladea razor’s edgeb: the sharpness of a bladea knife with no edgec
(1): FORCE, EFFECTIVENESSblunted the edge of the legislation
(2): vigor or energy especially of bodymaintains his hard edged
(1): incisive or penetrating qualitywriting with a satirical edge
(2): a noticeably harsh or sharp qualityher voice had an edge to it
(3): a secondary but distinct qualityrock music with a bluesy edgee: keenness or intensity of desire or enjoymentlost my competitive edge2a: the line where an object or area begins or ends :
BORDERon the edge of a plainb: the narrow part adjacent to a borderthe edge of the deckc(1): a point near the beginning or the endespecially:
BRINK, VERGEon the edge of disaster(2): the threshold of danger or ruinliving on the edged: a favorable margin :
ADVANTAGEhas an edge on the competition3: a line or line segment that is the intersection of two plane faces (as of a pyramid) or of two planes
edgeverb edged; edging
transitive verb1a: to give an edge tob: to be on an edge oftrees edging the lake2: to move or force graduallyedged him off the road3: to incline (a ski) sideways so that one edge cuts into the snow4: to defeat by a small margin —often used with outedged out her opponent
(Entry 1 of 2)1a: the cutting side of a bladea razor’s edgeb: the sharpness of a bladea knife with no edgec(1): FORCE, EFFECTIVENESSblunted the edge of the legislation(2): vigor or energy especially of bodymaintains his hard edged(1): incisive or penetrating qualitywriting with a satirical edge(2): a noticeably harsh or sharp qualityher voice had an edge to it(3): a secondary but distinct qualityrock music with a bluesy edgee: keenness or intensity of desire or enjoyment.
Brainstorm
What is an Edge?
Environmental, psychological, political, social, conceptual
Edgy, edginess. Can fall on either side or balance along.
Boundaries
Why do they Exist
Systems, property, division. Outside, inside in-between. See Ooh Sheep.
Different Types of Edge.
Natural
Human
Imagined
Strengthening
Questioning
Challenging
Breaking Down
Mental
Reclaiming the Other Side -
Media experiments and links
Media and material experiments
I work in a range of media combining drawing, printmaking, photography, collage, painting and digital media.
My working process
Some of my work is experimental, exploring different media and effects in response to a wide range of briefs. My working process depends very much on the task. There is no fixed pattern.
The following Phases are more like parallel processes that interlink rather than linear stages – though possibly this is because I am studying and doing self-generated briefs with flexibility. I would need to work a bit differently for a client as part of a team where we need to keep to output deadlines for different stages (as is the case with my professional work).
Phase 1: Scoping and initial image development
I have a variety of inspiration starting points, again depending on the nature of the project:
- drawing and sketching from life and/or photographs
- found images – patterns in woodgrain, marble etc
- abstract, random processes like blobs of glue, decalcomania left over print marks, gouache/watercolour doodles. I tend to use up all my leftover paint and ink just playing and put these in sketchbooks. Again exploring compositional possibilities and manipulate images to look at different colours, tonal relationships on iPad or computer.
- brainstorming words and spider diagrams – though often this is done in my head because of RSI and when my RSI was an official disability I trained my brain to retain these maps in my head. But I do try to draw these. Sometimes using iThoughts if the main issue is conceptual relationships linked to research (these become very large files and I need to work out the best way to put these on a blog) or on paper with coloured markers if things need to be more visual.
Generally I use some combination of all these methods as a reflexive process. Depending on how open or specific the brief. Playing with one brief often generates ideas for very different self-generated briefs (as for example in Assignment 4 Aldeburgh and Assignment 5 Oromia Reflected)
I find photography, my iPad and Adobe Lightroom very useful for exploring compositional possibilities and manipulate images to look at different colours, tonal relationships and different styles. I find this much more useful than a lot of thumbnails, enabling very rapid generation of a large number of options.
Though maybe I should use thumbnails more because putting things on paper (rather than iPad) does free up my lateral thinking of radically different options rather than just variations on a theme.
I also like to use large A2 or even A1 sheets as moodboards and to brainstorm interlinked ideas as in Assignment 5 Oromia Reflected and particularly my work on the Alphabet in my final assignment for Book Design 1 A to Z from Armageddon.
Phase 2 Research
Research takes place throughout a project and covers a lot of different areas. It involves:
- gathering the source material and any other information you need from primary and secondary sources (bearing in mind copyright issues)
- testing out ideas visually through mock-ups, thumbnail drawings,
roughs and prototypes. - understanding the contexts in which the brief sits – the competition, your audience, etc.
- experimenting with different approaches, tools and media
- playing and being inventive.
Contextual research is often done first, before I even start visual brainstorming. This is generally through Google Searches of images and videos, looking for relevant books on Amazon to add to my extensive book collection, looking back though my own earlier work and photographs.
Visual research and experimentation with materials, colours etc interacts with this – even using two iPads next to each other one for Internet and one for drawing.
I do tend to get a bit sidetracked though with research. Things can go off at too much of a tangent as I find a lot of new material. Sometimes research can become an excuse for sitting thinking rather than getting down to things hands-on.
Because of RSI I do a lot on my iPad, but there are recurrent technical issues with inputting to my WordPress blog from my iPad when there are lags between different software updates.
Phase 3 Critique
I continually critique my images visually as I experiment. But I need to be more consistent in referring to the brief set or consciously adapting this so that I am very clear how what I am doing visually relates to what I am trying to say conceptually. It is easy to get carried away with interesting textures, shapes and colours and lose sight of ‘why’ I am doing things. Partly this is because I am still very much learning on the technical level, constantly discovering new things. I find that if I plan too much exactly how I might create an image, things become quite stilted and no accidental discoveries. But as my ‘repertoire of accidents’ expands I will be able to be more strategic.
The questions I ask include general visual dynamics questions about composition and colour from extensive digital experimentation with alternatives. I also ask myself whether what I am trying to say might be better done in another medium or style (though whether I can technically do that is another issue).
I find that most work goes through a stage where I really do not like it. At that point I move onto something else. That usually sparks a new idea.
I also share things with my family to see what they think. I am starting to produce things I would feel happy sharing on forums and social networks – something I plan to do a lot more as I finish work on this course for assessment.
Finishing my work
Most of my work is finished digitally on the computer and/or iPad. Using Lightroom as a catalogue and for basic editing and reformatting. iPad Apps like Procreate and Pixelmator and/or Photoshop for more complex compositing, adding text etc.
I experimented a lot with different papers, scanning and printing methods for Book Design 1. I have yet to follow this experimentation through thoroughly with this course.
I enjoyed the process of working back into digital printouts in Part 1, and also on photographs in Parts 2 and 5. I am aiming to do more of this as I prepare for assessment.
I need to get on top of colour management and print output issues.
Time management
Most projects take me quite a long time, with a long ‘mulling time’ and inspiration coming in bursts often when I am thinking about something completely different. This inspiration is more frequent when I am working on different things. Deadlines and a certain amount of stress can also be productive, as long as I don’t get too stressed and lose sleep.
I tend to work on several different projects at once to address some of these issues. I find the cross-fertilisation of ideas productive, with exploration of media and learning from one project then helping me think more laterally about other projects. It also means I have things to occupy me if I start to get problems with too much computer work and/or am travelling for work. I do a lot of thinking and planning in cars and on airplanes.
What are the sticking points
I have to fit illustration around somewhat unpredictable professional work schedules and travel. Also the need to manage RSI and eyestrain doing too much digital work (pc and mobile) on top of my professional work.The RSI also affects not only computer work but also how much physical drawing needing a lot of line work I can do.
I have particular challenges documenting my work for OCA blog because of RSI and professional workload – this would not be an issue if I am just working on illustration itself, or not doing a course needing a detailed blog.
I need to spend more time doodling on paper, and be more disciplined about doing concept maps to link my visual experimentation with concepts. But for projects like books this really needs to be done for the book as a whole, and also for individual pages. Requiring a lot more time than thinking through options in my head.
I tend to get very bogged down in research. I need to get down to actually visualising and drawing ideas much more quickly.
Sometimes the digital process also gets in the way. There are so many possibilities of cropping and blending – it gets addictive. I need to be more strategic in plotting out possibilities that are very distinct first and then experiment digitally.
Strengths and areas to develop further
I am making progress with drawing, painting, digital, printmaking, collage and video skills. But still have a long way to go on all fronts.
I need to do a lot more sketching from life, and also from imagination.
Currently I am much more confident sketching in pencil or pen from life (though still a lot more practice needed). I need to improve my iPad sketching skills. As well as painting.
I want to do much more systematic work on visual dynamics, bringing together what I have discovered about line, shape, texture, colour and composition. So my images hang together more.
I need to become more familiar with Illustrator, Corel Painter and After Effects, but can only do this when I have time free from other computer work.
I will have more time as I reduce my work travel from next year.
Future plans
- Drawing and sketching from life: pencil, charcoal, crayon, oil pastel, soft pastel. I want to significantly improve the fluency and expressiveness of my drawing in all these media. Drawing particularly on Zen styles. I am particularly interested in monochrome tonal work drawing on principles of Notan. I am also planning to try Scraperboard
- Caricature and cartooning like Scarfe of political events and documentary
- Information graphics – are on-line courses
- Printmaking : monoprint, collagraph, drypoint, linocut, woodcut, screenprinting. I want to continue to develop my skills in all the above. I also plan to try kitchen lithography and sugar etching
- Collage: better understanding of visual dynamics, use of edges and mixed media and professional finishing
- Painting: Watercolour, Gouache, Ink, Acrylic, Oil. Chinese and Japanese ink painting
- Photography :central to my concept development as photos or photomontage. Also photographing textures and materials to make images.
- Participatory design and visual communication – from my professional work
- Web design – understand coding using html and css but need to learn javascript and improve basic design skills.
- Animation with adobe animate – practice and watching and analysing more flash animation
- Building up assets and brushes for Procreate, photoshop and illustrator
- Better understanding of typefaces and design
- Video – need to update skills
- Online web experiences
- E-books
-
LightroomBW
Snapshots, Virtual Copies and Stacking enables effective exploration of different versions. Black and White landscapes
Using built in profiles for quick different looks. -
Photography creativity
!! forthcoming